Squarespace memberships run on Member Sites: a section of members-only pages that sits behind a paywall until a visitor signs up for one of your pricing plans. Building a member site is free, but you need a website plan that includes digital products to sell memberships, and a connected payment processor if you charge for access.
Here's the catch for anyone moving an existing community across. You can't sign someone up on their behalf, and you can't create or import member contacts by hand, as of October 2026. Every member has to sign up personally and create their own customer account. Squarespace's workaround is a discount code or a password-protected sign-up page with a temporarily free plan, so plan the switch before you announce it.
The three kinds of Squarespace pricing plan
| Plan type | How members pay | What happens to access |
|---|---|---|
| Free | They give their email address and create a customer account | Access while the plan exists. Members can't cancel it themselves |
| Fixed amount | Once, or in installments | Access after the first payment. Miss an installment and access stops; after the last, it's permanent |
| Subscription | Weekly, monthly or annual recurring payments | Access while they pay. They can cancel any time and keep access to the end of the cycle |
You can run up to 500 pricing plans, each holding up to 10 member sites, blog, course or videos pages, and any one member site or page can sit in up to six plans. Each plan can list up to five benefits of 60 characters or fewer, and you can add enrollment dates to limit when people can sign up. Squarespace suggests a tiered set-up, such as a free plan for a taster, a fixed plan for a course and a subscription for everything.
Payment options are narrower than people expect. Installment and subscription plans take credit cards only. PayPal and gift cards work only for one-time fixed payments, so connect Squarespace Payments or Stripe for anything recurring. Apple Pay isn't accepted for pricing plans, and sale pricing isn't available, so use a discount code instead.
Setting up a member site
- Open the Pages panel, click the + next to Main Navigation and choose Member Site. On version 7.0, switch on Member Sites first.
- Pick a layout for the member homepage and name the member site.
- In the member site's panel, click Add a pricing plan, then Create pricing plan, and set the name, description, benefits and pricing structure.
- Add pages under the member site. The first one becomes the member homepage, which you can change later.
- Connect a payment processor if you're charging, and make sure SSL is on and set to Secure.
- Add pricing plan blocks to a public sign-up page so visitors can compare plans and join.
You need Administrator or Website editor permissions to create a member site. Once a plan's attached, the member site shows a Paywalled label in the Pages panel, even for free plans, because they still need a customer account. If a member site isn't in any pricing plan, visitors who try to log in get a This product is unavailable error, so always add it to a plan. If you're still finding your way round the editor, my guide on how to use Squarespace covers the basics.
What members-only pages lose
Pages inside a member site have their SEO options and page passwords switched off, and their URLs are removed from your sitemap. That keeps members-only content out of search results, which is the point, but it means none of it helps your rankings. To edit a page's SEO settings, move it out of the member site, change them and move it back. Each page can only live in one member site, and member sites don't support dropdowns in the navigation.
Watch two leaks. On version 7.0, the Avenue, Montauk and Flatiron templates use a grid index page, and pages inside one can be viewed by non-members through a shared direct link. And if you put a store inside a member site, product or summary blocks on your public site let anyone buy those products without joining. Use an image block linking to the store instead.
The member experience, from sign-up to cancelling
Visitors join through a pricing plan block or the sign-up button on a paywall, creating a customer account with their name, email and a password. Once logged in, the Customer Account panel shows Digital Products, their plan details and links to the content. By default, the member navigation replaces your main navigation when they're logged in, though you can hide it and build your own links on the member homepage, which Squarespace recommends if a member site has lots of pages.
When a member cancels a subscription, you get an email, they're not refunded for payments already made, and they keep access until the end of the billing cycle. Members on fixed and free plans can't cancel. Subscribers only get an email after the first charge unless you switch on renewal emails, which can go out 15 days before renewal, though not on terms of 11 weeks or fewer when renewing weekly, or two months or fewer when renewing monthly.
Managing members and changing plans
Squarespace creates a member contact automatically for everyone who signs up, and you'll find them under Lists and Segments, then Members, in the Contacts panel. From there you can view membership history, add notes and tags, email a member, cancel a membership or export orders to a .csv file. You can refund from the order details, and a refund doesn't remove the membership. Cancelling someone yourself cuts their access immediately, so if they should keep it to the end of the cycle, help them cancel their own.
Members can't switch plans or payment options after signing up, and you can't move them between plans. To change someone's plan, cancel their membership, refund if you want to, and ask them to sign up again. Price changes only apply to new members, and existing subscribers keep paying what they agreed. You also can't stop someone signing up: you can cancel their membership and delete their account, but they can join again.
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Deleting a member site or a plan
Email your members first, because deleted member sites and their memberships can't be restored. Deleting the member site leaves its pricing plan in place, and the pages become unrestricted, move to Not linked and are visible to search engines, so delete them or add page passwords. Deleting a pricing plan instead removes members' access, though the member site itself stays hidden.
My verdict on Squarespace memberships
I'd use Member Sites if you're starting a paid community or course library from scratch and your site's already on Squarespace, because the paywall, accounts and member emails are built in. I'd put recurring plans on Stripe or Squarespace Payments from day one. I'd skip it if you're moving hundreds of existing members who'd each have to sign up again, or if you need members-only content to rank in search. If that's you, compare the Squarespace alternatives first.
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Frequently asked questions
Is it free to make a member site on Squarespace?
Building one is free, but you need a website plan that includes digital products to sell memberships, plus a payment processor if you charge.
Can I import existing members into Squarespace?
No. You can't create or import member contacts manually or sign people up for them. Each member has to sign up and create their own account.
Can members pay for a Squarespace subscription with PayPal?
No. PayPal and gift cards only work for one-time fixed payments. Installments and subscriptions take credit cards, so connect Squarespace Payments or Stripe.
Do Squarespace member pages show up in Google?
No. Pages in a member site have their SEO options switched off and are removed from your sitemap, so they stay out of search results.
What happens when a Squarespace member cancels?
They aren't refunded for past payments, upcoming payments stop, and they keep access until the end of the billing cycle.
