Entrepreneurs, course creators, and bloggers are always looking for ways to share their expertise and knowledge in a profitable way. Membership site platforms provide an easy avenue to do this as their subscription model makes it easy for customers to access exclusive content at a small fee.
If you want to launch a membership site, you’re in luck! There are a number of great platforms out there that make it easy to get started. In this blog post, we will discuss the best membership site platforms and show you how they work.
We’ll also give you tips on choosing the right platform for your needs. So without further ado, let’s get started!
What Is a Membership Site Platform and Why Do You Need One?
Any online business needs a membership site platform to give customers access to restricted content. This could include anything from e-books and online courses to exclusive videos and forums.
A membership site platform allows you to manage your customers and content easily. It offers a range of features, such as automated billing and payments, dripping content, and integrated email marketing.
In short, a membership site platform is essential for any online business that wants to offer restricted content to its customers. Not only does it make it easy to manage your customers and content, but it also provides a range of features that can help to grow your business.
How to Choose the Best Membership Site Platform for Your Needs
When choosing the best membership site platform for your needs, there are a few things to consider.
Budget
First, consider what kinds of features you need and your budget. There are many different membership site platforms on the market, each with its own features. Some are more robust than others and come with a higher price tag.
Technical Expertise
Consider your technical expertise in relation to what is required to set up and manage the membership site. If you’re not tech-savvy, you may want to choose a platform that is easier to use and doesn’t require much technical knowledge.
Audience
Not all membership site platforms are created equal regarding reach and engagement. Make sure you choose a platform with the features and functionality your target audience needs.
Integration
You must consider whether the platform you choose integrates well with your existing business tools and social media. This will make community management a lot easier and workflow better.
Content Delivery and Structure
If you want to build a multi-tiered community, you need to go for a site that supports that kind of structure and delivers your content to members without any confusion. You want to make sure users do not have access to the content they did not pay for.
Analytics
Analytics is another important component. How detailed are the analytics and reports? You should be able to track your membership retention and have a good idea of what the engagement level on your site is.
Reward System and Gamification
Reward systems have an impact on membership retention in membership sites. A site that easily supports this is better if you are trying to build an active community. Gamification, i.e., all the things that would create fun and foster activity on the site, should also be included or at least integrable.
Other things to consider include payment systems, support, and scalability. By considering these factors, you can be sure to choose the best membership site platform for your needs.
Review of the Best Membership Site Platforms
Each platform has its own pros and cons, so it is essential to choose one that best suits your needs. Let’s take a closer look at each type of platform. There are a few different types of membership site platforms, each with its own features and benefits.
Kajabi
Best Membership Site Overall
Kajabi is a popular membership site platform that allows users to create and sell online courses. The platform is known for its ease of use and robust features. For example, Kajabi offers course creation tools, email marketing integrations, and built-in payment processors.
In addition, Kajabi provides access to many templates and design elements, making it easy to create a professional-looking website. Perhaps most importantly, Kajabi is highly scalable, allowing users to add an unlimited number of courses and products.
As a result, Kajabi has become the go-to platform for many online entrepreneurs.
Features
- Course creation tools
- Email marketing integrations
- Built-in payment processors
- Scalable platform
- Design member roles and selection slabs
- Large selection of templates and design elements.
Pricing
Kajabi offers three pricing plans
- Basic – $119 per month
- Growth – $159 per month
- Pro – $319 per month.
Thinkific
Best for Ease of Use
Thinkific is a membership site platform that allows you to create, host, and sell online courses. With Thinkific, you can easily create and manage your courses, track student progress, and accept payments.
Additionally, Thinkific offers a variety of features to help you promote and sell your courses, including automatic email marketing, landing pages, and coupons. Plus, there’s no need to worry about hosting or delivering your courses; Thinkific takes care of all of that for you.
All you need to do is focus on creating amazing content. So if you’re looking for a hassle-free way to sell online courses, Thinkific is the perfect solution.
Features
- Create, host, and sell online courses
- Track student progress
- Accept payments
- Automatic email marketing
- Landing pages
- Coupons and Promotions
- No need to worry about hosting or delivering courses
Pricing
Thinkific offers three pricing plans:
- Basic – $39 per month
- Pro – $79 per month
- Premier – $399 per month.
Wild Apricot
Best for Non-Profits and Small Businesses
Wild Apricot’s membership site platform is feature-rich, flexible, and easy to use. It’s the perfect way to manage your membership site, whether you’re a small organization or a large one. With Wild Apricot, you can easily manage your members’ information, payments, and access to your content.
You can also customize your membership site to match your brand and style. And because Wild Apricot is a cloud-based platform, you can access your membership site from any device, anywhere in the world. Plus, Wild Apricot’s team is always available to help you make the most of your membership site.
So, if you’re looking for a membership site platform that is feature-rich, flexible, and easy to use, look no further than Wild Apricot.
Features
- Manage the memberships, payments, websites, events, and finances.
- Easily create and manage your membership database
- Accept online payments
- Website builder
- Cloud-based
- Drag and drop tools for membership website
- Mobile app
- Online store
- Integrations
- Automate member renewals.
Pricing
- Free – $0 for up to 50 contacts
- Personal – $48 per month for up to 100 contacts
- Group – $60 per month for up to 250 contacts
- Community – $110 per month for up to 500 contacts
- Professional – $190 per month for up to 2000 contacts
- Network – $350 per month for up to 5000 contacts
- Enterprise – $480 per month for up to 15000 contacts
- Custom pricing for over 15000 contacts.
Mighty Networks
Most Intuitive Membership Site Platform
Mighty Networks is a popular membership site platform that allows you to create and manage your own online community. The platform is easy to use and comes with a variety of features that allow you to engage and connect with your members.
Mighty Networks also offers a variety of tools and resources that you can use to grow your community and promote your brand. Overall, the platform is an excellent choice for those looking to create and manage their own online community.
Features
- Create and manage your own online community
- Central activity feed, polls, Q&A
- Direct and group messaging
- Live Streaming
- Event calendar
- Robust user profiles to build familiarity
- Excellent customer support.
Pricing
Mighty Networks offers three pricing plans:
- Community plan – $33 per month
- Business plan – $99 per month
- Mighty Pro – Custom pricing.
MemberPress
Best for Integration
MemberPress is a powerful membership site platform that makes it easy to get started with membership sites. With MemberPress, you can easily add content and products to your site, and manage your members with ease.
The platform has a wide range of features, including content protection, drip content, subscription management, and much more. MemberPress makes it easy to get started with membership sites, and provides everything you need to run a successful membership business.
If you’re looking for a membership platform that is easy to use and has all the features you need, MemberPress is one of the perfect solutions.
Features
- Content protection
- Drip content
- Subscription management
- Automatic email marketing
- Wide range of integrations
- WordPress and LMS plugin that helps create WordPress membership sites
- Customizable themes
- Analytics and tracking of subscription, sales, and marketing
- Timed release of content and expiration.
Pricing
MemberPress offers three pricing plans:
- Basic – $179.50 per year
- Plus – $299.50 per year
- Pro – $399.50 per year.
WPQuickStart by Nexcess
Best for WordPress
WPQuickStart is a membership site platform that enables you to create and manage your membership site with ease. It provides you with all the tools you need to run a successful membership site, including a powerful content management system, an easy-to-use interface, and a wide range of features.
With WPQuickStart, you can easily create and manage your membership site without experience. It’s the perfect platform for anyone who wants to start a membership site, or for anyone who wants to make their existing membership site more efficient and easier to use.
WPQuickStart is one of the perfect solution for anyone who wants to run a successful membership site.
Features
- Reliable, easy-to-use WordPress membership site
- Create and manage your membership site
- Track member progress
- Sell courses and products
- You can ask questions, get support, and learn from other members.
- Offers a wide range of add-ons and plugins to extend the functionality of your membership site.
Pricing
WPQuickStart has a free plan and three premium plans:
- Membership Essential – $49 per month
- Membership Pro – $99 per month
- Membership Premium – $149 per month.
Teachable
Best for Online Courses for iOS
As an online educator, you know that having a platform to host your courses is vital to your success. But with so many options out there, it can be tough to decide which one is right for you. That’s where Teachable comes in.
As a membership site platform, Teachable gives you everything you need to create and sell your courses online. With features like customizable branding, course drip content, and a built-in payment processor, Teachable makes it easy to get started and start earning.
Features
- Easy to use
- Can easily add content and products to your site,
- Manage your members with ease and track member progress.
- Customizable branding,
- Course drip content,
- Built-in payment processor
- Built-in affiliate marketing tools
- Link to existing sites using a custom domain
- One-on-one sessions.
Pricing
Teachable has a free plan and three premium plans:
- Basic – $29 per month
- Pro – $99 per month
- Business – $249 per month
Memberful
Best for Monetization
Memberful is a membership site platform that makes it easy to sell access to your content. With Memberful, you can create a paywall for your website or sell access to specific content, such as video courses, ebooks, or exclusive articles. You can also offer discounts and coupons to encourage signups, and track payments and member activity with detailed analytics.
Memberful integrates with popular platforms like WordPress and Shopify, making it a flexible solution for any content creator. Plus, with Memberful’s payment processing fees, you can keep more of your hard-earned revenue. So if you’re looking for a way to monetize your content, be sure to check out Memberful.
Features
- Easy to use
- Sell access to your content
- Create a paywall
- Offer discounts and coupons
- Track payments and member activity
- Integrates with popular platforms
- Keep more of your revenue
Pricing
Memberful has a free plan and three paid plans. All plans attract a transaction fee.
- Starter – $0 per month
- Professional – $25 per month
- Business – $100 per month.
BuddyBoss
Best Value Membership Site Platform
BuddyBoss is a membership site platform that enables you to build a social network or an online community for your members. With BuddyBoss, you can create unlimited membership levels, each with its own set of access privileges and features.
You can also manage your membership site from a single dashboard, making it easy to keep track of your members and their activity.
In addition, BuddyBoss offers a host of features that make it easy to engage with your members, such as private messages, group forums, and profile customization. With BuddyBoss, you can create the perfect membership site for your community.
Features
- Content restriction
- Ecommerce
- Reports and analytics
- Integrations
- WordPress Multisite compatibility
- Membership management
- a LOGINWall which allows you to protect your content from unauthorized access.
Pricing
BuddyBoss has three paid plans
- Standard – $247 per year
- Plus – $387 per year
- Builder – $697 per year.
Podia
Best for Email Marketing
Podia is a membership site platform that makes it easy to sell online courses, memberships, and digital downloads. With Podia, you can create beautiful landing pages to promote your products and use powerful marketing tools to reach your audience. Plus, with Podia’s built-in payment processing, you can start selling right away.
You’ll also have access to powerful features like email marketing, automated upsells, and integration with major payment processors. Plus, Podia offers world-class support so you can be sure your business is always running smoothly.
Overall, Podia is an excellent choice for anyone looking to launch an online course or membership site. With its easy-to-use platform and powerful features, you’ll be able to sell your courses and content with ease.
Features
- Offers several membership options, which can be found on their website.
- Unlimited courses
- Add video content
- Email Marketing
- Professional and easy-to-navigate courses
- Different payment options
- Password protection
- Subscription plans for members to have access to all content.
Pricing
Podia has a free plan and three paid plans:
- Mover – $33per month (paid monthly)
- Shaker – $75 per month
- Earthquaker – $166 per month.
FAQs on the Best Membership Site Platforms
A membership site platform is a platform that allows you to create a membership site. It typically includes features like a members area, payment processing, community management, and access management.
A membership site platform works by providing a way for website owners to manage and create membership areas for their sites. This can include creating and managing subscription plans, setting up payment processors, and creating and managing member access.
Additionally, many membership site platforms also offer a wide range of features and tools to help website owners create and manage their membership site content.
The first step is to come up with a plan for your platform. This means considering the basics, such as what services you will offer and how you will charge members. Once you have a plan in place, you will need to create an account with a web hosting provider. This is where your platform will be hosted and made available to members.
Next, you will need to set up your website. This includes creating pages for your services and uploading your content. The final step is to promote your platform and attract members.
Some membership site platforms offer free plans that allow users to create membership site platforms with some basic features and limited accounts.
Membership site platforms provide a variety of benefits for businesses and organizations. These platforms can help businesses to improve communication with members, increase engagement, and drive sales.
Additionally, membership site platforms can help businesses to better understand their members and create targeted content.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are a variety of membership site platforms to choose from. Each platform has its own unique features and benefits. So take your time and research each one to find the best fit for your needs.
Our favorite platform is Kajabi, with its wide range of intuitive features, especially for content-based membership platforms.
Wild Apricot offers the most options for small businesses and non-profits. WPQuickStart is a good option for users with an existing WordPress site as it is a plugin that will help transform your WordPress site into a membership site.
Whatever tool you choose, ensure it fits into existing tools, so you do not incur extra costs.