What is Discord Nitro, and should you get it?

It seems like just about everything has a subscription option these days, and if you’re here, it’s because you noticed that Discord does too. So what is Discord Nitro? What upgrades do you get to the online chat platform if you sign up for a Nitro plan? And more importantly — is it worth your hard-earned cash?

What is Discord Nitro?

Discord Nitro is an optional subscription upgrade, meant to allow more personalization of Discord and expand key features. There are two tiers, Nitro and Nitro Basic. Both are available in a number of regions, including the US, UK, Canada, Brazil, Japan, continental Europe, and elsewhere.

Here’s how much subscriptions cost in the US:

• Nitro: $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year
• Nitro Basic: $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year

Just to emphasize the point, you don’t need a Nitro subscription to use Discord. You can join Discord servers for free, and all of its most popular features will work without spending a dime. You can even create a server under the same terms.

What do you get with Discord Nitro?

There’s a shared theme between Nitro plans, but as you’ll notice, the vast majority of perks are reserved for a full-price subscription.

Nitro

• Custom/animated emoji from any servers you belong to
• Custom stickers from an servers you belong to
• Custom soundboards from any server you’re in (where you’re allowed to use them)
• Color themes for the Discord app
• Super Reactions (5 per week)
• Large file sharing sizes, up to 500MB per file
• HD video streaming quality (up to 4K and 60fps)
• 2 free Server Boosts, plus a 30% discount when buying more Boosts
• An enhanced profile including a theme, banner image, and animated avatar
• Custom profile details for each server
• Custom video backgrounds
• Longer message limits, up to 4,000 characters
• A higher cap for joinable servers, up to 200

Nitro Basic

• Custom/animated emoji from any servers you belong to
• Custom stickers from an servers you belong to
• Super Reactions (2 per week)
• Large file sharing sizes, up to 50MB per file
• Custom video backgrounds

Is Discord Nitro worth it?

For the average Discord user, probably not. Text and voice chat works just fine without Nitro, and most people don’t need HD video streaming or larger file uploads, much less cosmetic perks or the ability to join up to 200 servers. Many people stick to a handful servers, or even just one, since the original point of Discord was letting friends chat and coordinate for gaming. Even if you’re not a gamer you may be on the service to talk about a single topic, whether it’s something like e-bikes, school, politics, or existentialism.

That said, if you spend many hours in Discord every month, it starts to make sense. It’s going to make the experience feel a lot more personal, and in some cases more useful, especially if you exchange filez (with a Z) or use it in a professional capacity. Some podcasts for instance will offer Discord server access to Patreon supporters only — if you’re a host, it’s better to stand out from your guests, and they’ll appreciate HD video when comes into play.

Nitro Basic may actually be the toughest sell. Yes, it’s a lot cheaper than the standard Nitro plan, but it’s purely cosmetic apart from its 50MB file sharing limit, and even that’s not especially generous. It might be most appealing to teenagers, who tend to be more concerned about social status — and $29.99 per year is a lot easier to stomach for them or their parents.

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