# Best Membership Site Platforms in 2026: 10 Compared by Real Cost

> The best membership site platforms in 2026, compared by real monthly cost, fees and fit. Find the right one for your members, then start free.

Last updated: 2026-10-01T09:00:00

Canonical URL: https://crevio.co/blog/best-membership-site-platforms

**The best membership site platform is the one whose pricing still makes sense when you have 200 members, not 20.** Most "best membership platforms" lists rank by feature count. This one ranks by what you actually pay once members show up, and by which kind of membership you are actually running.

- **Best all-in-one for courses and marketing**: Kajabi, if you can carry a high flat fee
- **Best for community-first memberships**: Circle, Skool, or Mighty Networks
- **Best for publishers and newsletters**: Ghost
- **Best for an existing WordPress site**: MemberPress
- **Best for supporting a creator's body of work**: Patreon
- **Best for starting free and running the whole business in one place**: [Crevio](https://crevio.co/)

## Quick Comparison

Prices below are the entry plan on annual billing, checked in October 2026. Payment processing (Stripe or PayPal, roughly 2.9% plus 30 cents per charge) comes on top of every row.

| Platform | Entry price | Platform fee on sales | Best for |
|----------|-------------|-----------------------|----------|
| Crevio | Free | 5% free, 2.5% Pro, 1% Business | Selling memberships alongside courses and downloads |
| Kajabi | $143/mo | None from Kajabi | Courses, email and marketing under one roof |
| Circle | $89/mo | 2% | Community and events |
| Skool | $9/mo | 10% on Hobby | Low-cost community plus classroom |
| Mighty Networks | $79/mo | 2% | Community with courses and apps |
| Podia | $42/mo | 5% on Mover | Small catalogs of courses and downloads |
| Memberful | $49/mo | 4.9% | Paywalls on a site you already run |
| Patreon | Free | 10% for new creators | Fan support and creative work |
| Ghost | $29/mo for paid members | 0% | Newsletters and publications |
| MemberPress | $199.50/yr (intro price) | 4.9% on Launch | WordPress sites |

## What a Membership Site Platform Actually Does

A membership site platform does four jobs: it takes recurring payments, decides who can see what, delivers the content or community behind the paywall, and handles the unglamorous parts like failed cards and cancellations. Everything else is packaging.

That packaging is why the category is confusing. Some tools are a community with a paywall bolted on. Others are course builders that added "memberships" as a pricing option. A few are billing layers for a site you already have.

![Four quadrants mapping Kajabi, Podia, Crevio, Circle, Skool, Mighty Networks, Patreon, Memberful, Ghost and MemberPress by where they run and how much of the business they cover](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/membership-platform-map-migj7u9q.svg)

Before comparing prices, decide which quadrant you need. If members mostly come for conversation, you want a community platform. If they come for a library of lessons and templates, you want a content platform. If they come for your writing, you want a publishing tool. Our guide to [building a loyal membership community](/blog/build-a-loyal-membership-community) goes deeper on the first case.

## What Memberships Really Cost at $1,000 a Month

Sticker prices mislead because the fee structures differ. A flat $143 plan and a 10% cut look nothing alike at $200 of revenue, then converge, then flip. The chart shows the platform cost (subscription plus platform fee, without Stripe processing) when a membership brings in $1,000 a month.

![Bar chart of monthly platform cost at 1,000 dollars of member revenue, from Ghost and MemberPress at 29 dollars to Kajabi at 143 dollars](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/membership-platform-cost-chart-d2wnn15e.svg)

Two things stand out. First, the cheapest options (Ghost and MemberPress) are cheap partly because you supply the rest: Ghost is a publishing tool, and MemberPress needs WordPress hosting, a theme and a payment gateway you configure yourself. Second, percentage-based plans such as Patreon and Skool Hobby are great while you are small and get steadily more expensive as you grow. If you expect to pass a few thousand dollars a month, model your own numbers. The same logic applies to [pricing your tiers](/blog/ultimate-guide-to-tiered-membership-models).

## 1. Crevio: Best for Starting Free and Selling More Than Memberships

![Crevio homepage with the headline Your business should run itself and a prompt box for describing what you want to build](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/crevio-homepage-ca9qr76z.png)

[Crevio](https://crevio.co/) is an AI business builder. You describe what you want to sell, and it builds the storefront, sets up Stripe payments and helps with the marketing. Memberships sit next to courses, downloads and embeds as product types, so one storefront can sell a monthly membership, a flagship course and a template pack.

**Pricing**: a free Starter plan (5% transaction fee, 2 published products), Pro at $20/mo (2.5%, unlimited products) and Business at $50/mo (1%, custom domain, no Crevio branding). Annual billing takes 20% off.

**Where it wins**: the cost curve. At $1,000 a month in member revenue, Pro costs about $41 on annual billing and the free plan about $50 in platform cost, and you do not need to wire a store, checkout and email tools together. If you are weighing a membership against selling products once, read our breakdown of [membership vs one-time sales](/blog/membership-vs-one-time-sales).

**Where it does not**: Crevio is not a community app. There is no member feed, chat or events calendar built in, so if the conversation is the product, pick one of the community platforms below. It also does not ship physical goods.

## 2. Kajabi: Best All-in-One for Courses and Marketing

![Kajabi homepage showing the all-in-one platform headline and a membership checkout card](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/kajabi-homepage-mzcuoveb.png)

[Kajabi](https://kajabi.com/pricing) is the heavyweight of the category. Basic costs $143/mo billed annually ($179 monthly), Growth $199/mo ($249 monthly) and Pro $399/mo ($499 monthly). Kajabi does not take a revenue share, though card processing still applies.

**Strengths**: courses, memberships, email, funnels and a website in one login, with a polished member experience. Basic includes 5 products and 2,500 contacts, which is generous for most new memberships.

**Trade-offs**: the entry price is the highest on this list, and contacts and product counts push you up a tier fast. For a membership under a few hundred members, you are paying for a toolbox you may not open. For a business that already earns well, the flat fee gets cheaper per dollar as you grow.

## 3. Circle: Best for Community and Events

![Circle homepage with the headline A new era for digital businesses and a start for free email field](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/circle-homepage-jlldz79f.png)

[Circle](https://circle.so/pricing) is built around the community. Professional starts at $89/mo, Business at $199/mo and Scale at $419/mo, all on annual billing, with a 14-day free trial and no card needed. Transaction fees run from 2% on Professional down to 0.5% on the custom Plus tier.

**Strengths**: a clean community experience, live events, courses, and a branded mobile app on the top tier. Circle also offers free migration help on Business and above.

**Trade-offs**: it is a premium price for a platform whose sales and marketing tools are thinner than Kajabi's. Plan on pairing it with a landing page and an email tool.

## 4. Skool: Best Low-Cost Community Plus Classroom

![Skool homepage showing the Discover communities directory with community cards and prices](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/skool-homepage-e78blvcv.png)

[Skool](https://www.skool.com/pricing) has two plans: Hobby at $9/mo with a 10% transaction fee, and Pro at $99/mo, which its pricing page lists with a 2.9% fee. Both include unlimited members, courses and live calls.

**Strengths**: it is simple, cheap to try and has a built-in discovery directory, so strangers can find your group. That makes it the easiest on this list to launch in an afternoon.

**Trade-offs**: the 10% cut on Hobby adds up fast, and the design is intentionally uniform, so your community will look like a Skool community. Branding and custom sales pages are limited compared with the all-in-one tools.

## 5. Mighty Networks: Best for Community Plus Branded Apps

![Mighty Networks pricing page comparing the Launch, Scale and Growth plans](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/mighty-networks-pricing-lg3wyjjp.png)

[Mighty Networks](https://www.mightynetworks.com/pricing) charges $79/mo for Launch, $179/mo for Scale and $354/mo for Growth, with a branded-app tier at custom pricing. Transaction fees run 2% on Launch, 1% on Scale and 0.5% on Growth and above, and annual billing gives two months free.

**Strengths**: community, courses and events together, with a strong mobile focus and a path to your own branded app. The fee drops as you scale.

**Trade-offs**: the platform is feature-dense, and setup takes longer than Skool. Smaller memberships may never use the higher tiers.

## 6. Podia: Best for Small Catalogs of Courses and Downloads

![Podia homepage with the headline Your courses, community, coaching, and email all in one place](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/podia-homepage-cucdyo0i.png)

[Podia](https://www.podia.com/pricing) has three plans on annual billing: Mover at $42/mo (5% Podia fee), Shaker at $84/mo and Earthquaker at $150/mo (no Podia fee on either). A 14-day free trial needs no card.

**Strengths**: one dashboard for courses, downloads, coaching, a website and email, and a friendly interface for people who have never run an online business.

**Trade-offs**: email subscriber limits are low on every tier (100, 500 and 1,000), so a growing list pushes you up the ladder quickly.

## 7. Memberful: Best for Adding a Paywall to Your Own Site

![Memberful homepage with the headline Build a membership that's truly yours](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/memberful-homepage-co7xceho.png)

[Memberful](https://memberful.com/pricing/) is a billing and access layer rather than a destination. The Standard plan is $49/mo plus a 4.9% transaction fee, charged only once you go live, and an Enterprise tier is custom. It plugs into WordPress and Discord and others.

**Strengths**: your content stays on your own site, with a flexible checkout and good member analytics.

**Trade-offs**: you build and host the site yourself, and it is not a community or course tool. Treat it as plumbing.

## 8. Patreon: Best for Supporting a Body of Creative Work

[Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/pricing) is free to join. Creators who signed up after August 2025 pay a flat 10% platform fee on membership income, plus payment processing and payout fees. Older Lite, Pro and Premium creators kept their legacy rates (5%, 8% and 12%) as long as they leave their plan unchanged, according to [SchoolMaker's pricing breakdown](https://schoolmaker.com/blog/patreon-pricing).

**Strengths**: built-in audience, simple tiers, and fans already know how to pay you there. It is the easiest way to ask your followers to chip in.

**Trade-offs**: the fee is the highest percentage on this list for a new creator, and the Patreon brand sits between you and your members. Branding, email and courses are limited, so it works better as a support layer than as a business.

## 9. Ghost: Best for Newsletters and Publications

[Ghost](https://ghost.org/pricing/) is a publishing platform with paid memberships built in. The Starter plan is $18/mo but excludes paid subscriptions. Publisher ($29/mo) and above carry 0% transaction fees, with Business at $199/mo, all on annual billing.

**Strengths**: the best writing and email experience here, no platform cut on member payments, and an open-source core.

**Trade-offs**: courses and communities are not its strength, so Ghost fits a paid newsletter, not a course library.

## 10. MemberPress: Best for Existing WordPress Sites

![MemberPress homepage describing the all-in-one membership plugin for WordPress](https://crevio.co/vite/assets/memberpress-homepage-dlwlik1t.png)

[MemberPress](https://memberpress.com/pricing/) is a WordPress plugin. Annual plans start at an introductory $199.50 (Launch, 4.9% fee, Stripe only), $349.50 (Growth, 0% fee) and $499.50 (Scale, 0% fee), and renewals return to the full $399, $699 and $999 prices.

**Strengths**: you own the stack, the software cost is low, and WordPress has thousands of plugins to extend it.

**Trade-offs**: you also own the maintenance: hosting, security, updates and plugin conflicts. The renewal price is double the intro price, which the headline number hides. Budget for it.

## What Nobody Tells You About Membership Platforms

- **Churn matters more than sign-ups.** A membership with 5% monthly churn loses over 45% of its members in a year. The platform that makes cancellation, failed-card recovery and win-back emails easy is worth more than one with a prettier feed. Our piece on [monthly recurring revenue](/blog/monthly-recurring-revenue-mrr) shows how to read these numbers.
- **Migration is the real lock-in.** Moving content is easy. Moving subscribers with their payment methods is not, because cards live in the processor. Pick a platform on Stripe, where an export is possible, and ask about migration support before you commit.
- **Free trials hide the real tier.** The plan you test is rarely the plan you need. Count your contacts, products and admins first, then read the tier limits.
- **Communities need a host, not just software.** The software will not make people talk. Budget time to post, reply and run events, or pick a content-led membership instead.

## How to Choose a Membership Platform

1. **Name your membership type.** Community, content library, newsletter or fan support. This alone removes half the list.
2. **Estimate your members at month six.** Run the cost math at that number, not your launch number.
3. **List what you must sell besides the membership.** If you also sell courses or downloads, favor a platform that covers them, or you will pay for two tools.
4. **Check the exit.** Ask how you export members, content and payment data.
5. **Start on the cheapest plan that does the job**, and upgrade when a limit actually blocks you.

If you are still deciding between a recurring offer and one-off products, [starting a subscription business](/blog/start-a-subscription-business) walks through the economics.

## FAQ

### What is the best membership site platform for beginners?

For most beginners, the best choice is whichever platform lets you start cheaply and sell without building a tech stack. Skool's $9 Hobby plan and Crevio's free Starter plan keep the upfront cost near zero. Podia and Kajabi are friendlier if you want courses and email in one place and can afford the monthly fee.

### What is the cheapest way to build a membership site?

The lowest recurring cost is usually a Ghost or MemberPress setup, around $29 a month at $1,000 in revenue, but you handle hosting and setup yourself. The lowest cost with no setup is a free plan with a transaction fee, such as Crevio's Starter plan, where you pay only when you sell.

### Do I need a separate community platform for my membership?

Only if conversation is what members are paying for. If the value is a library, templates, courses or a newsletter, a content-focused platform is simpler and cheaper. If members need a feed, events and chat, choose Circle, Skool or Mighty Networks.

### Can I move my members to a new platform later?

Usually yes, but the process takes planning. Content moves easily, and subscribers move smoothly only when both platforms use the same payment processor and the processor permits the transfer. Ask about migration support before signing up.

## Our Pick

If your membership is the whole business and the community is the product, choose Circle or Skool. If you want to sell memberships next to courses and downloads without paying a flat $143 or more, start on [Crevio](https://crevio.co/) and upgrade when your volume justifies it. Pick the platform your 200th member will still thank you for.

## Related Blog Posts

- [Build a Loyal Membership Community](/blog/build-a-loyal-membership-community)
- [Ultimate Guide to Tiered Membership Models](/blog/ultimate-guide-to-tiered-membership-models)
- [Membership vs One-Time Sales](/blog/membership-vs-one-time-sales)
- [Start a Subscription Business](/blog/start-a-subscription-business)
- [Stan Store Alternatives](/blog/stan-store-alternatives)