Tatsu’s card collecting and reputation profiles hooked a generation of Discord communities, but the leveling core has quietly fallen behind. Voice XP is paywalled, role rewards are limited on the free tier, and rank card customisation is thinner than the newer bots. If you run your server from the desktop Discord app on Windows, macOS, or Linux, these seven Tatsu alternatives cover the same ground with more room to grow.
What we looked at
We tested each bot on a mid-size server (roughly 3,500 members) and configured the same rules: XP per message with anti-spam, voice XP, three role rewards, and a public leaderboard. All prices are the current publisher figures; all bots offer a free tier that runs on a single server without a card.
Quick comparison
| Bot | Best for | Free tier | Paid starts | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane | MEE6-style leveling done right | Full leveling, unlimited role rewards | Around $5/mo | Free voice XP and web leaderboard |
| MEE6 | Familiar commands your members already know | Basic leveling, limited role rewards | Around $12/mo | Deep polished dashboard |
| Lurkr | Simple, clean rank cards | Full leveling, no card | Around $3/mo | Fastest setup of the group |
| AmariBot | Anti-cheat leveling for large servers | Leveling, one role reward | Around $4/mo | Ranked global leaderboards |
| Polaris | Custom XP formulas | Leveling, custom formulas | Around $5/mo | Formula editor for XP curves |
| ProBot | All-in-one moderation plus leveling | Basic leveling, welcomes | Around $4/mo | Auto-mod bundled with XP |
| YAGPDB | Power users who script their own rules | Full leveling via custom commands | Free (self-hosted) | Programmable everything |
Why people leave Tatsu
Three complaints kept coming up in Reddit’s r/discordapp and r/discordbots threads. Voice XP is behind Tatsu Supporter, which puts a hard wall in front of a feature Arcane and MEE6 give away. Rank cards are locked to Tatsu’s fixed template unless a member buys upgrades, so servers that want a custom look outgrow the bot quickly. And the profile game economy (candy, pets, marriages) can dominate chat in ways moderators dislike once a server gets past a few thousand members. If any of those match your situation, one of the picks below will feel like relief.
Arcane — Best for MEE6-style leveling without the paywall
Arcane is used across roughly 2.3 million Discord servers and is the closest drop-in replacement for Tatsu’s core leveling. Anti-spam filters catch the obvious farming loops, voice XP is included at no cost, and role rewards are unlimited on the free tier. Tatsu vs Arcane comes down to profile collectibles: Arcane doesn’t have them, and if that was Tatsu’s draw for your community you’ll miss it.
Where it falls short: No marriage or profile-game features. Custom rank card designs are a paid perk. The auto-moderation is basic compared to Wick or Dyno.
Pricing:
- Free: All leveling features, unlimited role rewards, voice XP, web leaderboard
- Paid: Around $5/mo unlocks custom rank cards and multi-server perks
- vs Tatsu: Cheaper for the level system alone, since voice XP costs nothing
Migrating from Tatsu: No official Tatsu importer, but Arcane will start fresh with the same XP formula so ranks re-form naturally within a few weeks of chat.
Download: Arcane
Bottom line: Pick Arcane if your community mostly cared about the level bar and role rewards.
MEE6 — Best for members who already know the commands
MEE6 is the leveling bot most Discord users have used somewhere. The web dashboard is the polished part: click, drag, save, done. Everything Tatsu does for XP, MEE6 does with a bigger visual editor. The catch is the pricing shift over the past two years, which pushed most of the useful features into the Premium plan.
Where it falls short: Free-tier role rewards are limited. Premium has moved to a per-server model, so multi-server owners pay per Discord. Announcement rate limits kick in on very active servers.
Pricing:
- Free: Basic leveling with capped role rewards
- Paid: Around $12/mo per server, or a lifetime unlock per server that has crept upward
- vs Tatsu: More expensive per server, but the dashboard saves setup time
Migrating from Tatsu: No direct XP import. MEE6 can seed levels from message history on Premium, which restores the leaderboard within a few days.
Download: MEE6
Bottom line: Stay with MEE6 if member familiarity matters more than the price gap.
Lurkr — Best for fast, clean rank cards
Lurkr trades depth for clarity. Setup is one command per feature, ranks land on a plain card that scans well, and the free tier includes multipliers, level roles, and voice XP without an upsell page in the way. For a small-to-mid community that just wants a working level bar, Lurkr for leveling is the fastest path.
Where it falls short: The dashboard is thinner than MEE6’s. No economy, no profile collectibles, no music. Documentation trails Arcane’s.
Pricing:
- Free: Full leveling, voice XP, role rewards
- Paid: Around $3/mo unlocks custom card backgrounds and multi-guild perks
- vs Tatsu: Similar free-tier depth, cheaper to upgrade
Migrating from Tatsu: No import path. Lurkr resets rank state and rebuilds it from ongoing activity.
Download: Lurkr
Bottom line: Best pick when you want the level bar and nothing else in the way.
AmariBot — Best for large servers that need clean leaderboards
AmariBot is the leveling bot NFT and web3 communities used to run at scale, which forced its anti-cheat to grow up. Global leaderboards, cross-server ranking, and level-role automation are all included. Chat and voice XP are separated so you can weight them differently. On servers north of 10,000 members the anti-spam has held up under raids in ways MEE6’s has not.
Where it falls short: No card personalisation on the free tier. The web dashboard lags Arcane’s on refresh speed. Some slash commands still require a mention as a fallback.
Pricing:
- Free: Full leveling with one role reward and global leaderboard
- Paid: Around $4/mo per server for unlimited rewards and card themes
- vs Tatsu: Cheaper on the free tier, tougher anti-cheat by default
Migrating from Tatsu: No direct import. Amari can seed initial XP from a message history sample on paid plans.
Download: AmariBot
Bottom line: Best for larger servers where farming and raids are already a problem.
Polaris — Best for custom XP formulas
Polaris is aimed at the server owner who wants to think about the growth curve. The XP formula editor lets you tune how much a level is worth, how fast decay bites, and how voice minutes convert. It’s the only bot in this list that treats levelling as something you might want to design rather than accept.
Where it falls short: The formula editor is powerful and empty at the same time. Without a starting point, casual admins get stuck. No profile games.
Pricing:
- Free: Full leveling with the formula editor
- Paid: Around $5/mo per server for premium themes and priority hosting
- vs Tatsu: Similar price, entirely different focus
Migrating from Tatsu: No import; Polaris starts fresh but can approximate Tatsu’s curve with a formula preset from the community wiki.
Download: Polaris
Bottom line: Right choice if the shape of the level curve is a design decision, not a default.
ProBot — Best when leveling is one job of many
ProBot does leveling, welcomes, moderation, and reaction roles in one bot. That reduces the amount of separate bots your server admins need to keep straight. The leveling itself is capable, though not as configurable as Arcane, and the welcome image builder is genuinely good. If your team has been running Tatsu plus Carl-bot plus Statbot, ProBot for leveling and moderation collapses the stack.
Where it falls short: Recent pricing changes moved leveling role rewards under a paid tier that used to be free. The dashboard shows a lot of upsell prompts.
Pricing:
- Free: Basic leveling, welcomes, moderation
- Paid: Around $4/mo for the full leveling role reward system
- vs Tatsu: Cheaper to consolidate several bots into one
Migrating from Tatsu: No XP import. ProBot rebuilds level state from ongoing chat.
Download: ProBot
Bottom line: Right pick when you want fewer bots doing more work.
YAGPDB — Best for scripting exactly the leveling you want
YAGPDB stands for Yet Another General Purpose Discord Bot, and the general-purpose part is the point. It ships without a level system, then hands you a custom command engine and Redis-style storage so you can build one. Communities that never quite trusted a hosted bot with their XP data run YAGPDB self-hosted on a home lab or a small VPS.
Where it falls short: Nothing works out of the box. The learning curve is steep. Server admins who don’t code will need help from someone who does.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything, including self-hosting
- Paid: Optional donation tier for premium slots
- vs Tatsu: Free forever, but the effort budget is where the cost is
Migrating from Tatsu: Full control, so a determined admin can port XP tables in via the HTTP API.
Download: YAGPDB
Bottom line: Only worth it if someone on your moderator team enjoys writing rules.
How to choose
Pick Arcane if you want Tatsu’s chat level bar with voice XP included and a clean upgrade path. Pick MEE6 if your existing members will complain about relearning slash commands. Pick Lurkr for a server under 2,000 members that just wants the level bar working today. Pick AmariBot if your server is over 10,000 members and moderation is the bigger job. Pick Polaris if you actually want to design the XP curve. Pick ProBot to consolidate several bots into one. Pick YAGPDB if you host your own infrastructure and want to control every rule. Stay on Tatsu only if the profile collectibles and reputation game are what your community shows up for.
FAQ
Is Arcane better than Tatsu?
For the pure leveling job, most admins say yes: Arcane gives voice XP and unlimited role rewards on the free tier where Tatsu holds those behind Supporter. Tatsu still wins on the profile and card-collecting side.
Can I import my Tatsu XP into another bot?
Not officially. Tatsu does not expose an export endpoint, so most bots restart the leveling clock. MEE6 Premium and AmariBot’s paid tier can seed levels from message history to shorten the gap.
What is the cheapest Tatsu alternative for leveling?
Lurkr and Arcane both have full-featured free tiers that cover the majority of Tatsu Supporter’s leveling perks at zero cost.
Which Discord bot has the best voice XP?
Arcane, MEE6, and Polaris all include voice XP with sensible anti-idle rules. Arcane’s is free out of the box, which is the shortest route.
Is there a self-hosted Tatsu alternative?
YAGPDB self-hosted is the closest, since you get to build the level system on your own infrastructure. It requires developer effort to reach parity.
