Memberful
Membership platform for paid newsletters, podcasts and communities
Memberful report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 18, 2026
Best for paid memberships on your own website
Memberful puts a paywall on your own site for newsletters, podcasts, courses and downloads, and ties members into Discord, WordPress and your email tool. It's free to set up in test mode for as long as you like. Going live is steep, though: $49 a month plus 4.9% of every charge.
Who Memberful is for
- Great if you run a paid newsletter or podcast on your own website
- Handy when members should get into your Discord or Discourse automatically
- Good for WordPress sites that need a members-only paywall
Who Memberful is not for
- Pricey if you're small, as $49 a month comes before the 4.9% cut
- Not for you if you want upsells, order bumps or affiliates, which aren't in the listing
Why Memberful gets a 2.0
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- DValue for money$49 a month plus Memberful's 4.9% of every charge, $49 more on $1,000, comes to $98 a month, with Stripe's fee on top (not counted). That's in this category's dearest tenth, about level with Patreon's 10%.
- CFree plan and trialNo free plan, but test mode is free for as long as you like: you can build everything, and billing starts only when you connect Stripe and go live.
- CFeaturesMemberships of every shape, paywalls, a website and newsletter builder, Discord and Discourse access, email sync, referrals and global tax collection. It does the membership job fully, but it's a smaller job: no upsells, order bumps or affiliates in the listing.
- CEase of useNo App Store rating on record. You'll connect Stripe, set up plans and either build a site or wire it into WordPress before members can join.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, with Stripe, WordPress, Discord, Discourse, Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign and Google Analytics. No phone or desktop app is listed.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Memberful's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/memberful#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/memberful.svg" alt="Memberful: 2.0 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Memberful stands among tools for selling digital products
Memberful's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 0 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products we grade.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 0 of 14) and worst on value for money (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $49 a month, against a middle price of $24.50 for the category: 8 of the 9 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 8 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 15 tools for selling digital products we grade, cut by the letter each got. Memberful’s own letter is outlined.
- DValue for moneyAbove 0 of 14, level with 2
- CFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 14, level with 5
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 14, level with 5
- CEase of useAbove 1 of 14, level with 11
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 14, level with 14
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 14 tools for selling digital products. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Memberful, or make your own?
Keep it
The plain part of Memberful you could make: paid newsletters, online courses and digital downloads. What surrounds it you could not. The 2 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 14 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products grade higher. It costs $588 a year.
What you could make
- Paid newsletters, online courses and digital downloads: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to.
- It plugs into other products, Stripe, WordPress and Discord among them.
What this rests on. Memberful’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Memberful?
Memberful lets creators and publishers sell memberships and subscriptions on their own site, gating newsletters, podcasts, courses, downloads and community access behind a paywall. It works with WordPress, Discord and common email tools, or with its own website and newsletter builder. Memberful is a Patreon company, and it charges a monthly fee plus a cut of each payment taken through the seller's Stripe account.
Memberful is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $49 per month. See every plan
Good for
- Writers and publishers running a paid newsletter on their own site
- Podcasters selling members-only episodes
- WordPress sites that need a paywall for members
Worth knowing
- Memberful takes 4.9% of every successful charge on top of the $49 monthly fee, and Stripe adds its own fee, typically 2.9% + $0.30.
- A Stripe account is required: Stripe processes the payments and transfers the money to your own bank account.
- There is one self-serve plan; volume pricing and migration help are only on the custom Enterprise plan.
Key features
- Flexible memberships
- Weekly, monthly or annual subscriptions, one-time payments, group plans, gifts, free and paid trials, free registration and pay-what-you-want pricing.
- Content behind a paywall
- Gate newsletters, podcasts, courses, downloads and community access, with dynamic paywalls and integrated comments.
- Website and newsletter builder
- Build a site and landing pages on a custom domain with your own theme, or protect members-only content on a WordPress site.
- Community integrations
- Paid members are invited to a Discord server or Discourse forum and lose access automatically when their subscription ends.
- Email list sync
- Keeps members in sync with Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, MailerLite, Campaign Monitor, Drip or Sailthru, segmented by plan.
- Retention and growth tools
- Coupons, a built-in referral program, automated retention discounts, cancellation surveys, global tax collection and growth reports.
Memberful pricing
- Starts at
- $49 per month
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- Free in test mode for as long as you like; billing starts when you connect Stripe and go live
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $49per month | Everything Memberful offers, unlimited members. Memberful also takes a 4.9% transaction fee on each successful charge, plus Stripe's processing fee. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom volume-based pricing, premium services and success management, and custom migration and implementation support. |
Read from memberful.com on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Memberful before you buy.
Works with
Memberful alternatives
- Memberful vs MemberPress
From $399/yr
- Memberful vs Ko-fi
Free plan
- Memberful vs beehiiv
Free plan · from $49/mo
Common questions
Is Memberful free?
No, Memberful is a paid product, but you can try it first. Free in test mode for as long as you like; billing starts when you connect Stripe and go live.
How much does Memberful cost?
Memberful lists 2 plans. Standard: $49 per month. Enterprise: custom pricing. Prices were read from memberful.com on Oct 18, 2026.
What platforms does Memberful work on?
Memberful is available on Web.
Does Memberful have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Memberful is listed for Web.
Does Memberful have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Memberful is listed for Web.
Is Memberful open source?
Memberful is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 18, 2026.
What does Memberful integrate with?
Memberful's listing names Stripe, WordPress, Discord, Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Discourse and Google Analytics. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Who makes Memberful?
Memberful is made by Memberful LLC.
What are the alternatives to Memberful?
The closest alternatives to Memberful in our directory are Patreon, MemberPress, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee and beehiiv. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Memberful.
How does Memberful compare with other tools for selling digital products?
Memberful's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 0 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products we grade. It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 0 of 14) and worst on value for money (D, above 0).
Is Memberful good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Memberful D for value for money. Its paid plans start at $49 a month, against a middle price of $24.50 for the category: 8 of the 9 others that charge start lower. On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 8 tools score higher and cost less.
Could I make my own version of Memberful?
The plain part of Memberful you could make: paid newsletters, online courses and digital downloads. What surrounds it you could not. The 2 things listed below take a company, not a weekend. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 14 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products grade higher. It costs $588 a year. What you could not make: A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to. It plugs into other products, Stripe, WordPress and Discord among them. This is a judgement from its listing. We have not built one.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026.