Paid waitlists are a great way to build excitement for a new offer — and validate your audience’s willingness to pay before launch.
While we don’t support free waitlists yet, we do offer paid waitlists allow you to:
Build hype ahead of your launch
Collect early signups and payment
Gather signals on pricing and check market fit
Paid waitlists help you to test a willingness to pay, as people are putting down their credit card. It’s one of the best ways to battle-test a new product or membership before fully launching it.
Step-by-Step: How to Build a Paid Waitlist
1. Connect Stripe
Before creating a paid waitlist, make sure you’ve connected Stripe.
Go to Settings → Configure Payments
Follow the Stripe setup (takes up to 10 minutes)
2. Create Your Waitlist
Go to Settings → Offers
Click “Create Waitlist”
Give your waitlist a name (e.g. Cool New Membership)
Set your pre-launch price (e.g. $25/month or a one-time fee)
Set a launch date (when you want to go live)
-
Choose your pre-launch charge settings:
Collect full payment now
Partial payment now, rest at launch
Collect payment later (not recommended for testing demand)
You control when the waitlist converts to a live offer. Keep in mind that Heartbeat does not auto-launch your waitlist — you'll be prompted to click “Launch Now” when you're ready.
3. Customize the Signup Page
Add a title + subtitle
Include a welcome video or teaser
Write a short description or sales letter
Customize your call-to-action button
Add social proof (testimonials, member counts, etc.)
4. Review & Edit the Waitlist Email Sequence
Heartbeat includes pre-built emails:
Confirmation email when someone joins
Referral success email when they refer someone (includes their running credit total)
Reminder email 24 hours before launch
Launch day email when it’s time to join
You can edit the copy, add your own links, and toggle each one on or off.
5. Set Up Waitlist Referrals (Optional)
You can incentivize early signups by rewarding members who refer others to your waitlist.
- Set a referral reward amount (e.g. $5 per referral)
- Referrals are tracked automatically
- Rewards are paid out as Stripe credits when the waitlist launches
How does it work?
Members will earn credit for each successful referral. The credits will accumulate during the waitlist period. When you launch, Heartbeat will calculate the total credits and add them to each member's Stripe account. These will act as a credit that automatically applies to their first payment(s).
For example: If someone refers 5 people at $5/referral, they earn $25 in credit. If your membership is $25/month, their first month is free.
💡 Why credits are applied at launch: If a waitlist doesn't convert or needs to be cancelled, you won't need to worry about collecting back referral payouts.
6. Enable Abandoned Cart Emails (Optional, but Powerful)
If someone starts signing up but doesn’t complete payment, Heartbeat can send them automatic abandoned cart emails to nudge them back.
This alone can increase conversion by 10–20%.
7. Launch When You’re Ready
Once your waitlist is live, you can:
Monitor how many people signed up
Track payment and referral progress
Click “Launch Now” when you’re ready
Launching will:
Convert the waitlist into a live paid offer
Unlock access for all paid members
Let you continue using the same signup page — but with the new post-launch pricing (e.g. $50 vs. early $25)
FAQ
Do waitlists actually work?
Yes. Paid waitlists validate real demand because people are putting down their credit card — not just saying "maybe I'm interested." You get to test pricing, reward early adopters with discounted access, and build momentum before launch.
Do you support free waitlists?
Not yet, but it's on our roadmap. You can upvote the feature request here.
Workarounds:
- Create a free access group with a signup page
- Collect emails externally and import members later
Related to