Free or paid community: how to decide which to launch first

Start free when participation is the first problem to solve

A free community lets you learn who joins, what they talk about, and whether members help each other without constant prompting, before anyone expects a paid result.

• The community supports a broader business, audience, church, product, or cause.
• More of the right members makes the experience more useful for everyone.
• You are still validating the recurring behavior and do not yet have a paid promise.

Start paid when the promise is already specific

A paid community needs a reason to remain valuable after the welcome period. Good reasons include access to expert judgment, a reliable working rhythm, facilitated peer support, original resources, or a result that members actively pursue. Members who pay usually commit more, and they expect more from onboarding and from every month that follows.

• You can explain what a member should accomplish or receive each month.
• The group has to stay small and selective, or someone has to facilitate it.
• Delivery creates real ongoing costs in time, expertise, events, or support.

Test an unclear offer with a short founding period

A low price on an unclear offer creates the expectations of a paid product without producing enough revenue to deliver one well.

If you are uncertain, run a short founding period with a clear end date. Observe the value members use, then decide whether the permanent model should be free, paid, or a free community with a paid program inside it.

Course sales and membership in Lockers

Free does not include selling. Basic can sell individual courses and event tickets in a free-to-join community, with a 5% platform fee. Pro adds paid memberships and lowers the platform fee to 1%. Stripe's processing fee is separate on both plans.

Hosted video in the courses you sell has no stored-minute total on Basic or Pro. Non-video files count toward the Locker's file allowance.