Ways to Make Money
Free & ProBuddyNext Pro gives you several ways to charge for a community, not just one. This page explains each model, when it fits, and how they combine, so you can choose a business model before you wire up the mechanics. Every model here needs BuddyNext Pro and a connected payment gateway; once that is in place, the models are just different ways of deciding what a payment unlocks.
New to the money features? Read What BuddyNext Pro Adds first for the parts list, then come back here for the strategy.
The models
1. Recurring membership (subscription)
The default model: members pay a recurring fee - monthly or yearly - for ongoing access. Revenue is predictable and compounds as you grow.
- Set it up with Membership Plans and take payment through Stripe or another gateway.
- Best for: creators, professional networks, and any community whose value is continuous.
2. Tiered plans (good / better / best)
Offer two or three plans at different prices, each unlocking more - more spaces, more content, more perks. Members self-select, and you capture both the price-sensitive and the committed.
- Create several plans and decide what each unlocks; entitlements are per-plan. See Membership Plans.
- Best for: communities with a clear "casual vs serious" split.
3. Gated spaces (charge for a room)
Instead of charging for the whole community, charge for entry to specific spaces - a premium space, a mastermind, a paid cohort - while the rest stays open. Great for adding paid value on top of a free community.
- Require a plan to enter a space with Gated Spaces.
- Best for: a free community with one or more premium rooms; agency or client spaces.
4. Paywalled content (sell a single thing)
Lock individual posts or pieces of content behind a plan, so you can sell one item - a guide, a recording, a template - without selling a whole space.
- Lock content with Content Protection.
- Best for: selling standout content à la carte alongside a subscription.
5. The levers: trials, coupons, and tax
Layer these onto any model above to convert and comply:
- Free trials start the subscription at the provider, so access begins immediately and billing starts when the trial ends. See Stripe Payments.
- Coupons run launch discounts and win-back offers; tax is applied flat at checkout. See Coupons and Tax.
- Renewal reminders recover revenue that would quietly lapse. See Renewal Reminders.
Which model should I use?
| If you want to... | Use |
|---|---|
| Charge for the whole community | Recurring membership (1) |
| Offer entry-level and premium prices | Tiered plans (2) |
| Keep a free community but sell premium rooms | Gated spaces (3) |
| Sell one post, guide, or recording | Paywalled content (4) |
| Run a launch discount or a trial | Coupons and trials (5) |
These are not exclusive - a common shape is a free community with a paid tier (1 + 2) that unlocks a couple of premium spaces (3), with a launch coupon (5).
How the money reaches you
Whichever model you choose, the flow is the same: a member subscribes through hosted checkout, the gateway takes the payment, and BuddyNext keeps their access in sync as payments succeed, renew, fail, or refund. Members manage their own subscription - upgrade, cancel, see invoices - from Settings > Membership, so you are not fielding billing requests by hand. Set the mechanics up once by following Launch a Paid Community.
Related
- What BuddyNext Pro Adds - the full Pro parts list
- Launch a Paid Community - the end-to-end setup recipe
- Membership Plans - the reference for plans, tiers, and subscriptions