{"slug": "mumble", "name": "Mumble", "category": "communication", "category_name": "Email and chat", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 12, "warners": 1, "score": 4.917, "rising": -0.64, "first": "2025-11-03", "latest": "2026-10-12", "why": "Still around and updated. I used it just a couple days ago.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 4, "compare": 2, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Still around and updated. I used it just a couple days ago.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "mumble.info", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.mumble.info", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Mumble"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 800879440, "item_id": 50054965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50054965", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-10-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Mumble and IRC.", "excerpt": "I love Mumble and IRC. You could put a gun to my head and I still wouldn't use Discord. When all these proprietary chats are dead and the kids have moved on to something else, Mumble and IRC will still work. They are eternal. Anything proprietary and centralized can't compete with that. IRC outlived AIM and MSN and so on.", "context": "", "use_case": "voice chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "IRCv3"}, {"id": 755196960, "item_id": 47199810, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47199810", "by": "Bender", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Murmur / Mumble are free to self host and use.", "excerpt": "But there's nowhere to go... Murmur (server) or uMurmur (lightweight server with admin pre-assigned fixed channels) and Mumble (client) is where gamers of any kind could go. uMurmur can run on a Linux router. There are no paid options Murmur / Mumble are free to self host and use. About [0] Download [1] Builds for Linux, Mac, Windows Pros: - High quality voice, low CPU requirements, low memory footprint. Cons: - No f", "context": "", "use_case": "Self-hosted voice chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord's Fall Would Suck for TTRPGs"}, {"id": 752822001, "item_id": 47051375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47051375", "by": "Bender", "date": "2026-02-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Mumble self hosted servers can also register with a centralized server if the server owner wishes", "excerpt": "It's decentralized but still has central servers that can be overwhelmed? Yes, the self hosted servers register with a centralized server to check for a license and to optionally list that server in the centralized list of public servers. Teamspeak can be hosted for free but has client restrictions that can be overcome with a license. On a related note, Mumble self hosted servers can also register with a centralized ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Rival Gets Overwhelmed by Exodus of Players Fleeing Age-Verification"}, {"id": 751405856, "item_id": 46962866, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46962866", "by": "cbdumas", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "for that Mumble seems perfect", "excerpt": "That may be true but the sense I get from Gen Z folks who I've talked to is that for them Discord is almost more of a social network for interacting with a community. Their activity might be centered around gaming but they're using Discord to find people they don't already know to play with, talk about the game, etc. For those folks, Mumble will not be even close to an alternative to discord. Myself, though, I basica", "context": "gamer who voice chats with childhood gaming friends", "use_case": "Voice chat with gaming friends", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Alternatives, Ranked"}, {"id": 751358448, "item_id": 46959903, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46959903", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Still around and updated. I used it just a couple days ago.", "excerpt": "Mumble is similarly old (3 or 4 years newer), and free software unlike the other two (the trick to longevity). Still around and updated. I used it just a couple days ago.", "context": "", "use_case": "Voice chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Alternatives, Ranked"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 751350482, "item_id": 46959405, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46959405", "by": "hiccuphippo", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "warn", "quote": "They were difficult to maintain since you had to install your own servers.", "excerpt": "A lot of people here don't understand Discord was born as an alternative to Teamspeak, Mumble and Ventrilo, which main purpose is voicechat rooms while playing video games. They were difficult to maintain since you had to install your own servers. Discord swept with them with the ease of setup and generous free tiers. If you don't use it with that purpose, there's tons of alternatives.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Alternatives, Ranked"}]}], "who": [{"by": "cbdumas", "context": "gamer who voice chats with childhood gaming friends", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46962866", "date": "2026-02-10"}, {"by": "iotku", "context": "CS new grad", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45806813", "date": "2025-11-03"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["voice chat", "self-hosted voice chat", "voice chat with gaming friends", "voice chat while gaming"], "compared": [{"slug": "discord", "name": "Discord", "co": 10, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "matrix", "name": "Matrix", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "jitsi", "name": "Jitsi", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46949564", "title": "Discord Alternatives, Ranked", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46945663", "title": "Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50041540", "title": "IRCv3", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48690074", "title": "Murmur: Shared communication bus for your coding agents", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48155163", "title": "Tuwunel \u2013 Matrix Chat and Voice/Video/Screen Conferencing for Groups", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47199757", "title": "Discord's Fall Would Suck for TTRPGs", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"compare": 2, "recommend": 5, "warn": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 800879440, "item_id": 50054965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50054965", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-10-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Mumble and IRC.", "excerpt": "I love Mumble and IRC. You could put a gun to my head and I still wouldn't use Discord. When all these proprietary chats are dead and the kids have moved on to something else, Mumble and IRC will still work. They are eternal. Anything proprietary and centralized can't compete with that. IRC outlived AIM and MSN and so on.", "context": "", "use_case": "voice chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "IRCv3"}, {"id": 779143744, "item_id": 48696484, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48696484", "by": "eqvinox", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Murmur is the name of the Mumble server implementation", "excerpt": "I get that there's only so many good names, but Murmur is the name of the Mumble server implementation [https://www.mumble.info/], which is also communication. That makes this name collision worse than others.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Murmur: Shared communication bus for your coding agents"}, {"id": 770483265, "item_id": 48155204, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48155204", "by": "unethical_ban", "date": "2026-05-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used to like Mumble, but it doesn't have video chat or screenshare and mobile notifications are a bear.", "excerpt": "This is my documentation for setting up a Matrix server for private group-chat use, that also has voice/video/screen-sharing capabilities. I have validated basic use, but have not stress tested it for video/streaming quality compared to Discord. I hope this is useful for those who like the idea of having an alternative place to host communities while maintaining many of the core features of Discord. I used to like Mu", "context": "", "use_case": "voice chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tuwunel \u2013 Matrix Chat and Voice/Video/Screen Conferencing for Groups"}, {"id": 755196960, "item_id": 47199810, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47199810", "by": "Bender", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Murmur / Mumble are free to self host and use.", "excerpt": "But there's nowhere to go... Murmur (server) or uMurmur (lightweight server with admin pre-assigned fixed channels) and Mumble (client) is where gamers of any kind could go. uMurmur can run on a Linux router. There are no paid options Murmur / Mumble are free to self host and use. About [0] Download [1] Builds for Linux, Mac, Windows Pros: - High quality voice, low CPU requirements, low memory footprint. Cons: - No f", "context": "", "use_case": "Self-hosted voice chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord's Fall Would Suck for TTRPGs"}, {"id": 754216547, "item_id": 47138534, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47138534", "by": "zoeysmithe", "date": "2026-02-24", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I'm testing moving my friends and gaming group to self-hosted teamspeak or stout or mumble", "excerpt": "That's fine, if not very good, but the central problem remains (ignoring the capitalist corrupted business culture and its merging with the state behind much of this). We can't centralize our communications without major concessions in significant ways that non-techies seem unaware of until a big news item like this comes out. \"What, they're logging my chats, and IP, voice clips, and now they want my ID for 18+ disco", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord cuts ties with Peter Thiel-backed verification software"}, {"id": 752822001, "item_id": 47051375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47051375", "by": "Bender", "date": "2026-02-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Mumble self hosted servers can also register with a centralized server if the server owner wishes", "excerpt": "It's decentralized but still has central servers that can be overwhelmed? Yes, the self hosted servers register with a centralized server to check for a license and to optionally list that server in the centralized list of public servers. Teamspeak can be hosted for free but has client restrictions that can be overcome with a license. On a related note, Mumble self hosted servers can also register with a centralized ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Rival Gets Overwhelmed by Exodus of Players Fleeing Age-Verification"}, {"id": 751475169, "item_id": 46967198, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46967198", "by": "crabmusket", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Sure, but I think this article makes a good point: there's a demographic that uses voice chat as more of a space, not an event: https://sporks.space/2026/02/10/a-few-design-decisions-for-a-new-chat-platform/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Zulip.com Values"}, {"id": 751405856, "item_id": 46962866, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46962866", "by": "cbdumas", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "for that Mumble seems perfect", "excerpt": "That may be true but the sense I get from Gen Z folks who I've talked to is that for them Discord is almost more of a social network for interacting with a community. Their activity might be centered around gaming but they're using Discord to find people they don't already know to play with, talk about the game, etc. For those folks, Mumble will not be even close to an alternative to discord. Myself, though, I basica", "context": "gamer who voice chats with childhood gaming friends", "use_case": "Voice chat with gaming friends", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Alternatives, Ranked"}, {"id": 751358448, "item_id": 46959903, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46959903", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Still around and updated. I used it just a couple days ago.", "excerpt": "Mumble is similarly old (3 or 4 years newer), and free software unlike the other two (the trick to longevity). Still around and updated. I used it just a couple days ago.", "context": "", "use_case": "Voice chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Alternatives, Ranked"}, {"id": 751355316, "item_id": 46959707, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46959707", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's rock-solid", "excerpt": "This may be a good time to consider whether one program should really be handling all those things, or if it's putting too many eggs in one basket and asking too much of any one program. Discord seems comparable to a Chinese superapp, made to trap its users and become an irreplaceable part of their everyday lives. I think I understand it's hard to give up some of these features once you're used to them, but it seems ", "context": "", "use_case": "Voice chat while gaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Alternatives, Ranked"}, {"id": 751350482, "item_id": 46959405, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46959405", "by": "hiccuphippo", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "warn", "quote": "They were difficult to maintain since you had to install your own servers.", "excerpt": "A lot of people here don't understand Discord was born as an alternative to Teamspeak, Mumble and Ventrilo, which main purpose is voicechat rooms while playing video games. They were difficult to maintain since you had to install your own servers. Discord swept with them with the ease of setup and generous free tiers. If you don't use it with that purpose, there's tons of alternatives.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Alternatives, Ranked"}, {"id": 751328800, "item_id": 46958050, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46958050", "by": "cess11", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That's why you have Mumble.", "excerpt": "That's why you have Mumble. https://www.mumble.info/ Share a meme? Use the channel's DC-hub.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord Alternatives, Ranked"}, {"id": 751270592, "item_id": 46954412, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46954412", "by": "somat", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it is hard to do better than mumble", "excerpt": "Hard to say, I don't really use discord so I think of it as voice chat as a service, and for pure voice chat it is hard to do better than mumble. However from the way people talk about discord, it is also a text chat screen sharing file server. and it is hard to find one product that does all that well. For video, both video chat and screen sharing I have had a lot of success with Galene, it offers text chat and file", "context": "", "use_case": "voice chat", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month"}, {"id": 751133396, "item_id": 46945837, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46945837", "by": "bramhaag", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "compare", "quote": "IRC + Mumble", "excerpt": "What realistic open source alternatives to Discord are there? I'm currently considering moving to one of these with my friend group: - Matrix - Stoat, previously revolt (https://stoat.chat/) - IRC + Mumble - Signal", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month"}, {"id": 732909011, "item_id": 45806813, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45806813", "by": "iotku", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Familiar with dealing with VoIP/messaging platforms such as Discord and Mumble", "excerpt": "Location: Seattle, WA Remote: OK Willing to relocate: Maybe Technologies: Java, Golang, RESTful APIs, Astro, React, Typescript, AWS (EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda), Linux, Bash, Git, Containers R\u00e9sum\u00e9/CV: https://twoku.com/Abrams_Jonathan_Resume.pdf Email: jnthnab@gmail.com I'm CS new grad looking for entry to mid level positions to gain industry experience. Full-stack experience with building backend APIs in Java and Golang,", "context": "CS new grad", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (November 2025)"}]}