How to Create a Members Area on Squarespace (2026)
A note on pricing: all prices mentioned in this post are accurate as of the date this article was written, but can change at any time. This includes Squarespace plans, third-party tools, plugins, templates, and any other services referenced. Always check directly with the provider for the most current pricing before committing.
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How do you create a members area on Squarespace?
Quick answer: Squarespace Member Sites is included for free with any paid Squarespace website plan. (Note: this is the current name for the members area feature; you might also see it called Member Areas in older articles from around the internet that haven’t been recently updated) To create a Member Site on Squarespace, open your Pages panel, click the + icon next to Main Navigation, and select Member Site. From there you set up a pricing plan, add your gated content pages, and build a public sign-up page so visitors can join. Transaction fees on paid memberships depend on your plan: see below.
KEY FACTS
Squarespace Member Area (now called Member Sites) is included with all four paid Squarespace plans: Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced
No separate add-on fee; transaction fees on paid memberships vary by plan tier: Basic: 7% transaction fee | Core: 5% | Plus: 1% | Advanced: 0%
Three pricing plan options for your customers/users: Free, Fixed amount (one-time or installments), or Subscription (weekly, monthly, or annual)
Unlimited members on all plans
Pages inside a member site are NOT indexed by search engines
No native content dripping, no built-in free trial option, and no LMS-style progress tracking
If you’re a yoga teacher who wants to sell a library of recorded classes, a business coach building a resource vault for clients, a nutritionist packaging meal plans into a subscription, or really anyone who wants to gate content on their Squarespace site: the feature you’re looking for is called Member Sites. (You’ll also see it called Member Areas in older tutorials and articles.)
The good news is it’s included with any paid Squarespace website plan, so you don’t need a separate subscription on top of what you’re already paying.
Here’s how Member Sites works and how to set it up.
What is Squarespace Member Sites?
Squarespace Member Sites is Squarespace’s built-in tool for gating content behind a login. You create a member site, attach it to one or more pricing plans, and anyone who signs up gets access to the pages inside it. You can charge for access, offer a free tier in exchange for an email address, or set up multiple tiers at different price points; Squarespace handles the login, payments, and access control automatically.
One thing worth knowing from the start: pages inside a member site are not indexed by search engines. Squarespace removes them from your sitemap automatically (which is a good thing, and exactly what you’d want for gated content).
Who uses Squarespace Member Sites (and what do they put in them)?
Here’s how people typically use Member Sites:
A yoga teacher might build a library of recorded classes sorted by level and charge a monthly subscription for access.
A business coach might gate weekly Q&A recordings, templates, and done-for-you frameworks behind a membership tier.
A nutritionist could package meal plans, grocery lists, and technique videos into a subscription vault.
A chef might offer a recipe library with step-by-step cooking videos.
A podcaster could give paying subscribers access to bonus episodes or an ad-free feed.
And I’ve seen fitness coaches use this for everything from on-demand workout programs to monthly accountability check-ins; the range is pretty wide.
Basically, if it can live on a Squarespace page, it can be gated. Including video pages, blog posts, course pages, downloadable files (PDFs, worksheets, ebooks), and standard pages with any mix of content blocks. You can also bundle up to 10 pages or products under a single pricing plan, so one subscription can give members access to a whole collection of content types at once.
What does Squarespace Member Sites cost?
Member Sites is included with any paid Squarespace website plan; no separate add-on required. What does vary is the transaction fee Squarespace takes on paid memberships, which depends on which plan you’re on:
Basic ($16/mo, billed annually): 7% transaction fee on paid memberships
Core ($23/mo, billed annually): 5% transaction fee
Plus ($39/mo, billed annually): 1% transaction fee
Advanced ($99/mo, billed annually): 0% transaction fee
If you’re planning to charge for memberships, it’s worth running the math on transaction fees as your membership grows. At a certain revenue point, upgrading to a higher-tier plan will save you more in fees than it costs in plan price.
How to set up Member Sites on Squarespace
Step 1: Create a member site
Open your Pages panel. Click the + icon next to the Main Navigation section and select Member Site. Squarespace adds a Member Sites section to your Pages panel with your new member site inside it. Choose a layout for the homepage, give it a name, and press Enter.
Step 2: Add your content pages
Inside your member site, click Add page to start building out your gated content. Pick a layout, name the page, and add your content. The first page you add automatically becomes the member site homepage, and you can change that later by dragging a different page to the top position. You can design these pages just like the regular Squarespace site pages.
Step 3: Set up a pricing plan
In your member site panel, click Add a pricing plan, then Create pricing plan. Fill in the name, description, and up to five membership benefits. Then choose a pricing structure:
Free: visitors sign up with an email and create a customer account
Fixed amount: visitors pay once (or in installments) for permanent access
Subscription: visitors pay weekly, monthly, or annually to maintain access
You can also set enrollment dates if sign-ups are only open for a limited window, and bundle in up to 10 other pages or products under the same plan.
Step 4: Build a public sign-up page
Visitors can only purchase access through pricing plan blocks, so you’ll need at least one public page on your site that shows your membership options. Add pricing plan blocks for each tier you offer, describe what members get, and make sure it’s easy to find from your main navigation. This is your sales page for the membership, so it’s worth putting some thought into what you put here.
Step 5: Connect a payment processor
If you’re charging for access, connect Squarespace Payments (or Stripe, where available) so you can collect membership fees. Once your site is published, sign-ups, payments, and access management all run automatically.
Squarespace Member Sites vs. Squarespace Courses: what’s the difference?
If you’re selling educational content, you’ll hit this question pretty quickly. The short version: Courses is built for structured, sequential learning with chapters, lesson order, and progress tracking; it works well for a single course with a clear beginning and end. Member Sites is more of a flexible container; you can gate any combination of content types under one membership without any particular structure or order.
The two can also work together. You can add course pages inside a member site, which lets you bundle a structured course with other content types under a single membership plan. So if you want to offer a course plus a resource library plus monthly Q&A recordings under one subscription, Member Sites is how you do that. If you just want to sell one standalone course, Courses works fine on its own.
What Squarespace Member Sites doesn’t do
Before you build out a full membership, a few limitations worth knowing about.
No content dripping. There’s no way to schedule content to unlock over time. Everything in a member site is accessible from day one; you can’t release a new module each week or drip lessons on a schedule.
No free trials. There’s no built-in free trial option. But a common workaround is creating a 100% discount code that applies to the first billing period only, which gives people a free month or week before they’re charged. It’s not seamless since it requires a credit card upfront, but it works.
No LMS features. Member Sites doesn’t have course completion tracking, quizzes, certificates, or community forums. If those are key to what you’re building, a dedicated course platform may serve you better.
No dropdown navigation. Member site navigation doesn’t support dropdowns. If you have a lot of pages, Squarespace recommends setting navigation to “Don’t show navigation” and building a custom nav on the member site homepage instead.
Content can be shared by members. Squarespace can’t prevent a member from copying text, images, or file URLs and passing them to non-members. So maybe worth keeping in mind when deciding what to put behind a paywall.
Is Squarespace Member Sites worth using?
Since it’s included with any paid plan, the question isn’t really whether to pay for it; it’s whether it fits what you’re trying to build.
For someone who’s already running their business on Squarespace and wants to add a paid layer, a course library, or a members-only resource section without moving to a separate platform, it’s a genuinely useful feature. Your members, email campaigns, and payments all live in the same account.
The email integration is one of the better parts of it. Member Sites syncs directly with Squarespace Email Campaigns, so your member list stays up to date automatically when someone joins or cancels; no manual exporting and reimporting every time. If you’re using an external email platform like Kit (formerly ConvertKit), you’ll want to set up a separate sync workflow for that list.
Where Squarespace Members Area tends to fall short is anywhere you need drip content, course tracking, community forums, or more complex billing options. If those are core to your membership, you’ll want to look into a third-party tool that integrates with Squarespace or a purpose-built membership platform. For most people who are already on Squarespace and want to add a simple membership layer, though, it’s a reasonable place to start. And you can always layer in additional tools as you grow.
Don’t have a Squarespace site yet? Start a free 14-day trial here.Frequently Asked Questions
Is Squarespace Member Sites included in my website plan?
Yes. Member Sites is included with all four paid Squarespace website plans: Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced. There’s no separate add-on fee. Transaction fees on paid memberships vary by plan: 7% on Basic, 5% on Core, 1% on Plus, and 0% on Advanced.
How many members can I have on a squarespace member site?
Unlimited, on all plans. There’s no cap on the number of people who can sign up for your member site.
Can I offer a free membership tier?
Yep. When creating a pricing plan, you can set the price to Free. Free members sign up with their email and create a customer account, which is useful for building your list, offering a taste of paid content, or gating a resource in exchange for an account without charging anything.
Can I offer a free trial for my Squarespace Member Site?
Not natively. There’s no built-in free trial feature. The common workaround is a 100% discount code that applies to the first billing period only; it gives people a free month or week before they’re charged, but does require a credit card upfront.
What’s the difference between Squarespace Member Sites and Squarespace Courses?
Squarespace Courses is built for structured, sequential learning with chapters, lesson order, and progress tracking. Squarespace Member Sites is a flexible gated section that can hold any combination of videos, blog posts, downloads, and course pages under one membership. You can add course pages inside a member site if you want to bundle a structured course with other content types. If you want one standalone course, Courses works well on its own; if you want an ongoing membership with a mix of content, Member Sites gives you more flexibility.
Can I drip content in Squarespace Member Sites?
Unfortunately, no. All content in a member site is accessible immediately upon signing up; there’s no way to release pages or lessons on a schedule. If you need drip functionality, you’d need a third-party tool that integrates with your Squarespace site.
