A vanity URL also known as a custom invite link is a catchy invite, such as discord.com/YourName in place of some random code. The default invite links appear to have the format discord.com/ABC123. As an instance, when an invitation dialog appears, the code that you have not chosen appears. A vanity URL will substitute that random code with the name of your choice and your server link will be branded and memorable. This is important since it will make your community appear more business-like and will assist individuals in being part of it without keying in long numbers. Custom link: This is a catchy branded address to your server.

Is it possible to get a Vanity URL not through Boosting? It is a sad fact that the official policy of Discord is very strict. You can’t get a Discord vanity URL unless your server meets the rules. Only Level 3 boosted servers or those in special programs can use custom invite links. That is, in case your server is not a Partner or Verified server and does not have 14 boosts, the vanity feature will remain locked. None of your tricks and settings will get it open. So, if you want a Discord vanity URL without Nitro or boosting, the answer is no. Discord’s community team clearly says only Level 3 or partnered servers can claim a vanity URL.

Level 3/Partnered Servers: The documentation of Discord explains it well. An informative article clarifies that a Custom Invite Link can only be available on the server that has reached the level Boost 3. Level 3 typically refers to 14 server boosts, and this may cost approximately $70/month of Nitro subscriptions, 14 boosts at present prices. It is yours, provided that your server is Boosted. Practically,  it is that, unless your server is kept at level 3, you are deprived of the connection. Besides booms, vanity URLs are also available as the Partner and Verified program perks of Discord.

Verified Server: The Verified Server program provides a vanity invite to an official brand or public figure server. Similarly, when your community is added to the Discord Partner Program, it will also get a vanity URL, among other benefits. Overall, Level 3 boosters, partnered boosters, or verified boosters are the only ones that can receive an official Discord vanity link. The rest of the servers just do not qualify under the rules of Discord.

Alternative Ways to Create Clean Custom Invite Links (Without Boosting)

Although you cannot obtain a real Discord vanity URL without boosts, your invite link can still be made clean and branded in other ways. The popular way is to cover the random Discord code with your own domain or shortener of a link shortener. As an example, you can put up a redirect to your Discord invite when you purchase or have acquired a short domain name. One of the tutorials on IONOS is the tutorial on creating a subdomain such as join.yourdomain.com and redirecting it to your Discord invite link. Overall, any visitor to your domains is redirected to the invite page of Discord. This provides you with a unique URL (i.e. yourdomain.com/join) at no cost other than the cost of your domain.

Alternatively, a branded link can be generated by a large number of free link-shortening services. Websites such as bit.ly, TinyURL, or Discord-specific shorteners, such as dsc.gg or allow you to copy and paste your Discord invite and then customize the link slug. We observes that in case your server fails to satisfy the vanity requirements of Discord, it is possible to use a link shortener to receive a clean and branded invite. As an example, you may share a discord.com/X7a9bQ but instead, you shorten it to: bit.ly/MyServer or dsc.gg/MyServer. With these tools, you can have a branded invite link without a Nitro boost.

The outcome is not an official Discord vanity URL that makes the connection look more presentable. You can also use services that let you set a custom domain. Some link shorteners offer this feature in their paid plans. In essence, sending a domain or a shortener provides you with a custom-looking Discord invite link, which is actually a redirect to the standard Discord invite.

Step-by-Step: Make a Custom-Looking Invite Link Using Free Tools 

We are going to provide a basic example of a custom invite link, not boosted. We shall adopt a free link-shortening utility, but numerous other tools are similar.

Step 1: The first step would be to generate an ordinary Discord invite. The normal Discord invite will appear in your server by clicking invite and copying it. It will look as follows: https://discord.com/ABCDEFG. This is your destination URL.

Step 2: Visit any shortened link site. Sign up or log in if needed.

Step 3: Copy the Discord invite URL to the shortener. Following this, personalize the slug, which is the portion of the connection following the slash. As an example, one may type in MyServerName or anything memorable. With a pop-up up you can edit the text of the link directly in the browser. Save or shorten on clicking save or shorten.

Step 4: A new link will be created and will appear as domainname.com/MyServerName and redirect individuals to your Discord invite. You are now in possession of a stylish custom link.

This procedure eliminates the necessity to use the Level 3 boost. The limitation can be avoided, as explained by one of the resources that you can use any tools to make a branded short link. And most importantly, you can do it again later (you can edit the destination address later in case your invitation goes out of time). It is not a proper Discord vanity URL, though, merely a redirect, but it serves well in having an invite link made with Discord that looks clean.

Tips to Make Your Server Look Professional Without a Vanity URL 

Often, the server itself can be made to look professional and trustworthy even without an official vanity URL. Here are some tips:

Organize your server clearly

Have a clear theme or topic for your server and create separate channels for every subject. Ensure that the rules or guidelines are visible to every person. Organizing your server with clear categories, channels, and rules helps new members know what to expect and feel welcome. This clean structure easily attracts more users.

Pick a catchy name and icon

It counts in the first instance. Select a catchy name for a server about your community. Creating a striking, topical icon or logo of a server. An icon that is easy to remember makes your server unique. Provided there is time, a pretty banner picture and an informative About/welcome screen would be nice. These are the graphic elements of your branding of your server and they give your community a sense of legitimacy. Community servers can also place a banner and a join-screen (which appear professional) on desktop.

Set up announcements or a welcome channel

Discord lets you create an Announcement or Welcome channel where new members can see your welcome message and learn how to get started. The warm reception and intelligible descriptions of channels provide a business impression.

Keep content high-quality

Post quality content consistently to ensure that members do not become bored. As an example, share tips, articles, or host events in your profession. Your server is appealing with good content and discussions. According to one of the guides, offering users good content and resources will help to drive a person to join and stay.

Be consistent and active

See to it that one is present to welcome new members and moderate. A server that is presentable (bots to have fun, bots to do moderation, new channels) seems more official. And you can also add the Community features such as Member Screening and Server Insights to remind you that you are serious about your good server.

Share it thoughtfully

Add your link to a social media or a well-illustrated site about what your server is all about. You can still make a professional-looking invite even without a vanity URL. Just use clear text and nice images to make it look attractive.

These tips on branding prove that you do not have to use a vanity URL to appear polished. Good name/icon and proper layout are worth a lot.

Myths and Misunderstandings 

Be careful of all the online vanity URL hacks or bots that promise to provide you with a free vanity URL. As a matter of fact, this cannot be done by bots or tricks in Discord. A free Discord vanity link is almost always a hoax or a rule violation. To illustrate, the security policies of Discord are telling us to avoid clicking suspicious links or to provide our authentication token. Attackers have seized the opportunity of old invite links to install malware. Scammers frequently steal invitations to Discord, particularly those that have expired, to defraud users.

Our Expert Researchers observed that attackers have intercepted old invitations to install malware. When someone claims to give them their server and that in exchange they give them their own custom link, it is a phishing attempt. Also, don’t trust bots or accounts that promise free vanity URLs. Discord’s policy clearly says selling or trading invite links or vanity URLs is not allowed.

When one reads that it is too good to be true with the free vanity URL without Nitro or boosting, then it must be a trap. And, as Discord always says: Do not open links with an unknown sender or one that looks suspicious. Use reputable techniques of boosting or being verified, or using safe links such as link shorteners.

How to Grow Your Server Organically Without Vanity URLs

You do not require a vanity URL to create a large community that is active community. In fact, Discord’s rules recommend growing your server naturally and forbid buying engagement or vanity links. The following are some of the effective strategies:

Encourage word-of-mouth

Ask your existing members to bring friends. You might arrange a simple reward scheme (e.g. special positions or privileges) on individuals who make new recruits. Among the tricks is to follow invitations using a bot and send congratulations to the winners. This is more authentic than advertisements and does not violate the policies of Discord.

Leverage community listings

Put your server on Discord and display sites such as Disboard or DiscordServers. Add tags and an interesting description there to make people who search under those categories locate you. Feeding the listing regularly and motivating an upvote. Such listings have the ability to prompt actual people interested in your invitation link.

Host events and giveaways

Conduct Q&A, game nights, or contests in your server and publicize them in social media or applicable forums. People can be enticed by giveaways (e.g. game keys or badges). Advertise them on Twitter, Reddit, or Facebook using your invite link. Public events make people communicate and spread your link.

Create great content

Share useful guides, tips or discussions that are related to the theme of your server. As an example, when it is a study group, broadcast study schedules, or live tutoring. Useful content helps to entertain the members and establish your reputation, thus increasing the number of users.

Partner with others

Identify servers or communities interested in the same and offer a partnership or joint events. As an example, you could host a joint stream or question and answer with the two communities, posting the invite. Such cross-promotion introduces you to new groups.

Be active and welcoming

Talk to one another and ask questions, and make everyone feel a part of it. A lively and sociable society is bound to develop. In fact, according to Discord, active participation is the main characteristic of good neighborhoods.

Concentrating on actual interaction and valuable information, you will naturally gain new members. Remember, Discord’s policy is simple: grow your server naturally and don’t artificially boost member numbers. This implies that there is no need to purchase counterfeit members and crashing bots, simply continue to make good connections.

Real-World Vanity URL Examples

• The clear vanity links are common in the big gaming and community servers. As an illustration, League of Legends fans are registered through discord.com/leagueoflegends. The Valorant and Legends of Runeterra communities of Riot Games also feature discord.com/valorant and /legendsofruneterra, which are easy to recall. Even larger hobbyist groups get custom URLs. For example, a Formula One fan server uses discord.com/formulaone. On the same note, the official Python community makes use of discord.com/python. These branded links are brief, concise and in the name of the community, giving it an appearance of being legitimate and easy to forward.
  
• Small or unboosted servers, by comparison, contain random codes such as discord.com/AbC123xY. Such connections are difficult to remember or write. One medium-sized community, Vence Store (a Polish gaming store), uses discord.com/vence. Nevertheless, a friend club without any boosts can be a simple link such as discord.com/9Zj4WQp, which is not very appealing. Big servers love vanity URLs because they stand out. If you run a popular game, streamer, or study server, a custom link helps. Small casual chats usually skip this.

Recent Case Studies & User Stories (2023–2026)

Scam warning

In 2023, scammers used the official Discord vanity link of a cryptocurrency initiative (BNB Chain) to steal it. Attackers temporarily turned discord.com/bnbchain into a counterfeit channel, where they were encouraging users to reconnect their wallets to a fraudulent airdrop. The team was able to take back control soon, yet this proves that even reliable vanity URLs could be a victim. Here’s a warning: only accept invites from official sources and always check links before clicking.

Beta feature ending

Discord stated in late 2025 that the vanity link boost feature will cease to exist with payment. Only Level 3 servers will now retain their custom invite. That is, you can no longer purchase a vanity link separately and with 5 boosts, you need to have it or achieve Level 3 (14 boosts) so as to keep it. Discord clarified that the 5-boost vanity link never lasts permanently. They gave a 30-day notice and assured Level 3 servers that their current links would remain active.

Cost considerations

The community members argued out the issue of vanity links as a worthwhile investment. One commenter on Reddit estimated that maintaining a bespoke link through personal funding 14 would increase expenditures by approximately 69.84/month. Alternatively, as noted by another user, you can purchase a short name such as mydiscord.com at a one-time price of around $10/year and forward it to your invite. Such views prompt servers to consider a balance between branding gain and cost: at times, it may mean having a vanity-saving custom domain or a free link shortener.

Niche-Specific Vanity URL Benefits

Gaming communities

Gamers appreciate branding. An invite that includes the server name adds credibility. For example, a popular game server like Minecraft Brasil uses this approach.To take one example, a large Minecraft community can use discord.com/minecraftbrasil instead of random text. A branded URL (which can be the name of the game or the name of a clan) will reassure the fans that they are at the official location. It is also easy to promote: players will click and trust a friendly link more, as opposed to a random one.

Crypto/NFT projects

Web3 communities have Discord as their primary residence. A custom invite link is key for clear branding. Adding your project name or token, like discord.com/MyTokenName, helps build credibility on social media platforms like Twitter or Telegram. It also minimizes phishing, as fraudsters tend to employ odd codes. As an illustration, NFT communities tend to promote their Discord as mytoken.io/discord or a branded short link: this is what one would expect and is more professional than a generic code.

Student and hobby groups

MCAT prep, coding circles, student groups, study groups, etc., all of which are also beneficiaries of vanity URLs. A student Discord with a subject name or acronym in its name (e.g. discord.com/APBioClub) is more official and easier to post to community forums or social media. Although you may not be able to obtain the official vanity link, it is often beneficial to use tools to make a nice invite such as a proverbial short of an invitation that would end with the name of your community so that your server would become conspicuous and appear credible. Finally, any niche community becomes legitimate when individuals are able to recall or conjecture the invite.

Free Tools and Bots for Invite Sharing & Promotion

Link-shortener websites

Free Discord invites sites: On top of paid ones, there are also free ones. The example is dsc.gg, where you can make your own short links such as dsc.gg/yourserver free of charge. These serve as vanity URLs (they redirect to your invite) and boost the click rates. Bit.ly and/or TinyURL are all other general shorteners that can work, but niche Discord tools tend to enhance engagement on a specific basis.

Server listing sites

When promoting your server, it is a good idea to place an ad on the directory sites that will not only provide the members but will also give a custom link. The websites such as Discord.me, and DiscordList.me, allow you to claim a vanity invite on their site. As an illustration, Discord.me allows creating a free link to your server (discord.me/YourServerName). Adding your server to lists like Disboard or DiscordHub also helps more people discover it. Numerous of these sites allow you to bump your listing after every few hours to remain active.

Bump and advertisement bots

Free Discord bots can be used to maintain your server on the list and work over. Mob, ServerHub, and other bots such as bump every 4h, $bump every 2h, or bump, have bots that will bump your server on public lists. This makes sure that your invitation (vanity or not) is reposted in the directories frequently. You can also manually post your link in channels of adverts and listing servers such as discord.com/ServerListings.

Community engagement bots

Although not an invite-specific, community engagement bots such as MEE6 or Statbot can assist in expanding on and maintaining your server. As an example, MEE6 can assign roles or rewards to friend invitations and Statbot can log the number of new members using each invite code. Such aspects promote word-of-mouth expansion. Finding an invitation to share, you can indirectly increase your invite shares using such bots (All of them have free versions).

Custom domain and redirects

One of the clever tricks is to purchase a domain that is very short and redirect it to the Discord invitation. One such example would be to purchase a domain name through a domain registrar (e.g. mygroup.gg, $10/year) and configure it to redirect to your Discord link. In this fashion, you have the ability to control the URL (mygroup.gg/join) and no boosts are required. It is technically not part of Discord, but it adheres to all regulations, and this is an option, and lots of communities implement this as a free replacement for a vanity URL.

FAQs about Discord Vanity URLs

Do I need server boosts to get a vanity URL? 

Yes: To get an official Discord vanity URL, your server must reach Level 3 (14 boosts) or be partnered or verified. That is, Discord can only provide custom invite links to massively boosted servers. In case you do not match such requirements, you can otherwise generate a branded invite link with the help of a link-shortener.

Can I change or remove my custom invite? 

Yes. After creating a vanity URL, you can add or delete a vanity URL at any time in Server Settings > Boosts Perks. In order to delete a vanity URL, go to the Boosts Perks page and select the option to remove a custom invite link. When a third-party shortener is used, you have the opportunity to edit the destination or slug.

What if I lose my boosts: do I lose my URL? 

In case of falling to Level 3, Discord indicates that the custom link remains available to up to 30 days, after which the vanity URL recovers. Practically speaking, with the standalone perk of 5-boost vanity (which is expiring), Discord only promises that true Level 3 servers will continue to have links after the beta. Concisely, to retain a vanity URL, you will have to be/or reclaim Level 3.

What characters can I use in my vanity URL? 

In custom URLs, Discord can use only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens. The maximum length of your server slug is 25 characters (i.e. letters a-z, 0-9, or -). Every character should be in small case. If you try a name that’s already taken or invalid, Discord will show an error and ask you to pick a different one.

Why isn’t my vanity link working? 

The reason most prevalent is channel visibility. To be able to use the custom link, Discord must have at least one text channel visible to a user, denoted by the symbol of everyone. Actually, your channel at the top is of particular importance, since this is the channel that your Vanity URL will be directed to. In the case the channel is not visible, or the invite recipient cannot access it, the invitation will fail. Ensure that your initial channel (usually, #welcome or #rules) is open to make new users pop onto it with the vanity invite.

Are third-party link shorteners safe for Discord invites? 

Yes: trustworthy link shorteners just jump to your Discord invite and do not modify it. As an example, when you are using Bit.ly link-shortener doesn’t modify your Discord invite: it only redirects the users with a cleaner branded link. Unless you have a bad service, which you should avoid, it is alright to generate a branded link (e.g. mybrand.link/xyz), and this simply makes your URL more compact and easy to track.

Final Thoughts

Is a Vanity URL Worth It? Your server will appear official and more convenient to share with the help of a Discord vanity URL. But to obtain one through official channels, one needs to have a lot of boosts or status of partnering. It is not worth the price or the time for most of the small or new servers. The above are some of the alternatives instead: custom domains, link shorteners, and good branding. They provide a significant portion of the same without spending $70/month and being scammed. Concisely, a vanity connection is a welcome additional feature, but not a must-have. The content is key, the community should be great, the atmosphere inviting and intelligent promotion, and you will see your server succeed even without an eye-catching discord.com/name URL.

Thus, it is not possible to obtain an official Discord vanity URL without boosting, but with the help of free tools or own domain, you can make your invite link look professional. An easy to use and clean invite will make more people join your server. If you’re not sure how to create or share clickable links the right way, check out our full guide on how to make a link clickable. It walks you through simple steps that make your links stand out and attract more clicks.