Discord is without a doubt one of the most popular apps out there today, but did you also know that the service offers two paid tiers? With Discord Nitro or Discord Nitro Classic, you can have a lot of perks and benefits compared to a free account, but how exactly do these two different subscriptions stack up? What exactly are the differences between Discord Nitro and Nitro Classic, and is the $5 difference really worth it for you? Let’s check out a full comparison between both below.

What is the meaning of Discord Nitro?

If it’s the first time you’re hearing the word Nitro, you’ll probably see it thrown around rather frequently if you’ll use Discord often. Nitro is basically the paid version of Discord, although the app will most definitely remain free to use for everyone else. Those who wish to support the developers and gain little extra bragging rights and features on the app can do so via paid subscriptions.

How much does Discord Nitro cost?

You can get either the Discord Nitro Classic subscription at $5 per month (or equivalent in your region) or the regular Discord Nitro subscription at $10 per month. You can save a fair bit of money if you pick a yearly subscription, shaving two months off the price. A year of Nitro Classic will cost you $49.99, while the normal Nitro version will cost a penny shy of a hundred dollars a year. That’s right – the Classic version is only half price, so let’s check out some of the other differences between Discord Nitro and Nitro Classic.

The differences between Discord Nitro and Nitro Classic

Let’s get to the fun part! Why are there two separate subscriptions for Discord and what exactly are the differences between them? Before we see how these two differ in perks and such, let’s take a look at some of the things they have in common.

Of course, with a Nitro or Nitro Classic subscription, you’ll still be able to do all of the things you could do as a regular, free, Discord user. If you spend some money, however, whether you chose Nitro or Nitro Classic, these are the extra perks and benefits you can expect.

For starters, there are a lot more possibilities for emojis across all your Discord servers. With Nitro or Classic, your server-specific emojis can be stored in your library, meaning that you can use them in whatever service you like, or in private messages.

Does your gaming server have a sweet emoji you’d like to use somewhere else? Now you can.

Bragging rights is another very cool feature, of course. With one of the paid subscriptions, you’ll be able to choose your own custom Discord tag. That random four-digit number after the hashtag in usernames? Now, you can pick whatever you want – granted that the combination hasn’t been taken by someone else, of course.

You can also now use an animated GIF image as your avatar, that’ll definitely make you stand out from the crowd.

Your profile will also have a Discord Nitro icon or badge, so people can see that you’re a Nitro user.

Nitro vs Nitro Classic

This is where the differences really start to shine.

The quality of screen sharing and live streaming will also increase significantly. Free Discord users are able to do this at a resolution of 720p and a framerate of 30 fps, but Nitro or Nitro Classic upgrades that.

With the cheaper Classic tier, you’ll be able to screen share at 1080p and 30 fps, and your live streams will be in Full HD at a maximum of 60 fps. Sixty frames per second will look a lot smoother. With the more expensive Nitro tier, you can even stream at native source quality – if you’re gaming in 4K, by all means, you can live stream in full 4K quality.

You can also upload files on Discord, and there’s another small difference between the two subscriptions here. Free users are allowed to upload 8 MB files, Classic users get a respectable bump up to 50 MB, while Nitro subscribers can add files up to a hundred megabytes.

What are Discord Server Boosts?

However, the main difference between Discord Nitro Classic and Nitro is the fact that you’ll receive two server boosts every month when you’re a Nitro subscriber. These server boosts are also available on their own and cost $4.99 each. If you would buy two server boosts every month, you might as well just get the Nitro subscription and get them included.

With a server boost, you can give a server of your choosing (or your own server, of course) some extra perks and benefits. You can upgrade a Discord server to Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3. Upgrading to the first level will cost 2 boosts, the second level will cost 15 boosts in total and the third and final server level 3 will require spending of 30 Boosts.

When a server is upgraded, there are a plethora of benefits for whoever is on that server. For starters, the admins will be able to pick a custom banner and also a custom URL link. More emoji slots will also be available depending on the Server Level you’re in, upload file limits are increased, and the video quality for live streams will also go up considerably. Perhaps the most important benefit of all: servers that have been leveled up will also have better audio quality.

Want more server boosts? Both Nitro and Classic users are able to purchase boosts with a discount of 30%.

Does Discord Nitro have better audio quality?

Discord Nitro (or Nitro Classic) does not bring better audio quality, but you can use Server Boosts to upgrade a server and increase the audio quality of voice channels for everyone.

Is the difference between Nitro Classic and Nitro worth it?

Well, it really depends. If you’re having troubles with file limits or if you’d like to live stream in the absolute best possible quality (higher than 1080p), then by all means, go with the more expensive Nitro subscription. It is also a no-brainer if you plan to support your own server or a server of your choosing with server boosts to upgrade it, as there are two server boosts included in the $10 Nitro package.

If you’re not planning on supporting any servers and you don’t really care about the added quality of live streaming, the Classic version will definitely suffice. Of course, if you only use Discord occasionally or just to chat with your friends, it might be a good idea to ask yourself whether any of the two subscriptions are worth it at all since the free version works completely fine as well.

P.S: Do you know why Discord is actually called Discord? Find out over here!