A new look for Orbit, and a clearer public website

We took a step back and looked at the public pages as a visitor would. Could someone understand what Orbit does, find a feature they need and work out how to add it to their server? Too much of that depended on already knowing where to look. A homepage should do some of the explaining itself. Ours had been leaving a little too much homework.

The refresh brings the logo, product explanations and navigation together. We wanted the public site to answer practical questions: what you can configure, which tools need a separate module, how plans work and what to do first. The changes below follow that review.

A new logo, still Orbit

The planet-and-ring mark is giving way to Pulse: a compact blue bot face with a cyan corner, dark visor and two pale eyes. Orbit stays Orbit. Pulse is the name of the new mark, and the service keeps its existing name.

The old mark connected naturally to the name. With the new one, we wanted a more direct connection to the Discord bot itself, a clear silhouette at small sizes and a shape we can use consistently across the website and product. Blue and cyan carry through the identity, while the simpler face gives the mark a recognisable centre even when there is very little room. Those are our design goals; a new logo does not earn recognition just by announcing itself.

We also looked at how other products explained similar changes. Slack's account of its logo refresh focuses on consistency across different uses; Mozilla's Firefox brand update treats the logo as part of a wider system of colour, shapes and accessible presentation. Our takeaway for Orbit is practical: the mark should work where people actually see it, and the pages around it should help them use the product. That is the criterion we are applying here.

The refreshed identity covers the public site and Dashboard, browser and app icons, link previews and plan documents. Matching Discord avatar and banner artwork has also been prepared. The change to the logo does not require you to reinstall Orbit or repeat your server setup.

A homepage that explains the bot

The homepage now opens with what Orbit helps you do: moderate a Discord server, welcome members, assign roles and extend your setup with modules. It explains the web Dashboard's role and gives the installation action a clear label: Add to Discord.

Concrete examples show a few useful starting points, such as sending a welcome message with a starting role, keeping a moderation action available for your team to review, or offering members a role menu for interests and notifications. Each example leads to the relevant feature information. You should be able to recognise a task you want to solve before reading an entire catalogue.

The installation entry explains the next steps: sign in, choose your server and review the Discord permissions. Links to features, the getting-started guide, plans and the bot comparison are part of the same public navigation, so there is a clearer path from finding Orbit to setting it up.

Feature guides and a clearer starting point

The Features directory groups the eight dedicated guides around moderation and oversight, members and participation, and support and modules. The guides cover Moderation, AutoMod, Leveling, Welcome Messages, Role Management, Server Logs, Tickets and Modules. This gives each area room to explain what it does, rather than reducing everything to a feature name on the homepage.

Feature pages have clearer capability summaries, links to related tools and section navigation for longer explanations. The descriptions focus on supported workflows. Whether you can use a particular tool still depends on the relevant permissions, configuration, plan and module availability. A public feature page is useful guidance, rather than a promise that every server has every option enabled.

The getting-started guide now sets out what you need before beginning and walks through five stages: sign in, invite Orbit, check permissions, configure your tools and verify the result. Individual stages are linked so you can return to the part you need. The homepage also gives a shorter setup overview for visitors who are still deciding where to start.

A public plans page with clear access information

The new Plans page shows the packages currently published for public viewing, with cards and a comparison of their capabilities and limits. It reads the current catalogue, so the page can reflect published package changes instead of relying on a fixed list in the website copy.

The page states how access works: Orbit does not accept real-money payments, and packages are assigned according to demand and on request. You can explain your community's needs through Support when requests are available. Assignment is reviewed individually, and submitting a request does not guarantee that a package will be granted. There is no paid checkout to complete.

The comparison helps you understand the package contents, while your server's effective access still follows its actual assignment and settings. An unspecified limit does not mean unlimited use. If the catalogue cannot be loaded, the page shows an unavailable state rather than invented packages or old figures presented as current.

Compare Orbit with other Discord bots

The new comparison page puts Orbit, MEE6, Dyno and Carl-bot alongside each other across 23 features. It covers moderation and logs, member and community tools, automation, and virtual-currency or monetisation features. Official source links and a visible review date make it easier to check where the information comes from.

The symbols distinguish a free base feature, a feature that requires payment and a verified absence. Short notes explain limits and exceptions. A free base does not imply unlimited use, and a paid extension of an otherwise free feature is described alongside it. Where a provider's availability or plan requirement is unclear, the page says so instead of guessing.

Orbit's general limits are loaded from the current service settings, including relevant tool limits and module slots. Plans and individual server settings can differ. Features that require a separate module are marked, including Giveaways, Custom Commands, Tickets, Temporary Voice and Casino. A failed limit refresh shows that the figures are unavailable; it does not turn missing information into zero or unlimited access.

The comparison also shows gaps in Orbit, including Starboard. It is maintained by Orbit using provider documentation, and the provider facts were checked on 7 October 2026. It is not a hands-on reliability or performance test, and other providers' plans can change. We wanted something that helps you choose tools for your server. Awarding ourselves a trophy would have taken fewer rows.

Switch the public website language

The refreshed public site includes English and German page editions. The language menu in the header shows the languages currently enabled for Orbit, using their native names and indicating the current selection. The menu follows the available language list, so adding another language does not require a separate set of page-specific buttons.

Changing language keeps you on the corresponding page and preserves filters and section links. Marketing and plans pages use shorter addresses such as /de/features and /en/pricing, and older /language/ links redirect to their replacements. Your selected language is remembered for later visits.

The selection applies to navigation, footer links, page explanations, buttons, accessibility labels and locale-appropriate dates and numbers. It also reaches the public interface around plans, the server directory, statistics, blog and changelog pages, and the existing reviewed legal-page translations. Legal wording and legal document versions have not changed as part of this refresh.

The rest of the public site belongs together

The server directory, statistics, Sentinel, Health, blog and changelog pages share the clearer public navigation and grouped footer. Product information, community pages and resources are easier to find from each other. Links to optional areas such as Health and Sentinel follow their availability, so the site does not invite you into a disabled page.

The directory also gives a more honest account of its data: counts appear when a response is available, while loading and failures have their own states. An absent response no longer looks like a confirmed zero. Directory controls have clearer accessible names, and statistics use the selected language's number and date formatting.

More comfortable on phones and keyboards

Public navigation wraps into a compact grid on small screens, with the language menu kept accessible. Feature cards make better use of the available width. The bot comparison uses tables on desktop and expandable feature groups with provider cards on phones, so reading it does not depend on hovering over a symbol or dragging a wide table sideways.

The shared pages have visible keyboard focus, a skip-to-content link, clearer headings and readable controls. FAQs and comparison disclosures use ordinary expandable sections. Core product explanations and guides remain readable without loading the full Dashboard, while pages that need live information identify unavailable data rather than filling the gap with a plausible-looking number.

Smaller changes across the public site

Identity and presentation

• Browser tab icons, Apple touch icons and app icons use the Pulse mark.
• Shared-link preview artwork uses the refreshed identity.
• Standalone error pages display the same Orbit mark when the main site is unavailable.
• Plan PDF documents use the updated logo.
• Related-feature cards fill small groups more evenly.

Navigation and language

• Footer destinations are grouped into product, community and resources.
• Feature and setup pages use the same Add to Discord entry.
• Public account links take signed-in visitors to their Dashboard.
• Language choices remain usable when a later translation-bundle request fails after the available languages have been confirmed.
• Existing localised page content remains readable when the language service is unavailable.
• Pricing error messages retain the requested interface language.
• Switching the blog or changelog interface language preserves the current archive or article and its filters.

Plans, comparison and public information

• The public plans page distinguishes an empty catalogue from a loading failure.
• Plan-request actions show an unavailable message while Support is disabled.
• The comparison exposes official evidence links alongside its availability notes.
• The comparison review date remains visible without opening the source details.
• Desktop and mobile comparison views show the same feature facts and module requirements.
• Orbit comparison limits refresh when you return to the page or change its language.
• Public directory totals are displayed only when they are known.