BetterDiscord uses an old-fashioned .exe installer that patches Discord’s core files. This often breaks after major Discord updates, requiring a reinstall. Uninstalling BD can be messy, sometimes leaving remnants.
However, the experience of obtaining these features differs drastically. BetterDiscord relies entirely on a community website where users manually download .theme.css or .js files and drag them into a folder. This is simple but primitive. Finding and updating plugins is a manual chore. Furthermore, BD’s plugin API is older and less powerful, leading to higher performance overhead; many users report noticeable lag in the UI when multiple BD plugins are active. betterdiscord vs vencord
Vencord excels here. It includes a built-in plugin marketplace accessible directly from Discord’s settings. Users can toggle plugins on/off with a single click—no file management, no external downloads. Plugins update automatically with Vencord itself. Moreover, Vencord plugins are written in TypeScript and leverage modern React patterns, resulting in significantly less performance drag. The UI remains snappy even with dozens of plugins active. For themes, Vencord supports the modern "BetterDiscord format" but also offers a faster, native theming engine. BetterDiscord uses an old-fashioned
Vencord was built with security as a priority. By default, it does not allow loading random external plugins. All built-in plugins are publicly reviewed on GitHub. The developers explicitly refuse to implement features that could be used for mass harassment or spam (e.g., self-botting). Furthermore, Vencord includes a "cloud" toggle that disables all modded features when Discord’s overlay or certain sensitive pages are active. While Vencord is still a ToS violation, its conservative design and ethical plugin policy make it less likely to attract Discord’s attention and far less likely to contain malware. However, the experience of obtaining these features differs