How to create a membership site
A membership site gives paying people access to something others cannot see: a library of videos, a downloads area, a private guide, a community page or a members-only shop. Three things make one work: a clear offer, recurring billing and pages that only members can open. Here is how to plan each, and what it costs on different platforms.
Start with the offer
People pay a membership for ongoing value, not a one-time item. Ask what they will still want in the third month. Good examples include new lessons or patterns each month, a growing library of templates, a members-only discount or early access, or regular live sessions. Write the promise in one sentence, such as "Every month, one new pattern and a members-only video lesson". If you cannot, the membership is not ready.
Launch with enough content to justify the first month, and a plan for the next three.
Plan your levels
A level is a named amount of access. One level is fine to start with. If you add more, keep them easy to tell apart:
- Member: the library and the monthly release.
- Plus: everything above, plus extras such as live sessions or a personal review.
In Payly, each level has a number, and a higher number sees more. A member at level 3 can open any page limited to level 1 or 2, so you never list every level on every page. Give your best level the highest number. A level is not something you sell directly: you link it to a subscription product, and everyone who subscribes holds that level while the subscription runs. They keep it while it is active, in a free trial or paused, and it ends with the subscription. See Create membership levels.
Set the price and billing
Most memberships are monthly, often with a yearly option at a lower monthly cost. In Payly, the membership is a subscription product: you set the price, the billing period and, if you like, a free trial or sign-up fee. One product can have a monthly and a yearly plan, and both can grant the same level. The help center covers this in Sell a subscription product.
When you choose a price, include the processing fee on each payment, plus any platform fee, and the cost of keeping the content fresh. A free trial of a week or two lets people try before they commit, and members keep their level during the trial. Use a clear level name, such as "Studio Member".
Create members-only pages
A members-only page can be opened only by signed-in customers who hold a membership level. Everyone else sees a short notice and a sign-in button, and the notice shows nothing of what is on the page. You build the page like any other, then limit it to a level in the page list and publish. The cart and checkout pages cannot be limited, so customers can always pay.
Payly checks a customer's membership every time they open a members-only page, so a member whose subscription has ended loses access. Customers sign in with an emailed link or code, with no password to remember. Details are in Make pages members-only.
A members area is built from the same blocks as any other page. If you need features beyond pages and levels, such as lesson tracking or a community forum, check that they fit before you commit.
What a membership costs on different platforms
Costs differ more than most people expect, because some platforms charge a percentage on top of the plan price. Take 100 members paying $20 a month, which is $2,000 a month. Squarespace charges a fee on digital content and memberships that depends on the plan. Using its published rates and annual billing, a month looks like this before payment processing, which every option has:
| Platform and plan | Plan price per month (billed yearly) | Membership fee | Total for the month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squarespace Basic | $19 | 7% = $140 | $159 |
| Squarespace Core | $29 | 5% = $100 | $129 |
| Squarespace Plus | $49 | 1% = $20 | $69 |
| Squarespace Advanced | $99 | 0% | $99 |
| WooCommerce | Hosting $25 to $350 (WooCommerce's estimate) plus extensions | None from WooCommerce | Memberships $199 a year, and Subscriptions $279 a year if you need recurring billing |
| Payly | $0 | None | $0 from Payly |
At 20 members ($400 a month) the numbers change: Squarespace Basic comes to $47, Core $49 and Plus $53, so the plan that suits you depends on your size. Squarespace says its fee changes are rolling out in waves, so check the plan page. WooCommerce has no platform fee and gives you complete control, but you pay for hosting and each extension, and you maintain the site. That suits sellers who want a custom setup and are comfortable with WordPress.
Payly has no monthly fee, no transaction fee and no commission, and no features are held back, so the platform cost in the table is $0. You still pay the standard processing fee to PayPal or Stripe, for example 2.9% + $0.30 per US card payment through Stripe. Your store runs on your own free Cloudflare account, and your members pay your own PayPal or Stripe account directly. Compare with Squarespace pricing and WooCommerce pricing before you decide. Ready to try it? Create a free account.
Questions
What happens to a member's access if a payment fails?
While PayPal or Stripe retries a failed payment, the member keeps their level. When the subscription ends, the level ends with it.
Can I have more than one subscription grant the same level?
Yes. For example, a monthly and a yearly product can both grant the same level.
Can I turn memberships off later?
Yes, in Settings, then Features, but not while any page is still limited to members. Remove the restriction on those pages first.
Prices as published by each company for the US in October 2026. Prices can change; check each company's own pricing page.
