Best Discord Bots and How to Set Them Up Properly

Before choosing, keep in mind that Discord now handles many things on its own that used to require bots. AutoMod blocks words, links, and suspicious messages; onboarding asks newcomers a few questions and assigns roles based on their answers; and Events have replaced old calendar bots. On many servers, there is much less work left for bots.

Bots that cover most use cases #

Moderation #

Dyno and MEE6 cover the same basic needs: word filters, link blocking, message spam limits, action logs, alerts, and temporary suspensions.

Dyno has a more complete free version and a convenient web dashboard. MEE6 has a more polished interface, but several features are locked behind the paid plan. On a small server, Discord’s AutoMod plus one of these two is more than enough. ProBot does the same job and also creates welcome messages with custom images; it is widely used on Arabic-speaking servers and includes raid protection.

Automatically assigned roles #

This is the feature that saves administrators the most time: newcomers choose their own interests and receive the right roles without anyone having to do anything.

You can set this up with Carl-bot in just a few steps:

1. Invite the bot from its official website and authorize it on your server.
2. Create the roles in Discord under Server Settings → Roles, remembering that the bot’s role must be positioned higher than the ones it needs to assign.
3. From the bot’s web dashboard, create a message with reactions, assigning a role to each emoji.
4. Post the message in a welcome channel: anyone who reacts gets the role, and anyone who removes their reaction loses it.

You can achieve the same result with Discord’s onboarding, which doesn’t rely on an external service. If you just want users to choose interests upon joining, try that first. Carl-bot remains useful for everything else: up to 250 custom commands, detailed logs, and automated messages.

Music #

This is the most unstable category. Rythm and Groovy shut down in 2021 following legal notices from Google regarding YouTube usage, and Hydra removed all music features in February 2023 for the same reason: today it only handles reaction roles and custom messages. Rythm returned in 2024, but as a paid service with agreements with record labels.

The free music bots you find today often change their terms or disappear. Before getting your server used to one, check that it still works and under what conditions. Alternatively, Spotify’s Listen Along feature, integrated into Discord, lets the whole group listen to the same music without any bot (requires Spotify Premium).

Entertainment, levels, and contests #

Dank Memer brings memes, mini-games, and a virtual economy with coins, jobs, and collectible items: it keeps a server of friends lively, but on a large server, it can clutter channels, so keep it confined to a dedicated channel.

Arcane awards points to those who write and speak in voice channels, granting roles and rewards upon reaching certain levels. Many use it as an alternative to MEE6 levels because its free version offers more.

GiveawayBot does one thing: organizes giveaways. You set the prize, duration, and number of winners, and the bot randomly selects from those who reacted to the message.

Support and reporting #

Bots that create a private channel for every request—the classic “ticket” system like Ticket Tool—become useful once your server exceeds a few hundred people: requests no longer get lost in general channels, and everything leaves a trace.

To understand when the community is active and which channels are working, Statbot collects message and presence statistics and displays them in charts.

Permissions: the part nobody reads #

To add a bot, you need the Manage Server permission. You invite it from its website or via the App Directory in Discord; choose your server, and Discord will show you the list of requested permissions. Read them: it’s a screen people often accept quickly without ever looking at it again.

Do not grant these, except in rare exceptions:

• Administrator. This gives everything, forever, including the ability to change other people’s permissions. A well-written bot asks for the specific permissions it needs, not this.
• Server management and role management beyond the bare minimum.
• Mention @everyone, if the bot isn’t supposed to make announcements to everyone.

Reasonable for a moderation bot: reading and deleting messages, kicking and banning, managing roles limited only to those it needs to assign.

How to choose a bot without risks #

• Only invite it from the project’s official website or from the tab in the Discord App Directory; never from a link sent via DM.
• Check how long it has existed and how many servers use it: these numbers are listed on public cards.
• Make sure it is still being maintained. A bot that hasn’t been updated for two years will keep working until Discord changes something, then it will stop without warning.
• Read what it does with your data. Bots can see messages in the channels they have access to: a serious project declares what it stores and for how long.
• Don’t install ten of them. Every bot adds more commands, notifications, and an increased attack surface.

FAQ #

How many bots do you need? #

Two or three cover almost everything a community server needs: moderation, automatic roles, and, if necessary, a support system. Beyond five, commands start to overlap and managing them becomes more exhausting than the benefits they provide.

Can bots read all messages? #

They read messages in the channels they have access to, provided they have permission. Additionally, since 2022, bots present on more than 100 servers must be approved by Discord to read message content. Still, keep bots restricted to only the channels where they are needed, rather than opening up your entire server for convenience.

Is it better to use a bot or Discord’s built-in features? #

When Discord’s native features are enough (basic auto-moderation, role onboarding, events), use them: they don’t depend on third parties, they don’t have paid plans, and they don’t pass your messages to anyone. Bots are for what Discord doesn’t do.

What happens if a bot stops working? #

The automations it managed will stop: roles won’t be assigned anymore, and filters won’t filter. This is why you should document how you configured your bots somewhere: if one shuts down, you’ll know what to rebuild with another.

Are bots free? #

Almost all have a free version sufficient for a medium-sized server, while keeping advanced features behind paid plans. Typical limits involve the number of automations, message customization, and detailed statistics.

Can I run multiple bots on the same server? #

Yes, and that is usually how it’s done: one for moderation, one for roles, one for entertainment. Just avoid giving the same task to two different bots—for example, having two word filters—because they might end up punishing the same person twice or conflicting over roles.