Which community and membership stack is best for you? I break them all down and show you what their sales pages won't say out loud!
A Netflix-style video membership platform with a community bolted on, and the bolt is expensive: channels, DMs, challenges, streaks and badges are off on Starter ($49) and Growth ($149 + $1.99 per subscriber), an add-on on App Essentials ($449), included on Custom. Your own Stripe and PayPal, your own apps from $449, strong built-in email. Bulk member import is Custom-only.
Uscreen is the video membership platform: a Netflix-style catalogue, native livestreaming, subscriptions, and your own iOS, Android and TV apps. Fitness, yoga and faith creators live here, and the company claims $1B+ in creator revenue and 4,000+ apps launched. It sits in this directory because it markets "the only membership platform where content and community unite."
Here's what the plan comparison page says about that: the community is switched off on the two self-serve plans. Channels, DMs, challenges, streaks, badges, push notifications, video and livestream scheduling all show a cross on Starter and Growth, "Optional via add-on" on App Essentials ($449/mo), and a tick only on Custom. If you came here for the community, your entry price isn't $49. It's $449 plus an add-on they don't price publicly, plus a sales call.
The video side is the best in this directory. Read it with that in mind.
Four plans, 14-day free trial, no card. Annual billing on Growth and App Essentials knocks the monthly rate down; Starter is monthly only.
The subscriber fee is the real meter. Uscreen's own calculator says at 200 paying members Growth costs $547/mo and App Essentials $647/mo on yearly billing; at 300 members they're equal at $746/mo, and above that App Essentials is cheaper. Starter caps at 100 and then you're forced up.
Uscreen doesn't take a percentage of subscription revenue. It takes $1.99 per subscriber per month on Growth and $0.99 on App Essentials, which at a $20/mo membership is roughly 10% and 5%. One-time sales and rentals carry a straight 10% on Starter and 5% above. Recorded as 0% because Starter has no subscriber fee and the field measures a percentage; read the paragraph above instead of the number.
Your own Stripe, with Uscreen using Stripe Billing (0.7% of recurring volume on top of card fees, per the help centre), plus PayPal. Apple Pay, Google Pay, SEPA, iDEAL, Buy Now Pay Later, localized pricing on App Essentials and up, in-app purchases through Apple and Google in the apps. Rated "Built in, multiple processors."
When you have it, it's decent and video-shaped. Channels (public and private) with posts, likes, comments and 60-second video uploads. Direct messages. Challenges: structured video journeys where completion is tracked automatically by video views, either on fixed dates or "anytime" with a set number of days per member, with automatic completion emails. Watch streaks and reward badges tied to viewing. A calendar with video and livestream scheduling. Community analytics on App Essentials and up.
Which is to say the gamification is built around watching, not posting. Streaks reward showing up to the video library; challenges reward finishing a programme. There's no points-for-likes leaderboard. Rated "Points or badges."
And again: none of this is on Starter or Growth. Rated "Yes" for spaces on the strength of channels, with the plan caveat.
Livestreaming is native on every plan, one hour included, auto-recorded to the library, with preregistration and attendee reports. Gated Zoom links too. Rated "Yes" for events.
Not courses in the Thinkific sense. Collections, series and episodes, drip and scheduled content, resume watching, captions, offline viewing in the apps. No quizzes, no certificates, no lesson-completion gates beyond challenges. Rated "Basic."
Does it send members a digest? No. The help centre describes a bell-icon notification centre for likes, comments, replies and admin posts, push notifications in the apps, and per-event email notifications. No daily or weekly summary. Rated "Basic notifications."
Can you email your members from inside it? Yes, and it's one of the stronger ones here. Email broadcasts with a visual builder, AND/OR segment filters, tag targeting, and templates for growth, retention and win-back. Built-in acquisition and retention automations, abandoned cart, gift subscriptions, and email automations in beta. On every plan. A custom email domain is recommended for deliverability. Rated "Sequences and automation."
Can you get your list out? Yes. People → filter → Export People, then download from Settings → Exported Files. The CSV is thorough: name, email, lifetime spend, status, plan, tags, created date, next invoice, cancelled and churned dates, marketing opt-in, lead source, custom fields, UTM values, billing country. You can also export the member list per subscription plan. For live sync to an email tool, integrations, webhooks and Zapier are add-ons on App Essentials and standard on Custom. Rated "Zapier or API only."
Members in: the Bulk Invite tool takes a two-column CSV (name, email), applies tags and grants subscription or bundle access on import, and requires a verified custom email domain first. The comparison page lists "Bulk user uploads" as Custom-only, and the help centre says the tool is on the "Plus" plan and to email sales if you're not on it. Self-serve plans add members one at a time or via Zapier, which is itself an add-on below Custom. Rated "No."
Members out: the People CSV above. Community posts and comments: no export we could find. Rated "Members CSV only."
Courses in: videos upload directly, or in bulk from Dropbox. The structure (collections, series) is rebuilt by hand; Uscreen's team does migrations on App Essentials and Custom. Rated "SCORM or bulk upload" on the strength of the Dropbox bulk video import, with the note that it moves files, not structure.
None on Starter or Growth. App Essentials gives you iOS and Android apps under your own developer accounts, launched within 90 days, with push notifications, offline viewing, casting and in-app purchases. TV apps (Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV and the like) are an add-on there and included on Custom. Rated "Your own branded app," at $449/mo.
Uscreen runs a partner program and a customer referral program (both linked in its footer); terms aren't on a public page we could read without signing up.
Community features (channels, DMs, challenges, streaks, badges) are not available on Starter or Growth; they're an unpriced add-on on App Essentials ($449/mo) and included only on Custom. Growth charges $1.99 per subscriber per month on top of $149. Bulk member import is Custom-only. No digest email. No quizzes or certificates.
Checked 26 Oct 2026 against the Uscreen pricing page, the plans-comparison page (uscreen.tv/plans-comparison), and these help centre articles: Export User Reports; Self-Service Migration Options; Connect to Stripe; Community Challenges; Community Notifications for Members; Sending Email Broadcasts; Email Essentials.
The course platform with everything in one bill: courses with quizzes, unlimited email and automations, funnels, payments, and a community tab. $179/mo to start, $143 on annual. No free plan, a 2,500-contact cap on Basic, and the community is the weakest part of the package.
The cheapest real course builder with a community attached. $54/mo, or $40 on annual, 30-day trial, 0% fees if you use Thinkific Payments. The community is one feed with 5 Spaces on Basic, the email tool is a few canned sequences, and bringing your own Stripe on Basic costs 5%.
A course and coaching platform, not a community platform. Teachable has paused its Community feature. From $39/mo with a 7.5% fee on Starter, 0% from Builder ($89). Shared student app, broadcast email, native Mailchimp sync.
