How to Monetize a Discord Server Without Breaking the Rules

How to monetize a Discord server: five ways to earn

You can monetize a Discord server with Server Subscriptions, sponsorships, affiliate links, donations, and a points program backed by an offerwall. There are no banner ads, and that works in your favor: members came for the conversation, and every model below earns from that trust instead of interrupting it. Most servers that earn well combine two or three.

Before any of them, read the rules. Discord publishes a Monetization Policy, Community Guidelines, and a Developer Policy for bots and apps. We quote the parts that matter below, but the pages change, so check them yourself before you launch anything.

1. Server Subscriptions and the Server Shop

Server Subscriptions let members pay a monthly fee for a role that opens private channels, perks, or content. The Server Shop sells one-time items. According to Discord’s creator support pages at the time of writing, you keep 90% and Discord keeps 10%, before other fees, and Server Subscriptions are only available to owners who can give Stripe US banking details and US identification.

The Monetization Policy adds eligibility rules. You must be 18 or older, have a verified email and two-factor authentication, and keep your account and server in good standing. Most of the server’s membership and activity must not come from bots or inactive accounts. It also lists content you may not monetize, including gambling, deceptive financial practices, and anything whose primary purpose is marketing a third party, such as other servers, apps, or businesses.

That last point matters if you plan a rewards program: do not sell a paid tier whose value is access to offers or promotions. Sell what members actually want from you, such as coaching, early access, private voice sessions, or behind-the-scenes content.

2. Sponsorships

A brand pays a fixed fee to be featured in an announcement, an event, or a named channel. You set the price and the rules. Keep it human and clearly labeled:

• Post sponsored announcements yourself or with your team, in a channel members chose to follow, and mark them as sponsored.
• Do not use a bot to send sponsored messages. The Developer Policy says apps must not target users with advertisements or marketing, and must not send unsolicited direct messages.
• Never mass-DM members. Unsolicited bulk messages are spam under the Community Guidelines.

3. Affiliate links

If members ask what keyboard, game key store, or course to buy, a tracked affiliate link earns a commission on each sale. Pin a resources post, disclose that the links are affiliate links, and only recommend what you would use yourself. Disclosure is a legal requirement in many countries, not just good manners.

4. Donations

Many servers cover hosting and bot costs with a donation page on Ko-fi, Patreon, or a similar service. Say plainly what the money pays for. If you want to raise money for a charity, note that the Monetization Policy does not allow Discord’s own monetization features to be used where the stated purpose is a charitable endeavor, so use a dedicated fundraising platform.

5. A rewards program with an offerwall

Many gaming and rewards communities already run a points economy. An offerwall lets members earn those points by completing offers such as trying an app, reaching a level in a game, or answering a survey. Advertisers pay for each completed offer, you earn a payout, and you pass part of it to the member as points. See What is an offerwall? for the model in full.

The safe setup has three parts:

1. A website where members sign in. The offerwall lives on your site, not inside Discord. Each member has an account with your own internal ID, and their points balance is stored on your server.
2. A bot command that members run themselves. For example, /earn replies with a short message, visible only to that member, that links to the earn page on your site. The member asks for it, so it is not an unsolicited message.
3. Server-side crediting. When a member completes an offer, the offerwall notifies your server with a signed postback, and you add the points. Read What is a postback URL?

A few more details keep the setup clean.

Put your own user ID in the offerwall link, not the member’s Discord ID. The Developer Policy says bots must not disclose API Data to advertising networks or other monetization-related services, and a Discord ID read by your bot is API Data.

Respect age limits. Discord’s minimum age is 13, or higher where local law requires it, but offerwalls usually require older users. Moonetix requires end users to be at least 16, so ask for an age at sign-up on your site and keep younger members out of the earn page.

Keep points away from gambling: no casino games, loot boxes, or betting with points that have real value. Discord’s rules on gambling are strict, and so are the laws in many countries.

Tell members what the points buy, whether that is a gift card on your site or a cosmetic perk, and publish the rules on hold periods and reversals. Clear value is what turns a curious member into a regular earner.

Finally, fight multi-accounting with one account per person on your site, a verified email, and no rewards for VPN traffic. Our traffic quality rules list what is never allowed.

If you want the bigger picture of running a points economy, How to start a rewards website covers payouts, fraud, and retention in depth.

How to add Moonetix to a Discord server

Here is how to build the safe setup above with Moonetix, with the wall on your own website.

1. Apply as a publisher at moonetix.com. Every application is reviewed by hand, and once you are approved, apps you add are live right away.
2. Add your community website as an app in the dashboard and set the points name, icon, conversion rate and wall design.
3. Put the wall on an earn page for signed-in members: a signed offerwall link or iframe built on your server, or the floating Earn button. The user_id is the member’s account ID on your site, never their Discord ID.
4. Add an /earn command that replies privately with a link to that page. How to add an offerwall to a Discord bot shows the code, and how to make a Discord economy bot covers showing balances.
5. Credit points only on your server from the signed postback, and remove them when a reversal arrives.
6. In Integration status on your app’s Integration tab, use Open as a test user and Send a test postback before you announce it; see test your app before launch.

See the whole setup for Discord, including the platform rules and an earnings estimate, on Moonetix for Discord.

If your bot sells paid features

Some servers monetize through a custom bot with premium commands. The Developer Policy says that in regions where Discord supports Premium Apps, developers who offer paid features must also offer them through Discord’s Premium Apps products, at prices no higher than elsewhere. Your app must also be verified and in good standing to use Premium Apps. Plan for this before you build a paywall into a bot.

Putting it together

A realistic mix for a mid-sized gaming server might be: a small subscription tier for members who want coaching and private channels, one labeled sponsor per month, a pinned list of affiliate links, and a points program on the companion website where members earn through an offerwall and spend on perks. Each model reaches a different kind of member, and none of them requires spam, fake members, or bots posting ads.

To estimate what the rewards part could add, use the formulas in How much can you earn with an offerwall? For a comparison with quick video rewards, read Offerwall vs rewarded video ads, and for more models beyond Discord, see AdSense alternatives.

Frequently asked questions