Import your members

Need to import your members from another system into Memberful? We’re happy to provide hands-on support!

Which of the following three scenarios do you fall under?

• Scenario 1: I'm using Stripe and my member’s already have Stripe Subscriptions (e.g. Substack).
• Scenario 2: I'm using Stripe, but my members don't have Stripe Subscriptions (e.g. WooCommerce).
• Scenario 3: I’m not using Stripe yet (e.g. PayPal, Braintree, Authorize.net).

I'm using Stripe, and my member’s already have Stripe Subscriptions.

You do not need to prepare a CSV import file. We can import your subscriptions and members directly from your Stripe account. Please contact us.

1. Upgrade to Pro plan from Account → Plans and billing. (Optional)
2. Create your Plan(s) in Memberful.
3. Connect to Stripe via Settings → Payment.
4. Tell us how to map your old Stripe Plans to your Memberful Plans.
5. Schedule an import date. (We require at least 5 business days.)
6. Disable all Stripe transactional emails to prevent members from being notified of their cancelled subscription.
7. We will migrate all active subscriptions, confirm with you once the import is complete, and delete the Stripe Subscriptions to avoid duplicate charges.

What to do after import →

I'm using Stripe, but my members do not have Stripe Subscriptions.

Prepare and generate an export from your old membership system and format it so it can be imported to Memberful via our CSV import file. Include the Stripe Customer IDs. Migrating from WooCommerce? Please contact us.

1. Upgrade to Pro plan from Account → Plans and billing. (Optional)
2. Create your Plan(s) in Memberful.
3. Connect to Stripe via Settings → Payment.

4. Navigate to the Members tab, click Import Members, and download our sample CSV import file.

   

5. Fill in the CSV import file. (See a list of the fields below.) The only required fields are First name, Last name, and Email. If you don't want to include a field, leave it empty. To add a member with multiple Plans, simply re-import the same member again with a different Plan.

   Please note that the import tool will not work if there are special characters in the CSV import file. Microsoft Excel generates these special characters so we recommend importing and exporting the CSV via Google Sheets.

6. Disable all transactional emails in your old system to prevent members from being notified of their cancelled subscription.

7. After you've formatted your CSV import file, click Import Members to upload the file and import your members.

   Please note that the member.signup webhook is triggered for each member imported via the CSV import file, which means that any Zaps connected to member.signup will also be triggered.

What to do after import →

I'm not using Stripe yet.

Please contact us for details. We can guide you on how to move your existing customer credit cards to Stripe. Once your credit cards are migrated to Stripe, you'll generate an export from your old membership system and format it so it can be imported to Memberful via our CSV import file.

If you can’t move the credit cards over to Stripe, you can prompt members to add one when you send them the password reset email.

CSV import fields

• First name (Required): First name of the member
• Last name: Last name of the member
• Email (Required): Email address of the member
• Password: Leave this field blank. We will generate a strong, random password for each member.
• Free access: Should the member have an "All Access Pass" (Access to all Plans and Downloads)—Yes or No? The default value is No.
• Street: Member's street address
• City: Member's city
• Postal Code: Member's ZIP or postal code
• Country: Member's country
• Phone Number: Member's phone number
• Memberful Plan Name: Name of the Memberful Plan you want to subscribe the member to
• Memberful Plan Expiration Date (Required if Plan Name is set): The date you want the subscription to expire
• Memberful Plan Automatically Renews: Should the plan automatically renew on expiration—Yes or No? The default value is Yes.
• Stripe Customer ID: If the member already exists in your Stripe account and has a credit card on file, you can enter the Stripe Customer ID and the credit card will automatically be associated with the member's account.
• Custom Field Value: If you've created a Custom Field via Settings → Customize → Form, you may populate it for the member.

What to do after import

1. Disable your old membership system completely and terminate any recurring billing logic in your previous processor (if required).
2. Enable Memberful on your WordPress site or non-WordPress site and push live any necessary design changes (e.g. add Memberful purchase and sign in links).
3. Make a final export from your old system and import your members using the import tool. If you’re already using Stripe Subscriptions, we will perform the import for you.
4. Using WordPress? We recommend that you delete your users from WordPress. We will recreate the users after they log in through a Memberful sign in link. If you don't delete the users, we will ask them to sign in with their existing WordPress credentials so we can sync the WordPress/Memberful accounts.
5. After the import is complete, send an email to your members letting them know about the new system and include a link to reset their password and sign in. If you couldn't import their credit cards, you should also ask them to add a credit card.

Link to reset password and sign in https://YOURSITE.memberful.com/auth/password/new

Link to add credit card https://YOURSITE.memberful.com/account/credit_card/edit