If you run a paid Discord membership or a premium Telegram group, your payment stack is the heartbeat of the business. It decides how fast customers can join, how reliably renewals run, and how much time you spend on community management versus support tickets. In this space, two names come up again and again: Whop and Suby.
Both help creators monetize communities with subscriptions. But they were built for different worlds. Whop grew up as a marketplace and storefront for digital products; Suby was designed as a chat-native subscription engine that lives directly inside Discord and Telegram. That difference shows up everywhere: in checkout flows, crypto payment options, role automation, branding, and even the support workload for your team.
This guide goes deep on Whop vs Suby so you can pick the payment solution that compounds your growth rather than capping it. We'll break down features, workflows, customization, customer support considerations, and real-world use cases across creators, trading and alpha communities, coaching programs, and private membership servers.
TL;DR (for operators who need the punchline)
- If you want a marketplace storefront plus card checkout and you don't mind keeping most of the experience outside chat, Whop may be familiar and workable.
- If you want payments, renewals, role access, and analytics inside Discord or Telegram, with both card and crypto payment rails (including Solana and exchange payments), Suby is the more chat-native, automation-first choice and a strong Whop alternative for crypto-forward communities.
The State of Paid Discord & Telegram Communities
Creators and community builders don't just sell "content." You sell access, to premium channels, private calls, alpha feeds, coaching cohorts, masterminds, and member-only tools. Your brand is your edge; your customer support and community management processes protect that edge.
Three realities shape your decision:
- Friction is the enemy. Every extra click between your Discord or Telegram message and a successful payment is a leak.
- Renewals make or break your revenue. Subscriptions that auto-run inside chat reduce silent churn and DM firefighting.
- Crypto payment isn't optional anymore for crypto-native audiences. Even non-crypto customers want freedom of choice (card rails, yes; but also wallet and exchange checkouts).
With that framing, let's look at the two platforms.
What Whop is (and isn't)
Whop is best understood as a marketplace + storefront for digital products, memberships, and software licensing with card payments at the center. It offers creators a hosted page, some tooling for memberships, deliverables, and a way to handle orders and refunds. For Discord membership, Whop connects to servers to grant roles after purchase.
Strengths
- Fast storefront setup. A landing page, some pricing tiers, and you can sell.
- Card payments out of the box, and crypto via Coinbase Commerce for some sellers.
Tradeoffs to account for
- Crypto flow: for crypto, Whop's processor uses only Wallet Connect; cards are via Stripe (fiat only).
- Access & trials: access is only through links and free trials are only through links (no in-chat automation).
- Data: crypto data is limited (a few fields from Coinbase) compared to a full analytics stack.
- Referrals: no crypto referrals capability.
- Fees: effective crypto processing fees can run ~6–13% depending on setup.
- Chat is not the first-class surface. Payment typically happens on an external page; access is granted after the handoff.
- Crypto coverage is limited by the underlying processor (e.g., no Solana, no exchange payments).
- Less granular role automation in chat, fine for basics, but power users often want deeper control and renewal logic inside Discord/Telegram.
- Branding and customization are good for a hosted storefront, but your customers still feel like they're stepping off platform.
- Links: storefront links are supported, as expected.
Whop works when your model is "send people to my shop, then deliver access." If your members live inside Discord and Telegram all day, the off-platform flow can dent conversion and increase support.
What Suby is (and why it feels different)
Suby is a payment automation bot + dashboard built for Discord and Telegram. It wires subscriptions directly into chat:
- Checkout offers card and crypto side by side (including wallet signature, wallet deposit with QR, and exchange deposit options).
- Payment confirmation unlocks roles instantly; failed renewals auto-kick based on your policy.
- Smart renewals and reminders run in chat, not just email.
- Analytics track MRR, churn, cohort renewals, and plan performance in an analytics dashboard.
- Payouts arrive in stablecoins or crypto (with an optional offramp), aligning with how crypto teams manage treasury.
- Access methods: use the Discord bot, the Suby app, and shareable links (including link-in-bio listing all your plans).
- Free trials are checkout-automated (not just link-only) and discount codes are fully customisable.
- Referrals can be public or private (FNF & KOL) and fully customisable.
- Cards: users can pay by card, you receive crypto if you prefer.
- Fees: as shown in the table, Suby's effective fee can be about 1.5% for crypto flows.
From a creator's perspective, Suby makes your Discord membership or Telegram group feel like a modern SaaS product with automation instead of a DM-driven side hustle.
Where Suby is opinionated
- Chat-native first. The customer stays inside Discord/Telegram; fewer hops, faster decisions.
- Crypto payment is first-class. SOL, ETH, BNB, USDC, USDT across Solana and major EVM chains, plus exchange payments (Binance, Coinbase). Card rails for everyone else via Stripe.
- Community management by design. Instant role unlocks, precise role mapping per plan, and clean removals on lapse keep the premium space premium.
- Branding & growth. Shareable paylinks, free trials, discount codes, roadmap items like a unified link and referrals, your growth loop is considered.
If your audience is crypto-native, or you want one checkout that converts both crypto and card customers, Suby aligns with that reality.
Whop vs Suby Feature Comparison
The following table captures the differences that typically decide outcomes for creators and operators. (Details can vary by plan/region, treat this as directional.)
Who should choose Whop?
- You want a marketplace storefront and plan to sell courses, downloads, or software licenses in addition to access.
- Your customers are primarily card buyers, and crypto is a secondary add-on.
- You're fine with the checkout living off-platform and coming back to Discord afterward.
Who should choose Suby?
- Your business is a Discord membership or Telegram group first.
- Your audience expects crypto payment options (Solana, EVM, stablecoins) or even exchange payments.
- You want automation for renewals, reminders, role access, and clean removals, so your team focuses on content, not collections.
- You want the most credible Whop alternative for crypto-forward communities without sacrificing card checkout.
Whop vs Suby Use Cases
Trading and alpha communities
- Problem: Moments matter. When you post an alpha drop, every extra second between intent and checkout is lost revenue.
- Whop vs Suby: Suby's in-chat checkout + instant role unlock is built for fast joins; crypto payment breadth captures the core audience.
- Membership benefits: Immediate access to premium channels without moderator intervention.
Coaching programs & masterminds
- Problem: You want to limit noise, enforce tiered membership, and keep customer support light.
- Whop vs Suby: Either can sell memberships, but Suby's precise plan→role mapping and DM reminders keep cohorts tidy with less admin.
NFT & Web3 creator communities
- Problem: Buyers expect crypto rails, not just card.
- Whop vs Suby: Suby's Solana + EVM coverage and exchange payments reduce onboarding friction. Payouts in USDC/USDT suit treasury habits.
Private Telegram group with Discord spillover
- Problem: You run a telegram group and a Discord server; people want flexibility.
- Whop vs Suby: Suby natively supports both platforms so your automation, analytics, and payouts live in one place.
Growth Tips for Discord & Telegram Communities
- Chat-native funnel
- Pinned welcome channel with paylinks
- 45-second welcome video describing membership benefits
- Weekly free trial windows for new cohorts
- Lifecycle nudges
- DM reminders at T-3 days and T-24 hours before renewal
- Discount codes for six-month members to encourage annual upgrades
- Auto-kick on lapse to preserve premium status and signal quality
- Branding & customization
- On-brand paylinks across X, Instagram, and bio tools
- QR codes during voice chats or livestreams for impulse joins
- Clear "how to pay" pins to reduce customer support churn
- Analytics feedback loop
- Watch trial→paid conversion, renewal rate, and plan mix
- Test quarterly vs monthly pricing
- Export CSV for monthly revenue reviews
FAQs About Discord & Telegram Payment Solutions
Q: Can I accept both card and crypto without confusing customers?
A: Yes—present them side by side, one screen. Most customers pick instantly.
Q: Will crypto payment increase support tickets?
A: It can if you force wallets on everyone. Exchange payments and card rails solve this.
Q: What about refunds and chargebacks?
A: Card rails (Stripe) follow normal dispute procedures. Crypto refunds are policy-based.
Q: How do I protect my VIP rooms from freeloaders?
A: Plan→role mapping, auto-kick on lapse, and no manual exceptions.
Q: Can I keep my brand if I don't want a public storefront?
A: Yes. With Suby, your "store" is your chat app.
How to Migrate from Whop to Suby
- Export members + expiry dates (if available).
- Create plans in Suby (mirror your current pricing or refresh it).
- Map roles per plan; add DM reminders and grace periods.
- Import members (one-click where supported or CSV).
- Swap paylinks in your welcome and pinned posts.
- Test crypto payment, card, and exchange flows once.
Quick Comparison: Whop vs Suby Decision Matrix
Pick Whop if you want a marketplace storefront and card-first buyers.
Pick Suby if you want chat-native automation with crypto + card flexibility.
The business case in one paragraph
Creators don't fail for lack of vision; they fail because the business leaks—missed renewals, manual access, and checkout flows that live too far from the conversation. If your customers decide to buy while they're reading the alpha channel or listening in a voice room, the payment needs to happen there, not three tabs away. That's where Suby's design shines: card + crypto checkout, automation for renewals and roles, payouts your team can actually use, and tooling built around community growth rather than storefront pageviews. If you need a marketplace, Whop is familiar. If you need a payment solution for Discord & Telegram that compounds retention and conversion, Suby is the better fit.
Final word
Whether you're a trader posting signals, a coach running weekly calls, or a creator building a private network, the right stack decides your ceiling. Whop is a capable hosted shop with card-first DNA. Suby is a chat-native engine that merges payment, subscriptions, and community management into a single flow for Discord and Telegram. For crypto-forward audiences—and for operators who want fewer tickets and more membership benefits delivered where people already hang out—Suby is the Whop alternative that turns your server into a predictable, growing business.
Build the stack that matches your community. Keep the funnel inside chat, give customers crypto payment and card freedom, and let automation do the heavy lifting while you focus on content, creators, and growth.