

Memberful: Sell Digital Goods with Stripe - garrettdimon
http://memberful.com

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challengee
First of all, nice product, seems intuitive and easy to set up.

I'm wondering how Memberful distinguishes itself from the competition. I'm
talking about <https://sellfy.com/> (also supporting Stripe,
[http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/18/look-who-called-sellfy-
scor...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/18/look-who-called-sellfy-scores-angel-
funding-from-skype-co-founder-and-others/)) and <https://gumroad.com/>
([http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/07/gumroad-7-million-
series-a-...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/07/gumroad-7-million-series-a-
kleiner-perkins/)).

I think Gumroad has been around for a while and is doing really great. They
also pay you directly.

Could you elaborate on how Memberful is different? Just trying to sort things
out in this field. Would people prefer payment through Stripe instead of
directly?

Thanks and keep up the good work.

~~~
drewstrojny
This is Drew with Memberful. Good question. Here's how we're different:

* Integrate with _your_ Stripe account. You get to sell with a processor you love (Stripe) and we act as a nice layer on top of that. This means you don't ever have to worry about us touching card data or storing that type of information.

* We're not venture funded. We built a real business on this software (see <http://thethemefoundry.com>). We depend on it everyday. We plan to build this service the right way (even if it takes a little bit longer) and stick around for the long haul.

* Completely customizable. Memberful uses Liquid templates and a theme editor to give you total control over the checkout and account screens. You can tightly integrate the design with your own site (again see <http://thethemefoundry.com>) and customers will have a completely seamless experience.

* Recurring billing / subscriptions. Sell monthly or yearly subscriptions quickly and easily. Customers can view their account, update their card, cancel / renew their subscription, etc.

* Simple WordPress integration. We built a WordPress plugin to sit nicely on top of our API and provide point and click integration with WordPress. Customers are automatically signed in to your WordPress site and your products and subscriptions are synced up with WordPress and ready to use. Protect specific content or entire posts and pages.

* Use your own email service. We'll send emails for you by default, but you can use your own SMTP server or service (Postbox, Mandrill, etc.). Emails come directly from you, giving your customers an even more consistent brand experience.

Hopefully this helps. Happy to answer any other questions!

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callmeed
Looks pretty good. I have a similar project at: <https://bngal.com>

I think some screen shots on your home page would help a lot.

In a broader sense, with Stripe being so easy to setup, this space is going to
get a little crowded. I think the winners will differentiate themselves by
focusing on a niche/segment first.

Also, Gumroad has raised a lot of money, so (some would say) that gives them a
bit of an advantage.

Good luck.

~~~
apapli
That's a super slick front page (for bngal). Nice work!

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juddlyon
I've been wondering when someone would build a nice service like this on top
of Stripe. Hope to see more, Stripe is a pleasure to work with.

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jusben1369
I see that you don't support other payment gateways. Check out
Spreedlycore.com if you want to easily add more.

~~~
drewstrojny
We intentionally aren't supporting any other payment gateways and have no
current plans to change that.

~~~
jusben1369
Gotcha. Why did you intentionally make that decision?

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drewstrojny
Simplicity. Stripe Connect allows us to integrate that processing layer in a
really customer friendly way. Putting more balls in the air introduces more
complexity into the service and the underlying software.

Nothing against Spreedly Core though, it looks fantastic.

~~~
jusben1369
No wasn't meaning it in reference to Spreedly Core. Thanks for the kind words.
Was just wondering why you mapped to just one though. Stripe's fantastic to
work with for this type of thing.

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dylanhassinger
Good stuff. Similar to Spacebox.io

