# Alternatives to Memberful

Memberful is a membership software that adds paid subscriptions, gated content, and member management to your own website, with deep WordPress integration.

Memberful ranks #6 of 8 in Membership platforms, with an Alt Score of 79. It is proprietary, sold by subscription from $49/month and available on the web. 13 of 13 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/memberful/
Category: Membership platforms

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Memberful is for creators, podcasters, newsletter writers, and media companies who want to sell paid memberships and subscriptions directly on their own WordPress site or website, rather than moving their audience to a third-party platform.
- **What you get**: A single Standard plan ($49/month + 4.9% transaction fee) that includes subscription and one-time payment tiers, gated content, digital downloads, member CRM, hosted newsletters, coupons and trials, revenue/retention analytics, custom domain and branding, and a GraphQL API with webhooks and Zapier; a custom-priced Enterprise plan adds dedicated support and volume pricing.
- **How it works**: You connect your own Stripe account, set up subscription plans and gated content through the WordPress plugin or Memberful's built-in website builder, and members sign in and manage their subscriptions through a hosted member dashboard while you manage everything from your own site.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-17)
- **Pricing model**: Subscription (verified 2026-07-17)
- **Starts at**: $49/month (verified 2026-07-17)
- **Platforms**: Web
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-17)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Kajabi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kajabi.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [Podia](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/podia.md) | 89 | Proprietary | ? |
| 3 | [Patreon](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/patreon.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [Buy Me a Coffee](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/buy-me-a-coffee.md) | 83 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 5 | [Uscreen](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/uscreen.md) | 83 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 6 | [MemberSpace](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/memberspace.md) | 79 | Proprietary | Web |
| 7 | [Ko-fi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ko-fi.md) | 76 | Proprietary | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Membership platforms checklist | Memberful | Kajabi | Podia | Patreon | Buy Me a Coffee | Uscreen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Usage-based | Usage-based | Subscription |
| Starts at | $49/month | $71/mo (Starter, billed annually) | $42/month billed annually | Free to start; 10% platform fee on earnings | Free | $49/mo (Starter plan) |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web | Web, iOS, Android | ? | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Recurring subscription tiers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| One-time / pay-what-you-want | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Gated content / paywall | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Courses / digital products | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Member portal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email marketing / newsletters | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in community | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial |
| Native payments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Coupons & free trials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Revenue / churn analytics | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Custom domain & branding | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| API / integrations | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Partial |
| Free tier | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |

## Sources

Sources for Memberful. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: Proprietary — <https://memberful.com/terms-of-service> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “the overall design of the site are copyrighted by us, and are protected by US and international laws”
- **Pricing model**: Subscription — <https://memberful.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Task brief flagged a possible free 'Starter' tier to verify. The live pricing page (checked 2026-07-17) shows only two plans: Standard ($49/mo + 4.9%) and custom Enterprise — no standalone free plan e
  - Quote: “Access everything Memberful has to offer for one monthly price”
- **Starts at**: $49/month — <https://memberful.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Standard plan is $49 USD/month plus a 4.9% transaction fee per successful charge (Stripe's own processing fees are separate). Enterprise tier above it is custom-priced.
  - Quote: “+ 4.9% transaction fee”
- **Platforms**: Web — <https://memberful.com/product> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Memberful is accessed via a web dashboard (signin.memberful.com) and embeds into your WordPress site or its own hosted website builder; no native desktop or mobile app is referenced anywhere on the si
  - Quote: “Connect to your WordPress site, or use our built-in website builder.”
- **Status**: active — <https://memberful.com/blog/rebrand-2026> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Company blog post dated March 10, 2026 announcing a rebrand and roadmap; footer shows 'Copyright © 2013-2026 Memberful LLC.'
  - Quote: “deeper integrations with the tools you already rely on, a stronger WordPress plugin, and more ways to grow your revenue”
- **Recurring subscription tiers**: Yes — <https://memberful.com/product> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Monthly, annual, & custom subscriptions”
- **One-time / pay-what-you-want**: Partial — <https://memberful.com/product> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Supports one-time / non-recurring purchases, but no pay-what-you-want (name-your-price) option — the PWYW half of this cell.
  - Quote: “One-time payments”
- **Gated content / paywall**: Yes — <https://memberful.com/wordpress> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “The easiest way to protect content on your WordPress website.”
- **Courses / digital products**: Partial — <https://memberful.com/memberful-vs-mighty-networks> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Native digital downloads (PDFs, MP3s) are supported directly, but courses require the WordPress LearnDash/Sensei integrations rather than a built-in LMS.
  - Quote: “Memberful doesn’t come with a built-in LMS.”
- **Member portal**: Yes — <https://memberful.com/product> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Member CRM & activity feed”
- **Email marketing / newsletters**: Yes — <https://memberful.com/newsletters> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Send newsletters directly to your paying members using Posts.”
- **Built-in community**: No — <https://memberful.com/memberful-vs-mighty-networks> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Memberful only offers built-in integrations with third-party community tools (Discourse, Discord); it has no native community/forum feature of its own.
  - Quote: “Unlike Mighty Networks, you can’t build a community on the Memberful platform.”
- **Native payments**: Yes — <https://memberful.com/memberful-vs-whop> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “With Memberful, you own your Stripe account and data, with no extra payout fees.”
- **Coupons & free trials**: Yes — <https://memberful.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Free and paid trials”
- **Revenue / churn analytics**: Yes — <https://memberful.com/product> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Easily see how your revenue from recurring payments and orders are changing over time.”
- **Custom domain & branding**: Yes — <https://memberful.com/product> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Customize your brand colors, logo, and even add a custom domain”
- **API / integrations**: Yes — <https://memberful.com/integrations> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Leverage our fully integrated GraphQL API and Webhooks to build powerful, custom applications”
- **Free tier**: No — <https://memberful.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: No standalone free plan is offered as of 2026-07-17 (only Standard and custom Enterprise); this is a free trial before going live, not a permanent free tier.
  - Quote: “We won't start charging you until you connect to Stripe and turn on live payments.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/