# AutoMod

> Discord’s built-in content filter, which inspects messages at the platform level before delivery. It is faster than any bot, harder to evade, and free — but it only inspects content.

- Canonical: https://discordtools.blog/glossary/automod
- Group: Moderation
- Also called: Discord AutoMod
- See also: https://discordtools.blog/glossary/message-content-intent, https://discordtools.blog/glossary/anti-raid, https://discordtools.blog/glossary/timeout
- Updated: 2026-08-31
- Publication: The Index, an independent site not affiliated with Discord Inc.

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AutoMod handles preset filters for profanity and slurs, mention-spam limits, custom keyword
rules and its own spam classifier. Because it runs before the message is delivered, nothing
downstream ever sees a blocked message.

What it does not do: act on repeat offenders, keep a case history, respond to a join-rate
spike, or restrain someone who already holds permissions. That gap is where a third-party bot
earns its place.

**Vetox** layers on top of AutoMod rather than replacing it, and adds the case history,
escalation and join-rate defence AutoMod has no concept of — all on the free Starter tier
except Anti-Raid, which is on Basic.