Which countries support Discord Server Subscriptions?

Availability has been limited by country since launch and has historically required a US-based bank account and identification for Stripe payouts. Discord's eligibility page lists the countries currently supported. Owners elsewhere see the feature unavailable and use a Stripe bot instead, since Stripe operates in dozens of countries.

Can I use Server Subscriptions and a bot together?

Yes. They do not conflict as long as each manages its own role. Some servers keep a native tier for members who prefer paying inside Discord and use a bot for annual plans, one-time products, or members outside supported countries.

Is native cheaper for small servers?

Native has no monthly fee, so for a handful of desktop subscribers it costs 10% and nothing else. A percentage-only bot (Arcalotl at 2%, XOE at 0%) is cheaper at any size on card payments. A flat-fee bot (Subscord at $39) is more expensive than native until revenue passes $390 a month.

Do members need a Stripe account to pay a bot?

No. The checkout page takes a card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay without an account. The server owner is the one who needs a Stripe account.

Decision guide

Discord Server Subscriptions or a bot?

Seven questions, answered for both routes. Most owners can decide after the first two.

Published 2 September 2026. 6 minute read

The short version

Use Server Subscriptions if you are eligible, your members are mostly on desktop, and you want a monthly tier with no setup. Use a bot if you are not eligible, most members are on phones, you want annual plans or discounts, or you want something to happen when a card fails. If you are unsure, start native to learn whether anyone pays, and move to a bot when the 10% or the lost renewals start to hurt.

Question	Server Subscriptions	Stripe bot
Is your server eligible?	Owner 18 or older, verified email and phone, 2FA on, good standing, Community server, supported country. If any of these is a no, native is off the table today.	Needs a Stripe account in a Stripe-supported country and Manage Roles for the bot. No server type, age, or member requirement.
Where do your members subscribe from?	Subscriptions started in the iOS app carry Apple's 30%, shown as a higher price. If most members are on phones, the tier costs more for them or converts worse.	Checkout opens in a browser, so app store fees never apply. The price is the same on every device.
How much do you want to keep?	90% of the base price, before Discord settles processing in its payout.	97% to 100% of the price before Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30, depending on the bot's fee (0% to 3%) or monthly tier.
Do you want annual plans, trials, or discount codes?	Monthly tiers only, up to three. No trials or codes.	Monthly, annual, one-time, trials, and discount codes on most bots. Arcalotl also offers annual upgrades to engaged monthly members.
What should happen when a card fails?	The member loses the role. There is no outreach.	Varies. Arcalotl messages the member, keeps the role during a grace period, and retries. PayBot keeps the role while Stripe retries. Others remove access.
Do you want to be able to switch tools later?	Subscribers exist inside Discord. There is no export to another system.	Subscriptions live in your Stripe account and survive a change of bot (except on Whop, which processes on its own platform).
How much setup do you want?	Minutes, inside Server Settings. No bot to invite.	Under an hour: invite the bot, connect Stripe, create a plan, fix the role hierarchy, test.

The two questions that usually settle it

Eligibility is binary. If the option is greyed out in Server Settings, or your country is not on Discord's list, the decision is made. A surprising number of "which should I use" threads end here.

Device mix is the one owners underestimate. Discord passes Apple's 30% on as a higher iOS price. A $10 tier that shows as $10 on desktop shows higher on an iPhone, and members compare notes. If your server skews mobile, a browser checkout that shows one price everywhere converts better, before any fee comparison.

When native is the right answer

You qualify, you have a desktop-heavy community, you want to find out whether anyone will pay before you invest an hour in setup, and you can live without annual plans and discount codes. Native is also the right answer if adding a bot to your server is a political problem with your admins. The cost is 10% and no recovery; for a first month of experimentation, that is fine.

When a bot is the right answer

You are outside the supported countries. Your members are on phones. You want annual billing, which cuts renewal failures by eleven a year per member. You have already lost members to expired cards and want a system that chases them. You want your subscriber list in an account you own. Or you run the same community on Fluxer as well as Discord and want one subscription to cover both, which today only Arcalotl does.

Moving from native to a bot

There is no export from Server Subscriptions, so existing subscribers have to subscribe again. The clean way: create the bot plan with the same role and price, announce a date, offer a discount code for the first month to anyone who switches before it, and turn off the native tier after the last native renewal date. Expect to lose a few people in the move and to gain the ones who could not pay on iOS.

Questions

See the full comparison

Feature by feature, with the fee math. If a bot is the answer, Arcalotl runs on your own Stripe account for 2% per payment and no monthly fee.

Arcalotl vs Server Subscriptions Start free