Discord has started testing a new feature that could see channels or even entire Discord servers disappear behind a subscription paywall.
In a blog post, Discord revealed that it’s now testing a new feature called Premium Memberships with a small group of communities. Premium Memberships allow creators and community owners to “gate part or all of their server behind a paid subscription.”
Discord sees this as an opportunity for anyone running a Discord server to reward supporters and share exclusive content in return for some cash. The perks on offer can also be organized into tiers with escalating price points, while detailed analytics will be available to see how well member engagement is. Think of it like Patreon, but for Discord server and community access.
For now it’s referred to as a “closed experiment,” but looks likely to become widely available due to Discord being “really excited by the feedback we’ve received so far and the potential for this feature.” No new communities are being invited to the experiment, but Discord is planning to allow access to Premium Memberships to more people next year.
Existing Discord users may be concerned about their favorite communities disappearing behind a paywall, and the screenshot above suggests the monthly tier pricing could be considerable. Going from free access to potentially paying between $60-$300 a year for entry will certainly come as a shock, but hopefully there’s enough additional perks to make it worthwhile.
