The bionic jellyfish robot utilizes the biological properties and advantages of jellyfish to achieve exceptional performance underwater. This paper proposes a multi-degree-of-freedom paddle drive underwater bionic robot inspired by the winged bell jellyfish. The robot utilizes a paddle drive to mechanically connect wires and tighten the jellyfish tentacles, providing sufficient underwater propulsion for the robot’s movement. The actuator of the jellyfish robot features orthogonal gears. This design provides two degrees of freedom for each tentacle, effectively solving the issue of poor controllability in underwater robot. The propulsion mechanism of the bionic robot can be determined through the analysis of the thrust generated by the jellyfish robot. The driving effect of the bionic robot can be achieved by adjusting its different degrees of freedom. Furthermore, the motion effect of the jellyfish robot actuator can be obtained by modelling the paddle drive using simulation methods. Experimental results shows that the robot’s drive mode reproduces the jellyfish’s bionic motion characteristics. The jellyfish robot proposed in this paper exhibits good movement ability and can perform complex actions.