Watchdog is an AI-powered moderation bot for online communities. It monitors chat messages, removes spam, scams, impersonators and rule-breakers, and can also answer member questions. It supports Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, Reddit, Crisp and X communities.
The product comes from a founder named Ben, who says scammers invaded his survival game server community while he slept and cut his revenue by 90%. Watchdog is aimed at owners who want consistent enforcement without hiring a human moderator.
How does Watchdog work?
Owners add Watchdog to a community like any other bot and promote it to moderator or administrator with permission to delete messages and ban members. The bot then receives the content of each message sent to the community.
Each message goes to an AI model that checks it for rule violations. If a rule is broken, Watchdog applies the actions the owner chose, such as alerting, kicking, banning or muting the offender, or deleting the message.
Key features of Watchdog
Rules are written in plain English, for example banning cryptocurrency talk or external links. Default rules cover hate speech, scams and insults. Punishments can be mixed per rule, and the bot supports communitywide and channel-specific rules, plus text, image and voice moderation.
Other capabilities include impersonator detection, moderation in many languages, conversion of stylized Unicode text, weekly chat summaries and automated Q&A. A dashboard shows violations and actions taken, and lets owners run test cases against their rule wording.
Key Features
Plain-English custom rules — Owners define rules in natural language, such as no cryptocurrency talk or no external links, and Watchdog enforces them. Default rules cover hate speech, scams and insults.
Customizable punishments — Each rule can trigger a mix of kick, ban, mute, delete message, alert admins or alert channel. Defaults are alert and delete.
Text, image and voice moderation — Paid plans list moderation of text, images and voice content.
Impersonator detection — An AI model flags and removes impersonators before they can DM community members.
Multilingual and Unicode handling — Moderates English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Turkish, Persian and more, and converts stylized Unicode text before checking it.
Automated Q&A — Imports knowledge base content from a website, answers member questions within seconds, and learns from owner replies when it lacks an answer.
Weekly chat summaries — Sends a report of what was discussed in the community each week, along with tips for driving engagement.
Analytics dashboard — Shows rule violations and the action taken, and lets owners run automated test cases against rule wording.
Communitywide and channel-specific rules — Rules can apply to a whole community or to individual channels.
Branding and webhooks — Owners can remove Watchdog branding and customize the bot's name, description and picture. Webhooks are listed on all plans.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Rules are written in plain English, so no technical setup is needed to define what is allowed.
Each rule can combine kick, ban, mute, delete and alert actions for flexible enforcement.
Covers Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, Reddit, Crisp and X communities from one product.
Automated Q&A learns from owner replies when it does not know an answer.
Every plan includes a 14-day free trial and can be canceled anytime.
Includes a dashboard with test cases for checking how rule wording performs.
Cons
No free plan is listed; use is limited to a 14-day trial before paying.
Launch is capped at 10,000 messages and 5 custom rules per community.
Messages are passed to an AI model for analysis, which some owners may dislike.
The site says it is not a fit for small or very friendly communities.
Pricing
Launch $29/month Monthly, or $290 billed yearly (shown as $24/month)
Scale $49/month shown with yearly billing Billed yearly at $590
Enterprise Starting at $416/month Billed yearly at $4990
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Watchdog?
Watchdog is an AI moderation bot for online communities. It checks messages against rules the owner sets, takes actions such as deleting, muting, kicking or banning, and can answer member questions automatically.
How much does Watchdog cost?
The site says plans start at $29/month. Yearly billing is shown as Launch $290, Scale $590 and Enterprise from $4,990 per year, with two months free. Enterprise is arranged by booking a call.
Does Watchdog have a free trial?
Yes. All plans include a 14-day free trial and can be canceled anytime. The site does not list a permanent free plan.
Which platforms does Watchdog support?
Watchdog supports Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, Reddit, Crisp and X communities. The site invites users to request other integrations.
How does Watchdog moderate a community?
The bot is added like any other bot and promoted to moderator with permission to delete messages and ban members. It sends each message to an AI model, then applies the punishments configured for any rule that is broken.
Does Watchdog store messages?
Messages are passed to an AI model for analysis, and messages that violate rules are stored for reporting. Owners can view the report anytime and request its deletion, and the dashboard supports exclusions.
Who is Watchdog best for?
It is aimed at busy community owners who do not want to moderate manually or pay a contractor. The site says it is less suited to small servers with few active users.
Can Watchdog moderate languages other than English?
Yes. It lists English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Turkish, Persian and more, and it also converts stylized Unicode text before moderating it.