Membership sites on Athena CMS
A members area that runs itself. Billing included.
Password-protected content, as many membership levels as you need, and recurring payments through Stripe subscriptions, all built into your site and run from Athena. No membership plugin, no add-ons, no Tuesday updates standing between your members and what they paid for.
Who it is for
Anyone with something worth signing in for.
- Courses and coachingLessons, videos and worksheets unlocked by plan.
- Associations and clubsMember directories, dues and members-only news.
- Trade and dealer portalsPrice sheets, spec files and ordering for approved accounts.
- Premium contentPaid articles, research and newsletters behind a sign-in.
- Studios and gymsClass videos, schedules and plans that renew on their own.
- Client portalsEach client sees their own documents, reports and invoices.
What is built in
Everything a membership needs. Nothing bolted on.
Membership levels
Free, paid, pro, staff: as many levels as you need, each with its own price and its own access.
Truly protected content
Pages, posts, videos and downloads are checked on the server before they are sent, not hidden with a trick a curious visitor can undo.
Stripe subscriptions
Monthly or yearly plans with recurring billing through your own Stripe account. Stripe handles cards, receipts and retrying failed payments.
Member accounts
Members sign in, reset their own password, and manage their plan and card without emailing you.
Run it from Athena
See every member and their level, change access, and mark any page members-only with one field. Preview a page as each level sees it.
Sell one-off products too
Athena's built-in e-commerce sits alongside, so a course, a ticket or a printed guide can be bought once as well as by subscription.
Membership levels
A free front door. Paid rooms behind it.
An example ladder. Yours can have one level or ten, with the names, prices and access you choose.
Free
$0
Sign up with an email
- Public pages
- Members newsletter
- Two sample lessons
- Most members
Member
Monthly or yearly
Stripe subscription
- Everything in Free
- The full library
- Downloads and templates
- Members-only events
Pro
Monthly or yearly
Stripe subscription
- Everything in Member
- Live sessions and recordings
- Pro-only tools
- Priority help
Agents on staff
A membership is a promise to keep showing up. The agents help.
- Calliope · Blog and articlesDrafts the members' articles and lessons you keep meaning to write.
- Hermes · Social postsAnnounces every new lesson or post to your social accounts.
- Aegis · Security watchWatches sign-ins and accounts every day for anything unusual.
- Picasso · ImagesKeeps lesson thumbnails and photos sized and described.
- Harmonia · Spanish and accessibilityDrafts Spanish versions of members' content, kept in step.
- Apollo · Site analysisReads the signup pages like a prospect and ranks the fixes.
Athena or a membership plugin
The paywall should be the sturdiest part of the site.
| Area | WordPress membership plugin | Athena CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Where it lives | A membership plugin, plus add-ons for payments, emails and content rules | Built into the site and into Athena |
| Payments | A payment add-on, configured inside WordPress | Stripe subscriptions, connected to your own Stripe account |
| Protection | Depends on the plugin and the theme; page builders can leak content | Checked on the server for every request |
| Upkeep | Plugin, add-on, theme and core updates, each a risk to the paywall | Nothing for you to update |
| Speed | Members' pages are usually built on every visit, so they are slow | Fast pages for members and visitors alike |
Already running a membership on WordPress? See how switching works, or read the full Athena vs WordPress comparison.
Plan my membership site
Tell us what members will get and how you want to charge. We will send a plain plan: levels, pages, billing, timeline and cost.
Which of these sounds like you? (pick any)
Questions, answered
Membership sites on Athena
Yes. Athena can run a password-protected membership site with as many membership levels as you need, each level seeing its own pages, content and downloads, with recurring payments through Stripe subscriptions. Members have their own accounts, and you manage members, levels and protected content in Athena.
Yes. Each level can have monthly and yearly plans billed automatically through Stripe subscriptions. Stripe sends receipts and retries a failed card, and members can update their card or change their plan from their own account.
Straight to your own Stripe account. Stripe charges its standard processing fees, and you see every payment, payout and subscription in your Stripe dashboard as well as your members in Athena.
Yes. A free level is a good front door: people sign up with an email, read the sample content, and upgrade to a paid plan when they are ready. Every page can be marked public, free-member or a specific paid level.
Yes. Athena checks a member's level on the server before a protected page, video or file is sent. Nothing is hidden with code a visitor could switch off in their browser, which is how many plugin-based paywalls leak.
Yes. We move your levels, protected content and members from MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, WooCommerce Memberships or another platform, and plan the billing switch with you so every member keeps access and nobody is charged twice.
Yes. Athena's built-in e-commerce works alongside memberships, so you can sell a course, a ticket or a printed guide once, and offer a subscription for everything else.