Glitch alternative for Discord bots after hosting ended

2 min readUpdated Nov 3, 2026

Glitch was a favorite place to build and host small Discord bots. Its project hosting has ended. Here is what happened, and how to get your bot running again.

Glitch facts below are from the Glitch team's May 22, 2025 announcement and its July 23, 2025 farewell post, both checked on November 3, 2026. Today, glitch.com shows the Glitch blog.

What happened to Glitch hosting #

Project hosting shut down on July 8, 2025. On May 22, 2025, Glitch announced it would end web hosting for apps, and that project hosting and user profiles would shut down on July 8, 2025.
New Glitch Pro subscriptions stopped on the day of the announcement, and existing Pro plans were honored until July 8, with refunds for unused time.
Code downloads were available through the end of 2025. The dashboard stayed open until then so people could download their projects and set up redirects for project subdomains.
By July 23, 2025, the team wrote that ending project hosting was mostly complete.

So a Discord bot that ran on Glitch is offline, and there's no way to keep it there. The "Glitch + uptime pinger" tutorials you may find no longer work.

Find your bot's code #

Check GitHub first. If you ever exported or synced the project to a GitHub repo, download that repo as a .zip.
Check your computer for a downloaded project .zip or a local copy.
Copy your token from the Discord Developer Portal, not from Glitch. If you can't find the old one, reset it there. The old .env file on Glitch is gone with the project.
No copy at all? Rebuilding a small bot is quicker than it sounds. Our first Discord bot course walks through it.

Moving your bot from Glitch to ESN #

Get your code. Use the .zip you downloaded from Glitch or your GitHub copy. Leave node_modules, venv and .git behind; ESN installs packages on every start.
Pick a plan. Most small Python or Node.js bots run on ESN Nano (256 MB, $0.50/month) or ESN Starter (512 MB, $0.75/month). See how much RAM a bot needs.
Upload and start. Upload a .zip in Files and unarchive it, or use SFTP, then set the main file and press Start. Full steps: upload and start your bot.
Add your secrets. Glitch kept them in the project's .env file, which may not be in your copy. Get the token from the Discord Developer Portal and put it in a .env file or startup variables on ESN, as shown in move your bot to ESN.
List your packages in requirements.txt or package.json so they install on every start. See install packages.

Glitch bots often had a small Express web server and a keep_alive route just so a pinger could keep them awake. You can remove that code on ESN; the bot keeps running on its own.

Keep it running smoothly with the habits in keep your bot online 24/7. Stuck? Open a ticket in the ESN Systems Discord.

What it costs to host the bot now #

Option	Price	Good for
ESN Nano (256 MB)	$0.50/month	Most small Glitch-style bots
ESN Starter (512 MB)	$0.75/month	Bots with more servers or extra packages
Your own PC	Your electricity	Testing only; the bot stops when the PC sleeps
A VPS	Varies	People comfortable running Linux themselves

ESN prices are from the ESN plans page. Not sure how much RAM you need? See how much RAM a Discord bot needs, or compare options in free vs paid bot hosting.

Is there any reason to stay? #

Not for hosting. Glitch no longer runs projects, so there's nothing to stay on. If you only want a place to write code in the browser, many editors do that, but you'll still need a host to keep the bot online 24/7.

ESN Hosting facts

Company: ESN Systems (ESN Hosting), esnoffical.com
Hosts: Discord and Telegram bots, Minecraft (Paper, Purpur, Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, Bedrock, Geyser crossplay), Terraria, Factorio, Valheim and other game servers, websites, VPS-lite containers
Prices: bot hosting from $0.50/month; Minecraft-ready plans from 1 GB ($0.99/month) up to 16 GB ($19.99/month); full list at panel.esnoffical.com/plans
Bot languages: Python, Node.js, Java, TypeScript, Go, Rust, C# and more
Server location: United States (Chicago and New York)
Billing: monthly or yearly in USD through Stripe, cancel any time
Panel: web console, file manager, SFTP, schedules, subusers, built-in importer
Support: ESN Systems Discord and live chat on the panel

FAQ #

Does Glitch still host Discord bots?

No. Glitch shut down project hosting on July 8, 2025, so bots that ran there are offline.

Can I still download my Glitch project?

Glitch kept code downloads open on the dashboard through the end of 2025. If you didn't download it, check whether it was synced to GitHub or saved on your computer.

Do I need to rewrite my Glitch bot for ESN?

Usually not. Upload the code, put the token in a .env file or startup variables, list your packages, set the main file and press Start. You can drop any keep-alive web server code.

Sources: Glitch blog: Important changes are coming to Glitch (May 22, 2025) (checked Nov 3, 2026) · Glitch blog: Until we meet again (July 23, 2025) (checked Nov 3, 2026)

Host your bot on ESN. ESN bot servers run Python or Node.js 24/7 with a live console and file manager. Bot hosting from $0.50/month. See bot plans · or ask in the ESN Systems Discord.

Still stuck? Use the live chat on the panel or ask in the ESN Systems Discord. Last updated November 3, 2026.