Should We Keep Everything Free?

When we first explored the idea of introducing a membership fee, the intention was to create something sustainable—to help us grow, reach more people, and keep delivering value long-term.

But one important question came up:

Would we actually grow more—and help more people—if we kept everything free?

What if instead of charging for access, we focused on delivering as much value as possible at no cost—and relied on community support to fund our mission through donations, affiliate links, merchandise, etc.?

A few members have already donated and others reached out and said they’d be happy to support what we’re building. So, what if we kept everything free—and simply invited anyone who feels we’ve added value to consider a small monthly donation to support the mission?

I’m seriously leaning toward this direction. I want our community to stay open, accessible, and built on trust and mutual support.

So here’s the question for the community:

Do you think this model—community-funded, donation-supported—could work?

Would you support it?

The only real downside to keeping everything free is that we can’t reward our members through referrals—something many of you were genuinely excited about. That creates a challenge: people may be more incentivized to promote other paid groups (because of affiliate commissions), even if they believe in our mission.

One solution we could consider is creating two groups:

A free group that stays open and accessible to all.
And a premium group with added value and perks—like live Q&As with medical professionals and nutrition experts—where it would make sense to charge and offer referral rewards.

That way, we stay true to our mission and create a model that’s sustainable and fair.

Let me know what you think in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Free group

Paid group

Both free and paid groups

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Should We Keep Everything Free?