Membership App Starter · Industry version
Creator Membership Template
Your supporters, your site, your full margin — tiers, early access, and a gated archive in code you own.
The membership platforms proved fans will pay creators directly — then kept the customer relationship and a slice of every pledge. This starter generates the same machine on your own domain: supporter tiers, early-access drops, a gated back catalog — with your payment provider and your entire margin.
- 6 core entities
- No revenue share
- Code you own
- Vibe + Governed modes
01 · The problem
Why a generic Membership falls short
The platform cut compounds against you. A percentage of every pledge, every month, forever, scales exactly with your success — the opposite of software costs, which should flatten as you grow. At meaningful supporter counts the annual difference between a platform fee and self-hosting isn't subtle; it's a salary.
Discovery platforms also own your front door. Supporters arrive at the platform's URL, into the platform's checkout, under the platform's branding, and appear in your dashboard as names you can't fully export or email freely. The audience you spent years earning becomes a licensed asset — theirs, licensed back to you.
And creator value runs on timing and archive: early access for the inner tier, the back catalog as the reason to stay subscribed after the honeymoon. Generic membership tools treat content as a flat feed with one gate, flattening the very structure — earlier for some, forever for members — that makes creative memberships retain.
02 · Data model
The data model, adapted
Everything in the base Membership starter —
plansmemberssubscriptionsbenefitscontent_postspayments— plus the entities this industry actually runs on:
| table | what it holds |
|---|---|
release_windows | Per-post early-access schedules — which tier sees it now, when it opens to lower tiers or the public. |
supporter_notes | The relationship memory — messages, milestones, and thanks-owed flags for your most invested people. |
03 · Screens
Modules through the industry lens
Tiered early access
01Every post can carry a release window: inner tier today, all members Thursday, public excerpt next month. The gate follows the schedule automatically, turning your publishing rhythm into the tangible reason each tier is worth its price.
The gated archive
02Your entire back catalog lives behind the membership, browsable and searchable — the quiet retention engine. New supporters join for the latest drop and stay for two hundred pieces they haven't read yet, all served from your own storage.
Supporter-facing portal
03Supporters manage their tier and billing on your domain, in your design, with their history intact. Fifty renewals no longer mean fifty platform-branded receipts teaching your audience someone else's name.
04 · In practice
Workflows it models
The weekly drop
01Publish once with a release window: top tier reads today, members Wednesday, a public teaser Friday. The teaser links to a join page you control — and the conversion from tease to paid is measured in your own analytics.
Leaving the platform
02Announce the move, import supporters into your tables, and let cards re-enter through your checkout over a transition month. The percentage you were paying becomes margin, and the export limits you tolerated become a memory.
Anniversary appreciation
03A query finds supporters crossing one year this month. Supporter notes flag them, a personal thank-you goes out, and the churn dip that follows is visible in your own revenue view — relationship work, measurable at last.
Creator Membership template — frequently asked questions
How much of my revenue does this take?
None — you connect your own payment provider and keep everything after standard processing fees. There's no platform percentage, because there's no platform: the site is code you own.
Can I offer early access by tier?
Yes — release windows are per-post schedules that open content tier by tier and optionally to the public. Your publishing cadence becomes the product structure, enforced automatically.
Can I move my existing supporters over?
Supporter lists import into your own tables, and payment methods re-establish through your provider's checkout during a transition window — the standard pattern for leaving a hosted platform. After that, the relationship is portable because it's yours.
Do I need a separate community platform too?
If conversation is central, pair this with the community starter — same conventions, shared member data, one login. This starter carries the publishing and revenue side; the community starter carries the forum.
Related
Dual7 App Starters
Build your Creator Membership on your terms
Your supporters, your site, your full margin — tiers, early access, and a gated archive in code you own. Describe your version to start — the output is a project you own.