# Memberships > Sell recurring, fixed-term or prepaid memberships, give members benefits, and track renewals. Learn the pages, key terms and the guided setup. Canonical: https://help.spacebrain.ai/memberships/ Last modified: 2026-09-25T00:00:00.000Z Memberships lets you sell ongoing access to your business and keep track of what each member can use. It suits coaches, studios, gyms, clubs and service businesses. This page explains the key ideas, the pages you will use and the quickest way to launch your first plan. ## Key terms [#key-terms] | Term | What it means | | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Plan** | What you sell, such as "Monthly coaching". It sets the price, length, renewal rules and benefits. | | **Revision** | A saved version of a plan. New members join on the published revision. Existing members keep the terms they agreed to. | | **Member** | A CRM person enrolled in a plan. One person can have several memberships. | | **Benefit** | Something included, such as unlimited gym entry or 4 coaching calls per month. | | **Period** | One billing cycle, such as one month. Allowances usually reset each period. | | **Renewal** | The step that starts the next period and collects payment for it. | ## Before you begin [#before-you-begin] * You need permission to manage Memberships. * Paid plans need a product in **Payments → Products** and a ready payment account. See [Set up payment accounts](/payments/set-up-payment-accounts/). * Your members must exist, or be created, as people in the CRM. * If members must sign terms first, create an [agreement template](/agreements/templates-and-public-links/). ## Where to find it [#where-to-find-it] Open **Memberships** in the main sidebar. The pages are: | Page | Use it to… | | ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Members** | See everyone enrolled, filter them and add new members. | | **Overview** | Follow the setup guide, see what needs attention, cash received and upcoming renewals. | | **Renewals** | See who has renewed and who needs help with payment. | | **Plans** | Create, preview and publish what you sell. | | **Usage** | See what members have left to use and their past activity. | | **Settings** | Check setup, turn on connected benefits, set plan defaults and messages. | A section menu at the top of Memberships (labelled **Membership sections**) lets you move between these pages. On a phone, it becomes a single drop-down. If your workspace uses the Gym add-on, the same pages also appear under **Gym** as **Members**, **Membership plans** and **Renewals**. ## Use the guided setup [#use-the-guided-setup] The quickest way to launch is the **Set up your membership** card at the top of **Memberships → Overview**. It takes you through one plan at a time and shows how many of its 4 steps are ready. 1. **Create a plan** — give it a name and a price. Choose **Create plan**. 2. **Choose what members get** — add benefits with **Choose benefits**, or choose **Continue without connected benefits** for a simple paid membership. 3. **Preview the member experience** — choose **Preview plan**. Check the price, benefits and joining instructions, then choose **Done reviewing**. The preview never creates a membership or takes a payment. 4. **Publish and share** — choose **Review publishing** and publish. If the plan is public, the button becomes **Copy signup link**. Each finished step shows **Ready**. Step 4 shows **Ready to share**. Choose **Refresh setup** if a step doesn't update. Use **Plan to set up** to switch to another plan. ## Worked example: a monthly coaching membership [#worked-example-a-monthly-coaching-membership] Alex is a business coach. Members pay monthly and get two coaching calls each month. 1. In **Payments → Products**, Alex creates "Coaching membership" at the monthly price. 2. On **Overview**, Alex chooses **Create plan**, names it "Monthly coaching" and picks **Recurring membership**, billed **Monthly**. 3. Under benefits, Alex connects the calendar booking benefit as **Counted** with an allowance of 2 per period. 4. Alex previews the plan, publishes it and turns on **Show this offer on the public joining page**. 5. Alex copies the signup link into the website. New members verify their email, review the terms and join. 6. Each month, **Renewals** shows who renewed and who has an unpaid invoice. ## If something goes wrong [#if-something-goes-wrong] * **I can't add a member.** Publish a plan first. The Members page says **Publish a plan first** until you do. * **The plan has no price options.** Create a product in **Payments → Products**, then choose it as the **Payments product**. * **A member can't use a benefit.** Open their record and look at **Needs attention** and **What this member can access**. * **A renewal failed.** Open **Renewals**, filter by **Failed** and choose **Review failure**. ## FAQ [#faq] ### What's the difference between a membership and a Payments subscription? [#whats-the-difference-between-a-membership-and-a-payments-subscription] A [subscription](/payments/payment-links-and-subscriptions/) only sends repeat invoices. A membership also tracks access, benefits, required agreements and renewals for each member. ### Does changing a plan change what current members pay? [#does-changing-a-plan-change-what-current-members-pay] No. Publishing a new revision changes the offer for new sales only. Existing members keep their agreed terms. ## Next step [#next-step] - [Set up plans and offers](/memberships/set-up-plans-and-offers/) — Create a plan, add benefits, publish it and share a signup link. - [Manage members and renewals](/memberships/manage-members-and-renewals/) — Enroll members, change or pause memberships and recover renewals. - [Payers, promotions and settings](/memberships/payers-promotions-and-settings/) — Let one person pay for others, offer promo codes and set defaults.