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Should I Use Mumble?

mumble.info·Analyzed 15 hours ago··Based on 15 sources

Mumble is a free, open source, low latency, high quality voice chat application.

Depends

Depends

Choose it if you want free, low-latency voice you can self-host and someone technical can run the server.

Free, fast, self-hosted voice chat — great for techies, clunky for everyone else. Discord refugees, look elsewhere.

Confidence: Medium

4.7/5

SourceForge rating

169 reviews

Free

Price

Client and server

Yes

Free tier

Entire product is free

~20ms

Typical latency

vs Discord and TeamSpeak

Value for money5

Completely free, open source

Ease of use2

Users call it complex, not user friendly

Feature depth3

Voice-first; no video, chat, screenshare

Security posture3

Open source; past RCE and DoS CVEs, patched

Pros

  • Completely free and open source, client and server¹
  • Low latency voice (~20ms) beats rivals³
  • Lightweight with great audio codecs⁹
  • Self-hostable with cloud install guides12
  • Loyal users; some report 15+ years of use

Cons

  • Users call it complex and not user friendly⁸
  • Voice only: no video, text chat, or screen share³
  • Requires running a server or paying a third-party host14
  • Mobile relies on third-party clients like Mumla15

Gotchas

  • highSelf-hosters must track updates themselves; unpatched versions had RCE risk⁴
  • mediumNo official hosting; third-party servers run from ~$3/month13
  • mediumEncryption is client-to-server, not end-to-end; server admins can listen⁷
  • lowConvincing friends off Discord is a known, recurring struggle11

Best for

  • Self-hosters and privacy fans
  • Competitive gamers needing low latency
  • Linux and open-source communities
  • Voice-only comms with a technical admin

Not for

  • Anyone wanting Discord-style chat, video, and screenshare
  • Non-technical groups with nobody to run a server
  • Businesses needing support SLAs or vendor accountability
  • Casual friend groups — setup friction kills adoption

Pricing

Open source software

$0

  • Client and server free
  • Self-host, no license fees

Security

Open source with a published security policy; two notable CVEs exist, both fixed in later releases.

  • CVE-2021-27229Remote code execution in Mumble before 1.3.4.⁴
  • CVE-2025-71264Denial of service vulnerability, fixed in Mumble 1.6.870; rated medium severity.⁵

What users say

Long-time users praise audio quality and low latency but consistently warn the setup and interface are not beginner-friendly.

“Mumble does everything it does very well”
— Reddit, r/linux_gaming
“Mumble is not user friendly, it is complex”
— Reddit, r/truetf2
“Mumble has great codecs, is lightweight”
— Reddit, r/pcgaming

Alternatives

Compare Mumble with each alternative.

Discord

Free all-in-one voice, video, chat; far easier for groups

Hosted Mumble (e.g. EvlBox)

Pay ~$3/month, skip server admin entirely

Full analysis

Based on ~15 relevant public sources; unrelated products sharing the Mumble name were excluded.

Sources

  1. Mumble official sitemumble.info
    official
  2. Mumble Reviews — SourceForgesourceforge.net
    review
  3. Discord vs TeamSpeak vs Mumble [2026]: 20ms Winstech-insider.org
    news
  4. CVE-2021-27229 Detail — NIST NVDnvd.nist.gov
    security
  5. CVE-2025-71264: Mumble DoS Vulnerabilitysentinelone.com
    security
  6. Mumble Security Policymumble.info
    security
  7. Is Mumble encryption end to end? — Security StackExchangesecurity.stackexchange.com
    security
  8. Why is everyone so obsessed with using Mumble? — Redditreddit.com
    review
  9. Teamspeak or Mumble, which do you prefer? — Redditreddit.com
    review
  10. Can we all agree that Mumble should be our VoIP of choice — Redditreddit.com
    review
  11. How can I convince my friends to use Mumble? — Redditreddit.com
    review
  12. How to Install Mumble on a Gandi Cloud Serverdocs.gandi.net
    official
  13. Mumble Server Hosting — EvlBoxevlbox.com
    official
  14. CrewTalk vs Mumblecrewtalk.app
    review
  15. Mumla — Mumble VoIP on Google Playplay.google.com
    official

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