SELL · PAID CONTENT
Sell your writing and your files, from your own site.
Members-only articles and files, monthly or yearly memberships, and bundles sold once, the way Ghost does it. It is part of Commerce: readers pay into your own Stripe account, and we take no fee.
In this area
The screens in your site's admin that sell your content, and what your readers see.
Access: who can read each article
In the Composer, Access makes an article public, members-only or part of a package. A members-only boundary marks where the free part ends.
- Works on pages and posts, and goes live when you publish.
- A second boundary ends the members-only part, so an article can finish free.
- With no boundary, readers without access see none of the article.
- The copilot can make an article members-only once you approve its card.
Paywall notice: what a non-member sees
A reader without access sees the free opening, then a notice with each way in. The members-only part is removed on the server before the page is sent.
- It is not in the page's code, its RSS feed or its AI-readable copy.
- Buying while signed out: make an account, confirm the email, then Stripe's checkout.
- Signed-in readers who have not bought are told what their account is missing.
- Search engines are told which part is free and which is for members.
Membership: recurring access for your readers
Set monthly or yearly tiers, each opening everything or only the packages you name. Each membership is a Stripe subscription on your own account, and we take no fee.
- Access starts when Stripe reports payment, and ends if a renewal fails.
- Change a price and existing members keep the price they joined at.
- Your Stripe key is checked, stored encrypted and never shown again in full.
- Not built yet: emailing your posts to members, or one list of all members.
Packages: sell a bundle, or one article, once
A package is a named set of content, sold once or included in a tier.
Content a package can hold
- Articles
- Pages
- Documents
- Media
To sell one article or file alone, put it in its own package.
- Buyers keep a package for good; a full refund in Stripe removes access.
- If a tier includes it, the notice offers both: buy it once, or join.
- Archiving takes a package off sale; everyone who bought it keeps it.
- The copilot can build and price a package from one sentence, after approval.
Documents: members-only files and video
Upload PDFs, videos and poster images as members-only, up to 50 MB each, or put them in a package. Members download them, and members-only video plays in the page.
- A members-only file is never served at its public address.
- Each download goes through a fresh link that expires after two minutes.
- Members-only video plays in the page, with working seek.
- A new rule protects links from then on; downloaded copies cannot be recalled.
Customer identity: your readers' own accounts
Readers create an account on your site and sign in with a password or an emailed link. Customer identity decides whether anyone can sign up, and how account pages look.
- Each reader's account page shows what they bought, their downloads and membership.
- Sign-up and sign-in emails go out with nothing to set up.
- Access comes from the signed-in account, never from the visitor profile.
- A browser sending Global Privacy Control keeps everything its reader paid for.
