Status: Available Run a fully free community, a fully paid one, or a mix — and set up the right access path either way.
Every community needs an access path: at least one way for members to reach content. That can be a paid plan or product, or simply free content members can open directly. To see how this fits the bigger picture, read How access & monetization works.
Free is a property of content, not a plan
To offer something for free, mark the content itself as free — you don't wrap it in a plan or product:
- A free group — open to join, no purchase.
- A free course — members enroll directly.
- A public blog — readable by anyone.
Every member gets this the moment they join. There are no $0 plans or $0 products — plans and products are only for paid offerings. So to give something away, make the content free; don't create a $0 plan or product.
The three setups
| Setup | How to do it |
|---|---|
| Fully free | Publish free content — a free group (and optionally free courses or public blogs). Members join and get it with no payment. No plan, no product, no Stripe. |
| Fully paid | Publish paid plans or products, then connect Stripe. Members pay to unlock content. |
| Mixed | Keep some content free (free groups, free courses, public blogs) and sell the rest through paid plans or products. Everyone gets the free content; paid offerings unlock more. Stripe is needed for the paid side. |
Free courses & groups
A course or a group can be set to free, so members enroll or join directly without a product or plan. Paid ones are unlocked through a product or plan. See Sell or free-enroll a course.
Retiring an offering
To take a plan, group, or course down, archive it rather than delete it. Archiving hides it from new members while everyone who already joined keeps their access, and you can restore it later. A published plan, or content that already has members, can't be permanently deleted — archive it instead. See Archiving vs deleting content.
Ties into going live
The access path is a check on your go-live checklist: you need at least one published plan or product, or free content members can reach (a free group, a free course, or a public blog). A fully free community satisfies this with a free group — no plan or product required. Stripe is only needed if you charge for something.