- Discord's age verification plans are pushing users to alternative platforms
- Stoat, previously known as Revolt, is having capacity issues coping with an influx of Discord leavers
- Discord is seemingly sticking to its plan to enact global age verification measures in March
Discord hasn't done itself any favors so far this year, with plans to implement age verification measures globally on the platform in March, following the introduction of the policy for UK users due to the Online Safety Act. Those changes are still weeks away, but the impact is already clear.
As reported by Destructoid, an alternative Discord platform, Stoat, is facing capacity issues due to a large number of Discord users leaving the service to avoid these age verification plans.
Stoat's status page indicates that performance on the social platform has gone downhill, with a note stating that: "There's simply too many people, but we're trying our best."
It's worth noting that Stoat was previously named Revolt, but rebranded in 2025, keeping the same team and maintaining the app's interface.
Fortunately for those flocking to Stoat, the interface resembles Discord's, but with the benefit of free themes and customization (whereas with Discord, this is locked behind the Nitro subscription paywall).
The battle for Discord deserters
While servers and voice chats are available on Stoat, there are no screen sharing options, which might be deal-breaker for many (I know it is for me).
That hasn't stopped a flood of people from joining the platform, though, and since Discord is showing no signs of reversing its ID verification plans, we'll likely see more defectors heading to various alternative services (such such as Root).
It's likely there'll be quite the battle to grab the attention of those who are fleeing from Discord.
While ID verification isn't compulsory, those who don't undergo the process will have 'teen-by-default' settings, which limits quite a number of facets of the Discord experience, and is far from ideal.
The other part of the controversy here, of course, is Discord's data breach in 2025. That has left some people understandably skeptical, with trust issues around handing over personal data, with many seemingly unwilling to take that chance.
The question is: at what point might the numbers of exiting members cause Discord to rethink its current stance on ID verification?
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