Most “best membership website builder” lists compare sticker prices and move on. That’s how a platform charging $39/month with a 7.5% transaction fee ends up on top of a list, despite costing a creator more per month than a $79/month plan with 0% fees once real revenue kicks in.
The honest comparison is different. It starts with what you’re actually trying to build (courses, community, memberships, or all three) and ends with what you’ll really pay at different revenue levels. Cheap on paper often isn’t cheap in practice.
This guide compares eight of the best membership website builders in 2026 by real cost, features, and who they’re genuinely built for. You’ll find exactly one platform in here with 0% transaction fees on every plan, and a fair look at everything else creators consider alongside it.
Quick comparison: membership website builders at a glance
| Platform | Best for | Starting price (annual) | Transaction fees | Courses | Community | Checkout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kourses | Creators wanting courses + community + memberships with 0% fees | $9/mo | 0% | Yes | Yes | Optimized |
| Kajabi | Established creators who want an all-in-one suite | $179/mo | 0.5–2% surcharge | Yes | Basic | Basic |
| Mighty Networks | Community-first memberships | $95/mo | 1–3% | Basic | Strong | Basic |
| Podia | Beginners selling memberships + digital products | $39/mo | 0–5% | Yes | Basic | Basic |
| Circle | Community-driven membership experiences | $89/mo | 0.5–2% | Bolt-on | Strong | Basic |
| Teachable | Course creators adding a membership tier | $39/mo | 0–7.5% | Strong | Basic | Basic |
| MemberPress | WordPress users who want full control | $199.50/yr | Your processor | Via add-ons | Via add-ons | Via add-ons |
| Patreon | Creators with an existing audience | Free | 10% | Limited | Basic | Basic |
Quick winners:
- Best overall value: Kourses, the only platform with 0% transaction fees on every plan
- Best for all-in-one marketing: Kajabi, if you’ll actually use every feature
- Best for community-first: Circle, strong community, weak everywhere else
- Best for WordPress users: MemberPress, full control, full setup work
- Cheapest entry price: Kourses at $9/month
The 8 best membership website builders
Here’s a closer look at each platform, what it’s built for, and where it falls short.
1. Kourses, best for creators who want courses + community + memberships with 0% fees
Kourses is a modern membership website builder designed specifically for creators, not adapted from a generic website builder or a marketing suite. It combines courses, community, digital downloads, and a conversion-optimized checkout in one platform, starting at $9/month with 0% transaction fees on every plan.
Key features:
- Full online course platform with drip content, video hosting, and progress tracking
- Built-in community platform with multiple communities, DMs, member directory, moderation
- Checkout with multiple order bumps, one-click upsells, and abandoned cart recovery on all plans
- Custom domain and fully branded portal (no Kourses branding on Pro and above)
- Flexible payment options: one-time, subscriptions, payment plans, trials, coupons
Pricing:
- Starter: $9/month annual, 100 members, 1 product, 0% fees
- Pro: $49/month annual, 1,000 members, 10 products, full branding
- Unlimited: $79/month annual, unlimited members and products, concierge migration
Transaction fees: 0% on every plan. You only pay your own Stripe processing rate.
Who it’s best for: Creators, coaches, and community builders who want a complete platform for courses, memberships, and community, without paying transaction fees that scale with their success.
Limitations: No native mobile app. Smaller brand name than Kajabi or Teachable (newer platform), though it ships features faster than either competitor.
2. Kajabi, best for established creators who want an all-in-one marketing suite
Kajabi is the most feature-dense membership platform on the market. It bundles courses, email marketing, landing pages, sales funnels, a website builder, and a basic community into one tool. The price reflects it.
- Key features:
- Full course and membership delivery
- Email marketing, automations, and broadcasts on every plan
- Pipelines (full sales funnel builder)
- Website builder with templates
- Coaching product type for 1:1 sessions
- Pricing:
- Basic: $179/month annual (5 products, 2,500 contacts)
- Growth: $249/month annual (50 products, 25,000 contacts)
- Pro: $499/month annual (unlimited products, 100,000 contacts)
Transaction fees: 0.5–2% surcharge when using your own Stripe account, plus processing. Kajabi Payments has no surcharge but charges 2.7–2.9% + $0.30.
True cost at $10,000/mo revenue: roughly $299/month (Growth plan plus 1% surcharge).
Who it’s best for: Established creators doing $15,000+ per month who actively use the email, funnels, and website builder features.
Limitations: Expensive at entry level. Transaction surcharges compound fast. Many users pay for features they never touch. For a full breakdown, see Kourses vs Kajabi.
3. Mighty Networks, best for community-first memberships
Mighty Networks started as a community platform and bolted courses on later. That history shows in the product. Community features are strong; course delivery is serviceable but not as polished as purpose-built platforms.
Key features:
- Strong community with rich member profiles, events, and topic spaces
- Native live streaming and events
- Mobile app included
- Courses added as a feature layer on top of community
Pricing:
- Launch Plan: $95/month (2% fee)
- Scale Plan: $215/month (1% fee)
- Mighty Pro: custom pricing (0.5% fee)
Transaction fees: 2% on Launch, 1% on Scale, 0.5% on Pro.
Who it’s best for: Creators building a community-led membership where the community is the product and courses support it.
Limitations: Courses feel secondary. Transaction fees apply at every tier. Customization is limited compared to Kajabi or Kourses.
4. Podia, best for beginners selling memberships + digital products
Podia is a simple, friendly membership platform aimed at creators who want to sell a mix of digital products, courses, and memberships without much setup. The product is easy to use and reasonably priced, though it trades depth for simplicity.
Key features:
- Courses, memberships, digital downloads in one place
- Basic community feature
- Email marketing (on higher tiers)
- Webinars and coaching
Pricing:
- Mover: $39/month (5% fee) — courses, digital downloads, unlimited products
- Shaker: $89/month (0% fee) — everything in Mover plus affiliate marketing and PayPal
Transaction fees: 5% on Mover, 0% on Shaker.
Who it’s best for: Beginners and creators with simple needs who want a low-friction path to selling digital products and memberships.
Limitations: Community and checkout features are basic. Feature development has been slow. At scale, the lack of advanced tools pushes creators to migrate.
5. Circle, best for community-driven membership experiences
Circle is the community platform most often chosen by creators who don’t need courses, or who run courses elsewhere and want a dedicated community space. The community experience is polished; courses are a newer bolt-on.
Key features:
- Strong community with spaces, events, live rooms, and member directory
- Mobile app
- Customization and branding
- Course delivery added in 2023 (less mature than dedicated course platforms)
Pricing:
- Professional: $89/month (2% transaction fee)
- Business: $199/month (1% fee)
- Custom: custom (0.5% fee)
Transaction fees: 0.5–2% depending on plan.
Who it’s best for: Communities that operate like paid forums or masterminds, where conversation and events are the product.
Limitations: Expensive entry point. Transaction fees at every tier. Course features are improving but not at parity with dedicated course platforms.
6. Teachable, best for course creators adding a membership tier
Teachable is primarily a course platform that added membership capabilities over time. If courses are your main product and you want to add recurring access as a tier, Teachable handles that competently.
Key features:
- Mature course platform
- Memberships via subscription products
- Basic community
- Coaching with Stripe-powered checkout
Pricing:
- Starter: $39/month (1 product, 100 students, 7.5% fee)
- Builder: $89/month (5 products, 0% fee)
- Growth: $189/month (25 products, 0% fee)
- Custom: Contact Sales
Transaction fees: 7.5% on Starter, 0% on Builder and above.
Who it’s best for: Course-first creators who want a simple membership tier layered on top.
Limitations: The 7.5% Starter fee is harsh. Community features are thin. For a full comparison, see Kourses vs Teachable.
7. MemberPress, best for WordPress users who want full control
MemberPress is a WordPress plugin rather than a hosted platform. If you already have a WordPress site and want to gate content behind memberships, MemberPress does that well. You trade convenience, technical stress and time savings for control.
Key features:
- Deep WordPress integration
- Drip content, access rules, and member management
- Courses via an add-on
- Community via third-party plugins
Pricing:
- Basic: $199.50/year (4.9% fee)
- Growth: $349.50/year
- Scale: $499.50/year
Transaction fees: 4.9% on the basic plan.
Who it’s best for: Technical users with an existing WordPress site who want full ownership of their stack.
Limitations: You manage hosting, security, backups, and updates. Feature quality depends on the plugins you stack. Setup takes time and technical skill.
8. Patreon, best for creators with an existing audience
Patreon is less a membership website builder and more a subscription-based creator monetization platform. It’s excellent if you have an audience that just wants to support your work; it’s limiting if you want to build a real branded membership experience.
Key features:
- Instant setup
- Audience-facing discovery (tiny amount of cross-promotion)
- Mobile app
- Built-in community feed and messaging
Pricing:
- Free to start, no monthly fee
- 10% platform fee on all earnings (for new creators publishing after August 2025)
- Legacy creators who joined before August 4, 2025 remain on old rates (8% Pro or 12% Premium)
Transaction fees: 10% platform fee plus payment processing (~2.9% + $0.30 per transaction)
Who it’s best for: Content creators with an audience who want a simple way to collect recurring support without building a full site.
Limitations: You don’t own the brand experience. Platform revenue cut is significant. Limited course and community structure. High dependency risk.
Membership website builder pricing comparison (the real cost)
Advertised prices rarely tell the full story. Here’s what each platform actually costs at three common monthly revenue levels, including transaction fees.
At $5,000/month in revenue:
- Kourses Starter: $9 + $0 = $9/month
- Teachable Starter: $39 + $375 (7.5%) = $414/month
- Teachable Builder: $89 + $0 = $89/month
- Kajabi Basic: $179 + $100 (2%) = $279/month
- Podia Shaker: $89 + $0 = $89/month
- Circle Basic: $89 + $200 (2%) = $289/month
- Mighty Networks Launch: $95 + $100 (2%) = $195/month
- Patreon: $0 + $500 (10%) = $500/month
At $10,000/month in revenue:
- Kourses Pro: $49 + $0 = $49/month
- Kajabi Growth: $249 + $100 (1%) = $349/month
- Teachable Growth: $189 + $0 = $189/month
- Podia Shaker: $89 + $0 = $89/month
- Circle Professional: $199 + $100 (1%) = $299/month
- Mighty Networks Scale: $215 + $100 (1%) = $315/month
- Patreon: $0 + $1,000 (10%) = $1,000/month
At $20,000/month in revenue:
- Kourses Unlimited: $79 + $0 = $79/month
- Kajabi Growth: $249 + $200 (1%) = $449/month
- Teachable Growth: $189 + $0 = $189/month
- Circle Business: $199 + $200 (1%) = $399/month
- Mighty Networks Scale: $215 + $200 (1%) = $415/month
- Patreon: $0 + $2,000 (10%) = $2,000/month
The pattern is consistent. Percentage-based transaction fees scale linearly with revenue. A flat-fee platform like Kourses stays flat. By $20,000/month, the gap between Kourses Unlimited ($79) and Patreon ($2,000) is $1,921 per month, or more than $23,000 per year.
For more on why 0% transaction fees matter more than monthly price at scale, see our deep dive.
Key features to look for in a membership website builder
Not every feature matters for every business. Here’s what’s actually worth caring about when comparing platforms.
Course hosting and content delivery
If courses are part of your offering, look for drip content, video hosting, progress tracking, and a clean student experience. Community-first platforms like Circle and Mighty Networks handle courses less elegantly than purpose-built tools.
Community features
Ask what the community actually does. Some platforms ship a basic comment feed and call it community. A real community platform includes multiple spaces, direct messaging, member profiles, moderation tools, and notifications. Don’t assume “community” means the same thing across products.
Checkout and payment processing
This is where most platforms disappoint. Order bumps, one-click upsells, and abandoned cart recovery are the three features that most consistently lift revenue, and most platforms either don’t offer them or gate them behind premium tiers. A modern checkout with 0% platform fees can easily earn back its entire monthly cost from a single upsell.
Member management and analytics
At scale, you need to understand who your members are, what they’re engaging with, and when they’re about to churn. Look for segmentation, MRR tracking, and customer lifetime value reporting.
Branding and customization
Custom domains, your own logo and colors, and the ability to remove the platform’s branding matter if you care about how your membership looks to customers. Some platforms only allow full branding on higher tiers.
How to choose the right membership platform
The simplest decision framework, based on what you actually need.
- You want courses + community + memberships with 0% fees: Kourses.
- You want the most feature-dense all-in-one suite and have the revenue to justify it: Kajabi.
- Community is your entire product: Circle or Mighty Networks.
- You’re a course-first creator adding membership as a tier: Teachable or Kourses.
- You have a WordPress site and technical skills: MemberPress.
- You have an audience and want zero setup: Patreon (with the 10% trade-off).
- You’re just getting started and want simple: Podia or Kourses.
Match the platform to what you’re building, not to brand recognition. The most-marketed platform isn’t always the best fit.
FAQ
What is a membership website builder?
A membership website builder is a platform that lets you create a site where paying members access gated content such as courses, community, downloads, or ongoing updates. Most modern builders combine content delivery, member management, and payment processing in one tool.
How much does it cost to build a membership website?
Monthly costs range from $9 (Kourses Starter) to $499/month (Kajabi Pro) for hosted platforms. Self-hosted options like MemberPress start at around $199/year but add hosting, plugin, and maintenance costs on top. Transaction fees on some platforms add between 1–10% on top of the monthly subscription cost.
What is the best platform for a membership site?
It depends on what you’re building. Kourses is the best value for creators who want courses, community, and memberships in one platform with 0% transaction fees. Kajabi is the most feature-dense, but expensive. Circle is strongest for community-first experiences. Choose based on your specific needs rather than the loudest brand.
Can I build a membership site for free?
No genuinely free options exist for hosted platforms in 2026. Teachable and Thinkific both retired their free plans. Patreon is free to start but takes 10% of revenue for new creators. The cheapest real option is Kourses at $9/month with no transaction fees.
Are membership sites profitable?
Yes, at scale. Memberships offer the most predictable revenue model in digital products: recurring monthly payments that compound as your member base grows. The economics work best when churn is low, which depends on the quality of the community and content, not the platform.
Conclusion: your next step
The best membership website builder for you is the one that fits your product, your revenue stage, and your tolerance for transaction fees. There’s no universal winner, but there are better and worse matches.
If you’re building a membership that combines courses, community, and recurring access, and you want to keep 100% of every sale, Kourses is built for exactly that. Plans start at $9/month with 0% transaction fees, setup takes five minutes, and you get courses, a full community platform, and a conversion-optimized checkout in one product.
Start a 14-day free trial of Kourses and have your membership site live this week. No transaction fees, no hidden surcharges, and no dependency on someone else’s algorithm.
