Memberful for memberships
A membership and paywall layer that sits on the site you already have, with strong private podcast and newsletter support.
What Memberful is
Memberful adds paid memberships to a site you already run. It handles signup, billing, member accounts, private podcast feeds, and newsletters, and leaves the publishing to WordPress or whatever you already use.
Who it’s best for
Writers, publishers, and podcasters who have a site and an audience and want the payment and access layer without moving their content into someone else's platform.
- Publishers who already have a site and only need the membership layer
- Private podcast memberships
- Anyone who wants to own the subscriber relationship outright
Who should avoid it
Anyone who wants the platform to supply the community, the courses, or the video experience. Memberful supplies none of those.
- People who want a ready-made community or course experience
- Creators with no existing website
- Video-led memberships
Membership models it supports
Not every platform suits every kind of membership. These are the models we consider it a genuine option for.
- Newsletter or written membership
- Podcast membership
- WordPress-based membership
- Migrating an existing membership
- Paid community
Pricing and fees
Read from Memberful's own pricing page on 2026-07-28. Always check the official page before you buy.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | Platform fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| StandardEvery feature included: podcasts, newsletters, website builder, custom domains, and integrations. Free until you start accepting payments. | $49 | Not offered | 4.9% |
| EnterpriseCustom volume-based pricing with migration and success management. | Custom | Not offered | Not stated |
Payment processing. Memberful publishes its 4.9% platform fee but not processing rates. Payments run through your own Stripe account at Stripe's standard published US card rate.
Trial. Free until you start accepting payments
What it costs in practice
Cheapest plan that holds the member count, including the platform's cut and payment processing.
Just starting
25 members at $20 a month
$95.50 / month
On Standard. About 19% of your revenue.
Established
100 members at $25 a month
$274 / month
On Standard. About 11% of your revenue.
Growing
500 members at $25 a month
$1,174 / month
On Standard. About 9% of your revenue.
Feature support
What is included, what needs a higher plan, and what simply is not there.
Community features
Third-party integrationNo native community. Memberful gates access to a Discord server you run instead.
Courses
Not supportedNo course product; it gates access to content elsewhere.
Coaching and live events
Not supportedVideo hosting
Not supportedNo native video hosting.
Livestreaming
Not supportedNewsletter and publishing
SupportedMember newsletters included on the Standard plan.
Private podcast support
SupportedPer-member private RSS feeds that work in normal podcast apps.
Payments and monetization
SupportedSubscriptions, gifts, and group plans through your own Stripe account.
Branding and customization
SupportedCustom domains and a website builder; the paywall lives on your own site.
Branded mobile app
Not supportedAudience discovery
Not supportedEmail and marketing
Third-party integrationNative member newsletters plus first-party sync to Mailchimp and Kit for real campaigns.
Integrations and API
SupportedWordPress plugin, Discord, Mailchimp, Kit, webhooks, and an API.
Migration support
SupportedDocumented Stripe-to-Stripe migration that preserves active subscriptions.
Customer and data ownership
SupportedOne of the strongest here: your Stripe account, your site, your list.
Important limitations
- It is a membership layer, not a destination. You need somewhere to put the content.
- No native community, courses, or video hosting.
- The 4.9% fee sits on top of the $49 monthly subscription, which is unusual: most platforms discount the fee as the plan rises.
Data ownership and migration
Best in class. Subscriptions live in your own Stripe account, so leaving Memberful does not mean asking members to re-enter card details. The list, the site, and the content are yours throughout.
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Sources
Every fact on this page traces to one of these official pages.