A membership is a plan your course provider offers. It can give learners free course entry, a discount or access to members-only courses.
A subscription is one learner's record for a membership. It contains their access dates, payment status, renewal details and transactions.
This article is for Cademy course providers. For learner instructions, follow Manage Your Membership or Subscription.
Only a System Admin can install and manage Cademy Memberships. The main Apps and Memberships areas require System Admin access. A Course Owner or Facilitator may see Memberships inside a course they can edit, but they cannot create plans or manage subscriptions from the main Memberships area.
Connect Stripe before installing Cademy Memberships. Paid memberships use your connected Stripe account for payments. Follow Stripe if it is not connected yet.
Install Cademy Memberships
In the Admin Dashboard, select Apps.
Open Cademy Memberships.
Select Install.
After installation, Memberships appears in the Admin Dashboard menu. It contains the Membership Plans and Subscriptions tabs.
Create a membership plan
Select Memberships in the Admin Dashboard.
Open Membership Plans.
Select New Membership.
Enter the Name and Description learners should see.
Enter the Price and choose the Currency.
Under Auto-renew, choose Never, Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly.
Add at least one course benefit, then select Save Membership.
Never creates a one-off membership with no automatic renewal.
Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Yearly create recurring membership options.
A price of zero creates a free membership.
Add course benefits
Under Benefits, select Add Benefit and choose:
Members Only Access - only learners with the membership can enrol on the selected courses.
Free Access - members can book or enrol on the selected courses without paying the normal course price.
Discounted Access - members receive the percentage discount you enter on the selected courses.
Select the individual courses covered by each benefit. You can add more than one benefit to the same membership.
Membership benefits do not book or enrol learners automatically. A learner still chooses and books or enrols on the relevant course. If several active memberships give a discount on the same course, Cademy applies the highest available membership discount.
Add or remove a course from the course editor
Select Courses in the Admin Dashboard.
Open the course and select Edit Course.
Open Settings, then Memberships.
Use Add or Remove beside the required membership benefit.
The course settings show the benefit as Free course access, Members only access or Discounted entry. Select Manage Memberships to return to your membership plans.
Choose the advanced settings
Select Advanced Settings while creating or editing a membership. The available settings are:
Start date - choose when the membership can start.
End date - choose when the membership must end.
Published - show the membership on your public Memberships page. An unpublished membership can still be purchased through its direct link.
Membership signup form - choose the form learners complete when they join. The default asks for name, email and phone number.
Confirmation email template - choose the email sent when a customer is charged. The default is Cademy Default Confirmation Email.
Free trial period - enter the number of trial days before the first charge. This appears only for a recurring membership without a fixed Start date.
Membership Owners - select users or groups that should receive notifications when a new customer joins.
Unpublishing does not cancel existing subscriptions. It removes the membership from the public Memberships page, but a person with its direct link can still buy it.
Publish and share a membership
Turn on Published to show a membership on your public provider page under the Memberships tab.
After saving a membership, select Share to open its direct checkout link. The learner sees the membership name, description, price and recurrence before joining. Their action may be Join or Start Free Trial.
You can also select Share from Membership Plans to open the public page containing all published memberships.
Edit an existing membership
Open Memberships > Membership Plans.
Select the membership you want to change.
Make the changes, then select Save Membership.
Editing a membership will not update existing subscriptions. In particular, do not rely on a new price or Auto-renew choice changing the payment terms for current subscribers. The updated plan is used for future subscriptions.
View learner subscriptions
Open Memberships.
Select Subscriptions.
Select a learner's row to open Subscription Details.
The list shows the learner's name and email, membership, Start Date, Renewal / Expiry Date and status.
Active - the subscription is active and has not been cancelled.
Active until [date] - renewal has been stopped, but the learner keeps membership access until that date.
Expired - the expiry date has passed.
Inactive - the subscription is not active.
Initiated - payment or card setup has started but has not completed. Records still at this stage are normally excluded from the Subscriptions list.
Subscription Details shows Membership, Cost, Auto-renews, trial and access dates when relevant, the current status and Transactions.
Add a learner manually
A manual subscription gives a contact membership access without charging them through Cademy. It is recorded with Auto-renews set to Never.
Open Memberships > Subscriptions.
Select New Subscription.
Under Search for a contact..., select an existing contact or choose Create new contact... and enter their details.
Select Select a membership and choose the plan.
If needed, choose an optional Start date or End date.
Turn on Send confirmation email if the learner should be emailed.
Select Create Subscription.
Creating a subscription manually does not collect payment or create recurring charges. Use the normal membership checkout when the learner needs to pay through Cademy.
Stop renewal or end access immediately
Open the learner's Subscription Details, then choose the action that matches the required outcome:
Don't Renew... - stops the next renewal. Confirm with Don't Renew. The learner keeps their membership until the displayed expiry date, and the action cannot be undone.
Deactivate... - ends the subscription immediately. Confirm with Deactivate. The learner loses membership access immediately, and the action cannot be undone.
Check the confirmation message and date before continuing. Use Don't Renew... when access should continue to the end of the current period. Use Deactivate... only when access must end now.
Check transactions, fees and failed payments
Open Subscription Details and look under Transactions. Each transaction shows its date, payment status and total paid. Open the transaction breakdown to see Total Paid, Platform Fees, Marketplace Fees, Cademy VAT and Net Payout when those amounts apply.
For an explanation of the fees included with each provider plan, follow Cademy Pricing and Plans Explained.
If a recurring payment fails, Cademy emails the learner and the provider's membership email recipients. Check the subscription's displayed status and expiry date. If it is still active, the learner can retain membership benefits until that expiry date.
There is no refund action in Subscription Details. Follow Cancellations & Refunds and use Stripe when a membership payment must be refunded.
Find a membership on a contact
Open Contacts and select the learner. An active membership appears as a green badge containing the membership name. The contact's activity also records when they subscribed and shows the payment status.
If a membership or subscription is missing
No Apps or Memberships menu: ask a System Admin to connect Stripe, open Apps and install Cademy Memberships. After installation, only a System Admin can use the main Memberships area to create plans and manage subscriptions.
No membership on the public page: open the plan and check Published. An unpublished membership is available only through its direct link.
No course benefit: open the membership's Benefits and check that the individual course is selected, or check Edit Course > Settings > Memberships.
No learner in Subscriptions: ask whether they completed the initial payment or card setup and whether they used the expected email address. Records with incomplete setup may not appear in the list.
No payment from a manual subscription: this is expected. New Subscription adds access without collecting payment.
Learner says a benefit is missing: confirm that their subscription is active and the course is included in that membership. Ask them to log in using the same email address used for the membership.
Frequently asked questions
Can one membership include several courses?
Yes. Select each individual course covered by a benefit. A membership can contain more than one benefit.
Can I add a whole course collection to a membership?
No. Membership benefits currently select individual courses.
Can I offer a membership with no recurring payment?
Yes. Choose Never under Auto-renew.
Can I offer a free trial?
Yes, for a recurring membership without a fixed Start date. Enter the number of days under Free trial period.
Does adding a learner manually charge them?
No. A manual subscription is free, does not renew and does not create a Stripe charge.
Will a new price change current subscribers?
No. Cademy warns that editing a membership does not update existing subscriptions. The new plan details are used for future subscriptions.
Does unpublishing cancel existing subscriptions?
No. It removes the plan from the public Memberships page, but does not cancel existing subscriptions.
What is the difference between Don't Renew and Deactivate?
Don't Renew... preserves access until the displayed expiry date. Deactivate... ends access immediately.
Why is an initial subscription missing from the list?
The learner may not have completed the initial payment or card setup. Confirm that setup was completed and that you are looking for the same email address they used.
Where does a learner manage their own subscription?
Send them Manage Your Membership or Subscription.