Recs.
Updated
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Bots integration
You can use bots to control your server like welcome message, banned words, when your Twitch account goes online and many others.
Pro Does not cost money
Discord is provided at no cost, with no limit on how many channels a user can create. This makes for a good way to continue gaming with your friends without paying anything extra.
Pro Simple UI
The interface is very easy to follow - you have three sections. On the left are the channels for your server, which you can quickly and easily switch between. The large section in the middle is the main chat area, where each message has the person's username, avatar (or image), and timestamp. On the right is a list of all the people in the chat, where it also ways what games each person is playing (if applicable and set up by the user).
Pro Friendly payment policy
Free account have no tangible restrictions.
Premium account is just a way to say "thank you" to developers. And it work for all servers of discord (not as in slack). And it can be purchased by one who wants. In contrast to Slask, where all active members of the server should be "premium".
Cons
Con Non-free / Libre
You cannot audit, modify, or redistribute Discord. The source code is secret, you have no way of knowing what it does with your data, and if the Discord company ever dies, there is no way to continue using the application.
Con No dedicated servers
You are sharing server bandwidth with every other discord user. Meaning if you are using discord and need voice coms for say example your guild is raiding something, and every other discord user on the planet decides to log on YOUR guilds raid is going to suffer because you don't have dedicated bandwith discords overall performance will suffer immensely.
Con Developer's previous company was sued for privacy violations, among other things
See:
http://classactionlawsuitsinthenews.com/class-action-lawsuit-complaints/openfeint-green-international-privacy-class-action-lawsuit-complaint/
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/closing-letters/openfeint-inc
Discord's privacy policy also states that while they might not sell your data, a company they get sold to will quite possibly attain said data and thus may be in "more" shady hands.
Con Servers only in select regions
Servers are currently only available in the US, Europe, Singapore, Brazil, Russia, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. This can mean poor latency for users located elsewhere.
Con Push-to-talk only works in Desktop Client
If you favor using Discord in browser, push-to-talk is not available. Push-to-talk is great because it prevents accidental sounds that can be distracting to other chatters.
Con Focused on streamers and not communities
Discord focuses on streamers and not the communities, many implementations over the last year have been geared towards streamers and future updates they promise continue to be geared towards streamers.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Pro Numerous controls for setting member roles.
Deny access, Deny write message, Allow read messages etc.
Con Browser voice chat is buggy
Bugs such as not being able to hear the other person (or them you).
Con Proprietary software
Discord is closed-source, meaning their code isn't available for inspection or reproduction.
Con Possible fishing issue
Discord does not own Discord.com, meaning it would be incredibly easy to set up a fishing website and steal information from unsuspecting gamers.
Con No positional audio
Positional audio means that different players/users sound like coming from different positions, sometimes even related to their actual position in the game. This helps especially for voice chats with more than 2 people.
Con Voice delay
Once you speak into your mic, there is a short delay and then you and your friends hear your voice again.
Con Possible financial scam
The owner and CEO of Discord Jason Citron has secured nearly 20 million in investment funds for Discord. Discord is something that is free it is not a money making machine. Currently the only way Discord is staying afloat is by continually securing new investor funds. Jason Citrons track record shows a pattern of starting a business attracting large investors then walking away with the company bankrupt or sold and his pockets filled. 20 million dollars would have produced a product light-years better than discord, something fishy is going on.