Guides / Comparisons

The 8 Best Membership Site Builders in 2026, Compared

Eight membership site builders compared: Mythex, Memberstack, Circle, Kajabi, Mighty Networks, Skool, MemberPress and Ghost, with October 2026 prices.

Mythex Team · Updated 2026-10-27 · 11 min read

The best membership site builder depends on what members are paying for. For a community, pick Circle, Skool or Mighty Networks. For courses with built-in marketing, Kajabi. For paid newsletters and articles, Ghost. For a WordPress site, MemberPress, and for adding member logins and payments to a Webflow site, Memberstack. If members get something those platforms don't offer, such as a custom tool, a directory or bookings, build it with an AI app builder such as Mythex.

Below is a quick table, then a section on each tool: what it is, where it's strong, where it falls short, what it costs as of October 2026, and who should pick it.

The quick comparison

Prices change often, and several vendors show annual prices by default. Transaction fees are on top of payment processor fees. Check each pricing page before you buy.

Three costs to compare, not one

Membership platforms charge in three ways, and the headline price is often the smallest of them once you have members:

• The plan. A monthly or yearly fee, sometimes tied to member or contact counts.
• A platform fee on your revenue. A percentage the platform takes from each payment, usually lower on higher plans.
• Payment processing. Stripe, PayPal or the platform's own payments charge per transaction everywhere.

A quick example of why this matters: on a plan with a 4% platform fee, $5,000 a month of member revenue costs $200 a month in fees before processing. On a plan with 0%, it costs nothing extra. Run your own numbers at your expected revenue in a year, not today.

If you're still planning the membership itself, our guide to how to build a membership site covers the offer, tiers and gated content.

1. Mythex: best for a custom membership app with features platforms don't have

What it is. Mythex (that's us) is an AI app builder made in Dubai, UAE. You describe the membership site in chat, in English, Arabic or more than 60 other languages, and it writes the code (React, TypeScript and Tailwind by default), runs a live preview in a private cloud workspace with a code editor, file tree and terminal, adds a Postgres database and file storage for articles, videos and downloads, and publishes it to a URL or your own domain.

What it's good at. Memberships where the thing members get is a piece of software, not just content: a member directory, a booking system for classes, a tool, a dashboard of their data, a job board. You describe the public pages, the members-only area and the admin screens, and refine them in chat. Member sign-up and login are built by the agent with your database or an auth provider you choose (how), and you can ask for members-only content to be returned from the server only to members with an active subscription. Payments use your own Stripe account: you add your keys as project secrets and the agent builds Stripe Checkout. Mythex takes no percentage of your revenue; Stripe charges its own fees. It handles Arabic and right-to-left sites well, including bilingual ones. On Pro it can also wrap the site as Android and iPhone apps with Capacitor.

Limits. Mythex has no built-in membership, subscription billing or login product. Its docs cover Stripe Checkout; for recurring memberships you ask the agent to set up Stripe subscriptions and test them in Stripe's test mode before launch, including what happens when a payment fails or a member cancels. Email to members goes through a provider you choose, such as Resend or SendGrid (how). There's no community feed, course player or email marketing out of the box; you build what you need. Getting access control right is your job, so test it with a non-paying account before you launch.

Pricing as of October 2026. Free gives 5 credits a day (up to 30 a month) and publishes up to 3 apps with a small "Built with Mythex" badge, which is enough to build and test. Pro is $25/month or $250/year and adds custom domains, code editing, export, GitHub sync, mobile builds and no badge. Business starts at $50/month and Enterprise at $680/month. See pricing.

Who should pick it. Creators and businesses whose membership includes custom features, who want no revenue share and want to own the code. If you just need courses and a community feed, a platform below will be faster. Start from the subscription news site, course storefront or garden community site template.

2. Memberstack: best for member logins and payments on a Webflow site

What it is. Memberstack is a no-code membership layer that adds authentication, Stripe payments and gated content to sites, mainly Webflow sites.

What it's good at. If your marketing site is already in Webflow, Memberstack adds sign-up, login, social logins, paid plans and content gating without rebuilding the site. All plans list Stripe payments, branded emails and email campaigns as of October 2026.

Limits. Plans cap members (1,000 on Basic, 5,000 on Professional) and add a transaction fee that falls as you move up: 4% on Basic, 2% on Professional, 0.9% on Business and 0% on Established. Stripe's fees are on top. You're building on two platforms, Webflow and Memberstack.

Pricing as of October 2026. Basic $29/month ($25 billed yearly), Professional $49 ($39), Business $99 ($79) and Established $499 ($399). See Memberstack pricing.

Who should pick it. Webflow site owners who want to add paid memberships. More in Webflow alternatives.

3. Circle: best for communities with courses, events and paid tiers

What it is. Circle is a community platform with discussions, courses, events, payments and paid tiers in one place.

What it's good at. A polished, well-organized community where members can post, take courses and join events. Every plan includes unlimited members, courses and payments as of October 2026, and Circle Plus adds custom-branded iOS and Android apps.

Limits. Plans cap admins (3 on Professional, 5 on Business) and take a transaction fee: 2% on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, 0.5% on Circle Plus. The listed prices are based on annual billing. A branded app is only on the custom-priced Circle Plus plan.

Pricing as of October 2026. Billed annually: Professional $89/month, Business $199/month, Scale $419/month, and Circle Plus on request. Circle lists a 14-day free trial. See Circle pricing.

Who should pick it. Creators and brands whose membership is mainly a community, with courses and events alongside.

4. Kajabi: best for courses and marketing in one platform

What it is. Kajabi is a platform for selling courses, coaching, communities and digital products, with a website, funnels, landing pages and email marketing built in.

What it's good at. Everything a course business needs in one bill: products, a site, checkout, email, funnels and a community. Every plan includes unlimited landing pages and marketing emails, and Pro lists a branded mobile app.

Limits. It's one of the more expensive options, and plans cap products and contacts (5 products and 2,500 contacts on Basic as of October 2026). Kajabi Payments fees start at 2.9% + $0.30 in the US, and a third-party processor adds a platform fee instead.

Pricing as of October 2026. Basic $179/month ($143 billed yearly), Growth $249 ($199) and Pro $499 ($399). Kajabi lists a 30-day money-back guarantee. See Kajabi pricing.

Who should pick it. Course creators who want one platform for products and marketing and are ready for the price.

5. Mighty Networks: best for communities with courses and a path to a branded app

What it is. Mighty Networks is a community platform with courses, events, AI features and automations, and custom-branded apps on its top tier.

What it's good at. Communities that combine discussion, courses and live events, with an AI co-host and, from Scale, APIs and MCP access. Mighty Pro offers custom-branded apps for creators who want their own app in the stores.

Limits. Transaction fees run from 2% on Launch down to 0.5% on Growth and Mighty Pro. As of October 2026, the page listed an annual price only for Launch. Branded apps are on the quote-only Mighty Pro.

Pricing as of October 2026. Launch $79/month ($950/year), Scale $179/month, Growth $354/month, and Mighty Pro by quote. See Mighty Networks pricing.

Who should pick it. Community-led creators who may want their own branded app later.

6. Skool: best for a simple community with courses and gamification

What it is. Skool combines a community feed, courses, live calls and gamification (points and levels) in a deliberately simple product.

What it's good at. Simplicity. Both plans include unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls, a custom URL and an affiliate program as of October 2026. There's very little to set up before you can invite members.

Limits. Very little customization; every Skool community looks like Skool. The transaction fee on Hobby is 10%, which is high once you have real revenue. Pro drops it to 2.9%.

Pricing as of October 2026. Hobby $9/month with a 10% transaction fee, and Pro $99/month with 2.9%. Skool says yearly billing gives two months free. See Skool pricing.

Who should pick it. Creators who want a community with courses running today and don't care about custom design.

7. MemberPress: best for memberships on a WordPress site

What it is. MemberPress is a WordPress membership plugin. You install it on a WordPress site you host, and it adds memberships, subscriptions, courses and content protection rules.

What it's good at. It builds on WordPress, so you keep the huge ecosystem of themes and plugins, and you control the hosting. Unlimited members, memberships and courses on every plan, and 0% transaction fees on Growth and Scale as of October 2026. Higher plans add community forums, coaching tools, affiliates and an API.

Limits. You run WordPress: hosting, updates, security and backups are yours. Launch charges a 4.9% transaction fee and supports Stripe only. The prices shown are introductory, and MemberPress says renewals are at full price.

Pricing as of October 2026. Billed yearly, introductory: Launch $199.50 (normally $399), Growth $349.50 (normally $699) and Scale $499.50 (normally $999). See MemberPress pricing.

Who should pick it. WordPress site owners who want memberships on the site they already have. More in WordPress alternatives.

8. Ghost: best for paid newsletters and publications

What it is. Ghost is a publishing platform for websites, newsletters and paid subscriptions. It's open-source, and Ghost(Pro) is the hosted service.

What it's good at. Writers and publishers who sell subscriptions to articles and newsletters. As of October 2026, paid-subscription plans take 0% transaction fees from Ghost (processor fees still apply), and every plan includes a website and email newsletter.

Limits. The Starter plan doesn't include paid subscriptions; you need Publisher or above. Plans cap staff users and members, and the page we read listed yearly prices only. It's built for publishing, not courses or community features.

Pricing as of October 2026. Billed yearly: Starter $18/month (no paid subscriptions), Publisher $29/month, Business $199/month, and Custom on request. See Ghost pricing.

Who should pick it. Writers and publications whose membership is mainly paid content. Compare it with Mailchimp vs Kit if email is the main channel.

Before you launch: a checklist for any membership site

Whichever tool you choose, the same handful of things decide whether members stay. Check each one with a test account before you invite real people:

1. Sign-up to first value. A new member should reach the thing they paid for within a minute of paying. If they land on an empty dashboard, add a welcome page that points to the best content first.
2. Access rules. Sign in as a non-paying user and try to open members-only pages, downloads and videos directly by URL. On a platform this is handled for you; on a custom app it's the most important thing to test.
3. Failed payments and cancellations. Decide what happens when a card fails or a member cancels: do they keep access until the end of the period, and do they get an email? Test it in your payment provider's test mode.
4. Emails. Welcome, receipt, password reset and renewal reminders should all arrive and come from your own domain where possible.
5. Phone. Most members will open the site on a phone. Check reading, video and checkout there, not just on a laptop.
6. Leaving. Make cancelling easy to find. A member who can leave cleanly is more likely to come back than one who had to email support.

None of this depends on the platform, and all of it matters more than the feature list.

How we compared

This is a comparison of publicly stated features and pricing, not a hands-on benchmark. In October 2026 we read each vendor's own pricing page and compared the tools on:

• What members get — content, courses, community, events, or custom features
• Fees — the plan price, the platform's percentage of revenue, and processor fees
• Limits — members, contacts, admins and products per plan
• Hosting and ownership — hosted platform, WordPress plugin, or code you own
• Mobile — web only, a branded app, or a wrapped web app

We didn't run test memberships or time the setup. Where a vendor's page was unclear, such as monthly prices that weren't listed, we said so rather than guessing. Mythex is our product; we listed it first because this is our site, and we've described its limits as plainly as anyone else's.

Which one should you choose?

Pick by what members pay for:

• A community. Skool for simplicity, Circle for polish, Mighty Networks if you want a branded app later.
• Courses with marketing built in. Kajabi.
• Paid articles or a newsletter. Ghost.
• Memberships on a WordPress site you already have. MemberPress.
• Paid access on a Webflow site. Memberstack.
• Custom features, such as a directory, bookings or a tool, with no revenue share and code you own. Mythex.
• A membership in Arabic or with a right-to-left layout. Mythex.

Before you commit, price a year ahead: take the revenue you expect, apply each platform's fee, add the plan price and the processor's fees, and compare the totals. Then launch with one plan, not three; tiers can wait until members ask for them.

Building a membership site with Mythex

If Mythex fits, start from a template and change it in chat. The subscription news site, course storefront and course landing page templates are good starting points, and there are about 200 more at /templates. There are industry pages too, such as a barbershop membership site builder. The step-by-step process, including an example prompt, is in how to build a membership site, and how to build a gym membership app covers a common case. For payment providers, see Stripe vs Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy.