How to choose Discord bot hosting

9 minute read

These are the questions worth asking any host, including us. Where a host will not answer one plainly, that is an answer too.

Does it stay running

1. Does the bot ever sleep?

Platforms built for websites often stop an app that gets no web visitors. A bot connects out to Discord and gets no visitors at all, so it is exactly what those rules put to sleep. Look for "always on" stated for the plan you are buying, not only for the expensive one. More on free tiers that sleep.

2. What happens when it crashes?

Every host says it restarts crashed bots. Ask the follow-ups: does it stop restarting a bot that crashes in a loop (it should, or a bad token gets your bot rate limited by Discord), and do you find out, or do you discover it when your users complain?

3. Is there a status page with real incidents?

A status page that has been all green for two years is decoration. One with dated write-ups of what broke and why means someone is looking.

Resources

4. Is the memory reserved, and what happens at the limit?

"1 GB" can mean 1 GB held for you, or 1 GB you may use if the machine has it free. At the limit, some hosts kill the process (you see a crash), others slow it down. Either is fine if you know which. Most small bots use well under 200 MB; how much RAM a bot really needs.

5. What does the CPU figure mean?

"Up to one core" is a ceiling shared with others on the machine; "dedicated" should mean a core nobody else uses. Bots rarely need much CPU unless they process images or audio, so this matters less than memory for most people.

6. Is the disk quota enough for logs and a database?

SQLite files and log files grow quietly. A few GB covers most bots; "unlimited" usually has a fair-use clause somewhere.

Running your code

7. Which language versions are on offer?

Check the version list, not just the language name. Current discord.py and discord.js releases expect recent Python and Node.js. A host still offering only Python versions that are past end of life is telling you how often the platform gets updated.

8. How does code get onto the server?

• A file manager and SFTP are the minimum.
• For Git deploys, ask when it pulls. Cloning once at install means every update is a reinstall; pulling on each restart means push, restart, done.
• Private repositories need a token. Find out who else can see it.
• Ask what happens to files you edited on the server and to your bot's own data files when it pulls. "Reset to the repository" silently loses both.

9. Are dependencies installed for you?

requirements.txt or package.json should install without you getting a shell. If you need to run install commands through a support ticket, updating a package becomes an event.

10. Where does the token go?

An environment variable set in a control panel keeps it out of your files, your backups and your repository. A host whose examples paste the token into config.json is teaching the most common way bots get hijacked. Why it matters.

When something goes wrong

11. Where are backups kept, and can you download them?

Ask how often, how many are kept, and where. A backup on the same machine as the server protects you from your own mistakes but not from that machine failing. Being able to download one yourself is the backup that cannot be lost with the host.

12. Who answers support, and where?

Try it before paying: ask a real question in their Discord or by email and see how long a useful answer takes, and whether it came from someone who read it.

Money and terms

13. What does it cost after the first month?

Discounted first months are normal. The number that matters is the renewal price, and whether a longer term renews at the same discount. Check the refund window, whether cancelling stops the next charge straight away, and whether a free trial needs a card.

14. What happens to your files if you leave or a payment fails?

Look for a stated retention period after cancellation, and whether a failed payment gets retries and warnings before the bot stops. "Deleted immediately" is worth knowing before you need it.

How SnowServers answers these

Since you are reading this on our site, here are our answers, including the ones that are not flattering:

• Sleep: never. Restarts on a crash, stops restarting a bot that crashes twice in a minute, and tells you why in the console, by Discord webhook if you set one, and by email if it stays down.
• Resources: Flurry is 1 GB of reserved memory, up to half a core and 10 GB of disk for $3 a month. At the memory limit the process is killed and the console says so.
• Languages: Python 3.10 to 3.14, Node.js 20, 22 and 24, and Java 17, 21 and 25, switchable in the panel.
• Code: file manager, SFTP, and Git deploys that pull on every restart, private repositories included, never overwriting edited files or your bot's data.
• Backups: daily, three kept, downloadable. They are on the same machine as your server; a second copy elsewhere is not running yet, so download the ones you care about.
• Where: one machine in a datacentre in Vienna, Austria. No uptime guarantee, and a status page that lists every incident.
• Money: 7 days free on Flurry (card needed), seven-day refund on a first payment, cancel any time and it runs to the end of the period, files kept 14 days after.
• Support: a person, in Discord or by email.

If another host answers these better for what your bot needs, use them. Our plans are here if not.