Discord may have started as a communication tool for gamers, but the chat service has grown so large that gaming is only one of its many uses alongside listening to music, watching movies, and even doing homework. Upstart rival Guilded puts gaming back in the focus. The messaging platform offers many useful features for socializing in gaming communities, as well as organizing gaming competitions. These tools can only go so far without a large userbase to back them up, but if you’re looking for a Discord alternative, Guilded is your best bet.
Getting Started With Guilded
To set up a Guilded server, you either visit the website, download the desktop app, or download the mobile app for Android and iOS. I primarily tested using the desktop app. When you initially create your server, you name it, add a description, and specify the games it focuses on. Creating a server requires no hardcore technical or hosting knowledge, unlike open-source Twitch alternative Owncast. It’s as easy as setting up a Slack workspace, or making a Discord server.
Guilded is free. Creators can enable paid subscriptions on their own servers and offer custom rewards, such as access to exclusive channels and “profile flair” bragging rights. They can also join Guilded’s partnership programs for extra perks, such as early access to new features and priority support. But there’s no subscription for Guilded as a whole. There’s no equivalent to Discord Nitro, which offers premium features starting at $5 per month.
In fact, some of what Discord charges you for, Guilded gives you for free. Only Discord Nitro users can send video at 1080p/60fps, whereas all Guilded users enjoy that high quality and low latency. Guilded also supports superior 256kbps audio versus Discord’s 96kbps audio. If all you plan to do is send text messages, you won’t notice much of a difference, but Guilded’s strong multimedia functionality appeals to gaming enthusiasts who spend all day consuming their hobby through video game live streaming services.
Organizing Your Server
As the Captain, you set various permissions and assign roles to server members. For example you can delegate power to people on your moderation team. You can even rename roles, in case you would rather be “Big Boss” than “Captain.” Servers are public or private, and you can make anyone who wants to join your private server fill out a custom application. Ask them to explain why they would make a great addition to your merry band.
When it comes to communication, Guilded is pleasingly straightforward. Two lists, one for channels and one for the member directory, flank the expansive main area where you’ll see new posts. The interface looks virtually identical to Discord, so you should have no problem transitioning. Guilded even lets you directly import your existing Discord server template into its system. Other integrations include Patreon and Twitch.
Customize your server to add some personal spice. Upload your own avatars, banner images, and emotes. With Webhooks, Guilded automatically pulls and displays data from the internet in your server using IFTTT or similar services. With Widgets, you preview your server on outside websites. You can also create your own bots to automate certain processes. For example, one bot might send a welcome message whenever a new member joins, while another gives experience points to users who complete certain tasks. Full bot functionality, including access to the Guilded API, is still in beta.
Servers feature the expected communication methods, such as direct messaging and screen sharing. However, Guilded goes above and beyond by also providing numerous channel categories that serve even more specific needs. In addition to channels for chat, voice, and streaming, you can create a dedicated announcements channel, a channel styled after a message board, or channels for collecting lists, documents, and other media.
While the unique interfaces are nice, some of these channel categories don’t offer much more than what you could accomplish with a text channel set for a specific topic. Some feel redundant, such as categories for both a calendar and a schedule. Still, I liked having this level of power over my server. I could envision these channel categories servicing my community with a greater level of detail compared to Discord.
If you create too many channels and find yourself overwhelmed, you can sort your channels into Groups, which are basically sub-servers within your main server. Say you’re running a server for fighting game fans. Make one group for Tekken 7 and another for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Get Ready for the Next Battle
Among gaming communities, esports communities especially benefit from tools that make it easy to organize members. Guilded targets these competitive gaming fans. Along with searching for public servers, you can create and search for featured tournaments. At a glance you’ll see the time the tournament begins, the league that runs it, the game you’re competing in, the teams you’re competing against, and the cash pot.
Guilded includes unique features tailored toward specific popular esports. If you’re a League of Legends player, you can filter your searches for League of Legends servers in your region. Guilded also maintains a database of player stats and preferences to better match players with similar skill levels into the same servers. You won’t consistently improve if you only play people exponentially better, or comically worse, than you. Other supported games include Apex Legends, Overwatch, and Knockout City.
However, people are what drive communities, not nifty features. Tens of millions of people use Discord, while only tens of thousands use Guilded. So there just aren’t nearly as many people, even if those people are more passionate about esports on average. Currently, Guilded places no limits on how many users can exist on a single server, unlike Discord which caps out at 500,000, but I suspect that’s only because there aren’t enough users to test those limits.
If you only want a place to chat with your existing personal friends online, Guilded’s lack of popularity shouldn’t matter to you. But if you’re an esports player trying to find and fight the best of the best, Guilded’s small size probably isn’t giving you the big picture.
I should note that Guilded recently got purchased by the makers of the extremely popular Roblox. The platform still promises to serve all games, only now with far more resources at its disposal. Perhaps this acquisition will let Guilded expand to become a legitimate Discord competitor.
Guilded Lily
As a mainstream online chat service, Guilded isn’t overthrowing Discord anytime soon. Still, Guilded has every right to exist, as it provides useful communication and organizing features for gamers, especially competitive ones, and only has room to grow. Guilded users may be the few, but they are the proud.
