OnPodium vs Memberful: Complete Podcast Platform vs a Membership-Only Plugin
Memberful (now part of Patreon) is a membership management tool designed to integrate with existing websites. It handles recurring payments, member management, and gated content — and does those tasks reliably. However, Memberful is a single-purpose tool that takes a percentage of your revenue (4.9% on Pro, 10% on Starter) and requires you to build everything else around it: hosting, website, and email marketing.
OnPodium provides memberships with 0% commission as part of an all-in-one podcast platform. For $39/month, you get unlimited hosting, a professional website, email marketing, and a full storefront — no additional tools needed.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | OnPodium | Memberful |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $39/mo (all-in-one) | Free–$100/mo + commission |
| Transaction commission | 0% | 4.9–10% of revenue |
| Podcast hosting | Unlimited | Not available |
| Podcast website | Professional, immersive | Requires separate website |
| Email marketing | Unlimited sends & subscribers | Not included |
| Memberships | Unlimited tiers | Unlimited tiers (with fee) |
| Digital products | Included | Downloads only |
| Courses | Included | No |
| Blog | Built-in | Requires separate site |
| Custom development | Included | No |
A Plugin, Not a Platform
Memberful is designed as a plugin — it adds membership functionality to an existing website, typically WordPress or a custom site. This means you need: a hosted website ($15–$50/month), podcast hosting ($15–$25/month), email marketing ($15–$79/month), and then Memberful on top. The total stack: $45–$254/month before Memberful's revenue cut.
OnPodium replaces the entire stack. Memberships, website, hosting, and email are all native features. There is nothing to integrate, nothing to configure, and no additional monthly bills. For the same reasons you would avoid cobbling together separate tools, compare with Patreon to see how commission-based models compare.
The Revenue You Lose to Commissions
Memberful's Starter plan is free but takes 10% of everything. The Pro plan costs $25/month but still takes 4.9%. On $3,000/month in membership revenue:
- Memberful Starter: $300/month lost to commissions = $3,600/year
- Memberful Pro: $147 in commissions + $25 subscription = $172/month = $2,064/year
- OnPodium: $39/month = $468/year. You keep every dollar of membership revenue.
The savings are $1,596–$3,132/year just on the membership tool — before counting the cost of the hosting, website, and email tools you no longer need separately.
Sell More Than Memberships
Memberful does one thing: memberships. If you want to sell a one-time course, a digital download, a coaching package, or a premium content bundle, you need yet another tool — Gumroad, Teachable, or something similar.
OnPodium's monetization suite supports memberships, digital products, courses, and any other product type — all with zero commissions. Multiple revenue streams, one platform, one price.
Memberships + Products + Hosting + Email
Why use a plugin when you can have an entire platform? Zero commissions, unlimited everything.
Start Free 14-Day TrialThe Bottom Line
Memberful is a solid membership plugin for creators who already have a website and want to add subscriptions. For podcasters building from scratch or seeking simplicity, OnPodium provides memberships without commissions plus an entire platform — hosting, website, email, and products — for $39/month. Start free.