15 Best Discord Bots in 2025: Complete Guide

Introduction

Discord has experienced explosive growth in popularity over the past few years. According to the 2025 Business of Apps report, the platform counted around 200 million monthly active users in 2023 and more than 560 million registered accounts. This immense growth has transformed Discord from a gamer-centric chat service into a general-purpose community hub.

Along with the rise in users and servers, Discord bots play a significant role in that evolution. In fact, the bot ecosystem is a crucial part of Discord, and many kids' first coding language is DJS (Discord JavaScript). Bots automate moderation, add fun games and music, run support desks, schedule events, and generally make running a server easier.

With thousands of bots to choose from, picking the right ones can be overwhelming. This guide rounds up 15 of the most useful Discord bots in 2025, divides them by category and provides an objective comparison of features, pricing and use cases.

Each recommendation was selected based on reliability, breadth of features, popularity among active servers and transparent pricing. Where possible, we looked at the bot’s official documentation or reputable industry reports to confirm the numbers and capabilities cited here.

Where possible, we looked at the bot’s official documentation or reputable industry reports to confirm the numbers and capabilities cited here.

Quick comparison table

The table below summarises the key information for all 15 bots in this guide. Each entry highlights core features (only the most important phrases, not a full description), current pricing (rounded to USD where possible), and the situations where the bot excels. Longer explanations follow in the detailed sections.

Multi-function vs single-purpose bots

In the Discord universe, you will find two basic categories of bots: the first type of bots are multi-functional. You can turn any features on or off, depending on your preferences. Developers in these categories tend to have been around Discord for a very long time, and you are pretty familiar with a lot of these bots.

Use multifunction bots when you first start building your Discord. Your community workload is not very high, and you should spend more time engaging with your new members than figuring out the best bot.

As you grow, start replacing generic bots with single-purpose ones. Single-purpose bots are great because they specialize in one aspect, and some of them do extremely well. The first special category to replace is verification. There are some excellent verification bot that does far more than what MEE6 can offer.

Free vs premium Discord bots

Many bots offer generous free tiers. Moderation bots like ProBot and YAGPDB include core features at no cost, while MEE6, Dyno, Arcane and Carl‑bot lock advanced functionality (such as unlimited custom commands, levelling or higher role limits) behind monthly subscriptions. Music bots typically stream for free but charge for continuous playback and filters. Whether premium is “worth it” depends on your server’s size and needs:

• Free is often enough for small communities. ProBot, YAGPDB, FredBoat and Mudae provide robust features with no cost.
• Premium becomes valuable when you manage large servers, need multiple bot instances or rely on advanced analytics. For example, Xenon’s premium backups protect large role/channel sets. Mee6 can be a worth investment when you get them at the right time and purchase the life time access with multiple servers.

Best overall Discord bots

The bots in this section offer broad functionality and are suitable for most community servers. They combine moderation, automation and engagement tools in one package.

1 – MEE6

Why it stands out: MEE6 remains one of the most popular all‑in‑one bots because it bundles moderation, automated messages, role reactions, custom commands and levelling into a single package.

While some seasoned mods consider MEE6 the worst bot due to its constant push for premium features, it is overall a great introductory bot, especially if you want to install one and be done.

The bot can greet newcomers, assign roles based on reactions, notify about YouTube/Twitch uploads, and reward members with XP. A music plugin and a trivia quiz add entertainment, while the automation system enables admins to build custom commands without writing code.

Mee6 is excellent if you start to build your community and don't expect a lot of traffic. The downside to having everything is that MEE6 doesn't excel in any particular area. Once your community gets a lot more traffic, we recommend that you gradually replace major MEE6 features with a bot that specializes in these areas: moderation, role assignment, verification, and AI.

Pricing: MEE6 offers a free plan with limited functionality. Premium tiers are priced at about US$11.95 per month, or you can opt for a yearly plan (~US$49.99) or lifetime licence (~US$89.90). Paid plans unlock unlimited custom commands, more XP rewards, and additional plugins.

Setup: Go to the official mee6.xyz website and click “Add to Discord.” Authorise the bot and select your server. From the web dashboard you can enable moderation, leveling and other plugins. The screenshot below (captured on the MEE6 website) shows the Add button and the ability to customise your bot

Best for: Servers that require a dependable moderator and engagement system without managing multiple specialized bots, for early stage communities.

Limitations: Some advanced features (like custom branding, unlimited reaction roles and full music playback) require premium.

2 – Dyno

Why it stands out: Dyno focuses on moderation but also includes announcements, custom commands, role assignment and basic music playback. Every feature can be individually enabled or disabled, making the bot highly customisable. The intuitive web dashboard simplifies setup and allows timed bans, mutes, and an anti‑spam detector.

Setup: Invite Dyno from dyno.gg, choose the modules you want and configure automod rules from the dashboard.

Best for: Communities wanting fine‑grained control over moderation with the option to add simple auto‑responders or announcements.

Limitations: Some features that are free in other bots (e.g., server backups or auto‑reactions) are locked behind Dyno’s premium tiers.

3 – Communityone

Why it stands out: Communityone started out by providing the best analytics to super active communities, tracking moderator's performance and a comprehensive list of engagement and retention data. Now it has expanded its features to focus on helping members engage better using AI

Pricing: The base bot is free. Premium plans start at about US$15 per month, to US$150/month for its supercharged analytics. Note that you can also get premium by referrals.

Best for: Communities that love data and AI—server owners who want to visualise activity and actively create more engagement.

Limitations: It doesn’t perform moderation; you’ll need another bot (Dyno, MEE6 or YAGPDB) to handle infractions.

4 – Carl‑bot

Why it stands out: Carl‑bot excels at reaction roles, logging and automod. It offers a full‑featured leveling/XP system, timed reaction roles, and support for up to 1 000 reaction roles with premium. Advanced purge commands and voice‑role links help moderators maintain large servers.

Pricing: The bot is free for basic use. Premium subscription (via Patreon or Discord) starts around US$7.99 per month for one server; plans for three or five servers cost about US$16.99 and US$25 respectively. Paid tiers unlock leveling, higher weblog limits and other advanced features.

Setup: Visit carl.gg, authorise the bot and configure reaction‑role panels and automod rules via its web dashboard.

Best for: Servers that use reaction roles heavily or need very detailed logging and purge commands.

Limitations: As with Dyno, premium features (notably leveling) require a paid subscription.

5 – Arcane

Why it stands out: Arcane is a multipurpose bot that emphasises leveling and role rewards. It offers free XP/leaderboard systems, voice leveling to reward members for talking, reaction roles, custom commands and YouTube notifications. These incentives encourage members to be active on both text and voice channels.

Pricing: Most features are free. Premium (≈ US$7 per month) unlocks higher limits and allows the bot to serve multiple servers.

Setup: Use arcane.bot, invite the bot and configure levels and rewards through the web dashboard.

Best for: Servers that want to gamify participation with levels, leaderboards and role rewards. If you want to reward users strictly based on chat messages (or voice, which is a brand new feature), you can do this with the free version of Arcane.

Limitations: Building a community is more than just chatting. Be careful what you ask members to do. Measuring members' chat messages can unintentionally cause massive spam on the server. Use it carefully.

Best Discord bots for moderation

While the “overall” bots above include moderation, the bots in this section specialise in moderation and automation.

6 – YAGPDB (Yet Another General Purpose Discord Bot)

Why it stands out: YAGPDB offers one of the most configurable automoderators around. It includes RSS/Reddit/YouTube feeds, join/leave messages, advanced self‑assignable role menus and highly customisable custom command. The automod can warn, mute, kick or ban users based on conditions like message rate, spam and offensive words

Pricing: The core bot is free. A premium option costs about US$3.5 per server per month and unlocks higher limits on custom commands and feeds.

Best for: Server owners who want granular control over automod rules and role menus without paying much.

Limitations: The configuration interface can be overwhelming for beginners. Some features require basic knowledge of Discord’s permission system.

7 – Zira

Why it stands out: Zira is designed around reaction roles and auto‑role assignment. It can automatically assign roles when members join, send leave/join messages and even colour‑code roles. Because it focuses on one task, it’s extremely lightweight.

Pricing: The basic version is free. Premium costs about US$2 per month and raises limits on messages and channels.

Best for: Servers needing a simple, dedicated reaction‑role bot that won’t conflict with other moderation tools.

Limitations: It lacks broader moderation or logging features; pair it with another bot for full coverage.

8 – ProBot

Why it stands out: ProBot is a user‑friendly moderation bot with a colourful interface. It delivers welcome images and messages, monitors violations (auto‑mute/ban), provides social media commands and supports 13 languages. The bot’s analytics dashboards show graphs of server activity and rule violations.

Pricing: ProBot charges $5-10/month for advanced protection and better logs

Setup: Invite ProBot from probot.io, customise the welcome cards and enable moderation modules through its dashboard.

Best for: Newer servers that need straightforward moderation and attractive welcome cards without paying.

Limitations: There’s no premium tier for heavy‑duty features, so larger communities may eventually outgrow ProBot.

9 – Xenon

Why it stands out: Xenon acts as a backup and template manager. It can clone, synchronise, copy and archive servers with a single command. It also provides templates for quick server setup and can schedule automatic backups. This ensures that you can restore your server after accidental deletions or bad moderator actions.

Pricing: The free tier allows 25 backups of roles and channels. Premium 1 costs US$5 per month and adds message synchronisation; Premium 2 (US$10 per month) increases backups to 100 and messages per channel to 100; Premium 3 (US$15 per month) offers 250 backups and 250 messages per channel.

Best for: Owners who need to clone servers, create templates or protect against configuration mistakes.

Limitations: Requires periodic manual backups unless you upgrade; it does not moderate or entertain users.

10 – Ticket King

Why it stands out: Ticket King is exceptionally cheap, easy to set up and maintain. It is ideal for small to medium-sized communities that occasionally need to attend to tickets. It also allows you to send custom messages and gives you detailed ticket logs.

Pricing: There’s a free plan with unlimited tickets but limited features. Premium plans start at US$2.49 per month

Best for: Community‑based products or game servers that need a built‑in help‑desk to handle user requests.

Limitations: Does not provide general moderation functions. It also lacks features to automatically remind members to close the tickets. If you are looking for a more robust options, check out our blogs on the best Discord ticket bots here.

Best Discord music bots

Streaming music through Discord voice channels remains one of the most requested features. The following bots specialise in music playback.

11 – Lara Music

Why it stands out: Lara stands out among Discord music bots because it combines always‑on reliability with an intuitive, user‑friendly design. It is a dedicated 24/7 music bot, designed to keep music playing “around the clock” without disconnects or the need for manual restarts. Unlike many bots that require slash commands, Lara offers a button‑ and menu‑based interface so members can control playback, skip tracks or adjust volume with simple clicks. The bot supports multiple platforms, including Spotify and SoundCloud, and offers customizable settings such as volume adjustment and a low‑latency connection to ensure quick, seamless response times.

Pricing: Free.

Best for: Servers that want continuous, high‑quality background music without fuss. Its always‑on playback and support for platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud make it ideal for gaming communities or social servers that enjoy a café‑like atmosphere. The button‑based controls and built‑in music panel are also great for less tech‑savvy users.

Limitations: Lara is a dedicated music bot, so it doesn’t offer moderation, ticketing or other utility features. If you need reaction roles, leveling or analytics, you’ll need to pair it with additional bots.

12 – Jockie Music

Why it stands out: Jockie Music plays songs from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Deezer, TIDAL and Soundcloud. It includes audio effects like bass boost, karaoke and echo, and you can run up to four instances of the bot for multiple voice channels. Features such as 24/7 sessions and exclusive bot instances become available when supporting the developers on Patreon

Pricing: The base bot is free. Patreon support starts at about US$5 per month to unlock continuous playback and other perks.

Best for: Large servers needing multiple simultaneous music bots and those who enjoy experimenting with audio filters.

Limitations: The bot requires precise song titles, and 24/7 playback is gated behind Patreon support.

13 – FredBoat

Why it stands out: FredBoat is a simple, open‑source music bot capable of high‑quality playback. It supports SoundCloud, Bandcamp, direct links and Twitch. Users can create playlists for continuous playback and the bot includes a built‑in search so you don’t need to paste URLs.

Pricing: Free for basic use; a premium plan starts at around US$3 per month and unlocks features like 24/7 playback.

Best for: Those who prefer a straightforward, open‑source music bot with playlist support.

Limitations: Responses can sometimes be delayed and advanced features like filters are locked behind premium.

Fun and engagement bots

Beyond moderation and music, bots can inject fun and engagement into a server. The following bots add mini‑games, economies and anime‑themed collecting.

14 – Dank Memer

Why it stands out: Dank Memer combines meme generation with an in‑depth economy system. Users can earn coins, gamble in text‑based games, rob each other or buy items. The bot offers over 100 meme‑related commands, a personal items directory and optional NSFW commands.

Pricing: Five tiers raning from $4/month to $50/month. Each tier unlocks more currency multipliers, steal‑shields and donor perks.

Best for: Servers that want to entertain members with memes and a shared economy system.

Limitations: Gambling and stealing mechanics can cause drama; admins should clearly communicate rules.

15 – Mudae

Why it stands out: Mudae is a game bot specifically designed for anime and manga fans. Players roll over 40 000 husbandos and waifus (anime/video‑game characters) to build a personalised harem. It supports multiple languages and includes more than 450 commands and also introduces a “Kakera” currency for bonuses. It is friendly and fun.

Pricing: Mudae is free; currency is earned in‑game and there’s no paid tier

Best for: Anime and gacha fans who enjoy collecting characters and competing for rare pulls.

Limitations: Rolls are limited by Discord’s API; there is an optional heart‑reaction feature behind premium boosters

Bonus – Subo (survey bot)

Although not part of the original top‑15 list, Subo is one of the best survey bots for your community. It allows you to poll your members anonymously on their thoughts. It has a lot of AI tools to help you make surveys faster and better, but it never feels like AI is taking over the human part of the community. Most importantly, set up takes about a second. You can read more here.

How to install and configure Discord bots

Installing bots generally follows a standard process:

1. Choose a reputable bot and visit its official website (for example, mee6.xyz, dyno.gg or carl.gg). Avoid downloading bots from unknown sources. If you see a bot in a different server, it might still be worth going to the website to download the bot rather than invite outright via Discord. There are instances where someone creates a fake bot.
2. Select the server where you want to install the bot. You must have the “Manage Server” permission.
3. Review the permissions the bot is requesting. Reputable bots only need permissions relevant to their functions (e.g., manage messages for moderation, connect/speak for music bots). Uncheck any unnecessary permissions. Try to avoid giving any server admin permission except for security related bots.
4. Authorize and complete any CAPTCHA. Discord will add the bot to your server.
5. Configure the bot via its dashboard or commands. Most bots include a web dashboard where you can turn modules on or off, set automod rules, create reaction‑role messages or view analytics. For bots without a dashboard (e.g., FredBoat), read the help command to learn slash commands.
6. Limit bot permissions after setup. Remove admin privileges unless absolutely necessary and use Discord’s role hierarchy to keep bots in check.

Click the “Add to Discord” or “Invite” button. You’ll be redirected to Discord’s authorisation screen. The MEE6 site shows this step clearly

Discord bot FAQ (People also ask)

Are Discord bots safe? Reputable bots are generally safe, but always verify the developer’s website and check reviews on top.gg before inviting them. Only grant the permissions they need and avoid giving bots “Administrator” unless you fully trust the developer.

Can I run multiple bots on one server? Yes. Many servers run separate bots for moderation, music and games. Make sure their commands don’t conflict (choose distinct prefixes or use slash commands).

Do bots work on mobile? All bots run in the server regardless of the client. You can use slash commands or the bot’s web dashboard from mobile, but configuring complex dashboards is easier on desktop.

Why did Groovy/Rythm shut down? Groovy and Rythm were two popular music bots that relied heavily on streaming from YouTube. In 2021 YouTube issued cease‑and‑desist letters, leading both services to shut down. Current music bots like Lara and Jockie Music use different streaming methods and licensing models.

Are premium bots worth paying for? If you manage a large or commercial server, premium tiers can save time and enhance engagement. Features like unlimited backups (Xenon), recurring events (sesh), advanced analytics (CommunityOne), and persistent music streams (Lara, Jockie Music) justify a small subscription cost. For smaller communities, stick to the free versions until you outgrow them.

Conclusion

With over 200 million monthly active users, Discord has become a mainstream platform for communities of every kind. Bots are the secret sauce that transform a plain chat server into a dynamic, moderated and fun space.

Top recommendations by category:

• Best overall: MEE6 (all‑rounder), Dyno (customisable moderation) and Communityone (analytics & engagement). They cover most server needs, from welcoming newcomers to preventing spam and rewarding activity.
• Best moderation & analytics: YAGPDB for its automod depth, Zira for lightweight reaction roles and Xenon for backups.
• Best music: Lara for its rich feature set and multiple streaming sources, Jockie Music if you need multiple instances, and FredBoat for a simple open‑source option.
• Best fun/engagement: Dank Memer and Mudae add games, memes and economies, while Subo (bonus) simplifies survey.

Ultimately, the right combination of bots depends on your server’s size and purpose. Start with free tiers, monitor what your community actually uses, and upgrade to premium features only when they clearly add value.