Top creators are always looking for new ways to monetize and engage their audience. Most of the time, the platforms that target creators like you do 1-2 things, but they do them well. You have the likes of Shopify for online stores and Buy Me a Coffee for fan donations.
But what if you want an ecom merch store and a membership tab, all in one platform? No one is doing that, right? Well, very few platforms offer all these options, and one of them is Fourthwall.
That said, is Fourthwall actually holding its own against the giants in the industry, or is it another case of too much, too soon? That’s what we’ll find out in our review. We’ll go over all of Fourthwall’s main features, what you can do through the platform, where it comes short, and how much it costs.
For now, let’s quickly go over what the platform is.
What Is Fourthwall?
Fourthwall is an all-in-one business platform that primarily targets creators with large followings. Over the years, it’s become available to all types of creators, both small-time and influencers. But while that “all-in-one” sounds cool, what does it really mean?
Well, Fourthwall has plenty of monetization methods for its users. You’ll be able to open up an ecommerce store to sell merch to your fans or start a membership site where you can give them exclusive access to videos or your own Discord server. Then, of course, you can also sell digital products through the platform.
Fourthwall was founded back in 2019 and has since been backed by several noteworthy investors, including Alexis Ohanian, one of the co-founders of Reddit. This might also be why one of the co-founders of Fourthwall is pretty active on Reddit, answering queries from potential or current creators.
Many big names in the YouTube industry are hosting their stores on Fourthwall, with some standout creators being Philip DeFranco and Marques Brownlee (MKBHD). This brings us to our next point; the platform certainly has a very specific target audience: Creators.
Who Is Fourthwall For?
Gaining an audience is one thing. You’ll need to create engaging content, market yourself correctly, and all that jazz. Monetizing your followers is a whole different beast, and Fourthwall aims to help take it down.
Fourthwall was made for all kinds of creators. But, with names like PhillyD and MKB on it, it’s clear that they have a special liking towards YouTubers and video content creators in general. Considering what they’re offering, though, it’s safe to say that some of their main target audiences are podcasters and streamers, as well.
As we’ll see below, one of Fourthwall’s big pluses is that it allows creators to make a unique website using their custom domains. So, many YouTubers, streamers, and podcasters end up hosting their content through Fourthwall.
The platform offers plenty of ways to monetize your following. That said, since Fourthwall doesn’t have a real marketplace, and launching a store or membership site there isn’t the best option if you don’t have an established audience yet.
Let's get into what you can sell on Fourthwall so that you have a better idea of whether this is the right platform for you.
Selling on Fourthwall: From Ecommerce to Membership Sites and Beyond
Fourthwall’s approach is simple. They wanted to give creators as many monetization options as possible without overdoing it. So, they’ve added 3 main pillars: physical products, digital products, and memberships.
With physical products, you can go for Print-on-Demand (POD) or have Fourthwall handle the distribution. Then, digital products and memberships are pretty straightforward. Create your site and upload/host them there.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these to fully understand what’s in store (no pun intended) when you sign up on the platform. Before that, you’ll, of course, need to sign up on Fourthwall. This was super easy to do, as you just need to click on “Sign Up”, input your details and social media accounts, and you’ll get access to your Dashboard.
Selling Memberships
Starting with memberships, setting them up is pretty simple. When you sign up on the platform, you can instantly start selling a membership from the “Memberships” tab on your Dashboard.
The process is even simpler than signing up. You basically set up different Tiers and Perks for each, decide if you’re going to offer annual subscription discounts, and… well, that’s it. You can then customize your site’s design and either go live or keep it as “Coming Soon”.
Going back to the Perks we mentioned, these can range from exclusive content to Discord access and so on. For the latter, you’ll be prompted to connect your Discord account, which was pretty easy. For the former, you can add your content on your site directly through the Dashboard, whether it is video content or posts.
Selling Physical Products
While it does offer memberships, Fourthwall's bread and butter is physical products. The platform has taken every step to make the process of sourcing and selling merch as effortless as possible for creators.
For one, you can sell your own merchandise, with you taking control of the inventory. Or, you can have Fourthwall take care of the sourcing and delivering, which, as we’ll see below, is completely free (the only costs being processing fees and the wholesale price of the merch).
Creating your store is as easy as creating a membership. You can handle everything directly from your dashboard. On top of that, Fourthwall has worldwide shipping and can act as your Merchant of Records (MoR).
This is all pretty standard practice for platforms like these. That’s why Fourthwall tries to stand out by offering the best quality POD products and plenty of ecommerce integration. We’ll go over that later on, though.
Selling Digital Products
The great thing about Fourthwall is that it covers every base. You’ve got your merch, you’ve got your memberships, and you can also sell digital products. The process of doing that is exactly the same as the other monetization methods: sign up, create your store, and just upload your digital products.
We would have liked to see the digital product side of things be more intuitive, as you’re only allowed to upload downloadable files. So, products like courses, webinars, and masterclasses are a no-go unless you also set up Memberships (more on that below).
That’s not to say that Fourthwall hasn’t done a good job with these, but it just seems like the digital products are a bit left out of the loop compared to the physical ones and memberships.
That being said, the platform still has plenty of standout features.
What Fourthwall Is All About – Top Features
Fourthwall has many features to help you sell your physical items, memberships, or digital products. Here are some of the ones that stand out.
Custom Website Builder
Instead of having just a simple page on a marketplace, Fourthwall allows you to create your own website with your unique domain. You’ll get a bunch of different themes to choose from, and you can change the fonts and colors to match your brand. If you have some coding skills, you can also add some HTML elements to personalize your page even more.
Top-Quality Products
One thing Fourthwall can brag about is the quality of the products it provides its creators with. As we said above, you’ll be able to sell merch through the platform, or you can go the POD route, where you’ll basically buy the products off Fourthwall and resell them on your site.
While most POD platforms have good quality products, Fourthwall has really focused on sourcing the best quality products for as low a price as possible. When you start selling merch, having great quality products will obviously make a much better impression on your followers.
Mobile App Creator
Let’s refocus on memberships. Once you set these up, you’ll be able to create your own branded mobile app, which you’ll then share with your followers. This will be more or less similar to your website but will make it more accessible for mobile users who want to consume your content from their phones.
These apps aren’t anything cutting-edge, but it’s something that almost no other platforms does, at least to this extent. The fact that you can add your branding across the app and basically “own” it will be perfect for establishing a better connection with your following.
Video Hosting
As we mentioned above, when you set up Memberships, you’ll be able to upload video content to your website. These videos can be anything from courses and webinars to exclusive videos and podcasts. So, instead of relying on ad revenue to finance your videos, you can just put them behind a paywall on Fourthwall.
Again, this isn’t the first platform to do this. But uploading videos will be super easy on your side, and your followers will be able to watch all your content across any device. And, just like YouTube, you’ll have a fair share of analytics to see how your videos perform.
Tons of Integrations
One set of features that we want to highlight is Fourthwall's integrations with other apps. While there aren’t as many as on other platforms, like Shopify, they are all you’ll need to further monetize your audience.
For example, Fourthwall has native integrations with TikTok Shop and, as expected, YouTube Shopping. When you connect your store with YouTube, your products will appear right under your videos. Or, you can use the integration with Klaviyo to send custom emails to your followers.
All these features and products might sound great to you. But how much will it cost to run your store or membership website?
Fourthwall Pricing: How Much Does the Platform Cost Creators?
Fourthwall has a percentage-based pricing structure without any upfront cost. So, if you don’t make any sales, the platform won’t charge you anything just to run your website. This is great for creators with smaller audiences who won’t make many sales from the get-go.
But, it might be poor value if you’re a large creator and make hundreds of monthly sales, as the small percentage will build up to a much larger total fee than a fixed monthly one.
Nevertheless, Fourthwall’s pricing is pretty straightforward:
- 0% for Physical Products
- 3% for Digital Products
- 5% for Memberships
These are pretty low compared to other platforms like Patreon or Udemy.
So, now that you know what the platform offers and how its fees are structured, let’s get to the real question: Is it worth it?
Is Fourthwall Worth It?
Fourthwall is definitely a good option for creators. It does a great job in offering you different monetization methods and has plenty of features that make it stand out from other platforms.
Still, it does have some shortcomings. For one, while you can sell digital products, Fourthwall is definitely more optimized for selling physical products, leaving digital products feeling like an after thought. Also, if you’re not already a creator, you won’t have much of a chance of standing out. And while it has a fair few integrations, there are platforms that have many more, which will make things easier for you.
So, with that in mind, are there any other platforms that have everything Fourthwall offers without the downsides?
What Other Options are there for Online Creators? Fourthwall Alternatives
While Fourthwall is certainly in the upper echelon of platforms for content creators, some platforms have similar features and are equally great, if not better.
1. 🏆 Whop
If you want to sell digital products and memberships, there’s no better platform than Whop. With Whop, you can create paid communities, host courses and webinars, sell sports picks, sell downloadables, ebooks and everything in between, all from one single hub: your whop.
Whether you’re an established creator or not, you’ll be able to create your whop and share it with your followers. In your whop, you can add your own forums, blogs, chat rooms, and even host video calls with your followers.
There are no limits to what you can sell in terms of digital products, and your dashboard will be full of all the analytics you’ll need, as well as promotions you can create. Plus, there’s no need to integrate your Stripe or PayPal, as you can use Whop Payments for payouts, and Whop can act as your MoR.
The best part is that, just like Fourthwall, Whop is free to use. When you make a sale, the platform will apply a 3% fee alongside any payment processing fees. This i a flat 3% for digital products and membership.
2. Shopify
We briefly mentioned Shopify above, so we had to include it as an alternative. If you really want to sell physical products, there’s no better place than Shopify. The platform offers pretty similar features to Fourthwall but comes with a fair share of improvements, like more integrations and marketing options.
Also, Shopify charges fixed monthly fees, which means it’s better for you if you’re a large creator who’s expecting to make hundreds of sales in your first month. Plus, Shopify, like Whop, targets all kinds of creators, not just YouTubers and streamers. However, Shopify's fees can be hefty, ranging from $39 a month for the basic plan up to $2300 per month for the Shopify Plus plan.
3. Sellfy
While Sellfy isn’t as popular, it does go head-to-head with Fourthwall. For one, Sellfy mostly targets smaller creators, which is pretty clear in that they set a $200k yearly sales cap with their most expensive plan. This plan will set you back $99 monthly, but you won’t have to worry about percentage-based fees.
The great thing about Sellfy is that it doesn’t only target content creators. You can be any kind of creator who’s looking to build a brand or sell digital products. Plus, it has many more marketing tools than Fourthwall, so you won’t have to use any other external apps.
Create Your Online Business With Whop
Fourthwall is a great platform for online creators, no doubt. If you want to sell physical products, it’s going to be one of your top options, second only to maybe Shopify. But, if you wish to go down the digital route and sell memberships and digital products, Whop is the place to be.
Creating your whop takes only a few minutes, and, once you set it up, you can sell any digital product you can imagine, from courses and memberships, to software and plugins. Plus, Whop only charges a 3% fee, which is 2% less than what Fourthwall charges for memberships.
If you’re a creator who wants to truly monetize their followers and give them tons of value, sign up to Whop today. Whether you’re a small creator or a full-blown influencer, you can start making money on Whop in mere minutes.
