When you upgrade, you’ll unlock all the stories published for members by top writers and leading experts on Medium. (When you read and clap for those stories as a member, part of your $5/month goes directly to that author.) You’ll also be able to listen to audio versions of hundreds of popular stories handpicked by our editors. And you’ll be able to save stories to your offline reading list and archive.

As a member, your $5/month goes toward funding the authors and publishers who write the member content you enjoy. When you read and engage with a story published for members, you’re allocating more money for that author or publication, especially when you clap. At the end of the month, we’ll divvy up your contributions based on all your reading time, applause, and engagement from that period, and it will directly go to the writers and publishers of that content.

We encourage you to share stories for members on social media (and authors would appreciate that, too). Readers who are not members can still access a limited number of stories for free each month before they need to upgrade.

Writers choose the audience of their stories on Medium. By designating a story for members, writers can be compensated for their work based on member engagement. Non-members can still read a limited number of these member stories per month. Alternatively, writers can choose to make their story available to all readers on Medium without restrictions and will not be paid.

Writers do not have to become members themselves to publish stories for members. Once a writer or publication registers for the Medium Partner Program (for free), they can publish as many stories as they’d like for members. They’ll be able to view and see activity on their own stories for members for free, as well. Our membership is designed for readers, and we aren’t planning to add any features for writers as part of it.