Hey there! I‘m so glad you stopped by. Choosing the best Discord bots for your server can be tricky with so many options out there. Not to worry though, I‘ve tested out tons of bots over the years so I can guide you through the process.
A Quick Intro to Discord Bots
For those new to Discord, bots are super helpful tools that give your servers special powers! They let you automatically moderate conversations, spice up chats with memes and music, and customize everything to match your community‘s vibe.
Bots have been around since Discord launched in 2015, but recently they‘ve absolutely exploded in popularity. Of the over 150 million active Discord users, most servers now use bots to level up functionality. There are over half a million bots available to pick from! ðĪŊ
So yeah, finding the gems among the vast sea of bot options can get confusing. But that‘s why I made this guide showing my top 11 all-star Discord bots for 2023. I‘ll tell you exactly why I recommend each one and how to get them humming along smoothly on your server.
How I Chose the Best Discord Bots
With expertise from running several active Discord servers, I hand-selected bots that meet the following criteria:
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Useful features: The bot simplifies tasks like moderating or spicing up conversations
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Easy setup: Quick and painless to add to servers
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Reliability: Consistent uptime and active development
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Great support: Responsive team if issues ever come up
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Good reputation: Used by many servers without problems
I also favored bots that have generous free plans. But for some categories, paid bots provide way more advanced options that are worth the monthly cost.
Now let‘s dive into the 11 best Discord bots out there! I‘ve organized them into four categories based on their capabilities:
- ðĪ Server Management
- ðĪŠ Entertainment
- ð§ Music
- ð Moderation
ðĪ Server Management Bots
If you‘re looking for ways to organize your community and take some workload off your staff‘s shoulders, I highly recommend using a server management bot. They can greet new members, set up reaction roles, post announcements, and much more.
1. MEE6
MEE6 should be the first bot installed on any growing Discord server. I‘ve used it for years across all my communities with zero issues.
Some of MEE6‘s handiest features include:
- Custom welcome messages to greet new members
- Scheduling announcements and events
- Leaderboards to gamify conversations
- Easy role assignment menus via reactions
- Post moderation through banned words
The free MEE6 plan lets you access the core features above. Paid tiers unlock a few extras like analytics insights and more in-depth logging. Setup takes just a single click too!
2. Dyno Bot
If you want to level up control of your server even further, Dyno Bot makes an amazing addition alongside MEE6.
Dyno focuses more on moderation tools but also lets you:
- Auto-moderate links, spam, mentions
- Create custom commands for mod duties
- Schedule posts and events
- Enable an invisible admin chat channel
- Display member info like join dates
Advanced server owners will appreciate all of Dyno Bot‘s premium features as well. And if you only need basic tools, the free version still packs a punch.
With MEE6 and Dyno Bot together, you‘ll have server management on autopilot!
ðĪŠ Entertainment Bots
While excellent mod features are must-haves, I always tell server owners not to overlook entertainment bots. They give members silly ways to bond and liven up quiet periods in conversations.
Here are my top picks for fun bots I think every Discord community deserves to enjoy!
3. Dank Memer
No entertainment bot list would be complete without Dank Memer – the OG meme legend. True to its name, Dank Memer overflows with a random stream of memes in chat.
Beyond memes, Dank Memer also lets members:
- Collect coins through various games and trivia
- Use coins to access special meme-related commands
- Gamble coins in lotteries and bets against other members
- Bond over silly virtual pets and shop items
The memes and economy system combine into a super engaging experience that can keep members occupied for hours.
While totally free, Dank Memer does offer a premium version with extra pet abilities and meme commands.
4. PollMaster
If you want to engage your community creatively, PollMaster facilitates interactive polls and surveys directly in Discord chat. Members vote on poll options you set, and it tallies live results.
PollMaster opens up so many possibilities:
- Icebreaker polls for new members
- Feedback surveys on events or changes
- Would you rather questions
- Debates that members vote on
- Predictions around gaming releases or matches
And best of all – PollMaster and its voting features are 100% free! The only limit is your imagination. ð
Together Dank Memer and PollMaster make an amazing fun combo!
ð§ Music Bots
In my experience, the fastest way to kill a Discord server is not having a quality music bot. Members love jamming out to songs together in voice channels as they chat or play games.
But music bots also tend to break often from DMCA takedowns. Fortunately, I have two stellar options that have stood the test of time.
5. FredBoat
For over 5 years straight, FredBoat has delivered smooth, lag-free music playback to millions of servers. They stay compliant by only using direct YouTube links rather than fully uploaded songs.
FredBoat offers totally free access to:
- YouTube playback
- Soundcloud streaming
- Playlist queuing options
- Easy text commands to search songs
It may not be as full-featured as paid competitors, but FredBoat‘s stability and ease of use keeps it among the top music bots.
6. Hydra
Up next is Hydra, which focuses on delivering premium music features to take your listening parties to the next level.
A partial list of Hydra‘s abilities includes:
- Fully uploaded song playback from Spotify, Soundcloud, etc
- Synchronized queue and playback across servers
- Playlist importing for thousands of tracks
- Music trivia bots inside voice channels
- Responsive DJ role for controlling tunes
Of course, all those features come at a price – $5/month to be precise. But for active servers that live in voice channels, Hydra brings extraordinary value.
Together FredBoat and Hydra give you free and paid music options sure to please members.
ð Moderation Bots
The final category of essential Discord bots focuses on moderation. Stopping disruptive members in their tracks maintains healthy community discussions.
Here are two go-to mods bots for swift, stress-free oversight.
7. Carl-Bot
Carl-Bot balances powerful mod features with fun flavor that makes it my first choice for moderation.
For maintaining order, Carl-Bot allows mods to:
- Ban, mute, and automatically timeout naughty members
- Delete and filter spam/banned phrases
- Manage member warnings and strikes
- View detailed mod logs of all actions
Alongside ruthless mod abilities, Carl-Bot blends in conversational perks like meme generation, random facts, server stats insights, and games.
The fully-packed free version of Carl-Bot makes it a beloved mod bot for a reason.
8. Dyno Bot
Yep, Dyno Bot makes another appearance! Earlier I covered Dyno‘s excellence for core server management tasks. But Dyno also comes equipped with a solid mod toolbox.
As a moderator, you can leverage Dyno Bot to:
- Auto-ban members based on mass mentions/spam
- Timeout members who breach rules
- Control explicit language through filters
- Temporarily mute unruly voice channels
Paired up with Carl-Bot, Dyno Bot‘s mod features complement more advanced bans and warnings quite nicely.
And as a reminder – Dyno Bot does offer a complete premium package if you want to unlock all its capabilities.
Final Thoughts
Well those are my top 11 bot recommendations spanning major Discord use cases!
Starting out, I‘d grab the 5 free bots:
- MEE6: Core server management
- Dank Memer: Fun memes and economy
- PollMaster: Interactive polls
- FredBoat: Solid free music
- Carl-Bot: Moderation
From there, enable other bots as helpful additions to level up functionality.
I hope this guide gives you a head start getting the best Discord bots firmly rooted on your server! Setting them up only takes seconds. And they‘ll reward you with way less headaches and more fun engaging with members.
Let me know if you have any other bot questions. Now go unleash some awesome bots!