Leanpub Learner Memberships
Master the skills that matter with Leanpub books, courses, and credits to spend on them...
With ever-evolving books and courses on AI, software development, data science and more, the real question is: How many book and course credits do you want?
Book and course credits are an amazing value: book credits can be used for any book up to $25, and for many books priced considerably higher. Course credits can be used for any course up to $125, and for many courses priced considerably higher!
Standard Learner
A Standard Learner Membership includes 1 book credit every month and 1 course credit every 3 months. Most books and courses cost just 1 credit. Ever-evolving content on AI, software development, data science, and more.
$69/ month
- Get 1 book credit every month and 1 course credit every 3 months
- Free access to about 2000 books that are Free With Membership
- Most books and courses cost just 1 credit
- Ever-evolving content on AI, software development, data science, and more
- Support Leanpub authors and Leanpub
Pro Learner
A Pro Learner Membership includes 2 book credits every month and 1 course credit every 2 months. Most books and courses cost just 1 credit. Ever-evolving content on AI, software development, data science, and more.
$119/ month
- Get 2 book credits every month and 1 course credit every 2 months
- Free access to about 2000 books that are Free With Membership
- Most books and courses cost just 1 credit
- Ever-evolving content on AI, software development, data science, and more
- Support Leanpub authors and Leanpub
BEST VALUE
Max Learner
A Max Learner Membership includes 3 book credits and 1 course credit every month. Most books and courses cost just 1 credit. Ever-evolving content on AI, software development, data science, and more.
$199/ month
- Get 3 book credits and 1 course credit every month
- Free access to about 2000 books that are Free With Membership
- Most books and courses cost just 1 credit
- Ever-evolving content on AI, software development, data science, and more
- Support Leanpub authors and Leanpub
You can always buy more book and course credits a la carte with any learner membership. If you only want book credits, please see our reader memberships page. If you want to buy a membership for your team, please see our organization memberships page.
Level up your skills with Leanpub books and courses.
Get book and course credits to learn from ever-evolving books and courses on AI, software development, data science, and more.
AI is evolving faster than any technology in history. Traditional books and courses are outdated before they launch. Leanpub books and courses are updated continuously by their authors, so you always learn the latest techniques in machine learning, LLMs, prompt engineering, AI agents, and more. When new models or frameworks emerge, Leanpub authors update their content in days, not months.


Frequently Asked Questions about Learner Memberships and Credits
This is the FAQ for Leanpub Learner Memberships. If you're looking to learn more about Reader Memberships (focused on books), please see the Reader Memberships page. For Author Memberships, please see the Author Memberships page.
If you can't find what you're looking for below, chances are the answer is in our amazing Help Center which has hundreds of carefully-written articles and a number of lovingly-created videos answering the questions we've been asked over the years. Or, email our support team and one of us will get back to you.
Do I need a Learner Membership to buy books or courses on Leanpub?
No! You can always buy Leanpub books and courses with money, without having a Learner Membership.
What is a Learner Membership?
A Learner Membership is a paid subscription that gives you book credits and course credits you can use to purchase any Leanpub book or course. It also gives you free access to about 2000 books that are Free With Membership. Membership is optional: you can buy books and courses on Leanpub without subscribing.
How is this different from a Reader Membership?
A Reader Membership gives you book credits and access to Free With Membership books. A Learner Membership gives you both book credits and course credits, plus access to Free With Membership books. If you want courses, a Learner Membership is the better fit. If you only want books, a Reader Membership may be more affordable. You can have both.
What are book and course credits?
Credits can be used to purchase any Leanpub book or course. Most books cost 1 book credit, and most courses cost 1 course credit. Every book and course has a credit price listed on its store page. When you use credits to make a purchase, you do not pay anything extra.
What are the benefits of the different levels of Learner Membership?
All paid Learner Memberships give you book and course credits. Higher tiers include more credits per month. All tiers include free access to about 2000 books that are Free With Membership.
Can I buy additional credits?
Yes! You can purchase additional book and course credits at any time from the Buy Credits page. This lets you get the credits you need without changing your membership level.
Why are Leanpub courses ever-evolving?
Leanpub's lean publishing model lets course authors update their content continuously. Unlike traditional platforms with long production cycles, Leanpub authors can publish updates the same day they write them. When new AI models launch, when frameworks release major updates, or when best practices evolve, Leanpub courses are updated in real time.
What topics do Leanpub courses cover?
Leanpub courses cover artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, prompt engineering, AI agents, software development (Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Rust, Go, and more), cloud computing, DevOps, cybersecurity, data science, software architecture, and much more. Many courses are created by practitioners at leading technology companies.
How do taxes like VAT work for book and course credits?
Book credits are taxed like Leanpub ebooks, and course credits are taxed like Leanpub courses. For EU and UK customers, if your country has a discounted VAT rate for ebooks, book credits get that same rate. Course credits get the standard VAT rate for online courses. This is correct because each credit type is a single-purpose voucher. For example, in the UK, ebooks are taxed at 0% VAT, while online courses are taxed at 20% VAT. This is the main reason why we have separate book credits and course credits.
Do I still support authors when I use credits?
Yes! When you use credits to purchase a book or course, the author still earns great royalties. Typically the author earns the same amount of royalties as a minimum nonzero price purchase with a credit card or PayPal. So, you continue to provide excellent support to Leanpub authors when you use book or course credits to make a purchase.
How does my paid Learner Membership support Leanpub authors?
Most of the cost of your Learner Membership goes toward paying for the credits you receive. Leanpub authors earn excellent royalties from credit purchases — typically 80% of the credit value. We also pay into a Royalty Pool to support the authors of the books you access which are Free With Membership. Your membership directly supports the experts creating the content you learn from.
Can I have both a Learner Membership and a Reader Membership?
Yes! They are separate memberships. A Learner Membership gives you both book and course credits, while a Reader Membership gives you book credits only. Both give you access to Free With Membership books. If you want course credits, you need a Learner Membership.
What if I want a membership for my team?
Learner Memberships are for individuals. If you want to provide courses and books to your team, please see our Organization Memberships page, which offers team-based plans with shared credits.
How do credit prices work?
Credit pricing is based on each book or course's maximum discounted price. For books, divide by $25 and round up. For courses, divide by $125 and round up. Most books and courses cost just 1 credit. Authors can opt out of credit pricing if they choose.
How do author royalties work for credit purchases?
The author typically earns the same royalties they would earn on a minimum nonzero price purchase. The royalty rate is determined by comparing the credit cash price to the minimum nonzero price. The credit cash price is the cash equivalent: the credit price multiplied by $25 per book credit or $125 per course credit. If the credit cash price is lower than the minimum nonzero price, the author earns 80% of the credit cash price ($20 per book credit, $100 per course credit). If the credit cash price is higher, the purchase is treated as a minimum nonzero price purchase and the author earns 80% of that.
Can I use my royalties to buy credits?
Yes, as long as you have a Learner Membership! Just add book or course credits to the shopping cart on the Buy Credits page, and at checkout choose to pay with your Leanpub royalties, credit card or PayPal.
How does billing work?
Learner Memberships are billed monthly or annually. Annual billing offers a significant discount compared to monthly billing. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time.
I have more questions, what should I do?
Click on the Help menu above to go to our amazing Help Center. We put way more thought and effort into it than you would typically expect. Check it out, and if you can't find the answer, email us at hello@leanpub.com!
Sign up for a Learner Membership today.
Get book and course credits, level up your skills, and support Leanpub authors with your Learner Membership!
Sign up nowLeanpub authors love Leanpub.
We're authors too, and we built Leanpub to be the platform we would love to use. It turns out, we weren't alone...
As an academic, I like Leanpub because it lets me write and get my ideas out there quickly. Leanpub is simply the best place for publishing my books.
Roger D. PengAssociate Professor of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthLeanpub's book-creation tools allowed me to focus on creating the types of books I wanted to write instead of worrying how to create my own book publishing toolchain. I have never regretted using Leanpub to publish my ebooks.
Chris HartjesThe Grumpy ProgrammerLeanpub takes the pain out of publishing. They provide the tools, you provide the books and then magic happens.
Ryan BiggAuthor, Multitenancy with RailsI love using Leanpub because I can write my book using simple Markdown notation. Leanpub let's me focus on my content and they handle the rest.
Taylor OtwellCreator Of LaravelLeanpub is a game changer for independent authors, removing the hassles associated with formatting, book production, and electronic sales, freeing up the time to do what we do best: write.
W. Jason GilmoreAuthor, Easy Laravel 5Leanpub helped me achieve my goal of publishing a book. Its simple, easy to use interface got my book up and making money within weeks, I love Leanpub!
Samantha LaingGrowing AgileLeanpub helped me gauge interest in my book, get payments early on when it was only a few chapters, and has got me a bunch of sales just from people browsing around the site.
Phil SturgeonAuthor, Build APIs You Won't HateLeanpub helps me see my books as I write them. Even better, I can find readers early, to read my books and offer suggestions. I can pivot, if I see the need.
Johanna RothmanAuthor of 8 Leanpub books and counting…Leanpub made it simple for me to run with my book idea and build my reputation in the Ruby community. I went from first draft to first sale in days, not months or years.
Aaron SumnerAuthor, Everyday Rails Testing with RSpecFour years ago, I joined Leanpub to just give it a try. Today, over 28,000 book sales later, I cannot help but say that I'm the biggest Leanpub fan on this planet!
Manuel KiesslingAuthor, The Node Beginner BookLeanpub makes publishing your own book super easy. The fact that you can release updates continually helps with the mindset of getting a minimum version out ASAP and then iterating to improve.
Karen GreavesGrowing AgileI earn more royalties from my books on Leanpub than I do with well established publishers or through Amazon (which I publish on thanks to Leanpub's mobi conversion).
Paul BradshawPaul runs the MA in Online Journalism at Birmingham City UniversityLeanpub allows me focus on content, takes care everything else and offers an amazing author royalty. It’s a fantastic platform for writing and publishing books.
Simon BrownAuthor, Software Architecture for DevelopersI love that Leanpub makes writing and publishing a beautiful book so simple. I no longer spin my wheels with layouts and formats - Leanpub gets out of the way when it's time to write, and then automates everything when it's time to publish.
Daniel RootAuthor, Trello DojoWith Leanpub, the first person who purchased my book for $9.99 almost two years ago (and only received a preface, and two short intro chapters) has had access to almost every bit of knowledge I've gained in those two years, and *that's* the value.
Jeff GeerlingAuthor, Ansible for DevOpsSimple and lean, forces me to focus on writing and marketing, and pays excellent royalties.
Reg "Raganwald" BraithwaiteAuthor, JavaScript Allongé, the "Six" EditionLeanpub forces you to focus on writing and gives you immediate feedback. Allowing Leanpub to take care of the curation and delivery helped me focus on shipping my book.
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