If you want to make money online – and I mean serious money – you need to get away from social media.
Just look at YouTube. According to research by Hootsuite, here’s how much you can expect to make through YouTube’s pay-per-view program:
| YouTube revenue by ad views | Predicted revenue |
| 10,000 views | $100-300 |
| 100,000 views | $1,000-3,000 |
| 500,000 views | $5,000-15,000 |
| 1,000,000 views | $10,000-30,000 |
So even if an ad appears every time your videos are played (which it probably won’t), you’ll still be looking for 500,000+ monthly views to make a comfortable living.
The solution? A subscription platform for online content creators. 🚀
In recent years, thousands of top creators have started building members-only communities on these platforms. And the best of the best are taking home a jaw-dropping $150,000 every month. 🤯
Now, I’m not saying this article will make you a millionaire. That’s on you, my friend! But it should help you make a call on which subscription platform is best for your content creation business.
Over the next few minutes, I’ll introduce you to those seven tools, tell you who’s using them, and walk you through their pricing options:
Let’s go!
1. Patreon – best for giving fans access to exclusive content
Patreon is by far the most well-known tool on this list. In fact, when researching this article, I learned that it was once the answer to the New York Times crossword clue: “subscription platform for online content creators”. And if that doesn’t mean you’re a big deal, I don’t know what does!
Using their platform, you can create multiple membership options for your fans – perfect for giving them access to exclusive content that isn’t available on your other channels.
What creators say about it
Patreon is used by top creators like Babish Culinary Universe and If Books Could Kill. Here’s what video creator and cosplayer, Rachel Maksy, has to say about it:
“My Patreon community has given me the freedom to branch out, try new things, and not feel ‘tied down’ to one type of content.”
Patreon’s pricing options
Patreon doesn’t charge creators a monthly fee. Instead, they take a flat fee of your earnings. Here are your two options:
- Pro, 8% – offer monthly and annual subscription models and get member analytics to track your income over time
- Premium, 12% – get a dedicated partner manager and offer merch for membership to further grow your creative business
2. Memberful – best for adding a members-only option for readers or listeners
Memberful is a subscription platform that can plug directly into your website. This makes it a great choice for adding a members-only option to an existing venture – like a newsletter or podcast.
What creators say about it
Memberful is used by creators like foodie, Molly Baz, and TWiT (This Week in Tech) to offer club memberships to their fans. Here’s what Christopher Jobson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief at Colossal, says about the platform:
“Faced with a sea-change in online publishing and advertising, we turned to Memberful for help with engaging our audience more directly. Little did we know that it would soon form the cornerstone of our revenue in a few short months. I honestly wish we had heard about Memberful years ago.”
Memberful’s pricing options
Memberful keeps things simple with one pricing plan. It costs $49/month plus a 4.9% transaction fee, and you can try it for free for as long as you like. You only get charged when you go live and start accepting payments.
3. Podia – best for selling coaching sessions
Podia is a subscription platform designed to centralize the management of your website, email marketing, and products.
What creators say about it
Podia is used by a wide variety of creators, from feminist coach, Becky Mollenkamp, to the founder of Folyo, Robert Williams. Here’s what personal finance educator, Dana Miranda, says about Podia:
“I am using the coaching feature because I’ll be scheduling consulting calls and virtual training with people. And I plan to do webinars with members, so I’m kind of using the gamut. Podia gives me the flexibility to create what I want. I love it that way.”
Podia’s pricing options
With a website builder, blog, email marketing, and even online courses, Podia is more feature-packed than some of the other options on this list. And its pricing reflects that.
Here are your four base options:
- Free, $0/month, 10% fees – build a full website and blog and start drafting your courses or webinars
- Starter, $9/month, 8% fees – add a custom domain and chat support
- Mover, $39/month, 5% fees – launch unlimited courses and webinars
- Shaker, $89/month, no transaction fees – add affiliates to your plan
Email marketing is available on any of these plans, but it comes as an optional add-on depending on the size of your audience. Your first 100 subscribers are free, with the price going up as you grow your list.
4. Kajabi – best for creative entrepreneurs selling courses
Kajabi is a subscription platform for online content creators who want to sell courses and coaching sessions to their followers. So if you’ve got some wisdom to share with the world, this could be the one for you!
What creators say about it
Kajabi is used by creators like Natalie Ellis, founder of Bossbabe, and Nicole Burke, who offers gardening courses with Gardenary. Here’s what Mindset and Coach Trainer, Shiny Burcu Unsal, says about it:
“Even with less than 10,000 followers on Instagram, I was able to build a six-figure business inside Kajabi.”
Kajabi’s pricing options
Kajabi offers three pricing plans, all of which are based on a flat monthly fee with no transaction fees. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Basic, $149/month – three products, three funnels, and 10,000 contacts
- Growth, $199/month – 15 products, 15 funnels, and 25,000 contacts
- Pro, $399/month – 100 products, 100 funnels, and 100,000 contacts
5. Sellfy – best for selling products
Sellfy is an ecommerce platform that specializes in selling products. So if you’re interested in making passive income by selling subscriptions for digital downloads, Sellfy could be worth a look.
What creators say about it
Sellfy is used by everyone from underwater photographer, Tobias Friedrich, to natural hair advocate, EfikZara. Here’s what Matthew Coombs, designer of the card game, Runes of Ede, says about it:
“As a brand new business owner who just opened an LLC, I really wanted a platform that allowed me to click and select options that I wanted. So, when I saw the way that Sellfy worked, I realized it was perfect for me because I’m not a website builder or a programmer. Sellfy made it so I could make a decent-looking storefront for the game.”
What’s an LLC? I hear you ask. Find out in my roundup of business terms for entrepreneurial creators.
Sellfy’s pricing options
Sellfy offers three pricing plans with flat monthly costs and no transaction fees:
- Starter, $29/month – up to $10,000 in sales and 2,000 email marketing credits
- Business, $49/month – up to $50,000 in sales and 10,000 email marketing credits
- Premium, $99/month – up to $200,000 in sales and 50,000 email marketing credits
6. Thinkific – best for building a website to sell courses
Thinkific is another subscription platform that’s geared towards selling online courses. You can create courses using their drag-and-drop builder, set your prices, and foster communities of fellow learners – all in one place.
What creators say about it
Thinkific is used by New Scientist Academy, Entrepreneurs on Fire, and many more content creation businesses. Here’s what ice hockey coach, Jason Yee, says about it:
“When I started, there was no one really leveraging technology for coaching at the time. I knew teaching online would offer a distinct advantage for both my business, and my students … and I love how courses enable me to do what I love all day long!”
Thinkific’s pricing options
Thinkific offers four pricing plans. All of these feature flat monthly costs with no transaction fees. Here’s a quick overview:
- Free – one course and one community with two spaces
- Basic, $42/month – unlimited courses, one community with five spaces, and a custom domain
- Start, $84/month – one community with 10 spaces, plus membership and payment plans
- Grow, $169/month – three communities with 20 spaces per community, plus custom branding
7. Circle – best for building a community
Circle is a subscription platform for online content creators who want to build and connect with their community. You can set up discussions, run live events, offer courses, or just chat – creating a comfortable space that makes members feel welcome.
What creators say about it
Circle is used and loved by creators like Anna Tyrie, Founder of English Like A Native, and Cally Booker, Founder of Weaving Space. Here’s what Tom Ross, Founder of Learn.Community, says about it:
“I teach community because it’s the thing I care about the most. I’m definitely not a tech CEO—I’m very untechnical—which is why I love Circle, because it’s so easy to use. But I’m all about the people, so any entrepreneurial venture I’ve done, it’s all been predicated on bringing people together.”
Circle’s pricing options
Circle offers a dizzying five pricing options with flat monthly costs and no transaction fees. Here’s a simplified breakdown:
- Basic, $49/month – create a simple community on a custom domain
- Professional, $99/month – add courses, live streams, and analytics
- Business, $219/month – add email white-labeling and automated transcriptions
- Enterprise, $399/month – add up to 10 admins and 100 moderators
- Circle Plus, custom pricing – get support to launch a branded community in six weeks
Final thoughts
So that’s it – seven subscription platforms to take your online content creation dreams to the next level!
If you want to offer a simple membership for exclusive content, try Patreon or Memberful. If you want to sell courses, check out Kajabi or Thinkific. And if you want to build a two-way community that’s all about connecting with your members, Circle will likely come out on top for you.
And remember: if they can do it, so can you. 💪
Featured image: Original image by Samantha Borges
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