Offer free content or a public preview of your Hub to drive conversions

What can I use this for?

If you want people to learn more about what your Hub offers before purchasing access, you can provide free content or a public Hub page.

For example, you might offer an introductory video, sample content, guides, checklists, or downloadable resources. This lets visitors understand what you offer and decide whether to purchase access to your full content.

Membership.io supports two approaches:

• Create a new Hub that requires visitors to register before they can access your free content and resources. This gives you a way to collect names and email addresses for marketing purposes, while also guiding visitors to the paid Hub when they’re ready to continue.
• Offer a "Free" plan in your existing Hub and use Segments to control which content non-paying and paying members can access.

Option 1 – Create a separate Hub

You can use this as a public-facing introduction to your offering and direct visitors to your paid Hub when they're ready to purchase access.

Step 1 – Create a new Hub

Create a new Hub.Click Customize to enter the Hub editor, set your homepage as a Public page, and start customizing it. For the full customization guide, see Mastering how to customize Hub sections.

You can add a button in your homepage that links to your content page.

Step 2 – Set up your content page

Navigate to Content and start adding your content playlists as free resources. You can create new Playlists and upload content to it, or add them straight from your Library. Make sure to publish them, or they won't be visible to your members later when they sign up.

Create a custom page, such as "Resources" or "Content," and add your Playlists from the Content section.

Step 3 – Enable Hub registration

Enable the Hub Registration page so your members can register first before getting access to your Hub. Adding registration helps filter out people who aren't genuinely interested in your content and use the registration details to send promotional emails when needed.

Customize the registration page to match your Hub’s design and the experience you want to create.

Step 4 (Optional) – Direct visitors to your paid Hub

Add a separate button or link that takes visitors to the registration or payment flow for your paid Hub.

For example:

Explore for free > Learn more > Purchase access

This lets visitors experience some of what you offer before deciding whether to purchase access to the rest of your content.

Complete setup flow

Private Hub > Public homepage > Free registration > Free content and resources > Link to paid Hub > Registration and payment > Full access to paid exclusive content

Step 5 – Finalize and share

Complete your Hub setup by finalizing the design and features, then update your page URLs with a slug or custom domain if needed. If you need help customizing sections, see: Mastering how to customize Hub sections.

Once done, you can start sharing and promoting your Hub!

Option 2 – Offer a Free plan in your existing Hub

If you want to keep your free and paid content in the same Hub, you can offer a Free plan and use Segments to control access to your content.

Visitors can register for the Free plan and access the sections you've made available to them. You can then restrict other sections to members who have the appropriate paid access.

Step 1 – Create a Free plan

Set up a Free product in your Hub so visitors can register without purchasing a paid plan. Do that by going to Payments > Pricing.

Step 2 – Add a free content page

Make introductory content and resources available to Free members, such as a welcome pack, introductory videos, sample lessons, guides and checklists, and more.

Step 3 – Use Segments to control free and paid content

Use Segments to determine which members can view specific Hub sections.

This allows Free members to access your introductory content while keeping paid content available only to members who meet the conditions of the appropriate Segment.

For detailed instructions, see Using Segments to control Hub section visibility.

Complete setup flow

Free plan > Free content > Purchase a paid plan > Paid content

Which approach should I use?

Choose the approach based on how you want visitors to interact with your content: