Answer first
The short version
- Guardy Bot is a good fit for moving a MEE6 leaderboard without resetting progress because you preview and check the import before any member's XP changes.
- Arcane is a strong dedicated leveling choice with free message and reaction XP, while voice XP requires Premium.
- Lurkr is the cheapest paid option, with MEE6 imports, curve presets and a free export, but its docs do not describe voice XP.
- MEE6, Dyno and Carl-bot put leveling behind a paid plan; PeakBot includes XP free and sells AI on Pro.
What makes a leveling bot good?
A useful Discord leveling bot does more than add points after a message. It should make the rules clear, resist easy farming, apply reward roles safely, give members a readable view of their progress, and let an administrator change systems without destroying months of history.
We compared the products on eight practical questions:
- Does message XP work on the free plan?
- Does voice activity earn XP, and is it free?
- Can admins tune cooldowns, channels, roles, and multipliers?
- Are reward roles included, and what are the limits?
- Are rank cards and weekly or monthly leaderboards available?
- Can an existing leaderboard be imported without guessing?
- Can the data be exported again?
- What else must the server install to cover moderation and onboarding?
The shortlist
| Bot | Good fit for | Important free-leveling fact | Main tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guardy Bot | Reviewed MEE6 migration plus leveling, moderation, and onboarding | Message and voice XP, 15 reward roles, 10 multipliers, rank cards, milestone images, and windowed leaderboards | The product is younger than the incumbents; no reaction XP |
| Arcane | A mature, dedicated leveling system | Message and reaction XP plus 15 reward roles | Voice XP, custom XP values, and monthly leaderboards are Premium |
| Lurkr | A cheap leveling specialist that treats portability seriously | MEE6 imports, curve presets, 50 reward roles and a free export | Its docs do not describe voice XP; 5 free multipliers |
| MEE6 | A familiar plugin ecosystem with many adjacent services | MEE6’s own Free vs Premium article marks XP and Levels as Premium | Premium, personal Pro, and AI are separate services, so buyers need to check which purchase owns each feature |
| Dyno | Established server management with paid leveling | Levels is documented as a Standard Premium feature | Free users need another leveling bot or a paid Dyno plan |
| Carl-bot | Deep reaction roles, tags, feeds, and utility tooling | Levels and XP is listed as Premium | Leveling is not the reason to choose Carl-bot’s free plan |
| PeakBot | A broad free catalogue, with AI server building on Pro | XP and leveling are included in Free | It recalculates imported MEE6 XP on its own curve |
Guardy Bot for a MEE6 switch
Guardy Bot is a good fit in this list when the existing MEE6 leaderboard is the asset you cannot afford to lose. It reads the public MEE6 leaderboard or a saved JSON file, checks every member ID and XP value, recalculates levels on the familiar curve, and shows an administrator what will change before a single live record moves.
That workflow is more valuable than a longer feature checklist when a server has hundreds or thousands of members with history. The import can replace values or keep the higher XP total, and a direct MEE6 import can also suggest your reward roles, which you approve separately from the XP.
Guardy Bot also includes message and eligible voice XP on Free. Admins can tune ranges, cooldowns, global rates, channel or role multipliers, and no-XP zones. Free includes 15 reward roles and 10 XP multipliers. Level milestone images are free. Premium is $6.99 monthly or $59 yearly, and Lifetime is $99.99 once, both per server. The same bot also runs moderation, tickets and AI scam and spam filtering on every plan.
Read the full Guardy Bot leveling feature guide or see the MEE6 migration walkthrough.
Choose Arcane for dedicated leveling depth
Arcane is a credible choice for a server that wants a mature leveling specialist. Its official matrix lists free message XP, reaction XP, 15 reward roles, weekly leaderboards, a moderation plugin, 10 reaction roles, and five custom commands. Premium adds voice XP, custom XP values, unlimited reward roles, monthly leaderboards, custom rank images, and a custom bot identity.
Arcane has a clear advantage over Guardy Bot in reaction XP and custom rank imagery, and its free reward-role allowance of 15, one per level, is now level with Guardy Bot’s 15. Guardy Bot has the advantage for free voice XP, reviewed MEE6 migration, longer free moderation-history windows, and one product that also covers onboarding and safety.
See the detailed Guardy Bot vs Arcane comparison.
Choose Lurkr when exportability is the priority
Lurkr deserves specific credit for making data portability part of the product. Its documentation shows MEE6 level and reward-role imports, a minimum-level filter for large transfers, a documented leaderboard export, custom XP curves, and detailed channel and role multiplier behavior.
Lurkr currently documents Amari imports as unavailable because the upstream API was removed, and Polaris as manual-only. That kind of limitation is useful because it tells an admin what can actually be completed today.
Lurkr added curve presets, including MEE6, in March 2026, and its paid plans cost $1 or $5 a month. Its docs and changelog do not describe voice XP, and Lurkr Free allows 5 multipliers against Guardy Bot’s 10.
Guardy Bot is the better fit when the migration needs a preview plus voice XP and a wider moderation and onboarding system. Lurkr may be the better fit when a dedicated leveling product with explicit free export is the whole requirement. See Guardy Bot vs Lurkr for the direct tradeoff.
When MEE6, Dyno, Carl-bot, or PeakBot is better
MEE6 remains a rational choice for servers already invested in its plugin family, social alerts, economy, Bot Personalizer, or separate AI products. Familiarity and operational maturity have real value. The cost is a more complicated service model and a weaker reason to move if portability is the main concern.
Dyno is attractive when the server already relies on its moderation, tickets, feeds, starboard, or custom-command ecosystem and is comfortable buying Standard for Levels. Carl-bot is the clear specialist here for large reaction-role systems, TagScript, feeds, and starboard. PeakBot publishes the broadest free catalogue of the products reviewed, and its Pro plan adds AI server building.
Those are not footnotes. A useful recommendation should make it easy to choose a competitor when its strength is the strength your server actually needs.
How to test before switching
Use a private channel or small test server first. Confirm the XP curve, one message cooldown, one voice session, one role reward, one rank card, and one leaderboard window. Then test the import with a small known sample and compare at least three members: a new member, a mid-level member, and one of the highest-XP members.
Do not remove the previous bot until the new leaderboard, reward roles, and permissions have been checked. A good migration is boring because every change was visible before it became live.
