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Require member registration to access private content

Last updated: January 28, 2026

Available with any of the following subscriptions, except where noted:

Use memberships to manage which visitors can access private content. Contacts who can access private content are organized into access groups, which control the registration and sign-in process.

Please note: accounts with a legacy CMS Hub Professional subscription don't support memberships. To use access groups, you'll need Content Hub Professional or Enterprise instead. Learn more about the tools available in Content Hub in the HubSpot Product & Services Catalog.

Before you get started

Before configuring private content, review the requirements, limitations, and behaviors that may affect access groups and member registration.

Subscription required The following subscriptions are required depending on the content type being configured for private content settings:

Permissions required Edit permission is required for segments to edit access groups.


Understand limitations & considerations

  • Accounts with a Professional subscription can have up to two access groups. Accounts with an Enterprise subscription can have up to 100 access groups.
  • After registering, contacts don't receive additional registration emails for newly accessible content. A single registration provides access to all eligible content.

  • Private content works only on connected subdomains that are set as the primary or secondary subdomains for the content type. Default HubSpot domains (e.g., hs-sites.com) aren't supported.

  • Password-protected content isn't indexed by search engines, but sensitive data isn't encrypted.
  • Passwords must meet the following criteria:
    • Don't contain parts of the registration username.
    • Don't contain alphabetical (e.g., abcde), numerical (e.g., 12345), repeated characters (e.g., aaa) or qwerty sequences (e.g., qwert) from your keyboard.
    • Meet one of the following strength requirements:
      • At least eight characters with three of the following: uppercase letter, lowercase letter, a number, or a symbol.
      • At least ten characters with two of the following: uppercase letter, lowercase letter, a number, or a symbol.
      • At least twelve characters.
  • Passwords aren’t accessible from the UI, so it isn't possible for a user to look up a contact’s membership sign-in password. Passwords are securely stored on HubSpot's servers according to the latest industry recommendations and standards.

Create access groups

Access groups control which contacts can register and access private content. Create static or dynamic access groups depending on how you determine contacts should be added.

Choose an access group type

  • Static: add contacts manually, either as individual contacts or as members of static lists.

  • Dynamic: contacts are automatically added based on filters. 

Create an access group

  1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Content > Memberships.
  2. Click Create access group.
  3. In the Access group name field, enter a group name. Optionally add a description in the Description field.
  4. In the Select an access group type section, select Static or Dynamic, then click Next.

Add members to an access group

  1. For static access groups:

    • Click the Give access to dropdown menu, then type the name of a contact or select a static list. Select the checkbox next to each contact or list you want to add.
    • When you've added all contacts, click Next.
    • Review the group members, then click Create group.
  2. For dynamic access groups:
    • Set up your filter criteria, then click Next.
    • Review the preview of contacts in the group, then click Create group.

Manage the access group

  1. To edit the access group, click the Actions dropdown menu and select Edit.
  2. To delete the access group, click the Actions dropdown menu and select Delete.

Limit content access to access groups

Limit access to content by requiring contacts to register and sign in. When content is made private, a registration email is sent to members of the associated access groups. 

Registration emails are sent to the contact's Member email property and use a connected email sending domain when available. If an email sending domain isn't connected, the registration email will come from the domain where the content is published.

Please note: a maximum of 25,000 registration emails are sent when an access group is first associated with content. Contacts who already received a registration email won't receive another.


Limit blog access

Permissions required Website settings permission is required to edit blog settings.

  1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
  2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Content > Blog
  3. In the Current View section, click the first dropdown menu and select a blog.
  4. In the Control audience access section, select Access group membership required.
  5. Click the dropdown menu and select the checkbox next to each access group you want to have access.

  1. If more than ten registration emails will be sent upon publication, select the checkbox that appears.
  2. When finished, click Save to apply your changes.

Limit page access

Permissions required Edit and Publish permission for pages is required to edit and publish pages.

  1. Navigate to your content:

    • Website Pages: In your HubSpot account, navigate to Content > Website Pages.
    • Landing Pages: In your HubSpot account, navigate to Content > Landing Pages.
  2. Click the name of your content.
  3. In the content editor, click Settings in the top right. 
  4. In the dialog box, click select Audience Access in the left menu.
  5. Select Access group membership required.
  6. Click the dropdown menu and select the checkboxes next to the access groups you want to register for access to this page.

  1. If more than ten registration emails will be sent upon publication, select the checkbox that appears.
  2. Click the X in the top right of the dialog box to resume editing. 
  3. When finished, click Publish or Update in the top right.

Limit knowledge base article access

Permissions required Service Access with Edit and Publish permission is required to edit and publish articles.

  1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Knowledge Base.
  2. Click the name of your article.
  3. In the article editor, click Settings in the top right.
  4. In the dialog box, click Control audience access on the left menu.
  5. Select Access group membership required.
  6. Click the dropdown menu and select the checkboxes next to the access groups you want to register for access to this article.

  1. If more than ten registration emails will be sent upon publication, select the checkbox that appears.
  2. When finished, click Publish or Update in the top right.

Limit customer portal access

Permissions required Customer Portal settings permission is required to limit customer portal access.

  1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Customer Portal.
  2. Click the Advanced tab and then click Access. 
  3. In the Access Control section, select Access group membership required.
  4. Click the dropdown menu and select the checkboxes next to the access groups you want to register for access to your customer portal.

  1. If more than 10 registration emails will be sent upon publication, select the checkbox that appears.
  2. In the bottom left, click Save.

Export membership data

  1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Content > Memberships.
  2. Click the Analyze tab.
  3. In the upper right, click Actions, then select Save dashboard.
  4. In the right panel, select the checkbox next to reports to include or exclude it in the dashboard, then click Next.
  5. Enter a name for the dashboard, and select who can access it, then click Create dashboard.
  6. Click View dashboard.
  7. On the dashboard, click the verticalMenuIcon ellipses icon in the upper right of any report and select Export unsummarized data.
  8. In the dialog box, enter a name for the export.
  9. Click the File format dropdown menu and select a file format (e.g., CSV).
  10. When finished, click Export. Once the export is processed, you'll receive a download link through email and in the notification center.
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