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Best Membership Sites Tools in 2026

Membership and course platforms

48 tools evaluated · 10 top picks · Updated September 2026

Key Takeaways
  • Stan Store is our overall pick for membership sites in 2026. Thinkific is our free pick.
  • We analyzed 48 membership sites tools to create this ranking.
  • 2 tools offer free plans, perfect for getting started.

Membership site tools (MemberPress, Circle, Mighty Networks, Kajabi, Patreon, Substack) cover paid-subscription content with community + content + payment. The right pick depends on whether community matters more than content, and where you want to own the audience.

7 Top Membership Sites Tools Compared

Starting price, average user rating, and our pick for each category.

ToolOur takeStarting priceRating
Stan Store logo
Stan Store
Best overall$99/mo4.7
MemberPress logo
MemberPress
Solid pickContact sales4.7
Mighty Networks logo
Mighty Networks
Most affordable$41/mo4.5
Thinkific logo
Thinkific
Best free tier$73/mo4.5
LearnWorlds logo
LearnWorlds
Solid pick$79/mo4.7
Ghost logo
Ghost
Solid pick$199/mo3.9
Exercise.com logo
Exercise.com
Solid pickContact sales4.7

How the Top Membership Sites Tools Compare

The membership sites category is highly competitive in 2026, with Stan Store and MemberPress both ranking among the top choices on Toolradar's assessment, followed closely by Mighty Networks. The tight competition reflects how mature this market has become.

Pricing varies significantly among the top picks: Thinkific (freemium (free tier available)) offers free access, while Stan Store and MemberPress and Mighty Networks require a paid subscription. Teams on a budget should start with Thinkific, which delivers strong value despite its free tier.

Computed from live tool ratings, review counts, and editorial scores.Editorial policy

Top Membership Sites tools

01
Stan Store logo

Your all-in-one creator store to sell digital products, courses, and more.

Paid4.7/52,171 ratings · Sep 2026

Stan Store is an e-commerce platform designed specifically for creators to sell their digital products, courses, and services directly to their audience. It provides a mobile-first storefront that can be set up quickly, allowing creators to monetize their content and expertise without needing extensive technical knowledge. The platform helps creators generate income by offering features like direct sales of digital downloads, online courses, memberships, and coaching sessions. It simplifies the process of managing products, processing payments, and engaging with customers, making it easier for creators to focus on content creation while building a sustainable business. Stan Store is ideal for influencers, educators, artists, and anyone looking to turn their audience into customers by selling digital goods and services directly from their link-in-bio or other social media profiles.

+Creator store
+Easy setup
+Good for links
Limited features
Transaction fees
Good value

Stan Store's pricing is fair for its target audience.

02
MemberPress logo

Sell memberships, courses, and downloads on WordPress

Paid4.7/5644 ratings · Sep 2026

MemberPress is a WordPress membership plugin for selling memberships, courses, and digital downloads. Features content protection and payment integration.

MemberPress screenshot
+Comprehensive suite of features for membership, courses, coaching, and community building within WordPress.
+Easy setup and user-friendly interface with tools like ReadyLaunch™ and a Setup Wizard, requiring no coding skills.
+Extensive content access control (paywalling) for various content types, including posts, pages, and custom post types.
Transaction fees are applied to the lowest-tier plan (Launch), which can reduce profit margins.
Some advanced features like the complete Easy Affiliate™ Platform, full API access, and Amazon S3 integration are only available on the highest-tier plan (Scale).
Good value

MemberPress offers a tiered pricing structure that, while initially appearing high, provides significant value for dedicated membership site owners.

03
Mighty Networks logo

Community platform for creators and brands

Paid4.5/5769 ratings · Sep 2026

Mighty Networks builds communities where members learn and connect. Courses, events, and discussion-community platforms for creators and organizations. The features support learning communities. The customization creates identity. The monetization is built in. Creators building learning communities choose Mighty Networks for course-integrated community.

+Community focused
+Native apps
+Course features
Expensive
Complex pricing
Good value

Mighty Networks' pricing is on the higher side compared to some market alternatives, especially for creators just starting out.

Watch out

Transaction fees (3% to 1%) on sales

04
Thinkific logo

Turn your knowledge into income with an easy-to-use course platform

Freemium4.5/5612 ratings · Sep 2026

Thinkific is a platform for creating and selling online courses. Drag-and-drop course builder requires no technical skills. Host video, quizzes, downloads, and live lessons. Customizable landing pages and checkout optimize sales. Community features build student engagement. Student progress tracking and completion certificates. The course platform that lets experts turn knowledge into income.

+No transaction fees
+Good free tier
+Customizable
Limited marketing tools
Support response times
Good value

Thinkific is well-positioned for course creators who want 0% transaction fees.

Watch out

Branded mobile app costs $199/mo on top of any plan, nearly doubles Grow pricing

05
LearnWorlds logo

Online course platform for creators

Paid4.7/5389 ratings · Sep 2026

LearnWorlds creates online course platforms. Customizable schools, interactive content, and built-in commerce-course creation for serious educators. The customization is extensive. The interactivity is supported. The business features are complete. Course creators wanting professional platforms choose LearnWorlds for branded learning experiences.

+Course platform
+Good customization
+White-label option
Learning curve
Transaction fees some plans
Good value

LearnWorlds' pricing is generally fair, offering a good range of features across its tiers.

Watch out

$5 per sale fee on Starter plan

06
Ghost logo

Professional publishing platform

Freemium3.9/5264 ratings · Sep 2026

Ghost is an open-source publishing platform purpose-built for professional bloggers, journalists, and creators who want to run membership-based content businesses. It combines a modern editor with rich media cards (galleries, video, audio, embedded content), built-in newsletter delivery, native member signups with free and paid tiers, and Stripe-powered payment processing with 0% platform fees. Ghost includes SEO tools, detailed audience analytics, custom theme support via its Handlebars-based theme engine, and a headless CMS mode with a full Content API for decoupled frontends. It can be self-hosted for free from GitHub or run as a managed service via Ghost(Pro). Used by creators, newsrooms, and businesses worldwide.

+Zero platform transaction fees on paid memberships, only standard Stripe fees apply
+Purpose-built for content monetization with native newsletters and subscriptions
+Open source and fully self-hostable with no vendor lock-in
Managed Ghost(Pro) pricing scales with member count, which gets expensive at scale
Theme customization requires Handlebars knowledge, no drag-and-drop page builder
Good value

Ghost's pricing is quite generous, especially with the robust free self-hosted option.

07
Exercise.com logo

All-in-one fitness business software to manage, market, and monetize your fitness services and community.

Paid4.7/5358 ratings · Sep 2026

Exercise.com is a comprehensive fitness business software platform designed to help gyms, personal trainers, fitness influencers, and other fitness professionals grow their revenue and streamline operations. It provides a unified solution for managing clients, scheduling, payments, and delivering custom-branded fitness experiences. The platform enables businesses to create and sell workout plans and videos online, leveraging an intuitive workout plan creator and an extensive exercise library. It supports various monetization strategies, including online training, livestreaming, on-demand content, challenges, and digital product sales. With features like custom-branded apps, CRM, marketing automations, and robust reporting, Exercise.com empowers fitness businesses to engage members, attract new leads, and scale their digital and in-person offerings. It also handles critical backend functions such as payment processing, invoicing, and staff commissions, ensuring secure and efficient financial management.

Exercise.com screenshot
+Offers a fully integrated solution, eliminating the need for multiple disparate tools.
+Provides custom-branded apps for a professional and unified client experience.
+Includes robust tools for creating, selling, and delivering diverse fitness content (plans, videos, challenges).
Specific pricing details are not publicly available, requiring a demo booking.
The extensive feature set might have a learning curve for new users.
08
Wild Apricot logo

Membership management software

Paid4.2/5602 ratings · Sep 2026

Wild Apricot is a cloud-based membership management platform built for nonprofits, associations, clubs, and chambers of commerce. It combines a member database with automated renewals, event registration, email campaigns, a drag-and-drop website builder, online payments, donation management, and an online store-all in one system. With mobile apps for both admins and members, 1,600+ third-party integrations, and PCI Level 1 compliant payment processing, Wild Apricot serves 15,000+ organizations and has been rated a top membership management software for multiple consecutive years.

Wild Apricot screenshot
+True all-in-one for membership orgs: database, events, email, website, and payments
+Automated renewals reduce manual work and improve retention
+A generous evaluation period with no credit card required
Contact-based pricing can get expensive for large organizations
Website builder is functional but limited compared to dedicated platforms
Good value

Wild Apricot's pricing is fair for smaller organizations, with the 100-contact tier at $59.40/month annually being competitive.

Watch out

Add-ons like text messaging cost extra

09
Circle logo

Community platform for creators and brands

Paid4.2/5599 ratings · Sep 2026

Circle is a community platform for creators and businesses to build online communities with courses, discussions, events, and memberships. Features include live streams, gamification, and custom branding.

+All-in-one community solution
+Good course features
+Modern interface
No free tier
Can get expensive
Good value

Circle's pricing is on the higher side compared to some community platforms, especially starting at $89/month for the Professional tier.

Watch out

Transaction fees on paid memberships (not specified for lower tiers)

10
Uscreen logo

Turn your video content into a thriving subscription business with an all-in-one platform.

Paid4.8/5224 ratings · Sep 2026

Uscreen is an all-in-one video membership platform designed for creators, coaches, educators, media companies, and influencers to build and monetize their video content. It enables users to create a branded streaming platform, offer video subscriptions, and foster a community around their content. The platform combines video hosting, live streaming, and community features across various devices, including custom mobile and TV apps, without requiring any coding. Uscreen helps creators establish a consistent revenue stream by offering flexible monetization tools like subscriptions, free trials, and one-off sales. It provides a Netflix-style video catalog for easy content discovery, integrated community spaces for member engagement, and direct live streaming capabilities. The platform also includes marketing tools, analytics for performance optimization, and dedicated support for setting up and growing a successful membership business.

Uscreen screenshot
+Comprehensive platform for video monetization and community.
+No coding required for custom mobile and TV apps.
+Strong focus on audience ownership and recurring revenue.
Community features are only available on higher-tier plans (Pro/Plus/Custom).
Transaction fees apply to one-time sales across all plans.
Fair value

Uscreen's pricing is on the higher side compared to some market alternatives, especially for the Starter tier at $49/month with a 100 subscriber limit and 10% transaction fee.

Watch out

10% fee on one-time sales for Starter

Why these membership sites tools didn't make our top 10.

We evaluated 48 membership sites tools and these 20 ranked 11 through 30. They're solid options that fell short on one or two axes (review depth, pricing transparency, feature parity), but worth a look if the leaders don't fit your stack or budget.

Popular membership sites comparisons

See how the leading membership sites tools stack up head-to-head.

Membership Sites pricing, compared

Real plans and the hidden costs for each tool.

Browse all membership sites tools

48 tools
Heartbeat logo
Heartbeat
The community-first platform to monetize your audience with courses, events, and discussions.
paid· Web
AccessAlly logo
AccessAlly
WordPress membership and LMS plugin
paid· Web
Skool logo
Skool
Discover and create communities with courses, community features, and a calendar, all in one place.
freemium· Web
Invision Community logo
Invision Community
Community platform and forum software
paid
ClassPass logo
ClassPass
Access a global network of fitness studios, gyms, and wellness experiences with one membership.
freemium
RecTrac logo
RecTrac
Comprehensive recreation management software for parks, recreation, and community organizations.
freemium
Substack logo
Substack
Newsletter platform for writers
freemium· Web
Payhip logo
Payhip
Sell digital products and memberships
freemium
Vimeo OTT logo
Vimeo OTT
Launch and monetize your own video streaming service with a comprehensive OTT platform.
freemium· Web, iOS, Android
Cobot logo
Cobot
Intuitive coworking management software to operate your space and grow your community.
paid· Web, iOS, Android
Whop logo
Whop
Sell communities, courses, and digital products with built-in automation
freemium· Web
VineSpring logo
VineSpring
E-commerce and club management platform for wineries and craft beverage producers.
freemium
Coworks logo
Coworks
Space management software for coworking and flexible workspaces, delighting members and empowering managers.
paid· Web
Punchpass logo
Punchpass
Simplify studio management with easy scheduling, booking, and payment processing for wellness businesses.
paid· Web
Ruzuku logo
Ruzuku
Easily create, sell, and manage online courses, memberships, and digital products with built-in community features.
free· Web
Ko-fi logo
Ko-fi
Empower creators to earn income directly from their fans through tips, memberships, and sales.
freemium· Web
Zenamu logo
Zenamu
Streamline class bookings, payments, and client management for fitness and wellness businesses.
freemium· Web, iOS, Android
Habu logo
Habu
Simplified workspace software for managing successful coworking spaces.
paid· Web

Showing the top 18 of 48. Filter to narrow down.

How to choose membership sites software

  1. Match tool to product

    Newsletter-led: Substack, beehiiv, ConvertKit. Course-led: Kajabi, Thinkific. Community-led: Circle, Mighty Networks. WordPress-native: MemberPress, Memberful. Patreon for creator-fan transactions. Each fits different business models.

  2. Audit payment + tax handling

    Subscription billing, dunning, sales tax (especially internationally) is non-trivial. Platforms with Stripe Tax integration or built-in tax handling save real work. Don't roll your own subscription billing.

  3. Plan for ownership and lock-in

    Substack/Patreon own the relationship; you can't easily export. Self-hosted (MemberPress on WordPress) keeps full ownership. Match to how much you care about portability.

Honorable mentions

Tools that didn't crack the headline list but deserve a look depending on what you optimize for.

  • Ghost logo
    GhostBest self-hostable paid newsletter + membership

    Ghost combines paid newsletters with member management. Self-hostable, open-source, growing alternative to Substack for creators who want ownership.

Best Membership Sites for

How we ranked these membership sites tools

We rank by real-world signal: verified user ratings aggregated from G2, Capterra, and our own community, the volume and recency of media coverage, and hands-on editorial review for the tools we cover in depth. Pricing is re-checked and the ranking refreshed monthly. We do not sell placement in this list.

Tools reviewed
48
With free tier
35%
Last updated
September 2026

Toolradar Research

The data behind membership sites

First-party analyses built from our full catalog, methodology published.

All Toolradar research

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best membership sites tool in 2026?

Based on our analysis of 48 membership sites tools, Stan Store is our overall pick. The next tools on the list are MemberPress, Mighty Networks, Thinkific. Rankings use G2/Capterra review strength, media mentions, and editor-featured picks — the same verdict as /best/free/membership-sites and our comparison pages.

What are the top 3 membership sites tools?

The top 3 membership sites tools in 2026, ranked by Toolradar, are: 1) Stan Store, Your all-in-one creator store to sell digital products, courses, and more.. 2) MemberPress, Sell memberships, courses, and downloads on WordPress. 3) Mighty Networks, Community platform for creators and brands. Our named overall pick is Stan Store.

Are there free membership sites tools?

Thinkific is our free-tier pick — freemium, not 100% free. 2 of the tools on this page offer a free or freemium plan.

How do I choose the right membership sites tool?

Start by defining your team size, budget, and must-have features. Stan Store is our overall pick. Thinkific is our free pick. Compare all 48 options side-by-side on Toolradar.
Membership Sites statisticscatalog size, ratings and pricing data, updated monthly

For membership sites vendors

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