All-in-one membership website builders have emerged as transformative tools that simplify the process of creating, managing and earning an income from your knowledge. They empower individuals by letting them establish their online presence quickly, efficiently and affordably.
These comprehensive platforms offer an array of features and functionalities under a single roof, eliminating the need for coding or the use of multiple tools.
With all-in-one website builders, you can effortlessly design, customize and publish your website. These platforms typically include user-friendly drag-and-drop editors, templates and a variety of built-in functionality so all aspects of your business are in one place.
If you're ready to start a membership website then this article will provide guidance and examples for the top website builders and their best use cases.
What basic features should your builder have
- User registration and login: the ability for users to easily create accounts and log in securely.
- Content restriction: you should have the ability to restrict access to specific content to incentivise memberships and provide value to subscribers.
- Membership levels: this feature is crucial to creating distinctive member tiers and effectively monetizing your audience.
- Responsive design: ensure the platform is accessible and functional on various devices and screen sizes.
- Integrated payment processor: your builder should be able to securely process payments using gateways like Stripe and PayPal.
- Automated workflows: time saving functionality that streamlines administrative processes by sending welcome and renewal emails.
- Analytics: data tracking and reporting tools are essential to making informed decisions about your website’s performance.
- Customer support: access to reliable and responsive customer support for troubleshooting and assistance.
How to select the right all-in-one website builder
When selecting which website builder to choose, start by considering your specific use case, content, goals and audience needs.
By defining the scope and purpose of your membership site, you’ll be able to determine what functionality you’ll need and which platform has the capabilities to deliver it.
Most membership website builders are designed with specific use cases in mind and their features and functionalities reflect this specialization.
For instance, platforms like MemberPress and Wild Apricot are focused on providing solutions for online communities or associations with tools for managing membership.
While education-focused builders like Thinkific and Teachable cater to instructors, offering features tailored for online course creation and management.
The key is to identify your specific needs and objectives, then choose a builder that aligns with your intended purpose. You should also evaluate factors such as pricing, scalability, security, and reliable customer support.
Top 5 membership website builders and their best use cases
Circle is a platform for building, managing and monetising your online community. It's easy to use with a clean and intuitive interface and responsive support.
This platform is particularly useful for those seeking to foster engagement, discussions and collaboration around a shared interest, topic or brand. The cornerstone of the platform is its community facing features.
Features include:
- Community building: tools for creating and customising your online community with categories, topics, or channels.
- Member profiles: so users build a sense of identity within the platform.
- Discussions and posts: initiate and participate in discussions, ask questions, share knowledge, and post content.
- Notifications: features to keep members informed about new posts, replies, and updates.
The platform also includes online courses, live streaming, automation workflows, metrics and more.
Standout feature: is its interactive community space that provides chat rooms, private messaging, event spaces, live streams and more. An alternative to using a private Facebook group.
Use case: best suited for individuals and brands looking to build, manage and monetize their online communities.
Best for: established community centered creators.
Starting at: $49/mo with 4% transaction fee and 10GB of storage.
Kajabi is a premium priced, all-in-one website builder designed for creating and selling online courses, memberships and digital products.
Whether you're a subject matter expert, coach, or organization wanting to provide structured learning experiences, Kajabi offers a comprehensive solution with many built-in tools.
Kajabi provides tools for creating and hosting courses, managing members, marketing your content and processing payments, all within a single platform. It's a versatile choice for those seeking to deliver educational content, whether it's in the form of video courses, e-books, webinars or other digital products.
Your website is built using an editor that allows you to select and assemble content blocks from a menu.
Kajabi has a user-friendly interface but, as with most all-in-one platforms, there is limited customisation that can be done to your website's design.
Features include:
- Course creation: robust system for creating, hosting, and selling online courses which include videos, documents, quizzes, and more.
- Website builder: powerful website builder lets you create a professional looking website.
- Email marketing and automation: built-in email marketing tool lets you to send newsletters, automate email sequences and segment your email list.
Standout feature: is its built-in email marketing editor to create custom email campaigns.
Use case: best suited for coaches and creators looking to monetize their knowledge through online courses.
Best for: established coaches and creators as it is a premium priced option.
Starting at: $149/mo for 3 products, 1000 customers, unlimited landing pages.
SubHub is an all-in-one website builder that specialises in membership and turning all forms of content into income.
It's strength lies in its flexibility, making it a suitable choice for a wide range of membership use cases.
SubHub provides the necessary tools for managing subscribers, selling online courses, delivering content, processing payments and building an online community around your niche or expertise.
Its built-in store adds a significant layer of e-commerce functionality to your membership website. It's particularly useful for those who want to sell additional products beyond just membership subscriptions.
Features includes:
- Robust membership features: unlimited member levels, recurring subscriptions, content segmentation, Stripe & PayPal integration.
- Content monetization: sell membership, courses, digital downloads and store products all-in-one place.
- Committed support: a dedicated 5-star support team that always goes above and beyond client expectations.
Standout feature: multiple tools to monetize your content with memberships, courses, digital downloads and pay-per-view products.
Use case: best suited for individuals and businesses looking to monetize their content through selling memberships and stand alone products.
Best for: knowledge experts, coaches and creators with content rich websites.
Starting at: $47/mo, 500 members, unlimited products and pages.
Vonza is a platform tailored to the needs of course creators, coaches, and digital entrepreneurs. With an array of tools and features, Vonza simplifies the journey of transforming your knowledge and expertise into a thriving online business. It's all-in-one platform provides a comprehensive set of tools to create and deliver online course content.
While Vonza has an array of functionality, its website builder has limited design flexibility compared to other platforms. So its websites can have a generic appearance.
Features include:
- Course creation: easily create and host online courses which include video, quizzes, assignments and progress tracking.
- E-commerce: sell physical and digital products, memberships and courses.
- Email marketing: integrated email marketing tools and lead nurture.
Standout feature: is its powerful online form builder to create online surveys and quizzes.
Use case: best for course creation.
Best for: new coaches and creators.
Starting at: at $99/mo for 5 courses and 10 products and Stripe integration.
Kartra is an all-in-one platform with built-in, comprehensive marketing tools. Whether you're looking to build a website, manage email campaigns, sell products or create marketing funnels, Kartra gives you the ability to centralise all those functions in one place.
Many membership websites use social media to drive traffic. However, if you want to create targeted campaigns then Kartra's integrated marketing suite of tools lets you build and manage lead generation pipelines with opt-in forms and landing pages.
While Kartra's purpose is to simplify e-commerce, the platform is so comprehensive that the learning curve is long and setting up workflows can be complex. So you need to be prepared to commit time to learning the system.
Users also report that the website page builder has design limitations and can be slow to load.
Features include:
- Marketing automation: to create and manage campaigns, set up email sequences, follow-ups and segment your audience to deliver personalized content and offers.
- Affiliate management: recruit and manage affiliates to help promote your membership site.
Standout feature: is its automated, sales-driving marketing funnels.
Use case: best for marketing campaign creation and selling products.
Best for: product marketers.
Starting at: at $119/mo for up to 2,500 contacts, 20 products and 100 pages.
In summary
All-in-one membership website builders cater to a wide range of use cases, from education to content subscriptions and community building. The best choice for you depends on your specific goals and requirements, so it's essential to consider the features and integrations that align with your website's purpose.
