Squarespace Members Area Pricing

Squarespace Members Area Pricing Plans

Starter Plan: $9/Month (Annual) or $10/Month (Monthly)

• 1 member area
• 7% transaction fee on membership sales
• Unlimited members
• Basic metrics
• Customizable member profiles
• Member-only content pages

Best for: Testing the membership model with a small audience. The 7% transaction fee is acceptable when your membership revenue is low (under $500/month). Above that, the Core plan's lower fee saves money.

Core Plan: $18/Month (Annual) or $20/Month (Monthly)

• 3 member areas
• 4% transaction fee
• All Starter features plus:
• Advanced metrics
• Member comments
• Member email campaigns

Best for: Established creators with growing membership revenue. The lower 4% fee starts saving money compared to Starter once your monthly membership revenue exceeds about $300/month. Multiple member areas let you offer different membership tiers or separate content libraries.

Pro Plan: $35/Month (Annual) or $40/Month (Monthly)

• 10 member areas
• 1% transaction fee
• All Core features plus:
• Premium blocks and integrations
• Custom code injection within member areas

Best for: High-revenue membership businesses. The 1% transaction fee makes this the most economical choice once your monthly membership revenue exceeds about $600/month. At $2,000/month in membership revenue, the Pro plan costs $35 + $20 (1% fee) = $55/month total, while Starter costs $9 + $140 (7% fee) = $149/month.

Understanding the Real Cost: Subscription + Transaction Fees

The monthly subscription is only part of the cost. Transaction fees on every membership payment significantly affect your total expense. Here is how the plans compare at different revenue levels:

At $500/month membership revenue:
Starter: $9 + $35 (7%) = $44/month
Core: $18 + $20 (4%) = $38/month
Pro: $35 + $5 (1%) = $40/month

At $1,000/month:
Starter: $9 + $70 = $79/month
Core: $18 + $40 = $58/month
Pro: $35 + $10 = $45/month

At $3,000/month:
Starter: $9 + $210 = $219/month
Core: $18 + $120 = $138/month
Pro: $35 + $30 = $65/month

The Pro plan becomes the cheapest option at roughly $600/month in revenue. If you expect any significant membership revenue, the Pro plan pays for itself quickly. For overall Squarespace plans and pricing, Members Area costs are separate from your website plan.

Stripe Fees on Top of Transaction Fees

Most comparisons stop at the Squarespace transaction fee. But Stripe, which processes all payments, also charges approximately 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. That fee applies to every membership payment on top of Squarespace's cut. The real combined fee is notably higher than the headline numbers suggest.

Here is the true combined cost at each plan tier (Squarespace fee + Stripe fee):

• Starter: 7% (Squarespace) + 2.9% + $0.30 (Stripe) = approximately 9.9% + $0.30 per transaction
• Core: 4% + 2.9% + $0.30 = approximately 6.9% + $0.30 per transaction
• Pro: 1% + 2.9% + $0.30 = approximately 3.9% + $0.30 per transaction

Here is how that plays out on a $29/month membership (a common price point) at 50 members ($1,450/month revenue):

Starter total fees per month: 9.9% of $1,450 + (50 x $0.30) = $143.55 + $15 = $158.55
Core total fees per month: 6.9% of $1,450 + $15 = $100.05 + $15 = $115.05
Pro total fees per month: 3.9% of $1,450 + $15 = $56.55 + $15 = $71.55

Add the subscription cost to each and the gap between plans widens significantly at scale. The $0.30 per transaction charge also means plans with many low-value transactions (like a $5/month membership) carry proportionally higher Stripe costs than plans with fewer, higher-value transactions.

Squarespace Members Area vs. Squarespace Courses

Squarespace added a Courses feature that overlaps with Members Area in some ways. Both let you restrict content to paying subscribers. The key difference is structure and purpose.

Squarespace Courses is built for structured, lesson-by-lesson learning. It includes progress tracking, lesson sequencing, and a dedicated course layout. Students move through content in order, and Squarespace tracks their completion. This is the right tool for online courses, workshops, or training programs where the order and progression of content matters.

Squarespace Members Area is built for ongoing content subscriptions. There is no enforced lesson sequence. Members access a content library whenever they want. This fits newsletters, premium article archives, video libraries, community resources, and any model where content is consumed on demand rather than in sequence.

The pricing models also differ. Courses uses a one-time or payment plan model more naturally. Members Area handles recurring subscriptions better. If your goal is a monthly membership fee for ongoing access to new content, Members Area is the right tool. If you are selling a defined course that students complete start to finish, Courses fits better. Some creators use both: a free or paid Members Area for ongoing community content, plus a separate Courses product for a premium one-time training.

What Can You Do with Squarespace Members Area?

Gate Content Behind a Paywall

Restrict access to specific pages, blog posts, videos, or resources. Only paying members can view gated content. Free members can see a preview or teaser, then must subscribe for full access. This model works for educational courses, premium articles, video libraries, and resource collections.

Create Membership Tiers

With multiple member areas (3 on Core, 10 on Pro), you can create different membership levels such as Basic, Premium, and VIP, each with access to different content libraries. Price tiers differently to match the value provided. Members can upgrade between tiers directly from your site.

Build a Community

Member comments (Core and Pro plans) let members interact with your content and each other. Member email campaigns let you communicate directly with your membership base. These tools turn passive subscribers into an engaged community.

Offer Free Memberships

Not all member areas need to charge. Create a free membership tier that requires email registration. This builds your email list while giving members access to exclusive free content. You can upsell paid membership to your free tier later.

Who Should Use Squarespace Members Area?

Course creators: Host online courses with lesson-by-lesson access. Gate modules behind membership tiers. Track member progress through content consumption.

Content creators: Offer premium articles, podcasts, or videos to paying subscribers. The membership model creates predictable recurring revenue.

Coaches and consultants: Provide members-only resources, templates, and frameworks. Supplement 1:1 work with scalable membership content.

Community builders: Create exclusive communities around shared interests. Charge for access to curated content, discussions, and member directories.

Not recommended if: Your audience is too small to sustain membership revenue (under 100 potential members). You cannot commit to regular content updates, since stale member areas have high churn rates.

How to Set Up Members Area on Squarespace

Go to Settings, then Member Areas in your Squarespace dashboard. Click Select Plan at the bottom of the panel. Choose Starter, Core, or Pro. Configure your first member area by setting the name, pricing (free, one-time, or recurring), and selecting which pages are gated. Customize the sign-up and login experience to match your brand, then publish and promote your membership.

Members Area works with any Squarespace website plan. You need at least a Personal plan for your website plus the Members Area add-on. For video content behind the paywall, host videos on Vimeo with privacy settings and embed them on member-only pages.

What Happens When You Cancel Squarespace Members Area?

If you cancel your Members Area plan, your member areas are deactivated and members lose access to gated content. Squarespace does not automatically refund or pause recurring membership charges to your members. You need to cancel active member subscriptions manually before canceling the plan, or communicate the change to your members so they can cancel themselves.

You cannot pause a Members Area plan the way you can pause a Squarespace website plan. If you want to temporarily stop offering membership without losing your configuration, the closest option is to unpublish your gated pages and stop promoting the membership, while keeping the plan active to avoid losing your setup. Canceling and restarting does not restore your previous member area configuration automatically.

Annual vs. Monthly Billing

Each Members Area plan offers annual and monthly billing. The difference per plan is modest in absolute terms but adds up over a year:

• Starter: $9/month (annual) vs. $10/month (monthly), saving $12/year on annual
• Core: $18/month (annual) vs. $20/month (monthly), saving $24/year on annual
• Pro: $35/month (annual) vs. $40/month (monthly), saving $60/year on annual

Annual billing makes sense if you are committed to running a membership long-term. Monthly billing is the safer choice when you are testing the model or unsure whether your audience will convert to paid members. Given that Members Area transaction fees are where the real cost variation lies, the billing cycle choice is secondary to picking the right plan tier.

How Squarespace Members Area Compares to Alternatives

If you're deciding between Squarespace Members Area and a standalone membership platform, the key trade-off is integration vs. features. Squarespace Members Area is deeply integrated with your existing site, with no redirects, no separate login, and no separate branding. But it lacks advanced features like drip content scheduling, quizzes, certificates, and affiliate programs that platforms like Kajabi or Teachable offer.

Squarespace Members Area makes the most sense if you already have a Squarespace site and want to add membership without moving platforms. If membership is your core business model from the start, a dedicated platform may give you more tools. For a head-to-head comparison, see our Squarespace Membership comparison and our breakdown of the full Squarespace Member Area feature set.

Choose the Right Members Area Plan for Your Revenue

Squarespace Members Area pricing is straightforward: three tiers with decreasing transaction fees. Calculate your expected membership revenue and choose the plan with the lowest total cost (subscription plus transaction fees plus Stripe charges). Start with Starter to test the model, then upgrade to Core or Pro as your membership grows. For a complete walkthrough of how the Member Area feature works, including setup, member login experience, and growth strategies, see our Squarespace Member Area guide. To decide whether Squarespace is the right membership platform for your business or whether Kajabi or Teachable fits better, see our Squarespace Membership comparison.