Patreon announced that it has acquired Memberful. It is a service for independent creators, educators, and publishers who prefer to have complete control over their membership program, including building their own website, providing customer service, and integrating with best in class third-party tools like WordPress and MailChimp.

Memberful made an announcement about the acquisition:

“Today, we’re announcing we’ve been acquired by Patreon. In Patreon, we found a team that cares deeply about the many of the same things we do. We both see a future where creators work for their audience, not for massive advertising companies as underpaid content suppliers. We both see a future where creators are free to maintain direct relationships with their audience on their terms, unencumbered by the whims of the latest social platform. We both see a future where creators can do what they love while being supported financially by their biggest fans through memberships. Patreon asked if we’d join them in building this future, and we said yes.”

What’s happening to the Memberful product? Memberful says they are now a wholly owned subsidiary of Patreon, but they are still running Memberful the same way. Patreon says the Memberful platform and brand will remain independent, the current roadmap will continue at a faster pace, and existing creators using Memberful will not experience any immediate change to the service.

Patreon states that Memberful will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Patreon, and that Memberful currently has a different pricing model than Patreon which is built around three tiers which will remain unchanged for existing customers.

The Patreon website has information that can help people figure out if Patreon or Memberful is the best choice for them.