I’ve been working on a trading bot for my D&D community that lets players create their own shops and marketplace. Users can buy stuff from the main store or trade with each other directly. The bot tracks all their inventory and they can list items for sale using simple commands. Right now it only works for our small group but I’m thinking about expanding it for other servers. Would it be profitable to host this on a dedicated server and make it available to the public? Has anyone here made money from Discord bot development?
Your D&D marketplace idea hits a real need in the community. I built something similar two years ago - tabletop groups absolutely pay for good automation tools. The tricky part is growing past your first users without killing performance. Here’s what worked for me: hit up big D&D Discord servers and give their admins free trials. Gaming communities spread the word fast when stuff actually works. For monetization, add premium features like custom item art, trading analytics, or character sheet integrations. I had better luck charging $10/month for enhanced features instead of paywalling basic stuff. Just make sure your database can handle multiple trades across servers before you commit to hosting costs.
Discord bot monetization is totally doable, but you need a solid plan. I’ve been building bots for three years now - niche bots like yours crush generic ones every time. Your D&D trading idea has serious potential. Tabletop communities are hungry for tools that actually improve their sessions. I’d go freemium - keep basic features free but charge a small monthly fee for advanced customization. Maybe add one-time setup fees for bigger servers too. The tricky part? Managing infrastructure costs as you grow without pricing yourself out. Discord’s cool with monetization as long as you follow their rules. Test it with a few external servers first to see if there’s real demand before you dump money into dedicated hosting.
yeah, but dont expect big cash right away. ur d&d market bot is super cool tho - there’s really a demand! i’ve seen peeps charge like $5-15/month for server-specific bots. hosting costs can hit hard, so try heroku or smth cheap b4 jumping to dedicated servers.