Essential Tools You Need To Run A Membership Site
Last updated March 26, 2025.
Affiliate links may be present, so I may earn commissions on products I love, at no cost to you. Your support fuels my coffee habit while I share my favorite stuff—win-win!
Why Memberships Are a Great Business Model
Membership sites offer predictable revenue, deeper customer relationships, and a thriving community. Instead of selling one-off products or courses, you create an ongoing, value-driven experience where members pay for exclusive content, coaching, or a supportive network.
That said, a membership site also requires:
Consistent content updates (depending on your niche).
Strong engagement strategies to maintain retention.
The right tech stack to streamline operations and minimize stress.
I personally transitioned away from running a membership because my industry—Pinterest marketing—evolved too frequently, making updates overwhelming. Additionally, personal health challenges made it unsustainable for me to manage everything.
However, for the right niche and business model, a membership site can be an amazing source of recurring revenue. If you’re considering it, the key is to set up efficient systems from the start. Let’s dive into the essential tools you’ll need.
The Membership Academy
Before launching a membership, I spent a lot of time researching what works and what doesn’t. Unfortunately, much of the advice out there comes from “Entrepreneur Bros” (you know what I mean) that were promoting their “how to make millions with memberships” programs - using cart open/close, huge paid ads budgets, scarcity marketing, and their buddy’s email lists.
Thankfully, I found The Membership Academy—a goldmine of resources run by Mike & Callie. Their practical, no-hype approach makes them one of the best sources for membership site owners.
Inside The Membership Academy, you’ll find:
Short, actionable podcast episodes on planning, launching, and running memberships.
A vast library of training to help with everything from pricing to retention strategies.
Live Q&A calls and a supportive community for troubleshooting challenges.
If you’re serious about starting a membership, I highly recommend learning from experts who have done it successfully.
They also have a great podcast: The Membership Geeks!
Thrivecart + Thrivecart Learn: The Best Payment and Course Hosting Platform
Choosing the right platform for your membership is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make. After testing multiple options, Thrivecart and Thrivecart Learn became my top choice for ease of use and all-in-one without ongoing fees:
Why Thrivecart?
Thrivecart is a one-time-payment checkout system (no ongoing fees!) that allows you to:
Sell memberships, courses, and digital products seamlessly.
Offer subscriptions, payment plans, and upsells with ease.
Build customized, high-converting checkout pages without extra software.
Integrate with email marketing platforms like Kit.
Why Thrivecart Learn?
Instead of using third-party course platforms, you can host your membership content inside Thrivecart Learn, which lets you:
Deliver structured lessons and exclusive content effortlessly.
Automate member access and content dripping.
Manage subscriptions and course enrollments in one place.
With Thrivecart + Thrivecart Learn, you get a simple, streamlined setup for both payments and content delivery. Although I no longer run a membership, I still use Thrivecart as my online checkout solution and Thrivecart Learn to host my offers and courses. Even though no app or software is the perfect all-in-one solution, the fact that Thrivecart is lifetime access for a one-time payment is huge for me (and any other online entrepreneur watching their expense budget).
Notion: The Ultimate Membership Management System
I use Notion for everything in my business, and it’s especially powerful for membership organization. I transitioned away from ClickUp, Asana, and other project management years ago. Notion offers not only task management, but is the hub for every piece of info I need to know in my business.
How I Use Notion for Memberships:
Content Planning & Updates
Keep an editorial calendar for new lessons and updates.
Store lesson outlines, video scripts, and resources in an organized database.
Member Management & Onboarding
Track member progress, feedback, and support requests.
Automate onboarding checklists for new members.
Live Calls & Q&A Tracking
Store session summaries and timestamps for members to access later.
Forms & Feedback
Notion recently launched forms, so you can ask for feedback from customers and provide an easy way for student to get support or report a tech issue.
If you want a single place to organize your entire membership, Notion is the perfect solution.
Marketing Magic: AI-Powered Marketing for Memberships
Marketing is one of the biggest challenges for membership site owners. Luckily, Marketing Magic simplifies the process by generating AI-powered marketing assets tailored to your business.
Why Marketing Magic?
Instant AI-generated content for emails, social media, and ad copy.
Optimized messaging for different platforms and audiences.
Time-saving automation to keep your marketing running smoothly.
My Favorite Features:
⚡ ️ 30 Day Social Media Plan: Menekse recently added this cool tool that gives you 30 days of content ideas so you can reach more of your ideal audience on social media.
⚡ ️ Jobs to be Done: I hadn’t come across this tool before, but it’s SO helpful for understanding more of what your ideal customers are trying to achieve. It’s used a lot by product managers, and really helps you create context for what customers are experiencing as they interact with your business.
⚡ ️ Sales Page: Marketing Magic helps me create different types of sales pages (tripwire, upsell, shorter ones for cheaper things, longer ones for more expensive things) and even includes themed call-to-action button text.
⚡ ️ Blog Post Generator: Within Marketing Magic, you can create a custom content plan for each of the things you sell in your business, and then take the title and outline for each post and put it into the Blog Post Generator to create your finished blog post. I can get a blog post fully finished in under 25 minutes now!
⚡ ️ Welcome Sequence: How long has creating a welcome sequence been on your to do list? It seems to be one of those things that’s always lurking for people! The Welcome Sequence tool helps you outline a 13-part welcome sequence hybrid (so you have 6+ weeks of automated emails going out!) or you can mix and match your favourites for a shorter sequence.
… These are just a few of my favourites, but there are 50+ more of where they came from!
It really is the closest thing to hiring a marketing assistant, and has helped me so much with everything from ideas to a finished draft.
If you struggle with writing content consistently or just want a faster way to market your membership, Marketing Magic is an invaluable tool.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit): The Best Email Marketing Platform
I’ve used Kit for years, and it remains my go-to email marketing tool for online business in general—whether you run a membership community or have a course.
Besides being good people, their software and the services they provide are the best. I am in Kit almost daily, working on emails, sequences, and maintaining a healthy subscriber list.
Using Kit allows me to target, tag, segment, and create automated workflows for my audience and customers.
Key Features:
Automated email sequences for onboarding new members.
Segmentation and tagging for personalized content.
Opt-in forms to grow your email list and nurture leads.
Email marketing is critical for member retention, and Kit makes it simple yet powerful.
Other Helpful Tools for Running a Membership Site
While the above tools are my must-haves, these can enhance your membership experience:
Canva - graphics for marketing and creating opt-ins.
Facebook Groups - currently serving as my community forums.
Bonjoro - sending personal welcome videos to each new member.
Zoom - hosting our monthly group mastermind calls.
→See my full resources page for all my business and entrepreneurship recommendations here.
Are you considering a membership as part of your business? I’d love to know! Tell me in the comments below.
Affiliate links may be present, so I may earn commissions on products I love, at no cost to you. Your support fuels my coffee habit while I share my favorite stuff—win-win!
