Discord monetization fees, explained
A member pays $10. Somewhere between $6 and $9.50 reaches you, depending on the route. This is every fee on every route, with the numbers.
Published . 8 minute read
The five fees, in the order they happen
| Fee | Rate | Who charges it |
|---|---|---|
| App store fee | 30% (iOS) | Apple, on subscriptions started inside the Discord iOS app. Discord shows a higher iOS price to cover it. Does not apply to bots, because their checkout opens in a browser. |
| Platform fee | 0% to 10% | Discord takes 10% on Server Subscriptions. Bots take 0% (XOE), 2% (Arcalotl), 3% (PayBot, Whop), 3.5% (LaunchPass), or 0% with a monthly tier (Subscord). |
| Monthly fee | $0 to $199 | Subscord $0 to $199 by active subscribers, LaunchPass $29, MEE6 Premium $11.95, Memberful $49. Charged whether or not anyone pays you. |
| Payment processing | 2.9% + $0.30 | Stripe's US card rate, charged by Stripe on every payment through a Stripe-based bot. International cards and some methods cost more. Discord settles processing inside its payout. |
| Payout and conversion | 0% to 2% | Stripe payouts to a bank in the same currency are free on standard accounts; converting currencies costs a percentage. Discord pays out through Stripe with a minimum balance. |
A $10 subscription, four ways
| Route | Member pays | Fees | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discord Server Subscriptions, desktop | $10.00 | $1.00 + processing | about $9.00 |
| Discord Server Subscriptions, iOS | higher iOS price | Apple 30% + Discord 10% | about $9.00 of the base price |
| Arcalotl (2% + Stripe) | $10.00 | $0.20 + $0.59 | $9.21 |
| 0% bot (XOE) + Stripe | $10.00 | $0.59 | $9.41 |
| Patreon (10% + processing) | $10.00 | $1.00 + about $0.59 | about $8.41 |
Stripe processing on $10 is $0.29 + $0.30 = $0.59. Discord's processing is settled inside its payout and is not published as a rate, so the native rows are approximate. The iOS row shows why the same tier costs more on an iPhone: Apple's share is added to the price, not taken from your 90%.
The fixed 30 cents matters more than the percentage on small tiers
Stripe's 30 cents is 3% of a $10 payment, 6% of a $5 payment, and 10% of a $3 payment. On a $3 supporter tier, processing alone costs 12.9%, before any bot fee. Two things reduce it: price supporter tiers at $5 rather than $3, and offer annual billing, which turns twelve 30-cent charges into one. An annual $50 plan pays $1.75 in processing; the same member monthly at $5 pays $3.60 a year.
Monthly fee or percentage
Divide the monthly fee by the percentage it replaces to find the crossover. Subscord's $39 tier against 2% crosses at $1,950 a month; its $65 tier at $3,250; its $199 tier at $9,950. LaunchPass's $29 plus 3.5% is never cheaper than 2% alone. Below the crossover a percentage costs less and costs nothing in a dead month. Above it a flat fee costs less, provided your subscriber count still fits the tier's cap.
Payout minimums and timing
Discord pays creators through Stripe and requires a minimum balance before the first payout; its Creator Revenue FAQ carries the current thresholds. A Stripe account you own pays out on the schedule Stripe sets for your country, typically two to seven days after the charge, with no minimum for same-currency payouts. If cash flow matters, a bot on your own Stripe account is faster to your bank than the native route.
The fee that is not on any pricing page
A failed renewal costs 100% of that payment. Stripe puts involuntary churn for consumer subscriptions at 6% to 12% of renewals a month. On $1,000 of monthly revenue that is $60 to $120 lost, three to six times Arcalotl's 2%. A bot with a recovery sequence gets about half of it back (Stripe Billing reports 55% on average). When you compare fees, compare this line too; it is usually the largest.
Questions
Sources
- Discord Creator Support: Server Subscriptions eligibility and the 90/10 split; iOS pricing note
- Stripe pricing, US card rate
- Stripe Billing, involuntary churn and recovery figures
- Bot fees from subscord.com, paybotapp.com, xoe.gg (September 2026); Whop, LaunchPass, MEE6, Patreon, Memberful (May 2026)
Run the numbers for your server
The fee calculator compares nine options at your revenue. When you are ready, Arcalotl charges no monthly fee and 2% per successful payment on your own Stripe account.