--- title: "Paid Discord server: layout, roles, how members pay" description: "A Discord server layout for a paid community, with a free front, a members area only a paid role can see, and a way for members to pay and get the role." canonical_url: "https://www.bondbot.gg/guides/discord-paid-community-server" last_updated: "2026-11-15" --- # Paid Discord server: layout, roles, how members pay A paid Discord server keeps a free front and puts the paid part behind one role. Set up read-only rules and announcements, an open community, a members category only the VIP role can see, and a private staff room. Bond, an AI Discord bot, builds the nine channels from one message after you approve its plan, then sells the VIP role through your own Stripe account. A creator, teacher, trader or team that runs a free community and wants a members area people pay for. 4 categories · 9 channels · 2 roles ## Channels and roles for a paid community server The channel list as members see it, and who can see and post in each channel. The channel list: - Start Here: #rules, #announcements, #how-to-join - Community: #general, #introductions - Members: #members-chat, #members-resources, Members Lounge (voice) - Staff: #team-chat Who sees and posts where: | Category | Channel | Everyone | VIP | Team | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Start Here | #rules | Reads only | Reads only | Sees and posts | | Start Here | #announcements | Reads only | Reads only | Sees and posts | | Start Here | #how-to-join | Reads only | Reads only | Sees and posts | | Community | #general | Sees and posts | Sees and posts | Sees and posts | | Community | #introductions | Sees and posts | Sees and posts | Sees and posts | | Members | #members-chat | Hidden | Sees and posts | Sees and posts | | Members | #members-resources | Hidden | Sees and posts | Sees and posts | | Members | Members Lounge (voice) | Hidden | Sees and joins | Sees and joins | | Staff | #team-chat | Hidden | Hidden | Sees and posts | Roles: VIP, Team. ## Who this is for You already have people who want more from you: a course, trade ideas, coaching, early releases, a quieter room. You want one server where anyone can join and look around, and a part of it that only paying members can open. The layout does that with one role. Everything a paying member gets is a channel the VIP role can see. Selling the membership then means selling that role, and ending it means taking the role off. If nothing in your server is paid, the [business community layout](https://www.bondbot.gg/guides/discord-server-for-a-business) is the same idea without the members area. ## The one prompt to give Bond An example, not a recording: the plan Bond shows before it builds anything, and what it does once you approve it. In #general: > **You:** @Bond Set up a paid community server: a start here category with rules, announcements and how-to-join channels only the Team can post in, a community category with general and introductions channels, a members category with members-chat, members-resources and a Members Lounge voice channel that only VIP and the Team can see, and a private staff area with team-chat. Make a VIP role and a Team role. > **Paid community layout** > plan for @You > 4 categories, 9 channels and 2 roles. Your current channels stay as they are. > ▼ START HERE · 🔒 Everyone can read; Team can post > rules *Community rules* > announcements *News* > how-to-join *What membership includes* > ▼ COMMUNITY · Open to everyone (default) > general *Chat* > introductions *New members say hello* > ▼ MEMBERS · 🔒 VIP and Team only > members-chat *Members' chat* > members-resources *Member resources* > 🔊 Members Lounge *Voice for members* > ▼ STAFF · 🔒 Team only > team-chat *Team coordination* > **Roles** · VIP, Team > Everyone can view #rules, #announcements and #how-to-join but cannot send messages; Team can send there. > Only VIP and Team can view Members and its channels. > Only Team can view Staff and its channels. > Keeps Existing categories, channels and roles stay unchanged. > `#` grey planned · Expires in 10 minutes > **Build it** approves everything drawn above, for this run. > Deletions, plugins, flows, custom commands, AutoMod, bulk changes, @everyone access, Bond's own access and other sensitive changes still ask. > > Buttons: Build it, Change something, Cancel. The example presses Build it. After the plan, Bond asks before each change: 13 times in this example. Always allow on a card stops it asking about that kind of change. What Bond does: - List channels - List roles - Ask questions - Create category - Bulk create channels - Create role - Set channel permissions - Check channel access > **Bond:** The paid community server is built and access was checked. > > - Created **Start Here** with `#rules`, `#announcements` and `#how-to-join`. Everyone can read them, and only **Team** can post. > - Created **Community** with `#general` and `#introductions`, open to everyone. > - Created **Members** with `#members-chat`, `#members-resources` and the `Members Lounge` voice channel, visible only to **VIP** and **Team**. > - Created **Staff** with `#team-chat`, visible only to **Team**. > - Created the **VIP** and **Team** roles. Neither has members yet: give Team to your staff, and VIP is the role members pay for. > > The access check passed: everyone can see Start Here and Community, only VIP and Team can see Members, and only Team can see Staff. Your existing channels were left unchanged. This is an example, not a recording of a real run. Bond's own code draws the cards. The request, the plan, Bond's steps and its reply are written from how Bond handles a request like this one. The server, channel and member names are made up. ## In Discord, without a bot 1. Create two roles. Open **Server Settings**, **Roles**, **Create Role**. Name one VIP and one Team. Leave every permission off on both. 2. Create the Start Here category with three text channels: rules, announcements and how-to-join. 3. Make it read-only. Right-click the category, **Edit Category**, **Permissions**. For @everyone, set **Send Messages** to the red cross. Add the Team role and set **Send Messages** to the green tick. 4. Create the Community category with two text channels: general and introductions. 5. Create the Members category with **Private Category** switched on and pick the VIP and Team roles. Add two text channels, members-chat and members-resources, and one voice channel, Members Lounge. 6. Create the Staff category with **Private Category** switched on, pick the Team role, and add a team-chat text channel. 7. Give the Team role to your staff. Right-click a member, **Roles**, and tick it. 8. Take payment. Discord's own Server Subscriptions sell a role for you, but only to servers whose owner is in the United States. Anywhere else you take the money somewhere outside Discord, then give VIP to each person who paid and take it off when they stop. Step 8 is the one that does not scale by hand. Past a handful of members you need something that watches the payments and moves the role for you. ## What to watch for - The VIP role must stay a plain role. Bond will not sell a role that carries a permission beyond an ordinary member's, such as Manage Messages, and it tells you which permission to take off. - Bond's own role has to sit above VIP in **Server Settings**, **Roles**, or it cannot give the role or take it off. - The server owner and anyone with Administrator can read the Members and Staff categories without paying. - Put what members get in #how-to-join, and post the panel there or in a channel next to it. Someone who cannot see the Members category cannot see what is inside it, so the free side has to say it. - Bond does not do free trials, coupons, PayPal or crypto, and it does not work out sales tax for you. If you need trials or coupons today, [the fee comparison](https://www.bondbot.gg/blog/discord-paid-role-bot-fees-compared-2026) says which tools have them. - A member who cancels keeps the role until the time they paid for runs out. A one-time purchase loses its role when it is refunded in full or disputed. On a subscription, the subscription's status in Stripe decides. - Bond cannot refund a payment or cancel a subscription. Its key cannot do either; you do both in Stripe. - Building this uses tokens from your weekly allowance. A free account gets 1M tokens a week. ## Selling the VIP role with Bond Once the layout is built, selling the role is two things you do once and one sentence. 1. Install the Paid roles plugin. Ask Bond to, or add it on the dashboard. 2. Connect Stripe. On the dashboard's Paid roles page, paste a restricted key from your own Stripe account. The key goes on the dashboard only, never in a Discord message. 3. Say what to sell: `@Bond sell VIP for $20 a month`. Bond shows you the role, the price and what happens when a member cancels, and makes nothing until you confirm. Bond then posts a panel with a button for the tier. A member presses it, pays on Stripe's page, and has the VIP role when the payment goes through. When their subscription ends, the role comes off and the Members category closes for them. Prices can be monthly, yearly or one-time, and you can sell more than one role. The money goes straight to your Stripe account. Bond takes no cut; Stripe charges its usual card fee. You can try the whole thing first with a Stripe test key, where no real money moves. ## After the build - Sell the role: [how to sell roles on Discord](https://www.bondbot.gg/use-cases/paid-roles) shows a real run, from the sentence to the member getting the role. - Greet new members and point them at #how-to-join: [how to make a welcome message](https://www.bondbot.gg/use-cases/welcome-messages). - Give paying members a private way to reach you: [how to make a ticket system in Discord](https://www.bondbot.gg/use-cases/ticket-system). ## Questions people ask ### How do I make a Discord server people pay to join? Keep the server free to join and charge for a role. Put the paid channels in a category only that role can see, then sell the role. A server that nobody can enter without paying has nowhere to show people what they would be buying. The layout here is nine channels in four categories. ### Can I charge for a Discord server outside the United States? Not with Discord's Server Subscriptions, which are only open to owners in the United States. You can anywhere Stripe will open you an account: a bot sells the role through your Stripe account and gives it when the payment goes through. Our post on what works outside the US has the details. ### What happens when a member stops paying? The role comes off at the end of the time they paid for, and the Members category closes for them with it. They stay in the server and can buy again from the same panel. ### How many paid tiers should I have? Start with one. A second tier is a second role and a second category or channel that only it can see. Add it when members ask for something the first tier does not include. ### Is it allowed to sell roles on Discord? Discord sells roles itself through Server Subscriptions, and its rules do not have a sentence that allows or bans doing it through an outside payment processor. Our post on what the rules say quotes them. ## Read next - [How to make a private channel in Discord](https://www.bondbot.gg/use-cases/private-channels): Create a channel only certain roles can see, without opening the permissions tab and toggling twenty overwrites by hand. - [How to set up a Discord server](https://www.bondbot.gg/use-cases/set-up-a-server): Describe the server you want and Bond builds the categories, channels, roles and permissions to match, in one pass. - [AI Discord server builder that also runs your server](https://www.bondbot.gg/ai-discord-server-builder): Describe your Discord server in one message. Bond shows a plan, builds the channels, roles and permissions you approve, then stays to run it. Free to start.