Memberful
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a creator or publisher ready to run a paid membership on your own site and absorb $49/mo.
Comparison
Memberful vs Patreon
Memberful and Patreon both land on Depends.
Patreon
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a creator with an existing audience who wants recurring membership income on a proven platform.
| Compare | Memberful | Patreon |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Newsletter writers and independent publishers | Podcasters and YouTubers |
| Who it's not for | Hobbyists not ready to run a paid membership business | Creators with no audience . Patreon offers no discovery |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.² | Mixed record: 2015 breach and 2022 security-team layoffs reported; official security and vulnerability-reporting program exists. |
| Support quality | No support evidence in sources | Recent 1-star Trustpilot service reviews |
| Public sentiment | Public sources surfaced directory blurbs but no substantive independent user reviews.⁴ | Feedback splits: a 4.2/5 G2 rating, but Trustpilot, BBB, and Reddit show recurring complaints about fees, billing, and support.⁸ |
| Biggest gotcha | No free tier . trial only; $49/mo Standard before revenue. Enterprise is custom-priced.³ | Fees are commission-based and the structure changed recently . verify current rates before launching.12 |
Pick Memberful when
- Newsletter writers and independent publishers
- Podcasters with paid feeds
- WordPress site owners selling memberships
- Discord communities charging dues
When Memberful is not a fit
- Hobbyists not ready to run a paid membership business
- Creators wanting Patreon-style discovery and network effects
- Anyone needing a free tier . starts at $49/mo
- Sellers of one-off products wanting simple checkout
Pick Patreon when
- Podcasters and YouTubers
- Creators with an existing fanbase
- Membership and exclusive-content businesses
- Fan communities wanting a home
When Patreon is not a fit
- Creators with no audience . Patreon offers no discovery
- Fee-averse creators (Ghost, Ko-fi charge 0%)
- One-off art or product sellers
- Creators wanting full ownership of their member list
Sources
- Memberful homepagememberful.comofficial
- Memberful Security pagememberful.comsecurity
- Memberful pricing rundownvibeityourself.comreview
- Memberful on Stack by ROSTRstack.rostr.ccreview
- Memberful traffic overviewdeets.feedreader.comnews
- Memberful on Xx.comofficial
- GridinSoft URL reviewgridinsoft.comsecurity
review
review
- r/Patreon . creator discussionsreddit.comreview
- Patreon Pricing Planspatreon.comofficial
- Creator fees overview . Patreon Supportsupport.patreon.comofficial
- Patreon Pricing (2026): Fees by Tiercasrai.orgnews
review
- Patreon . Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgnews
- Patreon triples valuation to $4 billiontechcrunch.comnews