Memberships are subscription-based plans that control which products members can access, either for free or for a recurring fee.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.disco.co/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Overview
Every academy requires at least one active membership plan, and every member belongs to exactly one plan at all times. Plans gate which products (courses) a member can register for, but they do not auto-enroll members in anything. Paid plans run through Stripe and support recurring billing only. Free plans can be used to segment member access without payment.Who Has Access
Admins can create, edit, publish, and delete membership plans, and manually move members between plans. Members can view available plans, self-select a plan to join, and manage their subscription (upgrade, switch, cancel) from their profile settings. Plan availability is academy-wide. There are no role-based restrictions on which plans are visible to members beyond what the admin configures. Paid plans require an active Stripe integration. Without it, paid plan creation is blocked.How It Works: Default Free Plan
Every academy includes a default free plan. All new members are assigned to it if no other plan is available or if they do not select one during registration. The default free plan is permanently published and cannot be deleted, unpublished, or given a price. Admins can edit its name, cover photo, description, and included products. The settings drawer displays this note: “Every community has a default free membership plan that is always published and the price cannot be changed.” \Create a Membership Plan
- Navigate to Admin → Products & Memberships
- Click Add Plan in the top right corner
- Set the price. Enter $0 for a free plan, or a dollar amount for a paid plan
- Select a billing frequency: Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly (paid plans only; one-time payments are not supported)
- Select which products are available on this plan (optional; can be edited later)
- Click Create Membership
Edit a Membership Plan
From Admin → Products & Memberships, click the plan name to open the settings drawer. From there you can edit:- Title
- Cover image and description (the only customizable fields on the member-facing registration page; all other fields are fixed)
- Price and billing frequency (both are locked once members have enrolled in the plan)
- Included products
- Plan status (Draft or Published)
Publish a Membership Plan
Publishing a plan makes it visible to members and creates a corresponding product in your Stripe dashboard. It also generates a system member group (“Everyone: [Plan Name]”) usable across automations and the platform. To publish, open the plan settings drawer and toggle the status to Published. Prerequisites for paid plans: Admin must connect Stripe first via Admin → Integrations → Stripe. During connection, the admin selects a currency. This cannot be changed after it’s set — the only way to change currency is to disconnect and reconnect Stripe entirely.Share a Membership Plan
Disco gives you two types of shareable links. They behave differently in what the member sees when they arrive. Direct plan registration link: Takes the member straight to the registration page for a single plan. The free plan is not shown. Use this when you want to direct someone to a specific plan without surfacing other options. Format: /p//register Membership selection page: Shows all published plans, including the default free plan. URL: /memberships The shareable link generated from the plan settings drawer (/memberships?mpid=…&membershipPlanSlug=…) also opens the full selection page with the plan highlighted. It does not hide the free plan. To copy the link from plan settings, open the settings drawer in Admin → Products & Memberships. To share a link that hides the free plan, use the direct registration URL instead. POV: When targeting a specific segment or running a promotion, share the direct registration link. It removes the free plan option entirely and keeps the member focused on the plan you want them to join.Where Plans Appear for Members
Members can see available membership plans in two places:- My Profile → Account: shows their current active plan and a Change Plan option
- Featured Memberships block on the community dashboard: shows whichever plans the admin has selected in the block settings
Move a Member Between Plans
Admins can move a member from one plan to another without charging them. This works for all non-default plans. Moving a member unregisters them from their current plan and registers them on the new one. If they have an active Stripe subscription, it is cancelled automatically.- Navigate to Admin → Products → Memberships
- Click on the target membership plan row
- Click … beside Export CSV
- Click Add Members
- Search for the member and select them
Delete a Membership Plan
Before deleting a paid plan, Disco checks for active paid subscriptions.- If the plan has active paid subscriptions, you must select a transition plan. Members are moved to that plan, and their payment is prorated toward the new plan.
- If the plan has no active paid subscriptions (or is a free plan), Disco automatically moves all members to the default free plan. No transition plan is required.
Member Checkout Flow
When a member selects a paid plan, they go through a Stripe-powered checkout flow. Their plan is activated immediately upon successful payment.- Member navigates to My Profile → Account
- Current plan is shown with options to Change Plan or Cancel (Cancel does not appear on the default free plan)
- Member clicks Change Plan, selects a paid plan, and reviews the checkout summary
- Stripe’s embedded checkout form loads; member enters payment details
- Optional fields depending on admin’s Stripe configuration: promo code, tax info, additional payment methods (Google Pay, Apple Pay, Afterpay, Klarna, etc.)
- Additional payment methods are managed in the Stripe dashboard under Settings → Payment Methods. Disco surfaces whatever is enabled there
- Member clicks Subscribe → payment processes → member is moved to the paid plan immediately
What Admins See After a Payment
After a member completes checkout, admins receive an email notification confirming enrollment. The transaction is recorded in both Disco and Stripe.- In Admin → Products & Memberships, the plan drawer shows total gross earnings and a transaction list (member name, amount, date)
- Admins receive an email notification for every new plan registration, paid or free
- Full transaction and subscription detail lives in the Stripe dashboard under Transactions and Subscriptions
- Disco’s native revenue metrics exist but are limited. Stripe is the recommended source of truth for financial reporting
Configuration & Settings
Stripe integration: Required for paid plans only. Configured at Admin → Integrations → Stripe. Currency is set at connection time and cannot be changed without disconnecting and reconnecting Stripe entirely. Payment methods: Managed in the Stripe dashboard under Settings → Payment Methods. Whatever is enabled there appears on the member checkout form. The default is credit card only. Promo codes: Coupons and promo codes are managed entirely in Stripe. No Disco-side configuration is required beyond enabling the Stripe integration. Tax: Calculated by Stripe if enabled on the admin’s Stripe account. Not enabled by default. Billing frequencies: Weekly, Monthly, Yearly. One-time payments are not supported for memberships. Plan status: Draft or Published. The default free plan is permanently Published and cannot be changed. Included products: Admins select which courses are accessible to members on each plan. This controls visibility and the ability to register, not automatic enrollment. Admins can set a different price for a course depending on the member’s plan (for example, free on Paid Plan A, $100 on the Free Plan). Customizable fields on the registration page: Cover photo and description (rich text) only. All other fields are fixed.Course Enrollment and Plan Access
Membership plans do not auto-enroll members in courses. A plan grants members the ability to register for a course. The member must register themselves. A workaround exists at the course level: navigate to Course → Settings → Access → Auto-Add All Members. When enabled, any user who joins the community is automatically added to that course and bypasses payment for it. For example, if a course is included on Paid Plan A and has Auto-Add All Members enabled, a member who registers for Paid Plan A is automatically enrolled in that course. Once a member registers for a course, access is never revoked, even if they later cancel or downgrade their plan. Disco does not revoke post-registration course access.Member Data and Plan Changes
All member data is preserved regardless of plan changes. A membership plan grants the ability to register for included courses; it does not manage access once registration has occurred. For example: if a member on Paid Plan A registers for a course that is only available on Paid Plan A, and then downgrades to the Free Plan, they retain access to that course permanently. Disco does not remove members from courses they have already registered for. If the member later upgrades back to a paid plan, all prior progress and data remain intact.Failed Payments and Plan Downgrades
When a member’s payment method fails, Disco and Stripe handle the retry sequence.- The member receives up to 8 emails notifying them of the failed payment
- Admins receive the same 8 emails
- After 8 failed retries, the member is automatically moved to the default free plan
- Admins receive an email notifying them that the member has joined the Free Plan
- There are no UI indicators in Disco explaining to the member why they were moved
Edge Cases & Constraints
Currency lock: Once set via Stripe connection, currency cannot be changed at the plan level. A full Stripe disconnect and reconnect is required to change it. Plan switching: When a member switches between two paid plans, they are charged the full amount for the new plan immediately and receive no refund for unused time on the old plan. Cancellation timing: When a member cancels a paid plan, they retain access until the end of the current billing cycle. Admin-initiated plan moves: Admins can move members between plans and bypass payment entirely. The member is not charged for the new plan and not refunded for the old one. Exception: if a paid plan is deleted and a paid transition plan is specified, the payment is prorated toward the new plan. No central member list per plan: Disco shows a transaction list per plan, not a member roster. Admins who need to manage members across plans must do so individually using the Add Members method. Memberships and automations: Membership plans are not natively supported as triggers or conditions in Disco automations. Workaround: use the system member group “Everyone: [Plan Name]” which is auto-generated for each plan and behaves like any other system member group. One plan at a time: Members can only hold a single membership plan. Selecting a new plan cancels the existing one.Known Limitations
- Memberships do not support one-time payments. Recurring billing only.
- No proration on member-initiated plan switches. Proration only applies on admin-deleted plan transitions.
- Automations do not support membership plan triggers natively.
- Disco revenue reporting is limited. Stripe is the recommended tool for financial reporting.
- There is no central member roster per plan. Admins can only view a transaction list.