Switching from Discord

Rainlit works a lot like Discord: friends and DMs, group chats, and spaces (Rainlit's servers) with text and voice channels. Here's what's the same, what's different, what isn't here yet, and how to bring your community over.

What works the same

Friends and DMs, by username, and group chats of up to 10 friends with a call of their own.
Spaces, like servers: text and voice channels, roles and permissions, private, read-only and 18+ channels, and invite links.
Messages: replies, reactions, @mentions (and @everyone), editing and deleting, GIFs, files, and link previews (X posts, YouTube, TikTok and more).
Custom emoji: each space adds its own, and its members use them anywhere they chat.
Voice channels with screen sharing (and its sound), cameras, push to talk, noise suppression and echo cancelling.
A soundboard in calls and voice channels: Rainlit's own sounds, and each space's own, which its members can play in any call.
Moderation: timeouts, kicks and bans, clearing someone's messages, reports that reach whoever runs the server, and a log of what the space's moderators have done.
Apps: the website, a Windows app, and an Android app.

What's different

Calls and voice

Calls between two friends go straight between your devices when they can, with screen sharing at up to 1080p and 60 frames a second, free. (On Discord, that takes Nitro.)
Voice channels are end-to-end encrypted: the service that passes the sound and video along can't listen.
A call keeps going while Rainlit's being updated, and while your phone's asleep.
The Windows app shares a game's window smoothly, with just that game's sound, and its push to talk works while you're in the game.

Your stuff

No ads, no trackers, and what you share is never sold or used to train AI.
Hidden details, like where a photo was taken, are taken out of the photos, videos and songs you upload.
Files up to 50 MB, free (Discord's free limit is 10 MB), and profile pictures that aren't squashed.
A conversation can have saving off: its messages aren't kept, and only reach your friend while they have Rainlit open.

More of you

A homepage of your own, like the old web: a page to decorate with pictures, stickers, music, a guestbook, an "ask me anything" box, buttons to your friends' pages and shelves of your favourites, instead of a small profile card.
Notes: a conversation with yourself, on all your devices (Discord doesn't let you message yourself).

Yours to run

Rainlit is free software. Anyone can run their own Rainlit server for their community, as one small program, and invite people to it. See its code.

What isn't here yet

Rainlit is young, and some of Discord's features haven't been made yet:

Pinned messages, threads and forum channels
Polls, events and stickers in chat
Text formatting (bold, code blocks, spoilers), slow mode, and channel categories
Bots, and a way to find public servers
An iPhone app. On an iPhone, use the website: it can go on your home screen, like an app.

Bringing your community over

Make a template in Discord. In your server's settings, open Server Template, make one (or sync it, if you already have one), and copy its link. It looks like discord.new/…. (You need to be allowed to manage the server.)
Bring it over. In Rainlit, press + on the left (Create or join a space), and paste the link under Bring one over from Discord. Rainlit shows you what it'll make, then makes it.
Check what came along. Text and voice channels (announcement, forum and media channels become text channels, and stage channels voice channels), roles with their colours and permissions, and which channels are private, read-only or age-restricted (18+ here). Messages, members, categories, emoji, sounds and bots don't come along: Discord's templates don't include them.
Add your emoji and sounds again, in Space settings › Emoji and Soundboard.
Invite everyone. Open your space's menu (its name, at the top), choose Invite people, and post the link in your Discord server.

You don't have to leave all at once: plenty of people keep both for a while.

Questions

Is it free?

Yes. rainlit.app is run by one person, so it has limits that keep it affordable: 50 MB a file, and 1.5 GB for everything each person's sent. People with Glow ($5 a month, how you support Rainlit) help pay for it, and get more room, bigger files, sharper streams, themes and a badge; everything else stays free for everyone. (A Rainlit server someone else runs sets its own limits.)

Can I use it on my phone?

Yes: there's an Android app, and on an iPhone, the website. See the downloads.

Is my stuff private?

The privacy policy says what Rainlit keeps, why, and for how long, in plain words.

Do my friends need to be on Rainlit too?

Yes, to talk with you there: Rainlit and Discord don't connect to each other.

Open Rainlit · Downloads · Privacy policy · Terms of service