Discord vs DiscordGo
Self-hosted for $4/mo on hetzner CAX11, versus $0-$0/user/mo on Discord.
Side-by-side
| Discord | DiscordGo (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $0-$0/user/mo | $4.13/mo flat (any team size) |
| Hosting | Discord's servers | Your VPS (hetzner CAX11) |
| Data ownership | Discord controls the data | Your disk, your encryption |
| Source code | Closed | Open (BSD-3-Clause) |
| Customization | API + integrations only | Full source access; modify freely |
| Maintenance burden | Zero | Backups + updates (manual) |
| Health score (ossreplace) | — | 61 / 100 |
Why teams leave Discord
DiscordGo answers this by: Open-source alternatives that can replace Discord.
The cost math
Assumes 5-person team using Discord at the midpoint price ($0/user/mo).
| Period | Discord | DiscordGo on hetzner | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $0 | $4.13 | $-4.13 |
| Yearly | $0 | $49.56 | $-49.56 |
| 3 years | $0 | $149 | $-149 |
Deploy DiscordGo now
One-click deploys at the cheapest provider for this workload:
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Common questions
Is DiscordGo a good alternative to Discord?
DiscordGo is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Discord with an ossreplace health score of 61/100 — a composite of project activity, maturity, community, security, and adoption. It runs on your own hetzner VPS from $4.13/mo with full source access under the BSD-3-Clause license, versus Discord's $0–0/user/mo hosted plans.
How much cheaper is DiscordGo than Discord?
A 5-person team pays about $0/mo on Discord. Self-hosting DiscordGo on hetzner CAX11 costs a flat $4.13/mo regardless of team size — roughly $-149 less over three years (-Infinity% lower).
Is DiscordGo hard to self-host?
DiscordGo self-hosts on your own VPS. You handle the install, backups, and updates yourself in exchange for full data ownership and no per-seat fees.
Do you keep control of your data with DiscordGo vs Discord?
Yes. Because DiscordGo runs on your own server, the data lives on your disk under your encryption. With Discord, Discord controls the hosting, storage, and access.