Plans

Plans are the paid tiers your members can buy. Arcalotl uses one plan model everywhere, whether you manage plans from Discord or from the dashboard:

• A tier is what members see, such as Pro or VIP.
• A billing option is how that tier is billed: monthly, annual, or one-time.
• An entitlement package is what the buyer receives while access is active, usually one or more platform roles. See Entitlements.

When a member pays, Arcalotl grants the tier's entitlements. When access ends, Arcalotl removes them.

If members should choose their own support amount, configure Donations instead of adding another fixed-price plan.

Create a plan from Discord

Run:

/arcalotl plan create

Discord asks you to choose the role members should receive. Arcalotl then opens a modal for:

• Plan name
• Billing mode
• Monthly and optional annual price for recurring plans, or purchase price for one-time plans
• Currency
• Optional multiple-purchase and access-duration settings for one-time plans
• Optional plan hierarchy in Group:rank format for recurring plans

See Supported Currencies for the currency codes Arcalotl accepts when creating plans.

Create a plan from the dashboard

arcalotl.com/dashboard

The dashboard Plans page manages the same plan model. Admins can:

• Create a tier with monthly and annual billing options or a one-time price
• Attach an entitlement package that defines what buyers receive
• Set free trial days for new recurring subscribers
• Configure whether one-time plans can be bought more than once
• Configure permanent or timed access for one-time plans
• Edit plan names and billing amounts
• Configure upgrade and downgrade groups
• Archive plans that should no longer be sold

Plans go on sale as soon as they are saved. When you edit a billing amount, the new price applies to new purchases; existing subscriptions keep their current price.

Billing options

Choose one billing mode for a tier.

Recurring

Recurring tiers create subscriptions. They can use:

• month: Standard monthly subscriptions.
• year: Annual subscriptions and term optimization offers.

Monthly and annual options can live on the same tier and grant the same access. If a tier has both, the annual amount must be lower than 12 monthly payments. For example, a $10 monthly plan can have a $96 annual option, but not a $120 annual option.

Add an annual option when you want term optimization to offer monthly subscribers a prepaid annual upgrade.

One-time

One-time tiers charge once and grant access without creating a subscription. Use them for lifetime access, event passes, course cohorts, seasonal access, paid archives, or add-on roles.

Access can be permanent or timed:

• Leave access days blank for permanent access.
• Set access days when access should expire after a fixed number of days.

When creating a one-time plan, choose whether members can buy it more than once:

• No: A member with active access cannot buy the same one-time tier again.
• Yes: A member can buy it again. If the plan has timed access, the new purchase extends access from the existing expiration while access is still active.

One-time behavior to keep in mind:

• One-time purchases do not renew, so there is no payment recovery flow after checkout.
• Members do not manage one-time purchases through the billing portal because there is no subscription to change or cancel.
• Repeat purchases are most useful for timed access. For permanent access, leave repeat purchases off unless paying again for the same access is intentional.
• One-time tiers cannot be part of upgrade and downgrade hierarchy, free trials, term optimization, or cancellation saves.
• Refunds and open disputes remove one-time access unless the member still has another active purchase or subscription granting the same access.

Free trials

Recurring tiers can offer free trial days, configured from the dashboard when creating a tier. A trialing subscription starts billing automatically when the trial ends. By default, trialing members receive the configured access; servers that want limited trials can disable trial role access from server settings.

Discord plan creation does not expose trial setup yet.

Upgrade and downgrade hierarchy

Tiers can optionally belong to a switch group. A switch group tells Arcalotl which tiers are related, and the rank orders those tiers from lowest to highest. Billing options inherit the switch group from their tier.

Example:

When a member already has an active subscription in a switch group, buying another tier in the same group starts a plan switch on the existing subscription instead of a second checkout. The confirmation labels the change as an upgrade or a downgrade so billing, access, and retention attribution stay tied to one subscription.

Members can also run /manage: higher ranked related tiers appear behind an Upgrade button, lower ranked tiers behind a Downgrade button, and same-tier billing changes such as monthly to annual stay under Change Plan.

Upgrades take effect immediately. Downgrades take effect at the end of the current billing period.

Set the switch group and rank when creating or editing plans in the dashboard. In Discord, use the optional Plan Hierarchy field with Group:rank format, for example Membership:2. Leave it blank to keep a tier outside the hierarchy, or enter outside when editing or importing to clear an existing assignment.

Tiers without a switch group are outside the hierarchy. Members can buy those alongside other subscriptions, which supports add-ons and unrelated products.

Common setups

• Good / Better / Best: Three tiers at different price points in one switch group
• Monthly + Annual: Same tier, two billing options
• One-time access: One price for lifetime, event, or course access
• Donations: A separate choose-your-amount path for tips or community support
• Role stacking: A member can buy multiple unrelated plans and accumulate access

Plan lifecycle

Archive plans you no longer want to sell, from the dashboard or with /arcalotl plan delete. Archiving stops new purchases. Existing subscriptions keep renewing on their current terms, and existing one-time purchases keep their recorded access window.

Discord plan commands

• /arcalotl plan create: Create a new tier and billing options.
• /arcalotl plan edit: Edit an existing plan.
• /arcalotl plan delete: Archive a plan so new members cannot buy it.
• /arcalotl plan list: View current plans.
• /arcalotl plan import: Import existing Stripe products and prices. See Import Plans.

Use Community Channels when you want a dedicated Discord channel that displays active plans with Subscribe buttons.