Arcalotl vs Whop
Whop is a marketplace. Arcalotl is a native monetization layer built directly into your community.
Whop sends your members to an external storefront. Arcalotl keeps everything inside Discord, with Stoat, Fluxer, and Root on the roadmap. No redirects, no friction.
What's different
Whop is a powerful commerce platform, but it treats Discord as a delivery mechanism, not a sales channel. Members browse a separate storefront, check out on Whop's domain, and then get invited or role-assigned. This creates friction. Every redirect is a drop-off point.
Arcalotl flips this model. Members subscribe with a slash command, check out via Stripe, and get their role instantly, all without leaving the chat. The entire purchase flow happens natively. And once they're subscribed, Arcalotl actively works to keep them: recovering failed payments, intercepting cancellations with save offers, and upselling engaged monthly subscribers to annual plans.
Whop is free to use and takes roughly 5.7% all-in on each sale (a 3% platform fee plus payment processing). Arcalotl charges zero monthly fees: just 2% on successful transactions.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Arcalotl | Whop |
|---|---|---|
Native in-chat purchases Whop uses an external storefront; Arcalotl uses slash commands | Yes | No |
Subscription management | Yes | Yes |
Role-gating on payment | Yes | Yes |
Direct payouts (Stripe Connect) | Yes | Yes |
Failed payment recovery (dunning) Automated DM sequences with card update flows | Yes | No |
Cancellation save offers Dynamic offers based on cancel reason and tenure | Yes | No |
Term optimization (annual upsell) Auto-upsell monthly subscribers to annual | Yes | No |
No monthly platform fee | Yes | Yes |
Multi-platform support Discord at launch; Stoat, Fluxer, and Root on the roadmap. | Partial | No |
External storefront / marketplace Whop provides a full storefront. Arcalotl is chat-native only | No | Yes |
Digital product delivery Whop supports file delivery, courses, and apps. Arcalotl focuses on role-based access | No | Yes |
Affiliate / referral system | No | Yes |
Pricing comparison
Where Arcalotl goes further
Zero friction purchases
Members type /subscribe, check out via Stripe, and get their role. They never leave Discord. Whop requires navigating to an external storefront, creating an account, and completing checkout on a separate site.
Revenue recovery built in
Whop has no dunning sequences, no cancellation intercepts, no term optimization. When a payment fails on Whop, the member loses access. Arcalotl fights to recover every dollar.
No monthly fees
A server earning $500/mo pays $10 to Arcalotl (2%) versus about $28.50 on Whop (~5.7% all-in). Both are free of monthly fees; the difference is the per-transaction rate, and Arcalotl is lower for most servers.
Native multi-platform
Arcalotl launches on Discord, with Stoat, Fluxer, and Root on the roadmap. Whop is primarily a web platform with Discord integration bolted on.
Frequently asked questions
Keep your members where they already are. Stop paying for a storefront they don't visit.
Zero monthly fees. Revenue recovery from day one.
Add to Discord for free