Top 7 Best Membership Site Platforms in 2023 (Cloud-Based)

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Are you looking for the best membership site platform to sell your products?

Are you overwhelmed with so many platforms out there and struggling to decide which one to buy? Then don’t worry.

I have made your job easier by researching online and narrowed down the list to the top 7 membership site platforms that are truly the best.

Let’s look at what are all the features these top membership site platforms are going to offer you.

Top 7 best membership site platforms

#PlatformTransaction feesFree trialStarting priceExplore more
1

Podia

No transaction fee, but has payment gateway fee – 2.9% + 30¢

14 days free trial

$39/mo

Get Podia

2 KajabiNo transaction fee, but has payment gateway fee – 2.9% + 30 cents30 days free trial available $149/moGet Kajabi
3

Kartra

No

14 days free trial for $1

$99/mo

Get Kartra

4

Kyvio

– it’s a scam

5

ClickFunnels

No transaction fee

14 days free trial

$97/mo

Get ClickFunnels

6

WildApricot

No transaction fee

Free plan is available

$40/mo

Get WildApricot

7BuilderAllNoFree plan is available$19.90Get BuilderAll

Podia

Podia

Podia is one of the best membership site platforms that you can use to sell your digital products, memberships, and courses.

Podia comes with some powerful tools built right inside it like email marketing with drip and one-off campaigns, storefront, and messaging.

Using its visual editor you can create beautiful landing pages, membership pages, blog pages and provide premium content for your members to earn recurring income.

Podia interface

Podia’s user interface is really good. There are pre-made templates available to create your sales pages, storefront, service pages and much more. You can even build them from scratch.

I really liked the customization options. You can add your own logo and customize the pages to match your brand. They have a WYSIWYG page builder, that comes all the essential elements, except for some advanced ones.

Similar to most of the checkout platforms Podia also offers 1-click upsells, embedded checkouts and pre-launch products to boost the sales.

Podia memberships

For creating the membership sites Podia is the best platform you can consider.

Creating the memberships

Podia allows you to create paid membership plans where you can offer coupons for your customers. While creating the paid plans you need to authenticate them with Stripe. To explore more on this you can refer to my Podia review.

You can leverage Podia’s built-in email marketing to keep your customers warmed up with its drip campaigns and one-off newsletters.

Podia integrates with Zapier, stripe, PayPal, ActiveCampaign, Drip, Google Analytics, HotJar, ThriveCart, Google Ads, and many more.

Podia comes with an affiliate platform where you can let other affiliates promote your products and offer them commissions.

Podia is a premium platform that comes with 2 plans. Mover costs $39/mo and Shaker plan costs $79/mo.

If you want features like memberships, affiliate marketing, third party code, and embedded checkouts you must go with Shaker plan.

There is a 14 days free trial available with access to all features.

For this, you don’t need any credit card. You can also avail Podia discount if you purchase an annual plan.

Pros

  • Affordable pricing
  • Easy to use dashboard
  • Excellent user interface

Cons

  • There is no free plan available
  • Lacks customization options
  • Membership feature is available only with the higher plan

Read other Podia related posts:
Podia vs Kartra: In-Depth Comparison With Review
Kajabi vs Podia: 8 Aspects Compared In Detail
Teachable vs Podia: 10 Aspects Compared
Cheap Podia Alternatives To Sell Digital Products
Podia vs Thinkific: 10 Aspects Compared In-Depth

Kajabi

Kajabi

Kajabi (review) is a premium all in a one-course platform that provides web hosting, membership sites, setting up a blog, email marketing, creating landing pages, pipelines, and much more.

With Kajabi you can create beautiful sales and product pages by making use of its professional templates and themes.

As of writing this post, Kajabi had 12 free themes. You can harness the power of its visual builder to customize your landing pages.

Kajabi third party integrations

Kajabi has a ton of features and it may be quite hard to navigate and locate the features. Thankfully, they have their search assistant that comes handy and helps you easily find things. Similar to BuilderAll (review) and Kyvio, Kajabi comes with a good number of features. It’s an all-in-one platform

The best thing is Kajabi has its own marketplace and has some special features like course-specific automation and even comes with communities, assignments, assessments(quizzes and surveys) for boosting the engagement.

Kajabi’s marketing automation

With Kajabi’s marketing automation, you can send automated followup sequences, cart abandonment emails, and tag your subscribers based on their behavior.

Kajabi embeddable forms

When it comes to pricing, Kajabi costs high. The basic plan costs $149/mo but is limited to 3 products, 3 pipelines, and 1,000 active members. The growth plan costs $199/mo and is limited to 15 products, 15 pipelines, and 10,000 active members. The pro plan costs $399/mo and is limited to 15 products, 15 pipelines, and 100,000 active members.

If you think Kajabi is not affordable for you, consider looking at its alternatives.

Kajabi also provides 14 days free trial. There are no transaction fees with Kajabi but you need to pay the Stripe processing fee of 2.9% + 30 cents on each transaction.

Pros:

  • A free trial is available
  • No transaction fees
  • Comes with the search assistant to ease the searching process

Cons:

  • Costs high
  • With so many features, it is quite confusing for beginners

Read other Kajabi related posts:
Kajabi vs ClickFunnels: Let’s Talk Reality
Kajabi vs Ruzuku: A Complete User-Centric Comparison
LearnWorlds vs Kajabi: Which is Best for Course Creators?
Teachable vs. Kajabi: Literally A No-Brainer Choice
Kajabi vs Thinkific: Side-by-Side Comparison

Kartra

Kartra

Kartra is an all in one marketing platform that comes with email marketing, web hosting, list building, checkouts, shopping cart, webinars, and videos.

Kartra comes with an easy to use drag and drop builder with dozens of elements. You can make use of its pre-made templates to design your sales pages, blog pages, thank you pages, upsell pages, and squeeze pages or else you can even design from scratch.

Creating bump offers with Kartra

Kartra’s funnel builder and campaigns come with these features:

  1. Plug-and-play campaigns
  2. IFs and THENs automation
  3. YES and NO booleans
  4. Lead tagging
  5. Export on demand
  6. Import campaigns from other Kartra members

When it comes to creating membership sites, Kartra excels over other platforms that we mentioned above.

Pricing and payment options available

Its drag and drop membership builder gives you the WYSIWYG feel and you can create custom-branded highly converting membership sites with its conversion tested templates.

All the templates are mobile-optimized to work with tablets or phones, and you can add your own logo, branding, and styling to make them attractive.

Affiliates commissions section

Kartra’s membership tool is fully feature-rich and comes with:

  • Multiple membership tiers
  • Dripping overtime vs. all-in access
  • Welcome feature
  • Queue up content
  • Comment moderation and moderating the community
  • Member status
  • Individual progression bar
  • Mass management
  • Single sign-on to everything
  • 1- click checkouts, upsells, and downsells

Kartra’s analytics and tracking reports are also very easy to digest. You can filter the reports as you need: by date, by membership, by access level, and also you can analyze the subscription and unsubscription rates, active members, and many more. None of the platforms we mentioned here will give the detailed reports as Kartra provides.

Kartra has good integrations with various online platforms like:

  1. Payment gateways like Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal, and Braintree.
  2. Email gateways like SendGrid, MailGun, Elastic Mail and Postmark.
  3. SMS gateways like Twilio, Plivo, and Nexmo.
  4. Membership platforms like Kajabi, aMember, Digital Access Pass, Optimize Press, S2 Member, and Wishlist.
  5. Also integrates with zapier and Google calendar
  6. You can also custom code the necessary integrations with API, IPN and Custom App

Kartra ‘s affiliate management excels over Podia or Kajabi and it comes with some of the great features like:

  1. Flexible commissions
  2. Payment milestones
  3. Review and approve affiliates
  4. PayPal adaptive payments
  5. Custom landing pages for your affiliates
  6. Subscribe and tag your affiliates
  7. Custom affiliate portal
  8. Multiple commission tiers
  9. Track affiliate performance and earnings per click

Compared to Kajabi, Kartra costs less. Its starter plan cost $99/mo, silver plan costs $199/mo, gold costs $299/mo, and platinum costs $399/mo. You can use its trial to get started.

Pros:

  • Advanced split testing
  • Excellent security
  • Has multiple commission tiers

Cons:

  • Costs more

Read other Kartra related posts:
Kartra vs ClickFunnels: 13 Differences and 5 Similarities

osts.

It’s a business that’s doing unethical practices.

I’ve been promoting Kyvio 1.0. When they released Kyvio 2.0, all of a sudden they canceled my partner account without any notification.

When I outreached to email, no replies. They operate under multiple brands, with multiple products of different versions and it’s tough to find their right email.

Kyvio email

If I need to reach out to the person who manages partnerships, I need to install Skype and message him. He’ll not properly reply to your messages as well.

Kyvio Skype Dragan

They cancel your account without any email, when asked to send me proof that they sent the email, they evade replies.

This feels like a JVZoo product.

Kyvio affiliates

See this ugly URL. They keep on changing affiliate dashboard URLs!

When I ask them the proof if they sent me an email when they switched the program, they evade replies.

Kyvio user review

Oh, it seems they also abandoned their original lifetime deal buyers.

Some alternatives:

  • Systeme – Systeme is the software we recommend for most people looking for a free alternative to Kyvio. Although it’s not as popular as ClickFunnels, it’s slowly catching up.
  • ClickFunnels – They are revamping the whole platform, and it’ll be lit for sure. One feature they come with is an advanced marketing automation builder.
  • Kartra – It comes with almost all featured Kyvio comes with. Kartra offers some unique features like dynamic OTOs, behavioral marketing, better scarcity marketing systems, and others. It comes with a cart abandonment feature that helps you retarget the people for more conversions.

If you want to explore all the ClickFunnels alternatives, do refer to this blog post.

ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels is an online sales funnel that you can use to create highly converting sales pages, landing pages, webinar pages, and membership sites.

ClickFunnels comes with a very intuitive drag and drop editor with responsive design but the interface is not as flexible as the Podia or Kyvio.

ClickFunnels - Funnel builder

For creating membership sites, ClickFunnels gives special elements like membership elements and shipping form elements for product orders.

ClickFunnels comes with:

  • Easy to use drag and drop editor [Etison editor]
  • Smart shopping cart
  • Facebook and email marketing automation
  • Follow up funnels
  • Smart affiliate programs
  • Ability to share the funnels
  • Ability to connect with multiple domains
ClickFunnels order form

The best part of ClickFunnels is its funnel blueprints. There are 22+ different types of conversion-optimized funnel templates that you can use to build your sales funnel.

Some of the funnel templates included are:

  1. Webinar funnel
  2. Product launch funnel
  3. 2-step tripwire funnel
  4. Squeeze page funnel
  5. Video sales letter funnel
  6. Many more

Some of the downsides of ClickFunnels are:

  • High monthly pricing
  • A limited number of funnels
  • Limited page views or visitor support

ClickFunnels integrates with Zapier, ZenDirect, Shopify, GoToWebinar, Kajabi, ClickBank, PayPal, Stripe, Apple/Android Pay, Authorize.net, EasyPayDirect, Keap, NMI, Recurly, OntraPort, and many more.

ClickFunnels lowest plan costs $97/mo with 20 funnels, 100 pages, and 3 payment gateways. While the platinum plan costs $297/mo with unlimited pages and funnels and supports all the 9 payment gateways. If you need a cheaper platform, you can consider some of the ClickFunnels alternatives.

ClickFunnels also gives 14 days free trial with access to all the features. You just need a credit card to get started with a free trial.

Pros:

  • Ability to share the funnels
  • All-in-one platform
  • Comes with a free trial

Cons:

  • Costs high
  • Limitations on the page views
  • Poor support

Read other ClickFunnels related posts:
Ontraport vs ClickFunnels: An Unbiased Review 
Builderall vs ClickFunnels – Let’s Get Real (No Fluff!)
SamCart vs ClickFunnels: 10 Crucial Differences
Convertri vs. ClickFunnels – Which is Best for Funnels? (Let’s Talk Reality!)

WildApricot

WildApricot

WildApricot is one of the best membership management software used by various organizations, service providers, clubs, and agencies.

WildApricot events

WildApricot comes with features like:

  1. Online database: With this, you can automatically update, edit, keep the backup, and share the databases. You can also grant permission to members so that they can access their data at any time.
  2. Website builder: With its drag and drop builder, you can easily create beautiful websites within a few minutes. WildApricot provides built-in templates that are highly professional and mobile responsive. As of writing this post, there are 12+ templates for you to choose from.
  3. Online and offline payment: WildApricot supports PayPal and credit card payments. The software automatically charges the credit cards, sends invoices, generates financial reports, supports online donations, and updates member’s profiles.
  4. Event management: WildApricot with its simple registration process makes it super easy for members to attend your online events or conferences. It also allows you to automatically send reminders, record the payments, and manage the events with a calendar.
  5. Email campaigns: With WildApricot’s email system, you can automate and personalize the emails, send email reminders, track opening rate and clicks.
  6. Mobile app: You can optimize your site to be mobile-friendly. You can manage the tasks like updating the members data, check the registration and event attendees on the go with your smartphone. The members can also signup easily using their smartphones.

WildApricot integrates with WordPress and supports webhooks integration to connect with external services, you can also integrate with your favorite apps using API.

WildApricot dashboard

Pricing: There is a free plan available for up to 50 contacts, personal plan costs $40/mo for 100 contacts, group plan costs $50/mo for 250 contacts, and the network plan costs $290/mo for up to 5,000 contacts.

All the plans come with free SSL certificates, free unlimited support, unlimited admins, and free Amazon hosting.

There are no set up fees or transaction fees associated with WildApricot but there is a payment gateway charge. WildApricot provides a 30 days free trial for you to get started.

Pros:

  • No setup or transaction fees
  • Has a free plan
  • Excellent support
  • Provides free SSL certificates

Cons:

  • Its blogging platform is outdated
  • Site structure still needs improvement

BuilderAll

BuilderAll

BuilderAll is an all-in-one digital marketing platform that you can use to grow your online business.

It comes with a suite of tools that you need to run your business like the web hosting, sales funnel and the email autoresponder. So there is no need to use other external platforms.

BuilderAll comes with a handful of features like:

  • Cheetah funnel builder
  • Unlimited membership areas
  • Cheetah website builder
  • Mobile protection
  • Blogging app
  • Webinar app and webinar builder
  • Super checkout for affiliate sales
  • Bump offers, upsells and downsells
  • Countdown, evergreen, and email scarcity timers
  • A/B split testing
  • Page loading accelerators
  • Smart popups
  • Website sharing and funnel sharing
  • On-page SEO optimization
  • SSL certificate
  • Drag and drop email marketing automation
  • Superfast CDN servers
  • Website daily backups
  • DDOS attack prevention
  • CRM
  • SMS messaging
  • Chatbot messenger and website bot
  • WordPress 3 click integration
  • Facebook live streaming
  • YouTube live streaming
  • Drag and drop e-learning/educational platform
  • Directory builder
  • Va access
  • Responsive editor
  • Click maps

To be honest, the BuilderAll interface looks outdated and the UI is not good. You may need to bear with its slow loading time while designing your pages.

BuilderAll funnels

You can create beautiful websites, landing pages, and funnels with its drag and drop editor. BuilderAll provides customized templates for you to select and you can customize them as per your needs with your own branding.

Similar to Podia, BuilderAll also has an email marketing platform built right inside the canvas funnel builder where you can create your own email list and customize your email campaigns with a highly optimized follow-up email sequence. So, there is no need to use an external email autoresponder.

BuilderAll comes with both free and premium plans. The builder plan costs $19.90 with 3 domains and 100 leads, marketer plan costs $29.90 with 5 domains and 5000 leads. The highest plan is premium that costs $69.90 with 15 domains, unlimited leads and comes with all the tools and features.

The Downside with this platform is that you can’t use it on the existing site, you need to rebuild it using the BuilderAll platform.

Pros:

  • Comes with a free plan
  • Affordable pricing
  • No need of external autoresponders

Cons:

  • You can’t use this on existing site
  • Interface looks quite outdated
  • Slow loading times

Membership WordPress plugins

If you think these cloud apps cost high, you can make use of WordPress membership plugins that come at an affordable price.

Most of these plugins come with almost all the features that are included in the cloud apps. If you want to save money, these membership plugins are the best way to go as they come at a one-time fee.

Memberpress – This is an all-in-one membership plugin that comes with third party integrations, customizable checkouts, community forms, coupons, compatibility with themes, affiliate programs, and payment gateway integrations.

The plan starts at $249 for 1 site usage and supports unlimited content and memberships. If you want to use it on more than 1 site you need to go with higher plans.

Plus plan costs $249 for 2 sites and the pro plan costs $349 for 5 sites.

Memberful – This is an affordable membership plugin that comes with transactional and dunning emails, upgrades or downgrades, file downloads, analytics, and conversion tracking. It has a free plan with a 10% transaction fee. The pro plan costs $25/mo with a 4.9% transactional fee.

Conclusion

Podia is the best membership site platform that comes at a highly affordable price. But this feature is available only in its higher plan. BuilderAll is a freemium platform that comes with a powerful suite of tools. So there is no need to use external platforms.

If you are choosing any other platforms, make sure you go through their features in-depth and decide for yourself.

I hope this article has helped you in finding the best membership site for your needs.

Akshay HallurAbout me

Hi, I’m Akshay Hallur. The founder of this blog BloggingX and many other online ventures.

I’m a professional full-time blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I’m here to help bloggers like you to create an outstanding blog and earn money from it.

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