Sell a Role or a Channel
Set up a paid area inside an open Discord server: a role or a private channel the app grants and takes back, the members area in one click, plans, trials and the mistakes that leak access.
A paid role differs from a paid server in one way that changes everything: the server stays open. Free members keep the public channels, paying members get more, and the funnel and the product live in one place. By the end of this page, your server grants a role or a private channel to paying members the moment they pay, takes it back when they stop, and never leaves a door a non-payer can walk through.
What you need
- A Discord server where you hold Manage Server, with the Subscriby app added and its role dragged above the roles you will sell (Connect Your Discord Server).
- A Subscriby project on Free, Starter or Growth (activate a plan, then create a project).
- One way to get paid (choosing a provider).
Pick what to sell
| Sell a… | When |
|---|---|
| Role | The server already has channels and permissions arranged around roles. The app gives the role; your server does the rest. |
| Private channel | One channel is the product: a signals feed, a lounge, a voice room. The app makes a role for that channel, with one permission, to see it, and gives that role. |
| The members area | You are starting from scratch. One click builds a private category, three channels and a role on sale. |
Build the members area, or pick a place
The members area in one click
On the project's Connectors page, open the Discord row's actions and choose Set up a members area (or run /subscriby-admin setup in the server). The app creates a role, a private category only that role sees, #members, #announcements and a voice lounge, and puts the role on sale as the project's first place. Broadcasts post into #announcements from then on.
Or link a role or a channel
Open Project Resources, link a place and pick the role or the channel from the list the app reads from your server, or run /subscriby-admin gate role or gate channel in the server for Discord's own menu. A role must sit below the Subscriby role in Server Settings → Roles.
A channel's role
The first grant on a channel creates a role named after the app and the channel, with no permission of its own and a single exception on the channel (to see it, and for a voice channel to connect). Leave that role alone; the app keeps it, and deleting it only makes the app create a new one.
Connect a payment method and create the plan
Connect a payment method
Under Payment Methods, connect at least one gateway: Stripe for cards through its own onboarding, PayPal, Razorpay, Paystack, Skrill, CeyPay, or CoinPayments for crypto (payment methods). Start a card gateway in Test mode and switch it to Live after the test purchase below.
Create the plan
Under Subscription Plans, create the first plan: price, billing cycle (days, weeks, months, years or lifetime) and the role or channel it unlocks (subscription plans). A plan can unlock several places: a role and a channel together, or places on another connector too.
Offer a trial
A trial of a few days lowers the barrier for someone who is curious but not convinced. Set Trial days on the plan, with or without a card up front: a card-up-front trial converts at a higher rate, a cardless trial brings in more people and converts fewer of them, and the role goes when a cardless trial ends unless they convert (trial period).
Never give the role by hand
A role given by hand is a role the app does not know about: nothing takes it back when the member stops paying, and nothing counts it as a membership.
Every role the app gives is tied to a grant in the ledger. When the subscription ends the app removes the role the same minute, and every fifteen minutes it compares the server with the ledger and strips a lingering one (adding and removing members). The only way to give a member the role for free is a plan that costs nothing, or an access code, so the grant exists.
Test the whole flow
Subscribe to your own plan with the gateway in Test mode (Stripe's test card is 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future expiry and any CVC), signed in to the portal with a second Discord account that is in the server. Check that the role appears within seconds of paying, that the private channel is visible, that you appear under Members with the right plan and renewal date, and that /subscriby status names the membership. Then switch the gateway to Live and run the go-live checklist.
Price the area
A role that unlocks conversation commands a higher price than one that unlocks a feed, because members pay for access to each other as well as to you. An annual plan at a discount to twelve monthly payments gives members a reason to commit and gives you a year of predictable cash flow. If the area meets on a schedule, a weekly call in the voice lounge or a monthly review, a time-limited pass sells access to that window alone, and the window appears on the server's event calendar.
Mistakes to avoid
- The Subscriby role below the role you sell. The app cannot give or take it. Drag the app's role up; the doctor names the role by name.
- Giving the paid role by hand. It never comes back off. Use a free plan or an access code instead.
- A paid channel visible to
@everyone. The app's role only adds the exception for its own role; a channel the whole server can already see is not private. Hide it from@everyonefirst. - Selling the server when you meant an area. A server plan ending keeps the member in by default; for an open server with a paid area, sell the role or the channel, not the server.
Frequently asked
Related
- Create a paid server — the same setup for a whole server behind the paywall.
- Discord integration — how the app admits and removes members.
- Running your server — the members area, broadcasts, support and alerts.
- Go-live checklist — what to check before you announce.
How is this guide?
Last updated on
Create a Paid Server
Turn a Discord server into a subscription: add the verified Subscriby app, sell membership of the server, connect your payment methods, create a plan and make a test purchase before you announce.
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