discord.js vs telegraf
Bot Development Libraries Comparison
1 Year
discord.jstelegraf
What's Bot Development Libraries?

Bot development libraries provide developers with the tools and abstractions necessary to create bots for various messaging platforms. These libraries simplify the process of interacting with APIs, handling events, and managing user interactions, allowing developers to focus on building features rather than dealing with the intricacies of the underlying protocols. Discord.js is specifically tailored for building bots on Discord, offering extensive features for managing servers, channels, and user interactions. Telegraf, on the other hand, is designed for Telegram bots, providing a straightforward API to manage updates, commands, and middleware, making it easy to create rich bot experiences on Telegram.

Package Weekly Downloads Trend
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Stat Detail
Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
Issues
Publish
License
discord.js264,25325,8201.96 MB1112 months agoApache-2.0
telegraf83,3418,638689 kB73a year agoMIT
Feature Comparison: discord.js vs telegraf

Platform Specificity

  • discord.js:

    Discord.js is built exclusively for the Discord platform, providing specialized features such as voice support, guild management, and user presence tracking. This specificity allows developers to leverage Discord's unique capabilities fully, making it ideal for creating engaging and interactive bots tailored to Discord's user experience.

  • telegraf:

    Telegraf is specifically designed for Telegram, allowing developers to utilize Telegram's unique features like inline queries, custom keyboards, and callback queries. This focus on Telegram ensures that developers can create bots that fully exploit the platform's capabilities, providing a seamless user experience.

Ease of Use

  • discord.js:

    Discord.js offers a rich set of abstractions that simplify the interaction with Discord's API. Its extensive documentation and active community support make it relatively easy to get started, even for developers who are new to bot development. The library provides a clear structure for handling events and commands, which aids in rapid development.

  • telegraf:

    Telegraf is known for its simplicity and ease of use. It employs a middleware pattern that allows developers to handle updates in a straightforward manner. The library's minimalistic design and clear documentation make it accessible for beginners, enabling quick prototyping and development of Telegram bots.

Community and Support

  • discord.js:

    Discord.js has a large and active community, which translates into extensive resources, tutorials, and plugins available for developers. This community support is invaluable for troubleshooting and finding best practices, making it easier for developers to build robust bots.

  • telegraf:

    Telegraf also has a supportive community, although it may not be as large as that of Discord.js. It provides good documentation and community-driven examples, helping developers to overcome challenges and learn best practices for building Telegram bots.

Performance

  • discord.js:

    Discord.js is optimized for performance, handling a large number of events and interactions efficiently. However, developers must be mindful of rate limits imposed by Discord's API to avoid throttling. The library provides tools to manage these limits effectively, ensuring smooth bot operation even under heavy load.

  • telegraf:

    Telegraf is designed to handle updates efficiently, utilizing a lightweight middleware approach that minimizes overhead. This design allows for quick response times and efficient handling of multiple commands and interactions, making it suitable for high-traffic Telegram bots.

Extensibility

  • discord.js:

    Discord.js is highly extensible, allowing developers to create custom modules and integrate third-party libraries seamlessly. This flexibility enables the addition of unique features and functionalities tailored to specific bot requirements, enhancing the overall user experience.

  • telegraf:

    Telegraf supports a modular architecture, allowing developers to create middleware for handling specific tasks or functionalities. This extensibility makes it easy to integrate additional features and customize the bot's behavior according to the project's needs.

How to Choose: discord.js vs telegraf
  • discord.js:

    Choose Discord.js if you are developing a bot specifically for the Discord platform. It provides comprehensive features for managing Discord's unique functionalities, such as voice channels, server management, and rich interactions with users. It is well-suited for projects that require deep integration with Discord's ecosystem.

  • telegraf:

    Choose Telegraf if you are building a bot for Telegram. Telegraf offers a simple and intuitive API that allows you to handle updates and commands easily. It is particularly beneficial for projects that require quick development and deployment of Telegram bots, leveraging Telegram's unique features like inline queries and custom keyboards.

README for discord.js

discord.js


Discord server npm version npm downloads Tests status Last commit. Code coverage

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About

discord.js is a powerful Node.js module that allows you to easily interact with the Discord API.

  • Object-oriented
  • Predictable abstractions
  • Performant
  • 100% coverage of the Discord API

Installation

Node.js 18 or newer is required.

npm install discord.js
yarn add discord.js
pnpm add discord.js
bun add discord.js

Optional packages

  • zlib-sync for WebSocket data compression and inflation (npm install zlib-sync)
  • bufferutil for a much faster WebSocket connection (npm install bufferutil)
  • @discordjs/voice for interacting with the Discord Voice API (npm install @discordjs/voice)

Example usage

Install discord.js:

npm install discord.js
yarn add discord.js
pnpm add discord.js
bun add discord.js

Register a slash command against the Discord API:

import { REST, Routes } from 'discord.js';

const commands = [
  {
    name: 'ping',
    description: 'Replies with Pong!',
  },
];

const rest = new REST({ version: '10' }).setToken(TOKEN);

try {
  console.log('Started refreshing application (/) commands.');

  await rest.put(Routes.applicationCommands(CLIENT_ID), { body: commands });

  console.log('Successfully reloaded application (/) commands.');
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}

Afterwards we can create a quite simple example bot:

import { Client, GatewayIntentBits } from 'discord.js';
const client = new Client({ intents: [GatewayIntentBits.Guilds] });

client.on('ready', () => {
  console.log(`Logged in as ${client.user.tag}!`);
});

client.on('interactionCreate', async interaction => {
  if (!interaction.isChatInputCommand()) return;

  if (interaction.commandName === 'ping') {
    await interaction.reply('Pong!');
  }
});

client.login(TOKEN);

Links

Extensions

Contributing

Before creating an issue, please ensure that it hasn't already been reported/suggested, and double-check the documentation.
See the contribution guide if you'd like to submit a PR.

Help

If you don't understand something in the documentation, you are experiencing problems, or you just need a gentle nudge in the right direction, please don't hesitate to join our official discord.js Server.