MemberSpace claims to be able to turn almost any website into a members-only site, with no coding or tech know-how needed. Whether you’re looking to gate your content behind a paywall, or simply want to capture more contact details from your site’s visitors by funneling them into a free membership platform, MemberSpace can help.
Here’s our MemberSpace review to help you decide if its the right membership website creator for you.
What Is MemberSpace?
MemberSpace is a software service that enables you to block access to any pages on your website. You choose the pages and set up the membership details, and MemberSpace will do the rest. It’s a plug and play software that works with all major content management systems (CMS), including WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow, Wix, Weebly, and even plain HTML.
Getting Started with MemberSpace
MemberSpace is easy to join and you can set it up on your site in just minutes. Once you’ve created an account, there are only four steps to build your membership tiers and launch your members’ site — fewer if you’re migrating from another membership service, because MemberSpace will handle everything for you.
Before installing MemberSpace on your website, you’ll first provide your site details, including the pages you want to restrict for your members’ eyes only. You can add as many membership plans as you like, and create as many permissions and restrictions as you want. This makes it a matter of checking a few boxes to create tiered access to your site content.
Another cool feature is the ability to drip your content delivery. Every page comes with the option of delaying access to subscribing members. This means you can offer a free trial but still restrict your most valuable content, or release content on a regular schedule to keep members coming back.
In order to create your first paid membership tier, you’ll have to connect a Stripe account, as MemberSpace only uses Stripe as its payment processor. Setting up a Stripe account is a simple matter of providing your contact details and a bank account, and the same account will be used to fund your MemberSpace subscription and deposit the revenue from your membership site. Unlike PayPal, which keeps your money in an online wallet, Stripe will automatically transfer funds to your bank.
White-Labeling Your Domain
The most complicated part of setting up MemberSpace is white-labeling your domain. This is to integrate your website with your MemberSpace subdomain so that MemberSpace can display natively on your site.
For example, the Learning Revolution subdomain on MemberSpace might be learningrevolution.memberspace.com. We wouldn’t want visitors to see the memberspace.com URL when they’re on our site, so white-labeling (or whitelisting) creates a subdomain on your website (such as members.learningrevolution.net) that will host and serve the MemberSpace features.
MemberSpace includes a simple walkthrough of how to white-label your domain, including host-specific instructions for GoDaddy, Squarespace, Bluehost, and more. Once you’re done updating your host, simply send the MemberSpace team a screenshot of your settings and they’ll do the grunt work of fixing the code so your site will integrate seamlessly.
MemberSpace Pricing and Features
One of the great things about MemberSpace is every subscription gets the same features. The only difference between tiers is removing MemberSpace branding and reducing the transaction fee. Plus, Learning Revolution users automatically get a 10% discount on the professional plan.
The Professional Plan is $49 per month (plus 5% transaction fee) and comes with unlimited members, pages, and membership types and tiers. You can also create coupons, customize your signup forms, and invite additional admins to manage your MemberSpace account.
As we mentioned, the only payment gateway MemberSpace uses is Stripe. This can be a sticking point for some subscribers, who prefer to use more familiar platforms such as PayPal or Apple Pay to process their financial details. However, Stripe’s transaction fee is highly competitive, and it is a PCI Service Provider Level 1, the highest level of certification in the payments industry. When members subscribe to your site, they’ll be prompted to enter their payment details through a secure lightbox. You can also migrate existing members from PayPal if you already have subscribers set up.
Member payments are collected and distributed almost immediately, meaning you should have the money deposited into your bank account within two days of the payment date. Subscribers can pay in over a hundred currencies, including USD, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, CNY, BRL, and JPY, and you’ll be paid in your local currency. And if you want to offer coupons for free or discounted memberships, you can do that as well. Create as many coupons as you’d like (on whatever terms you like) in the MemberSpace dashboard.
Increase Member Retention
MemberSpace also includes tools designed to help you retain members and capture abandoned signups. All members to your site have the option to upgrade or downgrade their accounts (although you can also turn this off if you prefer), and auto-recover features try to recapture members with a website popup and a short email series. In fact, MemberSpace says that this feature alone has helped their cusomters recover over 2 million dollars in revenue.
In addition to recapturing members at the point of canceling, MemberSpace includes automatic upselling features. If you restrict content based on membership tiers, any member trying to access higher-tier content instantly gets the option to upgrade their membership. If a member is in the middle of a billing cycle when they upgrade or cancel, MemberSpace will handle the pro rata calculations to ensure they’re billed the correct amount.
MemberSpace Integrations
MemberSpace is designed to work with all major CMSs, so it displays effortlessly on your website, but you can also integrate a wide range of other services to manage members, provide more features, or keep in contact.
Connect your MemberSpace to Zapier to access a host of third-party applications, including Mailchimp, Trello, and Hubspot. You can also add members-only forums using Muut, create a members’ directory with Community Box, or start your own affiliate program with Rewardful.
MemberSpace makes it easy and fast to to communicate with members via Member Messages. You can send email campaigns to members directly from MemberSpace (no third-party email software required).
This last feature is really exciting, because one of the most effective marketing methods is word of mouth advertising, and affiliate options encourage others to recommend your site. Rewardful tracks affiliate referral links and cross-references them against Stripe payments to calculate commissions. You’ll need a separate Rewardful subscription (plans start at $29/month plus 9% transaction fee), but even the lowest tier plan includes unlimited affiliate, visitors, and revenue.
MemberSpace Business Features
Behind the scenes, MemberSpace offers some generous features to help you run your online business.
They calculate and collect all subscription fees and taxes and automatically generate invoices for your members that they can access any time. MemberSpace is also GDPR, CCPA, and SCA compliant. That means all your members’ data is securely encrypted and stored, with checks and balances in place to safeguard against breaches and notify customers within 24-hours if their data is compromised. And because MemberSpace does all this for you, your membership site is automatically fully compliant without you having to lift a finger.
MemberSpace has also taken steps to ensure that all the content you upload to restricted pages is fully secured. This is a great feature because often uploads such as videos, music, or images, are hosted at separate URLs and a direct link can circumvent your paywall. The last thing you want is your most valuable download being made public through a coding loophole, but MemberSpace encrypts your content so that everything you want to restrict is fully secured.
Additionally, MemberSpace provides analytics reports so you can review trends in your memberships, identify patterns and fall-off points, and improve your site to increase revenue. Import tools enable you to manually add members, and there are options to approve each new member before they are allowed to join your site.
All the MemberSpace features are fully responsive, meaning your members can sign up from mobile, tablet, or desktop browser, and you can customize the text and styling of lightboxes and banners to match your website’s aesthetic.
Try MemberSpace Risk-Free
Every MemberSpace plan comes with a 14-day free trial (credit card is required at sign-up), but if you don’t have any paying members at the end of the trial period, MemberSpace will extend it for you.
The only limitation on MemberSpace accounts is the number of websites you can add. The first two are included in your plan price, and additional websites can be added for an extra $20 each per month. If you delete a website, the charge is removed.
To save a little more on your MemberSpace plan, pay for a year in advance to get two months free. Nonprofits also get a ten percent discount.
MemberSpace Minimum Requirements
While MemberSpace is designed to work with almost any CMS, there may be restrictions on your web hosting plan that will affect if MemberSpace will work for your site or not.
| WEBSITE HOST | PLAN RESTRICTIONS | TEMPLATE RESTRICTION |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress.com | Business or higher | Any template |
| Squarespace | Business or higher | Disable Ajax |
| Webflow | Any tier paid plan | Any template |
| Wix | Any Premium plan | Any template |
| Duda | Any tier paid plan | Any template |
| Weebly | Any tier paid plan | Any template |
| Hubspot | Any tier paid plan | Any template |
MemberSpace Review: Final Thoughts
Many edupreneurs can turn their businesses into profitable membership sites, but are put off by the technical requirements and legal compliance required to restrict content and manage a members’ directory. MemberSpace simplifies the process, seamlessly integrates into almost all websites, and provides a host of excellent features on every plan.
Given the generous free trial, there’s no reason not to try MemberSpace and see if it’s the right membership site software for you.
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