Telegram vs Discord: The Great Web3 Community Debate

Imagine this scenario: You’re about to launch a new web3 project, and the big question pops up – Discord or Telegram for your community? On one side, Discord boasts feature-rich servers and has been the default for many crypto and NFT projects recently. On the other, Telegram offers simplicity and the familiarity of a classic chat app. Ask around and you’ll hear strong opinions (and a fair bit of bias) on both sides. Lately, we've been hearing a lot of people asking for our bot on telegram. So we decide to do some investigation and see if the data aligns with what we believe, which is that most long term projects choose Discord over Telegram

Discord Still Reigns Supreme in Web3 Projects

When it comes to sheer adoption among web3 projects, Discord holds the crown. In a quick analysis of the top 100 crypto projects currently actively doing campaigns on Galxe, we found that about 74% of them maintain an active Discord server, while only 63% have an official Telegram channel. The vast majority of notable AI projects, DAO communities, and game projects rally their members on Discord. It’s not just anecdotal. In fact, 32 of the 38 largest DAO communities (by market cap) are hosted on Discord, underscoring how entrenched Discord is for serious, structured communities.

Why this dominance? Discord’s design helps. Servers can be organized into multiple channels by topic, letting conversations breathe without stepping on each other. You can keep #announcements separate from #general chat, #support, #dev-chat, #memes, and so on – a blessing for anyone who's tried to follow a busy single-thread Telegram group. Members can find what they’re looking for and stick around to engage. From my experience, Discord communities feel like bustling conventions with many rooms, whereas Telegram groups often feel like everyone shouting in one crowded hall.

Telegram’s Stronghold: Eastern Europe (and a Bit of China)

If Discord is king overall, Telegram is the local warlord in certain regions. Nowhere is this more true than in Eastern Europe. Look at the top 100 most engaged Telegram crypto communities (bt messages) – nearly 98% of them are Russian-language groups, with the remaining few in Chinese. Telegram’s crypto heartland is firmly rooted in Russia and its neighboring countries. This isn’t too surprising; Telegram has long been popular there, and many Eastern European crypto users never migrated to Discord en masse. If your target community speaks Russian, Telegram might be where they’re already at.

Elsewhere, Telegram’s prominence is spottier. Yes, many big crypto companies (especially the major exchanges such as Binance and OKX) still maintain Telegram channels, some boasting hundreds of thousands of members. But scratch the surface, and these aren’t exactly vibrant discussion hubs (more on this later). Outside of those legacy uses, you’ll find that most new Western web3 projects default to Discord. For example, the typical NFT collector or DeFi enthusiast in North America is inundated with Discord invites, not Telegram links.

One emerging trend worth noting: interest in Telegram is bubbling up in some South American projects. I’ve noticed developers in Latin America debating whether to host their community on Telegram, possibly because WhatsApp is extremely popular there and Telegram feels like a familiar cousin. In regions where WhatsApp is king for group chats, Discord’s multi-channel complexity can be a barrier. So a few South American web3 teams figure: why not meet users where they’re comfortable, with a Telegram group? It’s an intriguing regional quirk, but so far it’s more the exception than the rule in the web3 world.

Why Would Anyone Prefer Telegram?

Given Discord’s rich feature set, why do some projects (or users) still swear by Telegram? It boils down to a few key reasons:

• Simplicity for non-techies: Telegram is one big group text. A lot of folks find that far less intimidating than Discord’s maze of channels and threads. I’ve heard the complaint more than once: “Discord is too complicated – I just want a simple chat!” Telegram provides exactly that.
• Low-friction onboarding: Clicking a Telegram invite link and instantly joining a chat is painless. By contrast, joining a Discord server can feel like an initiation ritual – finding the right link, reading rules, solving captchas or clicking emoji to verify, and then figuring out where to type. For a newbie who just wants to ask a quick question about your token, Discord might be overkill.
• Familiar vibes in WhatsApp cultures: In places like South America (or parts of Asia and Africa) where WhatsApp dominates group communication, Telegram’s interface feels familiar and comfortable. It’s a similar mobile-friendly chat experience. Discord, born from the PC gaming world, can look like alien technology to someone who isn’t already part of that culture. Choosing Telegram can be a way to lower the learning curve for these audiences.
• Crypto OG status: Let’s not forget that back in the 2017 ICO boom, Telegram was the platform for crypto communities. Many early crypto adopters have nostalgia for those wild west days of Telegram groups shilling the next big token. There’s a bit of a “Telegram is where crypto belongs” sentiment out there. This is possibly one of the reasons memecoin is so popular on Telegram. Some folks stick with it out of habit or principle – a kind of loyalty to the OG crypto chat platform.

These factors can make Telegram appealing at first glance, especially for newcomers. But as we’ll see next, initial ease doesn’t always translate into sustained engagement.

Engagement: Discord’s Buzz vs. Telegram’s Silence

Here’s where our bias comes out swinging: community engagement is almost always higher on Discord. The numbers back this up. In the most active Discord communities, it’s not unusual to see around 100 messages per member per month. Most comparable active Telegram groups struggle to hit even 40 messages per member per month. That’s less than half the engagement, by the simplest measure of activity. When comparing the data on average Discord usage versus average Telegram usage, Discord has 12 messages per member per month, which is 2 times higher than the 5 messages per member per month for Telegram.

Part of the reason is structural. On Discord, conversations are neatly organized and easy to follow, which encourages people to chime in. Telegram’s single chaotic chat feed, on the other hand, often turns active discussion into a mess – messages fly by, important questions get buried, and off-topic spam can take over. Many users end up just lurking because it’s too noisy or overwhelming to bother jumping in (especially once a group grows beyond a few hundred members).

In fact, a lot of Telegram groups don’t remain “groups” at all over time – they become one-way broadcast channels. We found that about 77% of the most active Telegram communities eventually switch to read-only mode, where only admins can post updates. Essentially, they turn into announcement feeds. That says a lot: when a community “peaks” on Telegram, the endgame is often shutting down the public chatter and just pushing updates. It’s basically saying, “We can’t moderate or sustain a healthy discussion here, so we’ll do all the talking and you just listen.”

Discord communities, in contrast, are built for conversation and tend to have better odds of sustaining it. Sure, Discord isn’t perfect – plenty of servers also go quiet or get abandoned. But at least Discord gives you the tools to avoid that fate. With roles, moderation bots, topic channels, and events, projects that truly care can keep engagement alive and kicking much longer.

By our estimation, roughly 16% of all web3 projects actively invest in their Discord community long-term – meaning they continue to put in effort with dedicated moderators, regular announcements, AMAs and events even after the hype dies down. That may not sound like a huge share, but it’s far better than what happens on Telegram, where almost every project’s group eventually withers away or gets locked down into read-only mode. The difference is that on Discord, there’s at least a fighting chance your community stays interactive over the long run.

The Crypto Exchange Groups: Telegram’s Last Stand

To every rule, there are exceptions. In the crypto world, one big exception to Telegram is exchange communities. Almost all the major exchanges – Binance, OKX, Kraken, and so on – have official Telegram groups or channels. In fact, these might be some of the largest Telegram communities that are actually legitimate. Binance’s main Telegram has hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Once Binance went that route, others felt they had to follow suit or risk looking absent where a lot of users expected them.

That said, these exchange groups are a different beast. They’re typically used as customer update channels more than discussion forums. Admins push out notices about maintenance, new listings, airdrops, or promotions. If they allow open chat at all, it’s usually flooded with support pleas – which are promptly answered with something like, “Please visit our support website for assistance.” (Seriously, even though exchanges run Telegram chats, they almost always redirect users to official support portals for actual help.) So while the member counts are impressive, the quality of engagement is not. Think of these groups as living bulletin boards or loudspeakers, not town squares.

Telegram as the Crypto Announcement Board (and Cloud Drive?)

Beyond the projects and companies themselves, it’s worth noting how actual users tend to leverage Telegram. In many cases, Telegram is treated less like a community hub and more like a news feed. Crypto enthusiasts will join a bunch of Telegram channels to get the latest token sale announcements, airdrop alerts, or trading signals. It’s basically an RSS feed with a chat interface. They’re not there to converse with fellow community members; they’re there to monitor information. This is extremely common: people lurk in dozens of channels to stay on top of “alpha” (insider info), but when they actually want to discuss those tidbits or ask questions, the conversation usually moves to Twitter or Discord. In other words, Telegram often tells you what’s new, but the talk about it happens elsewhere.

Outside of these crypto-specific uses, Telegram has some quirky use cases too – particularly in North America. A lot of folks in the US and Canada barely know anyone else on Telegram (most of their friends are on iMessage, SMS, or WhatsApp), so they repurpose Telegram for other personal needs. One popular trick is using Telegram as a personal cloud drive via the “Saved Messages” chat. Since Telegram allows up to 2GB per file and stores things indefinitely, you can literally upload huge files or notes to yourself and access them from any device later (think anime, movies etc). I know people who back up photos or send themselves documents this way. It’s a far cry from community-building, but it’s a nifty perk that keeps some of us using the app even if we’re not chatting in groups. Realistically, though, in North America, Telegram isn’t a social destination for most – it’s a tool. Meanwhile, Discord is a very social destination; people hop on Discord specifically to engage with communities (crypto, gaming, or otherwise). That difference in how users approach the platforms speaks volumes.

Conclusion: Choose the Tool That Fits (But Discord Has the Edge)

Despite occasional buzz that “Telegram is making a comeback,” the reality is that Discord remains the go-to platform for vibrant web3 communities. The data backs this up: more projects use Discord, more actual conversation happens on Discord, and communities tend to last longer on Discord. Telegram, while certainly still in play, serves a more limited role – it’s great for broadcasting updates or catering to specific audiences (like Russian-speaking users or WhatsApp die-hards), but it rarely delivers the same depth of community engagement.

Now, to be fair, Telegram absolutely has its place: if you want a no-frills announcement channel, or if a chunk of your user base will not use anything but Telegram, then by all means use it. Some projects do succeed with Telegram-centric communities, especially if they keep those groups small and focused. And it’s always wise to maintain at least a presence on Telegram for the segment of users who prefer it – even if it’s just mirroring your Discord announcements.

However, if you’re aiming to cultivate an active, engaged community around your web3 project, I’ll argue that Discord is a better bet nearly every time. The flexibility, the management tools, and the culture of engagement on Discord are just hard to beat. By contrast, most Telegram groups in this space either devolve into read-only news channels or fade into oblivion. Discord servers – at least the well-run ones – feel alive with debates, memes, user support, and genuine camaraderie.

In the end, the Discord vs. Telegram question isn’t about declaring one platform universally better; it’s about choosing what fits your community’s needs. That said, be aware of the trends: right now, the heart of web3 community action still beats on Discord. Telegram might be the lungs – keeping everyone informed with updates – but Discord is the chatty, beating heart.