12 Best Membership Site Software & Platforms for 2025

Most teams don’t fail to build a membership site. They fail to pick the right software.

With hundreds of tools on the market, each promising the same things, it's easy to fall into a cycle of research, indecision, and frustration. This guide is built to stop that.

Whether you're running a growing startup, managing alumni engagement at a university, or leading an accelerator program, you’ll find here the best membership site software that fits your needs — without wasting time or budget.

And while 67.6% of membership sites are B2C, the remaining 32.4% of B2B platforms are growing fast — and need tools that actually support private communities, content protection, membership levels, and solid admin control.

Even more striking? 66.8% of membership sites were launched within the last 3 years. That means most teams are still figuring things out. We're here to give you a head start.

Let’s dive in.

Key Takeaways

• LoftOS: Best all-in-one solution for SMEs, startups, and B2B organizations that need customizable portals, content management, and gated content without dev time.
• Wild Apricot: Ideal for associations and nonprofits with recurring membership renewals and event participants.
• Mighty Networks: Great for community brands that prioritize a mobile-first and engaging user experience.
• Kajabi and Podia: Powerful picks if you're focused on content creation, online payments, and selling video content or digital products.

Of course, not every tool here is right for everyone. But one of them is likely perfect for you, and we will be going in depth below so you’re able to make the right choice.

LoftOS: Best membership site software for B2B, Startups, and Ecosystem Builders

If you’re looking for a membership site platform that goes beyond basic paywalls and email blasts, LoftOS might just be the tool you've been hoping existed.

It’s not just another page-builder or plug-and-play community app. LoftOS is designed for organizations that think long-term—those building programs, hosting events, and creating rich spaces for connection, learning, and structured collaboration.

With LoftOS, you’re not locked into a fixed layout or limited feature set. You’re getting a fully customizable, all-in-one solution tailored for SMEs, accelerators, and innovation programs that need flexibility, scale, and control.

Let’s look at what makes it stand out.

Key Features

1. Programs: Build rich, structured learning spaces

Whether you're running a mentoring program, university cohort, or member onboarding flow, LoftOS lets you structure learning into programs with chapters, lessons, and interactive tasks.

• Add video content, images, and assessments into each lesson
• Include multiple-choice, single-choice, and scale-based questions
• Track participation and progress
• Let users move through content at their own pace

Perfect for: knowledge transfer, partner onboarding, or community-driven education.

2. Events: Run hybrid, virtual, or in-person experiences that actually engage

Design beautiful event pages. Manage registrations. Embed live streams. Enable real-time networking with 1:1 speed-dating.

You can host:

• Conferences with integrated video & chat
• Webinars with external links
• Workshops with custom agendas

Plus, everything stays under your brand, no jumping between tools.

3. Matchmaking: Intelligent connections that adapt to your community

This isn’t just "offer vs request". LoftOS enables:

• Member-to-member matching (e.g., mentors to mentees)
• People to organizations
• Needs to opportunities

Define what makes a match, interests, location, skills and adjust importance levels. Even better, set periodic recalculations to keep connections fresh.

Your members get a central hub to manage all their matches with auto-filtered relevance.

Bonus features users love:

• Topic-based groups with integrated chat & moderation
• Flexible admin tools to create custom databases (for anything you want)
• An integrated website builder to promote your whole membership platform, no extra tools needed

Pricing

LoftOS offers flexible pricing plans that adapt to your organization’s size and growth stage.

Whether you’re a regional network, an accelerator, or a mid-sized business—our pricing won’t lock you out, nor you’ll get the surprise extra costs (or need extra dev help) that most mainstream tools do.

Where LoftOS Shines

Built for Builders: LoftOS gives full control to platform admins. Create new modules, sync with external sources, and customize every detail without code.

All-in-One Workspace: Manage everything from one dashboard—no juggling tools for events, communications, and membership management.

Scales With You: From pilot projects to regional initiatives, LoftOS supports evolving needs, all type of membership levels, and workflows.

Where LoftOS Falls Short

Because LoftOS is so customizable, it can feel a bit deeper and more layered at first—especially if you’re expecting something that’s fully pre-configured out of the box. But that’s also what makes it powerful. It’s built for teams who want to shape their own experience, not just plug in and hope it fits. A short onboarding phase is often all it takes to unlock its full potential.

Who LoftOS is Best For

• SMEs and Startups: That want to launch member platforms, fast, without devs
• Accelerators & University Programs: That need to combine events, learning, and community
• Regional Innovation Networks: That want to showcase members, create resource hubs, or run calls-for-ideas

If you need a flexible, no-code tool to digitize your membership subscriptions experience—not just build a pretty forum—LoftOS is worth your shortlist. Explore our member community template and see it for yourself.

1. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is a community-focused membership site software tailored to creators, coaches, and entrepreneurs. It blends online events, gated community features, and digital courses into one central hub.

Members interact through subgroups, activity feeds, and live streams—making it ideal for engagement-first membership models. With native mobile apps and integrated payments, it supports both free and paid membership programs.

Key Features

• Integrated livestreaming and Zoom events
• Blended community + course experience
• Activity feed, chat, and polls
• Mobile apps and gated spaces
• Sell memberships or bundles

Pricing

• Community Plan: $41/month (annually)
• Courses Plan: $99/month
• Business Plan: $179/month (14-day free trial)
• Mighty Pro: From $360/month

More details in our Mighty Networks Pricing breakdown.

Where Mighty Networks Shines

Mighty Networks excels in delivering high engagement through its real-time features and vibrant community feel. Its seamless experience across devices and ability to blend content and conversations work well for community-led learning models.

Where Mighty Networks Falls Short

Customization is limited. Users seeking deep design control or external tool integrations may feel restricted. Feedback often highlights the interface as cluttered and customer service as unresponsive. Analytics and admin control tools are also basic.

Customer Reviews

"Mighty Networks is amazing. Not only do I like the cultural software, but the support of the whole MN team and their standout guides is better than anything else out there.” – Capterra Review

‘It's super easy to use, much cheaper than Kajabi and the likes (which imo don't really work for a membership anyways) and the customer service is the best.” – Capterra Review

Who Mighty Networks is Best For

Coaches, creators, and educators looking for a mobile-first community and course platform.

2. Kajabi

Kajabi is a powerful membership site platform built for digital businesses offering courses, coaching, and subscriptions.

It centralizes websites, email funnels, and analytics in one dashboard—making it ideal for solo founders and teams selling content-driven membership programs.

Users can track churn, recurring revenue, and build seamless subscriber journeys without third-party tools.

Key Features

• Subscription-specific analytics dashboards
• Email marketing and sales funnels
• Branded mobile-ready websites
• 24/7 customer support
• Drag-and-drop builder with templates

Pricing

• Basic Plan: $119/month
• Growth Plan: $159/month
• Pro Plan: $319/month

All plans include basic automation and core membership management software features.

Where Kajabi Shines

Kajabi gives creators a clean, unified way to manage their content business—from landing pages to automated email workflows. The all-in-one approach makes launching and scaling simpler, especially for users without tech skills.

Where Kajabi Falls Short

Pricing is steep, and its community engagement tools are limited. Layouts lack flexibility, and it doesn't support advanced segmentation or custom experiences as well as some alternatives.

Customer Reviews

"I love the flexibility of Kajabi. Their platform has proven to be an important part of my personal marketing and branding. Even though I own a digital marketing agency, many of my personal brand sites are built within Kajabi, due to the ease of use." Read full review

"I found it relatively simple to set up and get started with. The support documentation is helpful and thorough. I appreciate the customization options available and the ability to create email campaigns and web pages all in one place." Read full review

Who Kajabi is Best For

Digital entrepreneurs building course-based, recurring-revenue communities.

3. Circle

Circle is a clean, creator-first membership site software focused on discussion spaces, gated content, and events. Users can design modular communities using "Spaces" to separate access by tier or interest.

Its flexible layouts and paywalls make it ideal for building layered private communities or running premium membership subscriptions alongside educational content.

Key Features

• Member-only "Spaces" with granular controls
• Native live-streaming and video rooms
• Paywalled content and monetization options
• Integrations via Zapier and webhooks
• Custom branding and domain

Pricing

• Plans from $89/month up to enterprise pricing
• Transaction fees apply on all plans

Explore more: 7+ Circle.so Alternatives.

Where Circle Shines

Circle offers a crisp UI and smart structural features. Its paywalled “Spaces” and event tools are great for layered communities with mixed access levels.

Where Circle Falls Short

Custom layout options are limited. Email and funnel tools are external, and transaction fees can erode revenue for high-volume communities. Some usability quirks around sharing sub-sections persist.

Customer Reviews

"It's really easy to use, it has loads of excellent features that I find really valuable for my specific use case, and even though it can seem a bit pricey at first to start with if you're doing a startup the cost is really great for what you get and it has monetization tools to let you make income with your community quickly." Read full review

"The fabulous support available from Circle the company AND the Circle community. Help is available via videos, blogs, email, chatbot, webinars, zoom calls, show and tell sessions, and office hours sessions." Read full review

Who Circle is Best For

Creators and educators building gated, tiered-access community hubs.

4. Thinkific

Thinkific is a membership site software geared toward course creators and educational platforms. It supports asynchronous and cohort-based learning, with content protection, certificates, and flexible monetization options.

Thinkific’s drag-and-drop course builder and AI-powered outline tools make launching structured membership programs easy for all skill levels.

Key Features

• AI course outline generator
• Cohort and self-paced course delivery
• Customizable landing pages and websites
• Subscription and one-time payment models
• Affiliate, email, and upsell tools

Pricing

• Basic: $36/month
• Start: $74/month
• Grow: $149/month
• Thinkific+: Custom pricing for large orgs

Where Thinkific Shines

Thinkific is ideal for building and monetizing educational memberships. The UI is intuitive, and it’s easy to track learner progress and engagement.

Where Thinkific Falls Short

Customization and design flexibility are limited. Platform downtime and occasional onboarding issues have been reported. Many useful add-ons are paid extras.

Customer Reviews

“I liked that you could design the access portal, the courses, and the payment methods all in 1 interface without any needs for additional products. I particularly enjoy how easy it is to set the courses up if you have your curriculum designed.” – Capterra Review

“It is very easy to get up and running with Thinkific. The course templates are a breeze to edit; users can easily see how to add and edit content, and the presentation is slick and professional.” – Capterra Review

Who Thinkific is Best For

Trainers and institutions looking to deliver structured educational content at scale.

5. Wild Apricot

Wild Apricot is a purpose-built membership site software designed for associations, clubs, and nonprofits. It streamlines tasks like membership renewals, event registration, and email outreach while offering tools like a built-in website builder and automated workflows. This platform is ideal for organizations looking to centralize operations without complex tech overhead.'

Key Features

• Built-in website builder with templates
• Automated membership subscriptions and billing
• Event registration and payment tools
• Member database and real-time updates
• Email marketing and contact segmentation

Pricing

• Pricing scales by contact list size
• Entry plans include core features like content management and events
• Advanced plans unlock custom reports, analytics, and email automations

Where Wild Apricot Shines

Its simplicity and automation make it ideal for smaller teams managing a lot. It’s particularly good for traditional member associations needing easy content delivery, payment processing, and gated access to member-only content—all in one system.

Where Wild Apricot Falls Short

Customization beyond templates is limited, and support options are basic, which may frustrate scaling teams.

Customer Reviews

‘“Excellent combination of powerful member management tools with integration into a great website templates. Absolutely fantastic even for non-IT professionals.“ - Capterra Review

““The platform is reliable and predictable and the product offers excellent functionality in its ability to have events that are visible and/or available for sign-up to members only or to the public.” - Capterra Review

Who Wild Apricot is Best For

Associations and nonprofits needing streamlined admin tools and member billing.

6. Bettermode

Bettermode is a highly customizable membership site platform for SaaS companies, subscription businesses, and enterprise support communities. It prioritizes design flexibility, automation, and integration, making it ideal for organizations that want branded private communities tied directly to their main website.

Key Features

• Branded community hubs with full control
• Gamification tools (badges, leaderboards, etc.)
• Content libraries and onboarding automation
• Web embeds and seamless website integration
• Multi-channel notifications (email + in-app)

Pricing

• Starter: Free
• Pro: $49/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Where Bettermode Shines

Bettermode stands out with its modern UI, strong customization, and workflow automation. It’s a solid fit for customer communities focused on product support, documentation, or peer learning—especially when embedded into a corporate site.

Where Bettermode Falls Short

It doesn’t support payment processors or membership subscriptions. If your model involves selling gated access, Bettermode might require external tools or not fit at all. It’s also not suited for learning-based membership programs.

Customer Reviews

"We have been looking for a community solution for quite some time till we discovered Bettermode. It is a modern platform, well designed and well thought on its integration. It has an intuitive and straightforward interface."
Read full review

"Pricing is fair and flexible. Facebook integration was somehow magical and increased user retention. Fast and reliable customer service."
Read full review

Who Bettermode is Best For

• SaaS brands or enterprise orgs creating white-labeled support or peer learning spaces.

7. Hivebrite

Hivebrite is an advanced membership site software used by alumni associations, enterprise networks, and educational institutions. Known for its backend power, it combines CRM, event participants tools, gated content, and fundraising in one admin-friendly package. It offers full branding, automation, and even campaign tracking.

Key Features

• Event and networking modules
• Fundraising campaign builder
• Member directory with geotargeting
• Private groups and social wall
• Integrated CRM + analytics

Pricing

• Plans start around $799/month (annual commitment)
• Add-on fees for white-label mobile app and paid memberships

Explore full details in our Hivebrite pricing guide or dive deeper and learn more about other Hivebrite alternatives to make the right decision.

Where Hivebrite Shines

Hivebrite offers exceptional backend control, perfect for complex teams managing alumni, funding, or multi-region communities. Its CRM + membership tools are powerful and flexible for membership management software needs.

Where Hivebrite Falls Short

The member-facing experience feels outdated. Setup can be technical, and smaller orgs might find the pricing steep. Some workflows—like importing data—require extra admin steps or developer support.

Customer Reviews

"This platform is all-encompassing. It's nice because you can just turn on and off features as you need them. Most companies make you 'add-on' additional modules which is expensive and annoying. The only add-ons that aren't included for Hivebrite are Mentoring and Campaigns, but these add-ons are cheap compared to other vendors. It's a very easy platform to use and brand the way you want it."
Read full review

"It has been an enjoyable UX/UI experience using Hivebrite. A platform that combines some of the best features of Squarespace, Mailchimp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Kickstarter. It is easy to use and easy to integrate."
Read full review

Who Hivebrite is Best For

Alumni networks, universities, and large member-based orgs needing deep admin control.

8. Podia

Podia is a lightweight, creator-friendly membership site platform for selling online courses, digital products, and community access. It’s great for users who want to combine content delivery, video content, and member chat in one easy-to-use interface without extra fees.

Key Features

• Built-in email marketing and messaging
• Sell courses, webinars, and digital files
• Create membership tiers and drip content
• Live chat and storefront design
• No transaction fees on paid plans

Pricing

• Free plan available
• Mover: $39/month
• Shaker: $89/month
• Earthquaker: $199/month

Where Podia Shines

Podia’s all-in-one simplicity makes it easy to launch gated offerings fast. Its user experience is smooth, and the built-in sales tools support upselling, bundling, and monthly cost tracking.

Where Podia Falls Short

It’s not ideal for complex orgs. There’s limited customization, no advanced analytics, and fewer integrations. Also, while good for content creators, it lacks strong community engagement tools or support for events.

Customer Reviews

“I love that Podia is simple to use but extremely powerful. If you are looking for a do it all platform for your website, course, email and more, look no further.” – Capterra Review

“Fairly easy to use and set up as a content creator. “ – Capterra Review

Who Podia is Best For

Solo creators or coaches looking for a simple, content-first platform with low overhead.

9. Kartra

Kartra is a powerful membership site software that blends content delivery, sales funnels, and payment processing in a single platform. It's aimed at entrepreneurs who want to monetize their exclusive content and manage membership subscriptions without stitching together third-party tools. Its visual funnel builder and automation features are strong for growth-driven digital businesses.

Key Features

• Multi-tier membership programs with content dripping
• Integrated checkout, upsells, and order bumps
• Behavioral automation workflows
• Drag-and-drop email + landing page builders
• Advanced custom reports and analytics

Pricing

• Starter: $99/month (up to 2,500 contacts)
• Silver: $199/month
• Gold & Platinum: For high-volume needs

Where Kartra Shines

Kartra is ideal for membership sites focused on content monetization. It’s great for creators selling gated products and digital downloads, while tracking member behavior across touchpoints.

Where Kartra Falls Short

Kartra lacks true community engagement tools when it comes to integration and its learning tools aren’t ideal for complex membership programs. The interface also has a learning curve.

Looking for Kartra’s automation power with more focus on community? Try LoftOS.

Customer Reviews

“We are very happy users of Kartra and advocates of it. The templates and constant improvement to the software inspires confidence that it is not a "dead" product.“ ” – Capterra Review

“The idea is brilliant and the features are great and the integration is awesome for a basic user and small business. You can do most everything you need right within the platform.“– Capterra Review

Who Kartra is Best For

Content-first entrepreneurs looking to automate paid membership journeys.

10. MemberPress

MemberPress is the only WordPress membership plugin on this list—turning your existing site into a fully functional membership site software. It provides powerful access rules, gated content features, and integrates smoothly with major payment processors. Ideal for content creators already running on WordPress.

Key Features

• Restrict access to pages, posts, and files
• Built-in LMS to offer courses or bundles
• Dynamic pricing pages with multiple tiers
• Track transactions, members, and renewals
• Works with Stripe, PayPal, and more

Pricing

• Basic: $179/year
• Plus: $299/year
• Pro: $399/year

Where MemberPress Shines

MemberPress offers flexibility for WordPress-based sites. Its access control, content dripping, and integrated LMS make it a good option for those already comfortable with the WP ecosystem.

Where MemberPress Falls Short

As a plugin, it lacks the unified experience of all-in-one SaaS platforms. Design depends on your theme, updates can break things, and advanced user experiences require more setup.

Want a platform with the power of MemberPress but without WordPress complexity? Try LoftOS. 

Customer Reviews

“I enjoy working with this tool because of the flexibility and comfort it provides. Would recommend trying it for yourself.“ - Capterra Review

“What I liked most was that it includes a robust and powerful payment gateway integration with Stripe and Paypal. Also, setting up the criteria and parameters of memberships is easy and intuitive.“ Capterra Review

Who MemberPress is Best For

WordPress users who want to monetize content through gated access and subscriptions.

11. GlueUp

GlueUp is a full-featured membership site software tailored for associations, nonprofits, and trade groups. Its strength lies in event workflows, CRM capabilities, and community engagement tools that help drive retention and visibility.

Key Features

• Event scheduling with integrated ticketing
• Branded mobile apps and portals
• Member directory and social feeds
• Built-in CRM and reporting dashboards
• Email campaigns and engagement scoring

Pricing

• Starts at $2,500/year
• Pricing varies by organization size and features

Where GlueUp Shines

GlueUp simplifies operations for membership-driven organizations. From managing event participants to streamlining onboarding, it supports the full lifecycle of membership programs.

Where GlueUp Falls Short

The interface can feel dated, and customization is limited to pre-set modules. Also, costs rise quickly with scale and feature needs.

Looking for a platform that scales like GlueUp but offers more flexibility at lower cost? Try LoftOS.

Customer Reviews

“Glueup also provides great client services. Their client managers are reliable, professional and responsive, and have been my irreplaceable partners in all events.“ - Capterra Review

“Excellent user support and customer service- EventBank team members supported throughout the process of setting up the event, polite and helpful. Can't wait to use it again.“ - Capterra Review

Who GlueUp is Best For

Associations and professional networks managing events and member lifecycles.

12. Vanilla Forums (Higher Logic Vanilla)

Vanilla is a scalable membership site platform centered on discussion forums, Q&A, and knowledge sharing. It’s built for enterprises aiming to create structured, branded online communities—especially those offering long-term support or peer interaction.

Key Features

• Customizable forum boards and moderation tools
• Gamification with ranks, badges, and points
• Self-service knowledge base + support integrations
• Multi-language support + enterprise-grade analytics
• Integration with CRMs and helpdesk tools

Pricing

• Starts at $24,000/year for enterprise solutions
• Fully customized per implementation

Where Vanilla Forums Shines

Vanilla shines in structured content management and high-volume community feature delivery. It’s trusted by enterprise clients and has robust admin and moderation features.

Where Vanilla Forums Falls Short

It’s priced for enterprise—and that’s who it’s built for. Visual customization is limited, and it lacks flexibility for SMBs. Admin-side UX is strong, but member-side design can feel rigid.

If you want Vanilla’s structure but with more design freedom and a lower entry point, LoftOS is worth a look.

Customer Reviews

"Vanilla has allowed us to customize almost every aspect of the community experience: content organization, moderation, additions of new spaces when the need arises, gamification—all of these components can be built out and tweaked by a team without coding experience. The ability for our developers to own and push changes to the code allows the next level of customization we needed to get our community off the ground."
Read full review

"Vanilla software is incredibly easy to use but with lots of customization available. It also features a variety of handy plugins to expand your forum capability further."
Read full review

Who Vanilla Forums is Best For

Enterprise teams building large-scale support or product community spaces.

How to Choose the Best membership site software

There are hundreds of platforms on the market—each offering a slightly different set of features. But what actually matters when you’re building a platform that supports real members, programs, and long-term growth?

Here are the seven criteria that matter most when choosing the right membership site software for your organization.

The membership management software market is expected to reach $8.26 billion by 2029. The tools you choose today will shape the way your members connect, learn, and engage tomorrow.

1. Customization and Flexibility

Not all membership site platforms give you control. Many limit what you can change—or force you into a platform that wasn’t built for your use case.

LoftOS supports full flexibility: create custom modules, define custom fields, and build content-rich landing pages without code. Admins get all the freedom to shape every interaction and build platforms that reflect how their community works.

You can even start fast with a ready-made member community software template.

2. Structured Learning and Program Delivery

For membership models focused on education or upskilling, structure is everything. LoftOS lets you build full learning paths with chapters, lessons, assessments, and trackable progress. Combine text, video content, and quizzes—all inside your platform.

It’s ideal for accelerators, training-based memberships, or university programs.

Explore more in our full feature list.

3. Event Management Capabilities

45.2% of established membership businesses bring in six figures each year. Events play a big role in building that value.

Whether you run online events, hybrid sessions, or in-person workshops your platform should help you manage the experience end-to-end.

With LoftOS, you can:

• Build custom event pages
• Enable attendee registration
• Host streams or embed content
• Run networking via speed-dating

Everything stays inside your platform. Nothing gets lost.

For ideas on integrating events into your strategy, check out our community growth guide.

4. Matchmaking and Networking

Good connections make great communities. LoftOS gives you built-in tools to match users with each other, with organizations, or with opportunities using advanced algorithms and the ability to filter by location, skills, interest and more.

Define what makes a match. Let the system do the rest.

It's not a basic community engagement tool, it's a matching engine you can adjust anytime.

Want to build a business-focused community? Start with this business networking platform template.

5. Community Features That Retain Members

Engaged members stay longer. Tools like chat, groups, and targeted notifications make a big difference.

LoftOS supports private communities with topic-based discussion areas, group chat, and moderation tools—so your members always know where to go and why to come back.

Memberships that offer a dedicated community feature see a churn rate of just 6.06%—compared to 10.46% for those that don’t.

More tips on how to get a community started, retention and member community success: From Zero to Thriving Community

6. Integration and Scalability

As your membership offering evolves, your platform should evolve with.

Look for tools that allow you to restructure your platform, update member journeys, and add new capabilities without starting over.

Whether you're scaling from dozens to thousands of users, or launching new programs across different member types, adaptability matters. LoftOS gives you the flexibility to adapt your structure, content, and community spaces without starting from scratch

7. Analytics and Admin Control

Your team needs visibility. Track engagement, monitor activity, and pull custom reports to understand what’s working—and what isn’t.

63.5% of membership businesses report their income rising year-over-year. Those with visibility into user behavior tend to grow faster.

LoftOS provides live stats across users, content, and modules. No need to export CSVs and guess.

How LoftOS Helps You Build the Best membership site software

LoftOS combines flexibility, community-first features, and intelligent tools into a single membership site software platform. From structured membership programs to speed-dating networking, chat, and content moderation—everything is designed to keep your online community active and engaged.

With built-in AI support, LoftOS helps admins streamline tasks and create smarter user experiences. You can even extend your platform with a branded mobile app (available at an additional cost) to bring your membership space directly into your users’ pockets.

Ready to take the next step? Find a template that fits your vision or book a demo with our team.