How Heartbeat and Memberful compare
Heartbeat is a friendly place to start a paid community without a big budget. For $49 a month you get channels, threads, chat, voice rooms, DMs, unlimited courses and events, a custom domain, checkout pages, five automation workflows, and Pulse, an AI that actually sets up channels, offers, and pages for you. Grow adds unlimited workflows, DM rules, an affiliate program, and white-label email; Scale adds a branded app. For a founder with a small group who wants courses and calls next to the conversation, Heartbeat covers a lot for the price.
Memberful is a clean way to charge for membership. Stripe billing, plans and gifts, gated WordPress content, Discord and podcast access, member newsletters, and now a landing-page and newsletter builder on your own domain. Publishers who want a paywall without rebuilding their whole site have trusted it for years.
Where they are different
Heartbeat
- Heartbeat's landing page is the door to a private space.
- Heartbeat emails members through workflows and a weekly digest.
- Heartbeat's events sync to members' calendars.
- Heartbeat charges 5% to 1.25% on payments.
Memberful
- Memberful assumes you have a site.
- Memberful bills recurring plans.
- Memberful sends member newsletters.
Choose Heartbeat when a small paid community with courses, calls, and member chat is the product.
Choose Memberful when you want a paywall and member billing on a WordPress or custom site you already run.
Compare features
What's on Heartbeat and Memberful
A check means that capability is available. Heartbeat and Memberful are marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.
Site and brand
- Workspace siteHeartbeat: IncludedMemberful: Included
- Custom domainHeartbeat: IncludedMemberful: Included
Audience and email
- AudienceHeartbeat: IncludedMemberful: Included
- Marketing emailsHeartbeat: IncludedMemberful: Included
- Campaign workflowsHeartbeat: IncludedMemberful: Included
Commerce
- Shop paymentsHeartbeat: IncludedMemberful: Included
Team
- Admin usersHeartbeat: IncludedMemberful: Included
- AI AssistantHeartbeat: IncludedMemberful: Not included
* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Heartbeat or Memberful, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Heartbeat or Memberful may add or remove features that are not shown here.
Heartbeat vs Memberful pricing
Compare plans, prices, and what it costs to get started.
Heartbeat
Current plans and prices
See what Heartbeat charges on their pricing page.
Memberful
Current plans and prices
See what Memberful charges on their pricing page.
Cardel: An alternative to
Heartbeat and Memberful
You don't pay until you publish.
Cardel provides a home for your craft. Share and sell your work, grow your audience, and bring your community together on a site of your own.
Common questions
Is Cardel an alternative to Heartbeat or Memberful?
Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Heartbeat or Memberful when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list on this page shows where Heartbeat and Memberful are marked.
Can I use Cardel with Heartbeat or Memberful?
Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Heartbeat or Memberful for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.
How much does Cardel cost compared with Heartbeat and Memberful?
You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Studio when your site goes live. Heartbeat and Memberful set their own prices, so check their pricing pages on this page for current plans.
How do I switch from Heartbeat or Memberful to Cardel?
Start with Build Your Site, set up your home, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.