How Do I Set Up Paid Subscriptions with Stripe?
Paste your own Stripe keys into the BYOK wizard and you keep 100% of reader revenue — VeloCMS takes 0% commission on member subscriptions.
VeloCMS uses a BYOK (Bring Your Own Keys) model for reader subscriptions — you connect your own Stripe account and every penny from paying readers goes directly to you. VeloCMS charges 0% platform commission on member revenue.
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Paywalls and paid memberships usually mean a pile of plugins, a payment processor to wrestle with, and a weekend you'll never get back. On VeloCMS, they're already built in. I'll create a membership tier, lock a post behind it, and show you exactly what your reader sees when they subscribe.
Start under Settings, then Membership. I'll add a new tier — call it Studio Members, nine dollars a month, plus a discounted yearly price if you want one. That's the whole setup: a name, a price, done. No shortcodes anywhere.
One honest detail — the money goes straight to you, not through us. So you connect your own Stripe account right here. Your payouts, your customer list, your terms. VeloCMS just handles the plumbing between your blog and the checkout.
Now the paywall itself. Open any post, open its settings, and flip visibility from Public to Paid members. Free readers get a preview and an invitation to join; members get the whole thing. That's it — no plugin, no code.
Here's your reader's side. They land on the locked post, read the free preview, and hit a clean subscribe wall with your tier and your price — right on your own site, in your own theme, not some third-party checkout that looks nothing like you.
Readers sign in with a magic link — no password to forget — and the moment they're a member, the post unlocks and stays unlocked across your whole site. That's a real membership business, running on your blog.
Memberships, paywalls, and reader logins — all built in, no plugins to maintain. Set yours up at velocms dot org.
Where do I find my Stripe keys?
Log into your Stripe Dashboard at dashboard.stripe.com. Click the Developers tab in the top navigation, then API Keys. You'll see a Publishable key and a Secret key. Copy both. The publishable key starts with pk_live_ (or pk_test_ in test mode) and is safe to expose in the browser. The secret key starts with sk_live_ — treat it like a password, never share it publicly.
How do I enter my keys in VeloCMS?
Go to Admin → Settings → Membership and open the Reader Subscriptions section. Turn on Accept reader subscriptions, then paste your Stripe Secret Key and Stripe Publishable Key, and optionally the Webhook Secret if you want to receive Stripe events (recommended for subscription renewals and cancellations). When you save, VeloCMS checks the secret key against the Stripe API before storing it. The secret key and webhook secret are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before storage and are never readable again after you save.
The webhook signing secret comes from Stripe Dashboard → Developers → Webhooks. Create an endpoint pointing to yourblog.velocms.org/api/member-webhook/your-slug and copy the signing secret Stripe generates.
How do I set the subscription price?
After your keys are connected, stay in Admin → Settings → Membership and fill in the Monthly Price (minimum $0.50) and Yearly Price fields under Reader Subscriptions. Hit Save and VeloCMS creates the matching Stripe prices on your account. There's no need to manually create products or prices in the Stripe Dashboard.
What content can I put behind the paywall?
Individual posts can be gated — in the post editor's Settings panel, set Who Can Read This to Free members (anyone with a free reader account) or Paid subscribers. Free readers see the post's excerpt (up to its first 300 characters) followed by a subscribe prompt. Gating is per post; there is no tag-level paywall switch.
Can I use Stripe in my country?
Stripe supports seller accounts in roughly 46 countries, including the US, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brazil, Mexico, India, Nigeria, South Africa, and the UAE. If Stripe does not list your country, you can still monetize through Lemon Squeezy or PayPal inside VeloCMS. See the full country-by-country guide in /help/payment-rails-by-country.