MEE6 or a custom Discord bot? What each costs in 2026
Most Discord servers start with MEE6, Carl-bot or Dyno, and most should. They're free, they're reliable, and they handle welcomes, roles, levels and basic moderation in a few clicks. Then the server grows and you hit a wall: the feature you want costs money, or it doesn't exist, or someone is still doing a job by hand every day that a bot should be doing.
This is what each option costs over a year, what you get for it, and how to tell which one your server needs. I build custom bots, so I'm not neutral. I'll still tell you when you don't need one.
When the free bots are enough
If everything on your list is in here, stop reading and set up a free bot:
- Welcome messages and auto-roles for new members
- Reaction or button roles
- Auto-moderation: bad-word filters, spam and link blocking
- Levels and XP
- Simple custom commands and logging
No custom bot will beat these for the money. Running two or three free bots side by side is normal, one for each job.
What MEE6 Premium costs
As of 12 October 2026, MEE6's premium page lists these prices in US dollars, and two of them are marked as discounts:
- Monthly: $5.99 a month, shown as 50% off
- Yearly: $24.99 for the first year, then $49.99 a year
- Lifetime: $44.99 once, shown as down from $89.99
Premium is per server. MEE6 says you can move it to another server, but two servers still means paying twice. All three plans are refundable for 7 days. Sale prices change, so check their page before you buy.
At those prices, MEE6 Premium is good value. If the feature you're after is already in MEE6, the lifetime plan costs less than almost any custom work. Buy it and move on.
What you can't do is change how it works. You get MEE6's version of each feature, set up from their dashboard, and if it doesn't fit how your server runs, there's no one to ask.
What a custom bot is for
A custom bot does exactly what your server does, including the parts no off-the-shelf bot covers. Some examples:
- Linking Discord to your game server, website, shop or spreadsheet
- A sign-up, application or ticket flow that matches how your team actually works
- Roles that change based on something outside Discord, like a purchase or a rank
- One bot instead of four, with commands named the way your members talk
My own bot, Ymir, runs in three servers: music, moderation, tickets, scheduled events, and AI answers that can summarise a busy channel, screenshots included. None of that came from a dashboard.
The catch is upkeep. Someone has to host it and fix it when Discord changes something, and that's either you or the person who built it.
Cost over the first year
- Free bots: $0.
- MEE6 Premium: $24.99 on the yearly plan, $44.99 once for lifetime, or $71.88 if you pay monthly all year at the current sale price. That's per server.
- A Fiverr freelancer: roughly $70 to $380 for the build, according to Fiverr's own guide. Many sellers hand the bot over for you to host, which is another $2 to $6 a month, and each change after that is a new order. Ask whether you get the source code.
- Me: from $5 for a small bot that does one job, with hosting included and changes from the same person. Bigger bots cost more, and I'll give you the real number before I start.
How to decide
- Is everything you want in the free bots? Use the free bots.
- Is it in MEE6 Premium? Buy Premium. At these prices it's hard to beat.
- Does no bot do it, or does it need to talk to something outside Discord? Get it built.
What to ask whoever builds it
- Who hosts it, and what happens if you stop replying?
- Do I get the code?
- What does a change cost, and how fast is it?
- How do I reach you when it breaks at 9pm?
And whoever you hire, make sure you're talking to the real person. Here's how to check it's me.
Not sure which one you need? Message me what you want the bot to do. If a free bot or MEE6 already does it, I'll tell you which one.