This article or section documents something not included in the current version of Scratch (3.0). It is only useful from a historical perspective.

Scratch Membership was a subscription service that provided perks in exchange for a yearly or one-time donation to the Scratch Foundation. Prior to its discontinuation, Scratch Membership was offered in earlier 2025 for "founding members" at a rate of $35/year or $150 for a lifetime[1], before being increased in 2026[2] to $50/year or $200 for a lifetime.[3]

Perks

Badge shown by the follow button.
Frame around Scratch Members' profiles.
Membership tag near the user's name.
The banner for logged out users advertising to buy or subscribe to Scratch Membership


A Scratch Membership granted users access to various perks:[3]

Current

  • Story Xperiential
    • Scratch Members could get access to Story Xperiential Preview for free, including a year of access to Story Xperiential for $25, an 83% discount. However, non-Scratch Members could get access to the full program for $113 rather than $150.
  • Exclusive sprites
    • Scratch Members got access to "exclusive sprites" for use in their projects-- new original Scratch characters known as Zepto and Milli, and Yooka Laylee sprites from a partnership with Playtonic. Although the sprites could not be selected in the Sprite Library by Non-Scratch Members, they could still be backpacked and used by anyone.
  • Scratch Store discounts
    • Scratch Members received 10% off the majority of items in the Scratch Store at any time, and 25% off after the announcement of discontinuation. Members located in the United States also receive free shipping with orders of $50 or more.
  • Member-exclusive merchandise
    • Scratch Members could purchase exclusive Scratch Member-themed merchandise from the Scratch Store.
  • Scratch Membership newsletter
  • Profile cosmetic changes
    • Members could toggle a set of cat ears that can appeared around their Scratch profile picture and a membership badge that appeared to the right of the follow button on their profile. These changes could be enabled and disabled from a new "Membership" tab on the Account Settings page.
    • A purple "Member" badge is also applied next to the member's username on their profile page and on the forums, which could not be disabled.[4]
when green flag clicked :: cat
An example of a cat block
  • Editor cosmetic changes
    • Members can enable the cat blocks from previous April Fools' Day events using a new "Theme" menu in the editor, accessible from the "Settings" drop-down.[5]

Planned perks that were never released

  • Specialized Scratch tutorials
  • Live webinars with the Scratch Team
  • Special content from guest experts

Controversy

The recent implementation of Scratch Membership and its perks caused controversy.[6] Many Scratchers found the addition of cat blocks to the editor for members, despite such a feature previously being rejected due to lack of resources, as disproportionate use of developer time.[7][better source needed] The public indicators of membership (a "cat ears" frame on profile pictures and a "Member" badge) potentially causing a separation between "tiers" of community members. A suggestion for keeping membership private received over 400 replies to it.[8]

Discontinuation

On May 20th, 2026, the Scratch Team announced that "we've learned that the current perks-based membership program is not the right fit for the Scratch community"[9], and on the same day, the ability to purchase Membership was removed.[10] The Membership program was first said to be merely "paused"[9], then later to be fully "sunset".[11] The announcement stated that that the current perks from the "perks-based" system will be made available for everyone, and that there will be a new program for donors.[9] Once the new program launches, those who already became Lifetime members will have some perks in the new program.[12]

On June 15th, 2026, the discontinuation of membership was finalized. The cat blocks, cat ear frames, and Zepto and Milli sprites were enabled for everyone.[13] The purple member badges, as well as the badge shown next to the follow button on members' profile pages, were removed.

References

  1. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20251213032233/https://www.scratchfoundation.org/membership
  2. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20260113215357/https://www.scratchfoundation.org/membership
  3. ↑ a b http://web.archive.org/web/20260308024047/https://www.scratchfoundation.org/membership
  4. ↑ post:8880853
  5. ↑ https://github.com/scratchfoundation/scratch-editor/pull/374
  6. ↑ topic:858219
  7. ↑ topic:852376
  8. ↑ topic:852524
  9. ↑ a b c ScratchCat. (2026-05-19). "Donations from members have made a big difference for Scratch, but we’ve learned that the current perks-based membership program is not the right fit for the Scratch community. Because of that, we’re pausing the Membership program. The last day for the current program will be June 15. We’re working on a new program for donors, and we’ll share more about it as soon as we can." topic:884674
  10. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20260520060744/https://scratchfoundation.org/membership
  11. ↑ https://github.com/scratchfoundation/scratch-editor/pull/582
  12. ↑ codubee. (2026-05-23). "The donations we received are still going to mean something when we are ready to move onto a new phase with the membership program, which means that anyone who donated "for a lifetime", will still be part of that program." scratch:users/codubee/#comments-410041422
  13. ↑ topic:889419
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