What Zenbership does

Zenbership is a 100% free, open source membership CRM platform released under the GPLv3 license, founded in 2012 by Jon Belelieu. The software targets online businesses and organizations seeking to acquire, monetize, and retain members, combining membership CRM, eCommerce with subscription management and invoicing, marketing and engagement tools (drip and double opt-in email campaigns, social media integration, source tracking, custom reporting), and event management into a single integrated self-hosted application. It supports multiple payment gateways including Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal, and several others, and includes a proprietary Trackstat system for detecting password sharing via login session pattern analysis.

The current production product (v1) is built on PHP 5.3+ with MySQL on Linux servers and has been in maintenance mode with no updates since 2018. A ground-up rebuild (v2), announced in fall 2019 and resumed in mid-August 2020, shifts to a modern API-first architecture comprising three standalone applications: a PHP 7.3+ backend API, a React-based membership portal client, and a React-based administrative portal client, defaulting to PostgreSQL as the primary data store. A pre-alpha look at v2 was released on February 24, 2021, with v2 adding MFA authentication, complex reporting, digital file delivery, localization, and a new membership grant system, while removing CRM capabilities and complex shopping cart features and pushing event management and mass communication toward third-party integrations.

Zenbership has no commercial revenue model: it is distributed exclusively via GitHub (castlamp/zenbership) for self-download and self-hosting on user infrastructure, with no paid tiers, no commercial licensing, no disclosed headcount beyond the sole founder, no funding rounds, no parent company, and no institutional investors. The project is owned and maintained entirely by Jon Belelieu as an individual, with go-to-market conducted through GitHub, Twitter, and a documentation site. Distribution is global with no geographic restrictions, and the customer base is a horizontal long-tail of self-hosting SMBs and individuals.

Name

Zenbership

Legal name

Zenbership (Open Source Project owned by Jon Belelieu)

Website

https://zenbership.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Zenbership is a 100% free, GPLv3 open source membership CRM platform founded in 2012 by Jon Belelieu, serving online businesses and organizations with integrated eCommerce, subscription management, marketing automation, and event management tools distributed via self-hosting on Linux servers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Membership Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Hosting & Membership Platforms (MPACAJAF)

Keywords

• Membership management software
• Open source CRM
• Subscription billing software
• Event management platform
• Member engagement tools

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Zenbership is a 100% free, open source membership CRM platform released under the GPLv3 license, providing a centralized hub for online businesses and organizations to acquire, monetize, and retain members. The integrated platform combines a membership-specific CRM, eCommerce with subscription and invoicing, drip email and social marketing tools, and event management capabilities within a single PHP/MySQL application that users self-host on their own Linux servers.

Product overview

Zenbership is an open-source membership CRM platform offered as a single unified product with integrated modules. The core Zenbership platform (v1, released 2012) provides membership management, CRM, eCommerce, marketing, and event management as built-in features. Development has shifted to Zenbership v2, a ground-up rebuild using a modern architecture consisting of three separate standalone applications: one API for processing data and business logic, one React-based client for the membership portal, and one React-based client for the administrative portal. Both v2 clients consume the API, though the API can also function independently. Note: Support and updates for v1 were suspended since 2018, with no plans to continue development as of March 2020.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Zenbership (v1 Open Source Membership CRM Platform) Open source membership CRM platform designed to help online businesses and organizations acquire, monetize, and retain members. Distributed under the GPLv3 license and self-hosted on Linux servers with PHP 5.3+ and MySQL 5+. Combines a membership-specific CRM, eCommerce shopping cart with subscription management and invoicing, drip and double opt-in email campaigns with social media integration, source tracking and custom reports, event management with attendance tracking and flexible pricing, and proprietary Trackstat credential-sharing detection.
• Zenbership v2 (Rebuild - Pre-Alpha) Pre-alpha rebuild of the Zenbership membership management application as three standalone, API-first applications: a backend API for data processing and business logic, a React-based membership portal client, and a React-based administrative portal client, with both clients designed to consume the API. Aimed at sustainability, scalability, and code quality, deployable to cloud providers and shared-hosting one-click installers.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature5 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• MemberPress: MemberPress is a leading WordPress membership plugin that lets site owners create, manage, and track membership subscriptions and digital content access. It is the closest direct competitor to Zenbership, offering membership CRM, subscription billing, and content protection — the core functions Zenbership provides.
• Paid Memberships Pro: Paid Memberships Pro is an open-source WordPress membership plugin offering subscription management, member directories, recurring billing, and content restriction. It is a direct peer because it competes for the same self-hosted membership site use case as Zenbership, including the open-source distribution model.
• Restrict Content Pro: Restrict Content Pro is a WordPress membership plugin that provides subscription management, content restriction, member management, and payment gateway integrations. It directly competes with Zenbership in the membership CRM and subscription billing space.
• Memberful: Memberful is a SaaS membership platform that helps creators and publishers sell memberships, digital subscriptions, and gated content. It is a direct peer competing for the same online membership management use case that Zenbership targets, though delivered as hosted SaaS rather than self-hosted open source.
• Wild Apricot: Wild Apricot is a membership management SaaS platform targeting associations, clubs, and nonprofits with member databases, event management, payments, and a website builder. It overlaps with Zenbership on the membership CRM, event management, and subscription billing feature set.

Broad incumbents

• Patreon: Patreon is a dominant membership platform enabling creators to monetize recurring subscriptions from fans. It competes for the same creator-membership use case that Zenbership supports, though delivered as a centralized SaaS rather than self-hosted software.
• Discourse: Discourse is an open-source community discussion platform widely used for forums, paid communities, and membership-based discussion sites. While not a full CRM, it competes with Zenbership in the community/membership platform space and is a much more actively developed open-source project.
• Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud: Salesforce's Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) is a CRM tailored for nonprofit and membership organizations, offering member/donor management, fundraising, and engagement tools. It competes with Zenbership's membership CRM use case as a much larger, well-funded incumbent.

Emerging players

• Mighty Networks: Mighty Networks is a community platform for paid membership communities with built-in courses, events, and content hosting. It overlaps with Zenbership's membership and event management capabilities but is delivered as modern SaaS targeting creators and community builders.
• Circle: Circle is a modern community platform for creators and brands offering spaces, events, courses, and memberships. It competes with Zenbership in the membership and community management category with a more contemporary SaaS delivery model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/jbelelieu
• GitHubgithub.com/castlamp/zenbership

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zenbership