Krisp in Discord: How to Turn It On and What It Does

Krisp inside Discord is Discord's built-in noise suppression, made by Krisp, and it is free when you use it with Discord. You switch it on by choosing Krisp under Noise Suppression, either from the icon in a voice channel or in Discord's User Settings. No Krisp app, account or trial is involved. It runs on your own device, on Windows, Mac (Apple processor, macOS 12 or later), Linux, Android and iOS, and in Chrome and Firefox on the desktop. The limits matter more. It cleans only your own microphone, with no meeting notes, no accent conversion and nothing for the noise in a friend's room. Those jobs belong to the paid Krisp app, where paid plans start at $8 per user per month billed annually (Core).

What Discord's Krisp is, before you touch a setting

Discord describes Krisp as third-party machine-learning noise filtration that runs on your device ^[1]. Discord also says it passes no information or data to Krisp when you enable the feature, and that nothing goes to Krisp's servers. Krisp's own help center confirms the arrangement from its side: Discord carries an embedded Krisp version, selectable as Noise Suppression, that works without the Krisp app installed ^[2]. So there is nothing to download from krisp.ai and nothing to sign up for.

The price is where people get confused. Discord says Krisp is free when used with Discord, and that Krisp's own pricing applies if you want the technology in other apps. That second product is the Krisp desktop app for Mac and Windows, a separate purchase with its own account. Its pricing page shows a 7-day free trial of the paid features with no credit card, but no free plan, and under Krisp's Terms access ends when the trial expires, with 90 days to export your content (is Krisp free?). None of that touches the Discord toggle.

Stage one: switching it on in the Discord desktop app

The setup is short, and Discord's Krisp FAQ covers both the menu paths and the conditions that decide whether it works. There is no installer and no account to create, because the filter ships inside the Discord client you already use. The only thing that can still block it on a computer is the hardware itself. Follow these steps in order:

1. Check the machine. Discord lists Windows, Linux and Mac. On a Mac, Discord requires an Apple processor and macOS 12 or later.
2. Turn Krisp on. Discord gives two routes. While connected to a voice channel, click the Noise Suppression icon and toggle Krisp on. Or open User Settings, next to your avatar, go to Voice & Video, scroll to Noise Suppression and select Krisp.
3. Join a voice chat. Once enabled, Krisp stays active for every new voice chat until you toggle it off.

That is the whole setup. Because the choice persists, you make it once rather than per server or per call. Discord says the filter also works on the audio of video calls and in Go Live streams. Krisp then filters your outgoing audio before your friends hear it, and the filtering happens on your computer, not in Discord's cloud. If you also run the paid Krisp app and select its virtual microphone inside Discord, you now have two filters stacked on one voice, which the troubleshooting section deals with.

Stage two: Discord in a browser or on your phone

Browser users got Krisp later than desktop users. According to Discord's FAQ, Krisp became available in Discord on the Chrome and Firefox desktop browsers in October 2023. The embedded version needs no browser audio tricks: Discord gives the same two paths as in the desktop client, the Noise Suppression icon in a voice channel or User Settings, then Voice & Video. Discord names only those two browsers, so treat any other browser as untested territory and keep the desktop client for important sessions.

The paid app behaves differently in a browser, and the difference is worth knowing before you mix them. Krisp's browser help says Chrome, Opera and Edge let you choose Krisp Microphone, while Krisp Speaker cannot be used in Firefox or in Safari ^[3]. Speaker-side cleaning from the paid app therefore stays out of reach in Firefox. The built-in Discord version never cleans incoming audio anyway, so for it the question does not arise.

Phones have their own menus. Discord lists Android and iOS among the supported platforms and documents two mobile routes. In a voice channel, tap the channel name in the top-left corner, scroll to Noise Suppression and tap Krisp. Or tap your avatar in the bottom right, then the cogwheel for User Settings, then App Settings and Voice, and under Noise Suppression tap Krisp. Krisp's noise cancellation for your calls and meetings runs in the desktop app for Mac and Windows; the mobile apps are for recording, notes and transcription. For Discord voice on a phone, the embedded version is the Krisp filter you get.

Krisp vs Standard: what the Krisp side does

People who search Krisp vs Standard are weighing Krisp against Discord's Standard option. Discord's Krisp FAQ documents only Krisp, so that is the side described here. Discord says Krisp works best with non-human background noise. It also gives an honest warning in the other direction: in a quiet room with a good microphone, voice quality may decline with Krisp on, and Discord suggests voice chat without Krisp there. The filter is built for messy rooms. A sensible test follows from that. Record or join a short call with Krisp on, then repeat with it off, and ask a friend which version sounds better.

Two more behaviors shape the comparison. First, Krisp turns itself off automatically when your device's CPU use is very high, to protect voice performance, and Discord notifies you when it does. A busy gaming rig can therefore lose the filter mid-session. Second, Krisp filters only noise from your own side. If your friends have not switched it on, their noise still reaches you. That one-sided design is the biggest gap between the free Discord version and the paid app.

When Krisp in Discord does not seem to work

• Friends still sound noisy. Krisp filters only your side. Each friend needs it switched on.
• The filter switched itself off. Discord turns Krisp off when CPU use is very high and notifies you. Close heavy programs, then toggle it back on.
• Your voice sounds thinner in a quiet room. Discord warns that a quiet room with a good mic can lower voice quality with Krisp on. Try it off.
• Krisp is missing on a Mac. Discord requires an Apple processor and macOS 12 or later.
• You cannot find the setting on your phone. Discord's mobile app keeps it under User Settings, then App Settings and Voice, or behind the channel name in a voice channel.
• You run the paid Krisp app as well. Krisp recommends turning off a calling app's own noise suppression and echo cancellation when you use Krisp Microphone, to avoid overlapping processing. Krisp's help also warns that chaining its virtual devices with another virtual device can cause feedback, echo or double processing.
• Krisp Microphone is missing from Discord's device list. Krisp's help says its devices appear in other apps only while you are signed in to the Krisp desktop app.

Most of these failures trace back to a condition in Discord's FAQ or to a clash with the paid app, so work through the list before reinstalling anything. Then pick one filter per voice. Either use the built-in toggle with your physical microphone, or select Krisp Microphone with Discord's own suppression switched off. Running both at once only stacks processing on the same signal.

When the paid Krisp app earns its place

The free version does one job: it cleans what others hear from you, inside Discord. The paid app covers what it leaves out. It installs two virtual devices, Krisp Microphone and Krisp Speaker, and works with almost any calling app that lets you choose a microphone and speaker. Krisp Speaker removes noise from other participants before it reaches your ears. Voice isolation cancels nearby human voices with a compatible headset, and echo cancellation is on by default. The app also adds accent conversion and an AI Note Taker that transcribes meetings without a bot by default (how Krisp's noise cancellation works).

Core costs $8 per user per month billed annually, or $16 per user per month billed monthly ^[4]. Advanced costs $15 per user per month billed annually, or $30 per user per month billed monthly. A solo Core user pays $96 per user for a year billed annually, or $192 per user for a year billed monthly, by our arithmetic. Monthly billing only wins if you quit within five months, at $80 per user for five months billed monthly. Accent conversion on Core is capped at 1 hour per day, shared by the speaker and listener sides. The app runs on Mac and Windows only, not on Linux or Chrome OS, so a Linux gamer keeps just the Discord version (full Krisp pricing).

The decision splits cleanly. If all your voice chat happens in Discord and the problem is your own room, the built-in toggle is enough. It costs nothing. If the noise comes from teammates, or you also take Zoom, Teams or Google Meet calls for work, the paid app's two-way cleaning is the reason to try it. The same goes for anyone who wants transcripts and notes from those calls. Start with the 7-day trial, keep Discord's own suppression off while Krisp Microphone is selected, and judge it on your noisiest week.

The bottom line

Krisp inside Discord is a free, on-device filter for your own microphone, and turning it on takes one Noise Suppression choice that then sticks for every new voice chat. It shines on non-human background noise, can switch itself off under heavy CPU load and may hurt a clean signal in a quiet room. It never touches your friends' noise, writes no notes and converts no accents. Those needs, along with other calling apps, belong to the paid Krisp desktop app for Mac and Windows, tried first through its 7-day trial.