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Monetization & Payments

Sell access with products and subscription plans.
By Faizan Shaikh
6 articles

Create a one-time product

Status: Available Sell lifetime or time-limited access with a single payment, and choose exactly what that payment unlocks. A product is a single one-time payment. When a member buys it, they get an access record that unlocks the content you chose. That access lasts forever (lifetime) or expires after a set number of days, depending on how you set it up. If you want recurring monthly or yearly billing instead, create a subscription plan. You never put a price on a course, group, or blog directly. You create a product and pick what it unlocks. To understand how that fits together, read How access & monetization works first. Create the product 1. Open Products (/admin/content/product). 2. Click Create Item. 3. Fill in Name. 4. Fill in a Description (required, up to 750 characters). 5. Set the Price. Products are for paid content — there are no $0 products. Set a price of at least $1.00. To give something away free, mark the content itself free (a free group, free course, or public blog); you don't need a product. See Free vs paid. 6. Optionally set a Sale Price to show a discounted price next to the regular one (it must be at least $1.00 and no higher than the price). Leave it empty for no sale. 7. Choose how long access lasts (see below). 8. Choose what the product unlocks (see below). 9. Set Status to Published. 10. Save. How long access lasts You pick one of two options: | Setting | What happens | |---|---| | Lifetime (Is Lifetime on) | Access never expires. Once bought, the member keeps it. | | Access Duration | Access expires after the number of days you enter (for example 30 or 365). This is ignored if Lifetime is on, so turn Lifetime off when you want a time limit. | Each purchase creates an access record for that member, and that record expires based on the choice above. What the product unlocks You decide what the payment grants in two ways. You can use either or both: - Unlock all of a type: turn on the relevant Access Scope option (all_groups, all_courses, or all_blogs) to grant every item of that type, including ones you add later. - Unlock specific items: under Included Contents, add the exact groups, courses, or blog access groups you want to grant. Important rule: if you turn on "all of a type", that overrides any specific picks for that same type. For example, if you set Access Scope to all_courses and also add one specific group under Included Contents, the member gets every course plus that one group. Premium blogs work a little differently. You bundle them into a blog access group and add that group here, not individual posts. See Sell premium blogs with access groups. Related - How access & monetization works - Create a subscription plan - Connect Stripe & get paid - Free vs paid: setting up free access

Last updated on Jul 28, 2026

Create a subscription plan

Status: Available Set up recurring monthly or yearly access, with tiers and a benefits list, and choose what each plan unlocks. A plan is a recurring subscription. A member keeps access for as long as their subscription stays active. When it ends, the access goes away. For a single payment instead of recurring billing, create a one-time product. As with products, you never price a course, group, or blog directly. You create a plan and choose what it unlocks. Read How access & monetization works for the full picture. Create the plan 1. Open Plans (/admin/content/plan). 2. Click Create Item. 3. Fill in Name. 4. Set the Monthly Price and Yearly Price. You can set both so members choose, or set one. Every plan needs a price above 0 — there are no $0 plans. Plans are for paid, recurring access. To offer something for free, make the content itself free (a free group, free course, or public blog) instead — see Free vs paid. 5. Set the Tier Level. Higher numbers are more premium, and this controls how members upgrade or downgrade between your plans. 6. Add your Benefits — the perks shown on the plan. You need 2 to 4 benefits (each up to 100 characters); at least 2 are required. 7. Choose what the plan unlocks (see below). 8. Set Status to Published. 9. Save. What the plan unlocks You choose what a subscription grants in two ways, and you can use either or both: - Unlock all of a type: turn on the relevant Access Scope option (all_groups, all_courses, or all_blogs) to grant every item of that type, including ones you add later. - Unlock specific items: under Included Contents, add the exact groups, courses, or blog access groups you want to grant. Important rule: "all of a type" overrides any specific picks for that same type. So all_courses plus one specific group under Included Contents gives the member every course plus that one group. For premium blogs, add a blog access group here rather than individual posts. See Sell premium blogs with access groups. How subscription access behaves - Access lasts while the subscription is active. If it ends or is cancelled, the member loses the access the plan granted. - A member has one active subscription at a time. - When a member switches plans, the new subscription replaces the old one. Timing depends on direction: an upgrade (to a higher Tier Level) takes effect immediately with a prorated charge; a downgrade is scheduled for the end of the current billing period (their current plan keeps running until then), and a scheduled downgrade can be cancelled before it takes effect. Related - How access & monetization works - Create a one-time product - Connect Stripe & get paid - Orders, subscriptions & refunds

Last updated on Jul 28, 2026

Connect Stripe & get paid

Status: Available Connect your Stripe account once so TribeCrafter can take payments from members and pay you out. TribeCrafter uses Stripe to handle payments. Stripe takes the payment from the member and pays the money out to you. You connect your own Stripe account to your community one time, and from then on purchases flow through it. When you need this You only need Stripe if you sell anything. If your community is fully free (your access path is free content — a free group, course, or public blog), you never need to connect Stripe at all. See Free vs paid: setting up free access. If you do sell anything paid, connecting Stripe is one of the items on your go-live checklist. Your community can't go live with paid offerings until it's connected. What "connected" means When you connect Stripe, you go through Stripe's own onboarding (this is Stripe Connect). For payments to work, your Stripe account needs both: - Charges enabled, so members can pay you. - Payouts enabled, so the money reaches your bank. Stripe asks for the business and identity details it needs to enable these. Until both are enabled, paid checkout won't complete. Where the payment account lives The connection between your community and Stripe is managed by the system and by Stripe. You don't edit the payment account by hand in your admin panel. There are no fields to fill in there. You go through Stripe to connect and to manage your account details, and the platform keeps the link in sync. To manage your billing details, payout schedule, or banking after connecting, use your Stripe dashboard. Related - How access & monetization works - Your go-live checklist - Orders, subscriptions & refunds - Free vs paid: setting up free access

Last updated on Jul 23, 2026

Orders, subscriptions & refunds

Status: Available See what members have purchased, track active subscriptions, and understand how refunds and access work. Once members start buying, you can track every purchase and subscription, and see the access each one grants. To understand how a purchase turns into access, read How access & monetization works. Where to look | You want to see… | Open | |---|---| | Every purchase (products and subscriptions) | Orders (/admin/content/order) | | Active and past subscriptions | Subscriptions (/admin/content/subscription) | | The access a purchase granted a member | The member's permissions records | Order statuses Each order in Orders has a status: | Status | Meaning | |---|---| | pending | Started but not yet paid. | | paid | Payment succeeded. This is what grants the member their access. | | failed | Payment didn't go through. No access granted. | | refunded | The payment was returned to the member. Not applied automatically today (see How refunds work below). | | cancelled | The order was cancelled. | Amounts on orders show in your community currency (the currency you set for your community). Subscriptions A subscription is active while the member is paying for it. When it ends it becomes expired or cancelled, and the access that plan granted goes away. Remember a member has only one active subscription at a time, and switching plans replaces the previous one. How refunds work Refunds are issued in your Stripe dashboard, since Stripe holds the payment. Today this is a manual step: issuing a refund in Stripe does not automatically change the order's status here or revoke the member's access. Automatic refund syncing isn't wired up yet. So if you refund a purchase and want to remove the access it granted, adjust the member's access (or the order / subscription record) yourself. Ending a subscription is different: when a subscription actually ends (it's cancelled at period end, or payment stops), the access that plan granted is removed automatically. Related - How access & monetization works - Connect Stripe & get paid - Create a one-time product - Create a subscription plan

Last updated on Jul 28, 2026

Free vs paid: setting up free access

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. Related - How access & monetization works - Archiving vs deleting content - Your go-live checklist - Create a one-time product - Create a subscription plan - Connect Stripe & get paid

Last updated on Jul 23, 2026

Choosing what a product or plan unlocks

Status: Available The two ways to attach content to a product or plan, and the rule that decides which wins. When you create a product or a plan, you decide what content it grants. You never put a price on a course, group, or blog directly. You set the price on the product or plan, then choose what it unlocks. If you haven't read How access & monetization works yet, start there. You make this choice on the product or plan itself, in Products (/admin/content/product) or Plans (/admin/content/plan). It is not in Community Settings. Two ways to choose For each content type (groups, courses, blogs) you have two options. You can use either, and you can mix them across types. Unlock all of a type Turn on the relevant Access Scope option to grant every item of that type, including ones you add later: - all_groups grants every group - all_courses grants every course - all_blogs grants every blog This is the right choice for an all-access offer. Add a new course next month and existing buyers get it automatically. Unlock specific items Under Included Contents, add the exact items you want to grant: specific groups, specific courses, or specific blog access groups. The member gets only what you list, and nothing you add later. The override rule If you turn on "all of a type" for a type, that wins over any specific picks for that same type. The two settings combine across different types, but the "all" setting always wins within a type. | You set | The member gets | |---|---| | Access Scope all_courses + one specific group in Included Contents | Every course, plus that one group | | Access Scope all_courses + one specific course in Included Contents | Every course (the specific course pick is redundant) | | Two specific groups in Included Contents, no Access Scope | Only those two groups | Selling premium blogs: the access-group hop Blogs work a little differently. You don't add individual blog posts to a product or plan. Instead you bundle premium blogs into a blog access group, then add that access group under Included Contents. So the path is: put your premium blogs into a blog access group, then attach the access group to the product or plan. Members with access see the full article; everyone else sees a short summary. Related - How access & monetization works - Create a one-time product - Create a subscription plan

Last updated on Jul 28, 2026