🎟️ Subscription & Membership Pricing Calculator
Membership pricing goes wrong in one of two directions: priced on vibes (too low, and every new member makes you poorer per hour) or priced on hope (too high for what it delivers). Start from your cost to serve one member and the margin the business needs, and the price falls out. Then see what your audience turns it into.
Platform fees, content time, support time, community tools, divided across members.
1 to 3 percent of a warm audience is the realistic range for most memberships.
Charge this per month
$60
Members at that conversion
100
Projected monthly recurring revenue
$6,000
That is per year
$72,000
To keep an 80 percent margin on a $12 cost to serve, charge $60 a month. If 2 percent of your 5,000 person audience joins, that is 100 members and $6,000 of recurring revenue every month ($72,000 a year) that arrives whether or not you hustled that week.
Estimates for planning, not financial advice. Your real numbers will vary; that is exactly why you track them.
Does this resonate?
Now watch the price compound
A membership price only tells half the story; growth and churn tell the rest. Project where your member count and MRR land in 12 months.
Project your MRR curve →Good questions about this math
Why price from cost and margin instead of copying competitors?
Because a competitor's price is built on THEIR costs and THEIR model. Memberships need high margins (70 to 90 percent) because your real cost is the ongoing time to keep it valuable, which grows with members. Cost-up pricing guarantees each member makes the business stronger; copying guarantees nothing.
What conversion rate is realistic?
For a warm audience (email list, engaged followers), 1 to 3 percent converting to a paid membership is typical; 5 percent is exceptional. Cold audiences convert far below 1 percent. When projecting, use 1 percent and let reality surprise you upward.
Should I charge monthly or yearly?
Offer both. Monthly lowers the barrier to join; annual (typically priced at 10 months) improves cash flow and cuts churn. Most healthy memberships see 20 to 40 percent of members choose annual when it is offered.