Hustle 03: Mod Bot Service
Online communities are growing at record speed, and moderators are burning out faster than ever. Reddit, Discord, forums, and niche community platforms all suffer from the same problem: too much spam, too many rule-breakers, and not enough human eyes to keep communities healthy.
This creates a massive opportunity. With AI tools and simple automation frameworks, you can build Moderation Bots that automatically enforce rules, filter content, and support moderators. These bots reduce workload, maintain community quality, and deliver consistency 24/7.
When done correctly, this becomes a powerful, scalable side hustle where your automation works for dozens of communities at once.
What This Business Actually Is
A moderation bot is a simple automated system that reads posts and comments, checks them against rules, and takes action. Modern bots can also respond to questions, welcome new users, and escalate issues to human moderators. This means one bot can reduce the manual work of a whole team.
The bot monitors activities inside specific subreddits or forums. When it finds rule violations, the bot reacts by removing content, flagging it, messaging users, or pushing information into mod tools.
Because communities are desperate for moderation help, this service solves a real problem.
Who This Business Is Perfect For
This side hustle is ideal for people who enjoy:
coding or automation
community building
AI integrations
problem solving
niche digital services
You do not need to be a professional developer. Many moderation bot templates exist, and simple functionality can be learned in weeks.
Tools You Need to Launch This Business
Start with your affiliate tools first if you plan to build funnels, client onboarding, or automation workflows:
System.io
Ideal for creating a clean landing page where moderators can request custom bots or subscribe to a moderation plan.
Beehive
Useful if you want to run a newsletter that teaches communities how to manage themselves or shows case studies of your bot upgrades.
OpusClip
Helpful if you market this hustle using short-form videos that demonstrate what your bot does.
After your affiliate stack, here are the real technical tools needed for the bots:
Python
The core language for building moderation automations.
PRAW (Python Reddit API Wrapper)
Allows you to read posts, detect spam, remove content, send messages, and automate mod actions.
Reddit API
Connects your bot to specific subreddits.
OpenAI
Adds AI-based rule enforcement, spam detection, tone checking, and safety analysis.
Make or Zapier
Optional, but helpful for routing data, notifications, or storing logs.
Heroku or Railway
Deploy your bot so it runs 24/7 without your computer being on.
This is a lightweight tech stack that can scale as much as you want.
How You Make Money
You are essentially selling “moderation automation” as a service. Communities pay because your bot saves moderators hours of work.
Monetization options include:
Subscription Plans
Charge based on subreddit or community size.
$15/month for small communities
$40–$100/month for mid-sized communities
$150–$300/month for large subreddits
Custom Moderation Packages
Offer advanced features like automated replies, content tagging, flair management, or sentiment monitoring.
Full-Service Bot Management
You build, monitor, update, and improve the bot monthly.
One-Time Setup Fees
Charge $50–$300 for installing a custom bot.
This model scales well because once a bot is built, you can replicate it and sell versions to dozens of communities.
How to Start
Step 1 — Pick a Platform
Reddit is the easiest place to start because of PRAW and strong API documentation. Discord is another popular option.
Step 2 — Learn Basic Bot Structure
You can start with existing templates on GitHub or simple Python scripts. You do not need advanced coding to get a working bot.
Step 3 — Connect to Reddit Using PRAW
Create a script that reads posts and comments. Focus on:
spam keywords
banned domains
offensive language
rule violations
promotional content
Step 4 — Add an AI Moderation Layer
Use OpenAI or Claude to classify content and detect violations.
Prompt examples include:
“Does this break rule 1?”
“What rule does this violate?”
“Should this post be removed?”
AI can handle nuance better than rule-based bots.
Step 5 — Implement Bot Actions
Your bot can:
remove posts
reply with rule explanations
send mod alerts
report content
welcome new users
answer common questions
Start simple. Expand over time.
Step 6 — Deploy Your Bot
Use services like Heroku, Railway, or Replit to keep your bot running 24/7.
Step 7 — Begin Selling Your Service
Reach out directly to moderators:
Post in r/needamod
DM moderators of underserved communities
Offer a free audit
Show them what your bot can automate
Provide dashboards or weekly summaries
You only need a few clients to begin earning recurring profit.
Word of Advice
Moderation bots are more valuable than most moderators realize. Don’t sell your service as “a bot.” Sell it as time freed, workload eliminated, community health improved, and safety increased. Focus on reliability and clarity instead of complicated features. Start with basic rule enforcement, get clients, then build more advanced AI features over time. The key is offering consistent results and positioning yourself as the automation partner community managers rely on.
