9 Best Membership Site Platforms And Software I’ve Tried Myself (2026)

TL;DR: What Are The Best Membership Site Platforms
A membership site platform is software that allows you to create members only websites and content assets. It protects content, manages logins, bills subscribers on a recurring basis, and automates tasks like drip schedules and renewal reminders—so you can focus on creating and teaching instead of chasing payments.

Top Picks for the Best Membership Portal Software 2026
Kajabi – All-in-one platform for scaling memberships with built-in courses, email marketing, and funnels.
Thinkific – Course-driven memberships with drip content, quizzes, and progress tracking.
Mighty Networks – Community-driven memberships with courses, live events, and strong engagement tools.

Other Excellent Membership Builders Worth Considering
MemberPress – Best WordPress plugin for complex paywalls and flexible billing.
Podia – Simple, low-stress memberships with built-in email marketing and digital sales.
Kartra – Marketing-heavy memberships with funnels, automation, and webinars.
Zenler – Budget all-in-one platform with live classes, webinars, and strong marketing automation.
Teachable – Simple, course-first memberships with coaching and downloads.
MemberSpace – Quick way to add memberships to any site

These nine tools cover every model—course-driven, community-led, or simple paywall—so you can choose the one that fits your goals, tech stack, and budget.

Over my two decades of helping edupreneurs and organizations build e-learning programs, the most successful clients I’ve worked with are the ones who turn their knowledge into a membership program. 

A good membership site gives you steady recurring revenue, stronger relationships with your audience, and a way to deliver real, long-term transformation, not just one-off courses.

But you can’t pull it off manually, you’ll need the right subscription management software.

The best membership site platforms (also called membership site software, membership portals, or membership website builders) make it easy to protect content, manage members, and handle recurring payments. 

In this guide I share the platforms I trust most for 2026.

Best Membership Site Platforms & Software Compared (2026)

Before diving deeper, here’s a bird’s eye view of our top picks for the best membership platforms.

All prices shown are annual billing rates unless noted. Starting price is the cheapest plan that includes paid memberships. Transaction fees are platform fees only — standard Stripe/PayPal processing fees apply on all platforms.

9 Top Membership Site Software Platforms & Builders Reviewed

The membership site platforms we’ve included in this post are all world-class options. They offer core functionality for managing online subscriptions, delivering multimedia content, and processing payments.

However, the main differences are in marketing features and pricing plans.

So, carefully analyze each platform to see which ones align best with your needs, teaching style, and learning goals.

P.S. Looking for inspiration? Here are some excellent membership site examples.

1. Kajabi (Best All-in-One Membership Platform)

• Why I’ve included it: Everything you need—memberships, courses, email marketing, funnels, and site design—lives under one login so you can grow recurring revenue without stitching tools together.
• Starting Price: $179/mo (monthly billing) $143/mo (annual billing), Basic plan (view the full pricing breakdown)
• Get a free 30 Day Kajabi Trial
• Read our full Kajabi Review for more details.

Kajabi is my top choice for the best membership site platform.

You can sell paid memberships, deliver structured courses, run community spaces, send newsletters, and manage email automation from one dashboard.

For edupreneurs and training businesses that want to scale a membership program without juggling separate tools, it’s the platform I recommend most.

Creators like Bruce Marion, an online painting instructor, use Kajabi to run live and recorded sessions for their subscription customers.

The biggest advantage for memberships is that your member records, emails, and payments sit in the same account. So when someone signs up or cancels, the follow-up email goes out from the same system that took the payment, and you never have to sync data between three tools.

On every plan, Kajabi also includes a community with channels, direct messages, live rooms, challenges, and leaderboards, so members can connect without a second platform.

Members can open courses, the community, and podcasts in the free Kajabi app on iPhone and Android. The free app sends no push notifications for your business, though. Push notifications come with your own branded app, which Pro includes and the other plans can add for $199 a month.

Cofounder, the assistant behind Kajabi AI, drafts course outlines, email campaigns, and launch sequences, which makes it easier to keep new material coming every month.

If you already work in Claude or ChatGPT, the Kajabi MCP connects either one to your account. You describe a task, like “create an offer page for my new premium tier and email my current members about it,” and Kajabi builds the page and drafts the email for you to review before anything goes live.

The MCP covers pages, emails, offers, courses, contacts, and tags, so a lot of routine membership admin becomes a one-line request. Kajabi includes the MCP on every plan, and the connection can’t process payments or send live email blasts.

Before you sign up, check which plan you need. Advanced automations, AI credits, affiliate programs, and cohort courses all start on the Growth plan, and Basic includes none of them. If those features are why you’re choosing Kajabi, budget for $199/mo (annual billing) instead of the entry price.

Main Kajabi Membership Features

• Branded members area without a developer: Kajabi’s drag-and-drop site builder creates a protected members-only area in your own branding.
• Membership tiers and trials: Offer several levels with monthly or annual billing, plus free or discounted trials before the full subscription starts.
• Drip content: Release lessons or whole modules on a schedule so members always have something new waiting.
• Community on every plan: Channels, direct messages, live rooms, challenges, and leaderboards keep members talking between lessons.
• Behavior-based emails (Growth and up): Advanced automations send onboarding, check-in, and win-back emails based on what each member does.
• Cohort courses and affiliates (Growth and up): Run group programs with start dates, and pay members a commission for every subscriber they bring in.
• Mobile access: Members use the free Kajabi app on every plan, and Pro adds your own branded app with push notifications.
• Cofounder and Kajabi MCP: Draft pages, emails, and offers with Kajabi AI, or manage your account from Claude or ChatGPT on any plan.

Best for: Edupreneurs and training businesses ready to build and scale paid memberships on a single, professional platform.

Not ideal for: Beginners on a tight budget, since the membership features worth paying for start on the Growth plan. Also a poor fit if all you need is a simple paywall.

Pros	Cons
Memberships, courses, community, email, funnels, and payments share one login and one member database	Higher starting cost than membership plugins like MemberPress
Community with channels, live rooms, challenges, and leaderboards on every plan	Basic is tight for memberships, with 5 products, 2,500 contacts, and no AI credits
Advanced automations react to what members do (Growth and up)	Advanced automations, affiliates, and cohort courses need Growth
Free member app on every plan, and a branded app with push notifications on Pro	A third-party payment processor adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth, and 0.5% on Pro
Cofounder drafts pages and emails, and the Kajabi MCP works on every plan	The free Kajabi app sends no push notifications for your business
No platform fee when you use Kajabi Payments	The branded app costs $199/month on Basic and Growth

Kajabi Pricing Plans

Read: The Best WordPress LMS Plugins To Sell Online Courses

2. Mighty Networks (Best for Community Driven Memberships)

• Why I like it: Great if your paid membership thrives on people meeting, learning, and engaging every day, and every plan includes unlimited members and spaces.
• Price: $95/mo (monthly billing) $79/mo (annual billing), Launch plan (2% transaction fee) · 14-day free trial
• Get a free Mighty Networks Trial
• Read our full Mighty Networks Review for more details.

Mighty Networks is an all-in-one platform where you sell recurring memberships tied to courses, live events, and community spaces.

Every plan includes unlimited members and spaces, so adding a new tier or a new cohort never pushes you into a higher bill. Host seats are capped, though, at 3 on Launch, 5 on Scale, and 10 on Growth.

Mighty Networks stands out for its engagement features. Streaks, points, leaderboards, and a built-in member referral program come with every plan, and automations award badges and certificates as members finish courses.

Mighty Networks has an AI assistant called Cohost, which walks you through designing your community, down to what a first paid challenge or founding-member offer should look like.

Members also get AI conversation starters, which give quieter people something easy to respond to and boost participation.

You can also use the Infinite Question Engine to post questions and polls on a schedule, to keep the feed moving on days you don’t show up.

A great example of a thriving members-only community built with Mighty Networks is The Outwild Hub.

Payments run inside Mighty, with no plugins.

You can sell subscriptions, installments, free trials, and one-time purchases, use promo codes, and charge in hundreds of currencies.

The transaction fee drops as you move up, from 2% on Launch to 1% on Scale and 0.5% on Growth.

The Scale plan also adds Mighty’s MCP, which connects Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini to your network. You can ask it to create a $29/month premium tier, set up a new space from a template, or summarize what members talked about this month.

It only reaches what your role already allows, and posts or polls come back as drafts for you to approve.

The Launch plan covers a single community with courses, events, and livestreams. Move to Scale ($179/mo on annual billing) if you need your email tool connected, want to sell tickets to one-off events, or plan to automate onboarding.

One gap matters for a paid membership. Mighty Networks has no email marketing tool. The platform sends notifications and automated direct messages inside the network, and from Scale, the Kit and Zapier integrations let you run onboarding and win-back emails in a separate tool. Budget for that extra subscription.

Main Mighty Networks Membership Features

• Unlimited members and spaces: Grow from 50 members to 5,000 without moving to a higher plan.
• Every course format: Run on-demand, cohort-based, and live courses with quizzes, badges, and certificates on any plan.
• Built-in livestreaming: Go live to members without Zoom, with 20 streaming hours a month and up to 100 viewers per stream on Launch.
• Habit-building gamification: Members earn points, keep streaks, collect badges, and climb leaderboards, which gives them a reason to come back tomorrow.
• Member referral program: Members invite friends from inside the community, with no separate referral tool.
• Flexible payments: Subscriptions, installments, free trials, one-time purchases, and promo codes in hundreds of currencies.
• AI Cohost and MCP: Cohost helps you plan the community, and the MCP (Scale and up) lets Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini draft posts and spaces for your approval.
• Branded apps (Mighty Pro): Put your community on members’ phones under your own name.

Best for: Edupreneurs and creators building memberships where networking, courses, and live events are central.

Not ideal for: Straight content libraries or single-topic memberships that don’t need daily interaction.

Pros	Cons
Unlimited members and spaces on every plan	2% transaction fee on Launch
On-demand, cohort, and live courses with quizzes, badges, and certificates on every plan	No built-in email marketing, so campaigns need Kit or another tool
Points, streaks, leaderboards, and a member referral program built in	Zapier, Kit, API, and MCP access need Scale or higher
Livestreaming built in, with no Zoom subscription needed	Only one custom landing page on Launch and Scale
Subscriptions, installments, trials, and promo codes in hundreds of currencies	Host seats are capped at 3 on Launch and 5 on Scale
AI Cohost on every plan, plus MCP access from Scale	Branded mobile apps are only on Mighty Pro, which needs a custom quote

Mighty Networks Pricing Plans

3. MemberPress (Best for turning WordPress into a Membership Portal)

• Why I like it: For a membership on WordPress, this plugin gives you more control than any other over who sees what, how members pay, and how they stay engaged, all on a site you own.
• Starting Price: $399/yr, Launch plan · First year $199.50 (intro price) · 14-day money-back guarantee
• Try MemberPress risk-free for 14 days
• Read our full MemberPress Review for more details.

If you already run your business on WordPress, MemberPress turns that site into a full membership portal without custom code. Among all the WordPress membership plugins, it’s my top choice.

At its core, MemberPress works through access rules. With a few clicks, you can lock any post, page, category, or file and tie it to one or more membership tiers. On top of that, you can release content on a drip schedule or set it to expire, so members always have a reason to log back in.

On the billing side, you get real subscription management.

When members upgrade or downgrade, proration handles the price difference, and you can run coupons, reminder emails, and order bumps at checkout. For sales tax and VAT, MemberPress connects to Stripe Tax, TaxJar, or Quaderno.

For his subscription-based fitness programs, celebrity fitness coach Paul Sklar, who has over 1.5 million Instagram followers, relies on MemberPress.

Source

For engagement, recent updates added several useful features.

For example, with ClubSuite, members get forums and a searchable member directory with profiles, and the top plan adds direct messaging between members. Through CoachKit, you can sell and run coaching programs inside the same site.

For memberships that teach, the built-in Courses LMS covers drag-and-drop curriculums, and from Growth it adds quizzes, assignments, and completion certificates. Using the AI Course Generator, you can turn a topic into a first draft of a course, so a new tier doesn’t start from a blank page.

To reach members on their phones, MemberPress AppKit, sold separately, turns your membership site into a branded iOS and Android app, and your courses and content carry over without a rebuild.

On Scale, the included Easy Affiliate platform lets you pay members a commission for referring friends.

MemberPress also sells an AI Foundation add-on, available on every plan. Its MCP server connects your membership to Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, or VS Code.

Once connected, you can ask plain-English questions about your membership, like “which tier had the highest churn last quarter?” or “how many renewals are due in the next 30 days?”

From there, you can pull reports on churn, lifetime value, renewals, failed payments, and member engagement.

Main MemberPress Membership Features

• Granular access rules: Protect a single page, a whole category, or a downloadable file, and decide which tiers can see it.
• Drip and expiring content (Growth and up): Release lessons week by week so members stick around for the next one.
• Flexible subscription billing: Proration, upgrades, downgrades, coupons, and order bumps, with Stripe Tax, TaxJar, or Quaderno for sales tax and VAT.
• Member community (ClubSuite, Growth and up): Forums, member profiles, and a directory let members meet each other on your own site. Direct messaging comes with Scale.
• Built-in courses and coaching: Build courses with the AI Course Generator on any plan. Quizzes, certificates, and CoachKit start on Growth.
• Referral and group sales (Scale): Easy Affiliate, corporate accounts, and gift memberships bring in new members beyond your own marketing.
• Membership reporting from AI apps (add-on): The AI Foundation add-on answers questions about churn, renewals, and failed payments inside Claude.
• Branded mobile app (AppKit add-on): Put your membership on members’ home screens under your own name.

Best for: Site owners committed to WordPress who want flexible content gating, reliable recurring payments, and courses, coaching, and community on a site they fully own.

Not ideal for: Anyone who doesn’t want to manage hosting, updates, and plugins, or who wants everything handled for them on a hosted platform.

Pros	Cons
Granular access rules, tiers, drip, and expiration handle even complex paywalls	You handle WordPress hosting, updates, backups, and security yourself
Strong subscription billing with proration, coupons, order bumps, and tax tools	Launch takes Stripe only and adds a 4.9% transaction fee
Built-in LMS and CoachKit cover courses and coaching without extra plugins	Drip content, quizzes, ClubSuite, and CoachKit need Growth or higher
ClubSuite adds forums, profiles, and a member directory on your own domain	Easy Affiliate, Zapier, the REST API, and corporate accounts need Scale
No transaction fees from Growth up	The AI Foundation add-on (MCP) and AppKit cost extra
You own your site, your data, and your SEO	Renewals charge full price after the discounted first year

MemberPress Pricing Plans

4. MemberSpace (Best for Adding Memberships to Any Website)

• Why I like it: With a short install code, you can add paid memberships to the site you already have, whether it runs on Squarespace, WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Notion, or Showit.
• Price: $39/mo (annual billing), Starter plan + 5% fee · Now $24/mo billed annually (38% off) · 7-day free trial
• Get a free trial and 10% off on MemberSpace
• Read our full MemberSpace Review for more details.

MemberSpace lets you convert your website, no matter what platform you’ve built it on, into a membership site.

Your domain, design, and search rankings stay exactly where they are. You just get an additional membership space on the site.

MemberSpace lets you sell recurring subscriptions, one-time purchases, payment plans, free plans, and trials. At checkout, members can pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay in their preferred currency.

When someone upgrades or downgrades, proration adjusts the charge automatically, so you can change tiers without touching billing by hand.

As a great example, Abagail’s site, The Co-op, uses MemberSpace to run a simple yet effective subscription program.

Source

Inside your site, members get their own Spaces. Tied to each plan, a Space holds that plan’s content and community, so members only see what they paid for.

In Community Spaces, members can post, react, and reply in threads, and following a discussion sends them a notification each time someone comments. That keeps conversations going between your content drops.

For learning content, you can build a dedicated course section on the site and decide which courses users can access.

MemberSpace comes with automatic abandoned-signup emails and popups to nudge people who started checkout but didn’t finish. On top of that, you can run coupon codes and upsells, and send newsletters to members through Member Messages.

For everything else, Zapier connects MemberSpace to your email tool, CRM, or course software. On the Growth plan, you also get Admin API access, which is still in beta.

A few details matter as your membership grows. On top of MemberSpace’s own transaction fee, you pay Stripe’s card processing fees, so price your tiers with both in mind. Growth connects up to 3 websites with one shared member account, which helps if you run separate sites for different audiences. MemberSpace also lists AI insights through an MCP server on Growth, though the feature is still marked coming soon.

Main MemberSpace Membership Features

• Works with the site you already have: Add memberships to Squarespace, WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Notion, Showit, Carrd, and more without rebuilding.
• Unlimited members and tiers: Grow your list and add new levels on any plan without paying per member.
• Spaces for each plan: Each Space holds a plan’s content, courses, and community. Starter includes 5 Spaces, and Growth has no limit.
• Community Spaces: Members post, react, and follow threads right on your website, with no separate community app.
• Courses and a searchable content library: Members get what’s-new alerts and can search or bookmark what they want to revisit.
• Revenue recovery: Abandoned-signup reminders and automatic failed-payment retries win back sales you’d otherwise lose.
• Fast, flexible checkout: Apple Pay, Google Pay, multiple currencies, payment plans, and free trials make it easy to say yes.
• Multi-site memberships (Growth): Connect up to 3 websites, and members use one account across all of them.

Best for: Site owners who want to sell memberships from an existing website without switching platforms or learning WordPress.

Not ideal for: Businesses that need a full LMS with quizzes and certificates, a branded mobile app, or no transaction fees at all.

Pros	Cons
Works with almost any website builder, so you keep your site, domain, and SEO	Every plan charges a transaction fee, from 5% on Starter to 2% on Growth, on top of Stripe fees
Unlimited members and tiers on every plan	Starter caps you at 5 Spaces and 1 website
Community Spaces add posts, reactions, and threaded replies on your own site	Course tools are basic next to a full LMS
Abandoned-signup reminders and failed-payment retries recover lost revenue	No branded mobile app
Apple Pay, Google Pay, multi-currency checkout, and automatic proration	AI insights through an MCP server are still marked coming soon
Real human support by email or Zoom on every plan	Admin API access is Growth-only and still in beta

MemberSpace Pricing Plans

5. Kartra (Best for Marketing-Heavy Membership Sites)

• Why I like it: Your membership portal sits in the same account as your funnels, email, SMS, and checkout, so everything that brings members in and keeps them paying runs from one login.
• Starting Price: $59/mo (monthly billing) $52/mo (annual billing), Essentials plan (5% fee) · 30-day money-back guarantee
• Try Kartra risk-free for 30 days
• Read our full Kartra Review for more details.

For edupreneurs whose membership lives or dies by marketing, Kartra is among the best all-in-one platforms.

Kartra gives you a complete members area for courses and content, along with advanced email marketing and automation tools that keep members engaged with your content and subscribed to your program.

Inside Kartra’s drag-and-drop portal builder, you can set up tiered access and drip content, so each member follows a timed path through your material instead of facing everything at once. Drip can follow a fixed schedule or the number of days since signup, and members get an email when new content unlocks.

A great example of Kartra’s capabilities is Stefanie Lugo’s Market Authority Academy, a thriving real estate membership business built entirely on Kartra’s platform.

Source

Every new user lands in one database, organized by lists and tags, so you can see who joined, what they bought, and which emails they opened.

From there, email and SMS campaigns can welcome new members, remind them of fresh content, and win back people who drift away.

For selling, the funnel mapper lets you plan a launch visually before you build a single page, and funnel simulations let you test the user journey from first click to paid member.

With Kartra AI, you can draft page copy, emails, and sales messages faster, which helps when your offers and content need a regular refresh. Kartra caps usage by plan, from 30 uses a month on Essentials to 250 on Growth.

One gap stands out for memberships. Kartra has no dedicated community. Members can comment under each lesson or post, which Kartra calls forums, but the portal has no member feed, chat, events, or gamification. Most Kartra users run their community in a Facebook group or a separate platform, which means a second login for members.

Kartra also has no mobile app for members, so they use the mobile-friendly portal in a browser.

Overall, Kartra is an advanced marketing engine with membership features. But its e-learning tools aren’t as sophisticated as Kajabi or Thinkific.

Main Kartra Membership Features

• Membership portal builder: Build a professional members area with drag and drop, no designer or developer needed.
• Tiered access and drip content: Offer several membership levels and release lessons on a schedule or by days since signup, with an email when new content unlocks.
• Built-in email and SMS: Welcome, nurture, and re-engage members from the same account, with unlimited sends from Starter.
• Funnels that fill your membership: Map, build, and test the whole path from visitor to paying member.
• One contact database: Lists and tags show every member’s purchases and activity, so your messages match where each person is.
• Affiliate program (Growth and up): Pay members and partners to bring in new subscribers without separate software.
• Kartra AI: Get a first draft of page copy, emails, and SMS so you’re never starting from a blank screen, within a monthly use cap.

Best for: Coaches, course creators, and digital businesses who want membership software tightly tied to funnels, email, and sales automation.

Not ideal for: Advanced learning paths or in-depth course features, simple memberships that don’t need funnels or automation, or anyone on a tight budget who only needs a paywall.

Pros	Cons
Membership portal, funnels, email, SMS, and checkout share one login	No dedicated community, only comment threads under lessons and posts
Tiered access and drip content keep members on a clear path	No mobile app for members
Unlimited email and SMS from Starter up	Essentials allows 1 membership and 5 pages, and adds a 5% transaction fee
One contact database with lists and tags for targeted messaging	Affiliates, advanced automations, and API access start on Growth
Funnel mapping and simulation help you plan a launch before you build it	Kartra caps AI uses each month, from 30 to 250 by plan
No transaction fees from Starter up	Steep learning curve if you only need a basic membership

Kartra Pricing Plans

6. Thinkific (Best for Course-Driven Memberships)

• Why I like it: When your membership is built around teaching, Thinkific gives you some of the strongest course tools on this list, with community and recurring billing built in.
• Price: $109/mo (monthly billing) $82/mo (annual billing), Start plan, the first plan with paid memberships (view the full pricing breakdown)
• Start your free Thinkific trial
• Read our full Thinkific Review for more details.

Thinkific is my favorite online course platform, and its membership features have grown a lot stronger over the past two years.

At its heart, a Thinkific membership is a way to sell ongoing access to what you teach. You can package courses, downloads, coaching sessions, and live Zoom lessons into subscriptions or bundles, then release content over time so members always have a next step waiting.

For education-heavy memberships, that course engine matters most. Inside each course, members see their progress, earn certificates, and work through assignments and quizzes. That sense of momentum gives people a reason to stay subscribed.

Creators like Baking For Business, a membership program for bakers, have built thriving communities using Thinkific’s flexible course and membership features.

Source

On every plan, you now get a community with separate Spaces, so you can give each membership tier, cohort, or topic its own room for discussion. With community and courses in one place, members don’t need a second login to talk about what they just learned.

On the business side, checkout runs inside Thinkific. You can sell subscriptions, payment plans, and bundles, add order bumps, and collect sales tax automatically. For companies buying seats for their teams, Group Orders (Grow and up) let one buyer enroll a whole group at once.

For content creation, Thinkific’s AI tools can draft a course outline or generate quiz questions from your lessons, which cuts the setup time for each new module. With automated emails, you can onboard new members and follow up on missed sales.

On Thinkific Plus, you also get Thinker AI, a teaching assistant that answers member questions using only your own course content.

Plus also includes Thinkific’s MCP, which connects Claude or ChatGPT to your data for deeper insights into your content and audience behavior.

Two plan details matter for a membership. Paid memberships, bundles, and payment plans start on Start, so Basic can’t sell a subscription. Members can learn on the go in Thinkific’s shared mobile app on every plan, while your own branded app costs $199 a month as an add-on.

Main Thinkific Membership Features

• Course-first memberships: Bundle courses, downloads, coaching, and live lessons into one subscription members can grow into.
• Drip content: Release lessons on a schedule so members always have something new to come back for.
• Progress tracking and certificates: Members see how far they’ve come, which keeps them motivated to finish and renew. Certificates start on Start.
• Communities with Spaces: Give each tier, cohort, or topic its own discussion space right beside your courses, from 5 Spaces on Basic to 20 on Grow.
• Built-in checkout: Sell subscriptions, payment plans, and bundles with order bumps and automatic sales tax, from the Start plan.
• Group Orders (Grow and up): Sell seats to companies and teams, which opens a B2B revenue stream.
• AI course tools: Draft outlines and quizzes quickly, so launching a new module takes less effort.
• Mobile learning: Members use Thinkific’s shared mobile app on every plan, and a branded app is a paid add-on.

Best for: Educators and edupreneurs whose membership centers on courses, cohorts, and structured learning.

Not ideal for: Memberships that rely on deep funnels and marketing automation (Kajabi and Kartra are stronger there), or site owners who want full design control.

Pros	Cons
Strong course delivery with progress tracking, quizzes, and certificates	Paid memberships need the Start plan or higher, so Basic won’t work
Community with separate Spaces included on every plan	Marketing automation is lighter than Kajabi or Kartra
Subscriptions, bundles, payment plans, and order bumps built into checkout	Branded mobile app costs extra ($199/mo add-on)
Group Orders open up B2B and team sales (Grow and up)	Thinker AI, SCORM, and the MCP are Plus-only
AI tools speed up course outlines and quiz writing	PayPal and branding removal need the Grow plan
Members can learn in Thinkific’s mobile app on every plan	Site design is less flexible than a WordPress build

Thinkific Pricing Plans

7. Zenler (All-in-One Membership Platform for Budget Scaling)

• Why I like it: Courses, memberships, community, live sessions, email, and funnels all come in one dashboard with no transaction fees on any plan, at a lower price than most all-in-one platforms.
• Starting Price: $117/mo (monthly billing) $97/mo (annual billing), Pro plan, the first plan with memberships · 30-day free trial
• Try Zenler free for 30 days
• Read our full Zenler Review for more details.

Zenler isn’t as polished as Kajabi. Still, if you’re on a budget, it’s an all-in-one membership platform worth a serious look.

On every plan, you can sell courses, community, email, funnels, automations, quizzes, and live sessions where Zenler takes no cut of your sales.

As your membership grows, higher plans mostly add capacity, like more sites, emails, and live sessions. The one big exception is memberships and bundles themselves, which start on Pro.

Inside a membership, you can bundle courses, drip lessons over time, and offer subscription or installment plans.

Built-in live sessions let you run coaching calls, workshops, and member-only webinars without paying for Zoom on the side. That gives members a regular reason to show up.

Beyond the content, Zenler gives members a place to connect. Right next to your courses, you can run communities, with up to 20 on the Pro plan, so you can split members by tier, cohort, or topic.

From Pro, community live chat and gamification with streaks, points, levels, and a leaderboard give members another nudge to stay active.

For growth, Zenler covers the marketing side too.

With funnels, email campaigns, and automations, you can bring in new members and move them from a free lead magnet to a paid tier without extra software. With order bumps, upsells, and an affiliate program, you can earn more from each sale.

On the Pro and Premium plans, Zenler’s new AI Agents take on some of the daily work. Through Smart Re-engagement, Zenler reaches out to members who’ve gone quiet, and the Support Agent answers member questions for you. Four more agents, including a marketing planner and deep analytics, still carry a “coming soon” label.

Zenler reports little on member engagement or churn, so spotting a member who’s drifting away takes manual work, and the Smart Re-engagement agent only partly fills that gap. Members can use the Zenler app on any plan, and a branded app costs $197 a month on Pro and Premium. Pro also adds EU VAT handling, third-party integrations, and webhooks.

Main Zenler Membership Features

• Memberships and bundles (Pro and up): Package courses into tiers with subscription or installment billing, and drip content to keep members engaged.
• Built-in live sessions: Host coaching calls and member workshops without a separate webinar tool, with cloud recording from Pro.
• Communities beside your courses: Give each tier or cohort its own space, with up to 20 communities, live chat, and group chat on Pro.
• Gamification (Pro and up): Streaks, points, levels, and a leaderboard give members a reason to keep showing up.
• No transaction fees: Zenler takes no cut of your membership sales on any plan.
• Funnels, email, and automations: Attract new members and move them to paid tiers from the same dashboard.
• AI Agents (Pro and up): Win back inactive members and answer common questions automatically.
• Mobile access: Members use the Zenler app on any plan, and a branded app is a $197/month add-on.

Best for: Edupreneurs who want an all-in-one membership platform with built-in live sessions and marketing tools at a lower cost than Kajabi.

Not ideal for: Creators who need ultra-slick site design, or anyone hoping to run a membership on the cheapest plan, since memberships start on Pro.

Pros	Cons
No transaction fees on any plan	Memberships, bundles, and subscriptions start on Pro
Courses, community, email, funnels, and live sessions in one dashboard	Interface and site design feel less refined than Kajabi
Built-in live sessions replace a separate webinar tool	Four of six AI Agents are still marked “coming soon”
Up to 20 communities on Pro, with chat and gamification	Little reporting on member engagement or churn
Smart Re-engagement emails members who have gone quiet	Starter caps you at 500 people, including free leads
Lower cost than most all-in-one platforms	The branded mobile app costs $197/month extra

Zenler Pricing Plans

8. Teachable (Best Simple, Course-First Membership Builder)

• Why I like it: Teachable keeps memberships simple and ties them directly to your courses, coaching, and digital downloads.
• Starting Price: $39/mo (monthly billing) $29/mo (annual billing), Starter plan (7.5% fee), includes memberships · 7-day free trial
• Try Teachable Memberships Free
• Read our full Teachable Review for more details.

If you want a course-first membership but don’t need Thinkific’s deeper course tools or Kajabi’s marketing stack, Teachable is the simpler option worth using.

It lets you bundle courses, coaching, and digital downloads into membership tiers with monthly or annual billing and free trials. You can offer drip content, auto-graded quizzes, and short-answer assessments on every plan.

Members can learn on the go through Teachable’s iOS and Android student apps, where a My Membership page shows every product in their tier.

Community is the big gap. Teachable has closed its Community feature to new schools, so new membership owners need a separate tool for member discussion, which splits members across two logins.

A notable success story is UI.dev, a membership program for developers hosted on Teachable, which shows how far the platform can take a membership business.

Beyond simple checkouts, Teachable handles upsells, order bumps, coupons, and abandoned cart emails, to maximize your revenue per member.

Teachable also handles sales tax, VAT, and GST on member payments, so you don’t have to track tax rules country by country. Subscription recovery also retries failed renewals.

Members manage their own subscriptions. An upgrade takes effect right away with credit for the unused part of the period, and a downgrade waits for the end of the billing period. Price changes apply only to new members, so existing members keep their original rate. Free trials stop at 30 days, and Teachable has no paid trials such as $1 for the first week.

Through Teachable’s AI tools, you can draft course outlines, lessons, and sales copy faster, which helps when you’re adding new material to a membership every month.

Built-in email marketing starts on Builder, so you can announce new content to members without another tool. For onboarding sequences, renewal reminders, and win-back campaigns, most membership owners still connect a dedicated email platform.

Main Teachable Membership Features

• Course-based membership tiers: Bundle courses, coaching, and downloads into monthly or annual plans with free trials of up to 30 days.
• Member self-service: Members manage upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations themselves, with credit for the unused part of a billing period.
• Price protection for existing members: Price changes apply only to new members, so loyal members keep their original rate.
• Drip content and quizzes: Release lessons over time and check understanding with auto-graded quizzes.
• Student mobile apps: Members learn on iOS and Android from a My Membership page without you building an app.
• Revenue tools: Upsells, order bumps, coupons, and abandoned cart emails lift the value of every sale.
• Built-in email marketing (Builder and up): Announce new content and offers to members without another tool.
• Tax handling and renewal recovery: Teachable Payments takes care of sales tax, VAT, and GST, and retries failed renewals.

Best for: Educators and coaches who want a clean, course-driven membership and don’t need advanced CRM or complex funnels.

Not ideal for: Creators who want deep community interaction or advanced marketing automation.

Pros	Cons
Memberships available on every plan, including Starter	Teachable has closed Community to new schools, so member discussion needs another tool
Members manage upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations themselves	Starter charges a 7.5% transaction fee and leaves out email marketing
Existing members keep their rate when you raise prices	Certificates and branding removal need the Growth plan
Drip content and auto-graded quizzes on every plan	No paid trials, and free trials stop at 30 days
Teachable Payments handles sales tax, VAT, GST, and failed renewals	No challenges, leaderboards, or badges to drive engagement
Student apps for iOS and Android at no extra cost	Zapier, webhooks, and the public API need Growth

Teachable Pricing Plans

9. Podia (Best Low-Stress Membership Platform for Solo Creators)

• Why I like it: With Podia, your website, membership community, courses, email, and checkout live in one simple dashboard, so you can launch a membership without plugins or tech headaches.
• Starting Price: $49/mo (monthly billing) $42/mo (annual billing), Mover plan (5% fee) · 14-day free trial
• Try Podia Free
• Read our full Podia Review for more details.

If you want a simple membership program with basic email marketing built in, Podia is an excellent platform for it.

Since Podia’s June 2026 relaunch, community sits at the center of every membership. As soon as someone signs up, subscribes, or buys, they join it automatically, and you can create paid tiers that open premium spaces and content.

Inside, members get a home feed, profiles, direct messages, and group chats of up to 10 people. With pinned posts, welcome messages, and a Top Contributors widget, you can guide people and keep them showing up.

That setup also helps you sell.

Free members can see what’s happening inside, then move to a paid plan with one click through the built-in upgrade button, so your free community works as the top of your sales funnel.

Around the community, you can bundle courses, digital downloads, coaching, and live events into a single offer. Inside each course, you get drip content, quizzes, certificates, and progress tracking, and event replays can become products of their own.

With subscriptions, free trials, and payment plans, you can price each tier the way your audience prefers to pay. Podia charges in your account’s base currency only, so international members pay in your currency and their card provider handles the conversion.

On the marketing side, built-in email covers broadcasts, automated sequences, tags, and segments, so you don’t need a separate tool like Kit to nurture your list.

For every email, Podia shows the revenue it brought in, so you can see what’s driving sign-ups. From the Shaker plan up, an affiliate program lets your members earn a commission for bringing in friends.

Every plan also includes Podia MCP, which connects Claude, ChatGPT, or another AI tool to your account. You could ask it to find everyone who finished a course, create a coupon for your next offer, and draft an email to them, all in one request.

Main Podia Membership Features

• Community with paid tiers: Gate premium spaces and content behind paid plans, with a one-click upgrade button for free members.
• Real-time chat: Direct messages and group chats of up to 10 people give members a reason to log in and talk to each other.
• Everything bundled into one offer: Combine community, courses, downloads, coaching, and events into a single membership.
• Built-in email marketing: Welcome, nurture, and win back members with broadcasts and automations, and see the revenue each email brings in.
• Flexible billing: Subscriptions, free trials, monthly or annual billing, and payment plans let you price each tier your way.
• Online and in-person events: Run live sessions for members and turn replays into products of their own.
• Affiliate program (Shaker and up): Turn loyal members into a referral team.
• Podia MCP on every plan: Manage members, coupons, and email drafts from Claude, ChatGPT, or another AI tool.

Best for: Solo edupreneurs and small teams who value simplicity and want to launch a membership with community, courses, and email under one roof.

Not ideal for: Businesses that need deep marketing automation, a CRM, or heavily customized design.

Pros	Cons
Community with paid tiers, spaces, chat, and member profiles	Base prices include few email subscribers (100 on Mover), so a bigger list costs more
Courses, downloads, coaching, and events bundle into one membership	5% transaction fee on Mover
Built-in email with revenue tracking for every message	No gamification beyond the Top Contributors widget
Unlimited customers on every plan	No multi-currency checkout, so members pay in your base currency
Podia MCP included on every plan	Affiliates, PayPal, upsells, and Zapier need Shaker or higher
Clean, simple interface with free migrations on paid plans	Thin analytics, and no advanced funnel builder or CRM

Podia Pricing Plans

What Is a Membership Site Platform

A membership site platform is software that powers the paid “members-only” side of your business. 

It handles all the behind-the-scenes work, protecting your content, charging recurring payments, managing logins, and tracking member activity, so you can focus on teaching and creating.

Without the right membership tools, you’d have to manually gate every page, chase payments, create user accounts, and remember who has access to what. 

That’s almost impossible to scale and a nightmare for refunds or renewals.

The top membership software automates everything. 

It locks or drips content based on a member’s plan, bills subscribers monthly or yearly, sends automated reminders, and shows you metrics like churn and lifetime value.

It also gives members a smooth, professional experience with instant access and self-service billing.

Most top tier membership portal solutions also come with drag and drop landing page builders and other marketing features to help you recruit members faster.

In short, a membership site platform turns your knowledge into a reliable subscription business, something no single plugin or spreadsheet can do on its own.

Types of Membership Builder Platforms

Membership site platforms aren’t all built the same way. They serve different kinds of businesses—from solo course creators to large video libraries—so the right fit depends on your model.
Before you pick a tool, it’s worth knowing what these main types offer and where each one shines. Choosing well here saves you from costly migrations later.

1. Fully Hosted Cloud Membership Platforms

These are complete, ready-to-go solutions where everything including your website, content hosting, billing, and security lives on the provider’s servers. 

You don’t deal with hosting, updates, or plugins.

A good hosted platform (like Kajabi, Thinkific, Mighty Networks, or Podia) gives you:

• Site and content builder: Drag-and-drop tools to create pages, courses, or member dashboards without coding.
  
• Built-in payments: Secure checkout, recurring billing, and automated tax handling.
  
• Member management: One place to track sign-ups, renewals, and cancellations.
  
• Marketing & automation: Email sequences, sales funnels, and analytics to grow and retain members.

Because all features are under one login and maintained by the provider, you save the time and cost of setting up servers or stitching plugins together.

This type is ideal if you want to launch a professional membership quickly and focus on content and growth rather than tech upkeep.

2. WordPress Membership Plugins and Add-Ons

This type uses plugins like MemberPress or MemberSpace to turn an existing WordPress site into a full membership portal. Instead of moving to a hosted service, you add membership tools to the site you already own.

Here’s what it offers:

• Full control: You decide the hosting, design, and SEO strategy, and can customize every page or feature.
  
• Flexible integrations: Works with thousands of WordPress themes, page builders, and third-party plugins for forums, e-commerce, or marketing.
  
• Advanced paywalls: Set detailed rules for who sees what, drip or expire content, and manage complex tiers or coupons.

The trade-off is maintenance. You’re responsible for hosting, plugin updates, backups, and security.

This type is best for creators and businesses already committed to WordPress who want maximum design freedom and the ability to build highly customized membership experiences.

3. Video Membership Platforms

These platforms are built specifically for creators whose memberships revolve around video content—think premium training libraries, paid livestreams, or on-demand workshops.

Tools like Uscreen or Vimeo OTT give you:

• HD video hosting & delivery: Stream videos reliably worldwide without worrying about storage limits or buffering.
  
• Built-in paywalls & subscriptions: Protect videos behind secure logins and charge recurring fees or one-time rentals.
  
• Branded OTT apps: Offer your own mobile or TV app so members can watch on iOS, Android, Roku, or Apple TV.
  
• Live streaming & chat: Run live sessions, Q&As, or events while interacting in real time.

Because everything from hosting to playback is optimized for video, these platforms save you from bandwidth issues and complex integrations, making them ideal for creators running video-first memberships or media businesses.

4. Low-Cost Starter or Freemium Membership Platforms

Free full-featured membership software is almost gone. Teachable and Podia, for example, no longer offer free plans.

What you’ll find instead are low-cost starter plans or limited freemium tiers from tools like Podia’s Mover plan or entry-level options on other platforms. 

They let you:

• Validate an idea with minimal risk by paying only a small monthly fee or starting free with tight limits.
  
• Sell basic memberships with simple paywalls, content access, and email updates.

The trade-offs: these plans often include transaction fees, product caps, or limited automation and design controls. 

They’re excellent for testing a concept or starting on a very small budget, but serious growth, like scaling content libraries or advanced marketing, almost always requires upgrading to a paid plan with full features.

How to Choose the Best Membership Site Building Software

All the top-tier membership site builders can be great choices. But the best choice depends on the kind of membership you want to build, which features you need, and what your budget allows.

Here are key points to consider when selecting a platform for your membership site:

1. Your Membership & Business Goals

Are you aiming for a simple content paywall, a full online academy with multi-course learning paths, or a coaching program with live group calls?

Think about your revenue model, recurring subscriptions, one-time payments, or upsells, and how you might expand later with corporate packages, certifications, or premium events. 

Your long-term vision decides everything else: the level of automation you need, how flexible billing must be, and whether you require features like quizzes, drip schedules, or built-in communities.

2. Membership Platform Type

Pick a platform that fits where your business already lives. If you already run a popular WordPress site and want to add memberships without moving your content, a plugin like MemberPress or MemberSpace is the natural choice. 

But if you’re launching a new standalone product and want everything from hosting to billing, handled for you, a fully hosted cloud platform like Thinkific or Kajabi is usually the better fit. 

Matching the platform type to your current tech stack saves time, avoids migration headaches, and keeps your audience experience seamless.

3. Membership Marketing Features

Check whether the platform includes automated email sequences for onboarding, re-engagement, and renewals. 

Look for built-in sales funnels, upsells, and affiliate programs so you can attract and convert members without bolting on extra services like ConvertKit or ClickFunnels. 

Many platforms now promote AI features. Dig deeper to see if they only draft copy or actually help automate campaigns and segment your audience. 

Choosing a platform with strong, native marketing features will save money and keep your sales process smooth as you scale.

4. Membership Model: Simple, Course-Driven, or Community

Match the platform to how you’ll deliver value. If your membership is mostly courses or structured learning, you’ll need features like drip schedules, progress tracking, quizzes, and certificates, tools that Thinkific and Teachable excel at. 

If you require advanced marketing features and funnels as well, Kajabi and Podia are great options.

If it’s community-centered, focus on real-time discussions, live events, and member-to-member interaction, where Mighty Networks or Circle shine. 

For a simple paywall model, like premium articles, templates, or a paid newsletter, strong content protection, flexible billing, and easy upgrades matter more than full course or community tools. 

Knowing your membership style upfront keeps you from overpaying for features you’ll never use.

5. Budget & Total Cost of Ownership

Look beyond the headline price. Add up monthly or annual subscription fees, payment processor or transaction fees, and any add-ons like premium themes, plugins, or third-party email tools. 

If you’re on WordPress, include hosting, backups, and security. 

Also weigh the hidden cost of your time because DIY design, updates, and troubleshooting can add up. A slightly higher all-in-one plan (like Kajabi or Thinkific) can be cheaper long term if it saves hours each month on integrations and upkeep.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can I move my membership site to another platform later?

Yes, but it isn’t one-click. You’ll need to export member data (emails, billing info) and re-import it to the new platform. Some tools like Thinkific Plus or Kajabi offer concierge migration, while WordPress plugins may require a developer.

2. How do I handle taxes and compliance for memberships?

Many top platforms—such as Kajabi, Thinkific (TCommerce), and Teachable:Pay—collect U.S. sales tax and EU/UK VAT automatically. With WordPress, you’ll need plugins like TaxJar or Stripe Tax.

3. Can I offer both one-time purchases and memberships together?

Yes. Most platforms support mixed models, letting you sell individual courses, digital downloads, or event tickets alongside subscriptions.

4. How do I prevent content piracy and password sharing?

Membership software protects content through login restrictions, streaming instead of file downloads, and watermarking PDFs or videos. Some also limit simultaneous logins per account.

5. What’s the best way to grow a membership after launch?

Start with an email list and offer free or low-cost trials. Add a referral or affiliate program, run webinars, and drip fresh content to keep renewals high.

6. Do I need a separate email marketing tool?

Not if you choose an all-in-one platform like Kajabi, Podia, or Kartra. If you’re on WordPress, you may need ConvertKit, MailerLite, or similar unless your plugin includes email automation.

7. How important is mobile optimization for memberships?

Critical. More than half of members access content on phones. Hosted platforms like Mighty Networks and Teachable include responsive design and native apps, while WordPress needs a mobile-friendly theme.

8. Can I create corporate or group memberships?

Yes, but not every platform supports it out of the box. Thinkific (Group Orders), MemberPress (Corporate Accounts), and Kajabi (bulk enrollments) are strong for team or B2B sales.

9. How much content do I need to launch a membership site?

Less than most people think. A single well-structured course, a month of weekly lessons, or an initial content library is enough if you plan to drip new material over time.

10. What’s the average time to build and launch a membership site?

On a fully hosted platform, you can launch in a week with ready-made templates and AI drafting tools. A custom WordPress build might take 4–6 weeks to design, secure, and integrate with payment processors.

How We Evaluate and Test Software & Platforms

Reviews of platforms on the Learning Revolution site are overseen by the site’s founder, Jeff Cobb, an e-learning industry expert with more than 20 years of experience working with online courses and related platforms. All evaluations are conducted by a team of analysts who have extensive experience using, testing, and writing about these types of platforms. We dedicate numerous hours to researching each platform, ensuring each aligns with the needs of our community and vetting specific areas like core features, usability, pricing, and customer satisfaction. Our reviews are unbiased, and while we will participate in affiliate programs, if available, we do not accept payment for placement in our articles or links to external websites.

Jeff Cobb, Founder of Learning Revolution

Jeff Cobb is an expert in online education and the business of adult lifelong learning. Over the past 20+ years he has built a thriving career based on that expertise – as an entrepreneur, a consultant, an author, and a speaker. Learning Revolution is a place where Jeff curates tips, insights, and resources to help you build a thriving expertise-based business. Learn more about Jeff Cobb here.