Members.dev vs Memberful
Members.dev and Memberful both support recurring memberships and subscription payments, but target different customers. Memberful is built for creators and publishers selling paid access to content, while Members.dev is a broader platform for managing membership programs.
A note on our methodology
Have you ever seen a comparison page where the company writing the comparison doesn't come out on top? Neither have we.
That's why we want to outline our approach openly: the purpose of this page is to explain why Members.dev is superior to Memberful. We're experts in the membership software space, but we are biased, so we'll keep it factual and let you make the decision that's right for you. For some of you, Memberful will be a better fit—we want to explain when that might be the case, and when Members.dev is a more suitable choice.
When to use Members.dev vs Memberful
Memberful is designed for creators, publishers, and communities selling paid subscriptions for newsletters, podcasts, and downloads. Members.dev is designed for organizations that need to manage membership rules, billing schedules, invoicing, entitlements, and multi-organization programs.
- You're a more traditional membership organization, such as a club, chapter, gym, association, or loyalty program
- You're a creator and need to manage more complex membership rules, such as entitlements, usage and credits
- You need enterprise-grade features, like multi-organization support, audit tracking, SSO and SAML integration
- You're a creator and want to sell paid access to content (newsletters, podcasts, downloads, and community spaces)
- You want a membership website and paywall builder included out of the box
- You want a broad set of off-the-shelf integrations (WordPress, email tools, Discord, and Zapier)
About Members.dev
Members.dev is a new membership management platform, designed from the ground up to be flexible. No two membership programs are the same, so we built Members.dev as a simple, powerful and customizable system to support associations of all sizes and types. Advantages of Members.dev include:
- Customization: From custom fields and forms on membership profiles to fully configurable membership products, and support for multiple sub-organizations, Members.dev is guaranteed to support your most complex needs.
- User experience: Members.dev's admin dashboard and customer portal are beautifully designed and intuitive. If you want to present a modern, professional, and intuitive interface to your users, Members.dev is for you.
- Integration: Membership systems are rarely isolated. You may need to link it to physical door access, discounts on your online shop, your bar/restaurant software, or a custom website or phone app. Members.dev's extensive API and webhooks make it a better choice than most other platforms, which often have limited or read-only APIs.
- Benefit tracking: Membership management becomes complex when tracking benefits. For example, tracking usage against an annual plan with 10 guest passes, or a monthly plan which entitles the member to 1 guest pass per month. Members.dev allows you to do this easily.
- Excellent support: Members.dev is a small, tightly knit company - which means you get dedicated support direct from the team behind the software. We'll get on a call, help you solve problems, and build custom solutions to assist you.
- Enterprise features: Members.dev includes customizable roles, permissions, audit tracking, SSO and SAML integration, and other features large organizations need.
About Memberful
Memberful is a membership platform designed for creators, independent publishers, and communities that want to sell subscriptions for access to content like newsletters, podcasts, and downloads. Memberful's main feature is a drop-in checkout page which can be heavily branded, and is easily integrated into your existing website, app or social media presence. Pre-built integrations can link Memberful to the rest of a creator's stack, including WordPress, email campaign tools, podcast platforms, and more.
- Branded checkout + account: Pages can be hosted on your own domain with your branding. Link to a branded checkout from your social media accounts, website, or email newsletter.
- Subscriptions + offers: Trials, coupons/discounts, one-time payments, “choose what you pay”, and group plans.
- Content delivery: Newsletter publishing, podcast access, digital downloads, and community platform integrations. Memberful includes a WordPress plugin for server-side protection, plus built-in website and landing page tools.
- Integrations: Native integrations (email, community, analytics) and Zapier for no-code connectivity.
- API & webhooks: A GraphQL API and webhooks for custom applications.
Feature comparison
| Members.dev | Memberful | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | ||
| Membership database | ||
| Custom fields | ||
| Member groups (teams, cohorts, etc.) | Only for paid group subscriptions | |
| Digital membership cards | Early Access (contact support) | Third-party integration |
| Content paywalls / website builder | Using API | Yes (website builder, paywalls) |
| Subscription & billing | ||
| Configurable membership products | ||
| Group / family memberships | ||
| One-time payments | ||
| Automatic invoicing | ||
| Payment reminders | ||
| Refunds | ||
| Benefit entitlements + usage tracking | Paywalled access only | |
| Advanced / platform | ||
| API and webhooks | ||
| Multi-organization support (multiple clubs/chapters) | ||
| Third-party integrations | Via API/webhooks | Creator-focused pre-built integrations |
| Support model | Dedicated account manager and custom onboarding for all customers | Email/chat support |
| Pricing | ||
| Base price | From $19/month | $49/month |
| Transaction fee | 3.0–1.5% | 4.9% |
| Member limits | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Which platform is better for content subscription businesses?
Memberful is the stronger fit when your primary product is paid access to digital content. It excels for individual creators who need "out of the box" tools for newsletters and podcasts to get to market quickly. It's a great choice for creators who want to focus on creating content, rather than building and maintaining a membership system.
Members.dev is the ideal fit when the membership product includes operational rules, such as session packs, expiring credits, or complex renewal schedules, that must be enforced. It's great for more established organizations, who want to offer more than just paywalled access to content or more deeply integrated membership into existing apps or websites.
How extendable are Members.dev and Memberful?
While both offer APIs, they serve different goals:
- Choose Members.dev if you need a backend that syncs with systems like a custom website/app, event ticketing, customer relationship management, and more. Our REST API is built for high-level extensibility.
- Choose Memberful if you're a creator and want to launch quickly using an existing ecosystem of plugins or no-code tools like Zapier.
Can I migrate my membership data between Memberful and Members.dev?
You can migrate your membership between Memberful and Members.dev. Timing depends a lot on the size and complexity of any other third-party integrations. Memberful and Members.dev both support exports, and under regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU, you can request copies of your data to use in a migration.
Members.dev provides white-glove onboarding to any new organization. Message support@members.dev to discuss needs and begin the process.
Want to see Members.dev in action?
Book a call to discuss your setup and get a tailored demo.
