Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA vs. Conjured Memberships: An In-Depth Comparison

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA vs. Conjured Memberships: At a Glance
3. Deep Dive Comparison
4. The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively
5. How To Decide: Practical Checklist
6. Implementation Scenarios and Tactics
7. Support & Onboarding Considerations
8. Final Comparison Summary (Feature Matrix)
9. Conclusion
10. FAQ

Introduction

Shopify merchants frequently face a choice: add digital products and membership features using single-purpose apps, or invest in a platform that combines content, community, and commerce inside the store. Picking the right tool affects revenue, customer experience, and support effort. This comparison examines two popular Shopify apps that merchants consider for digital products and memberships: Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA (by Sellkite Business) and Conjured Memberships (by Conjured). The goal is to give a clear, practical view of what each app does well, where they fall short, and which merchant profiles each serves best.

Short answer: Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA is focused on straightforward delivery of downloadable files with flexible storage tiers and strong DRM-like controls; Conjured Memberships centers on recurring programs and member perks with deep ties to Shopify's customer and checkout systems. For merchants wanting a single, Shopify-native place to sell courses, host members, and bundle digital with physical products without sending customers to external platforms, Tevello’s native approach offers a higher level of integration and predictable pricing.

This article will compare the apps feature by feature — including delivery, membership controls, pricing and value, integrations, support, and scaling — and then explain the benefits of a native, unified alternative that keeps customers "at home" inside the Shopify ecosystem.

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA vs. Conjured Memberships: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

This section breaks the comparison into merchant-relevant categories. Each sub-section analyzes practical implications for conversion, operational load, and lifetime value.

Core Product Focus and Philosophy

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA: File-first

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA is built for delivering files — PDFs, audio, video, templates, and license keys — reliably and securely. The product philosophy centers on controlling who can download files, how many times, and offering branded delivery emails and pages. It’s a specialist solution: if the merchant’s main requirement is secure, flexible download distribution, this app is purpose-built.

Strengths tied to this focus:

• Multiple storage tiers for predictable cost vs. usage.
• Per-order unique file delivery capability for custom or made-to-order digital assets.
• Controls over download limits and customizable sender email and domain (on higher plans).

Conjured Memberships: Membership-first

Conjured Memberships is oriented around the membership business model. It treats access, perks, and recurring revenue as first-class features, with a membership portal and integrations that connect members to Shopify checkout, discounts, free-shipping perks, and gated content.

Strengths tied to this focus:

• Native membership portal that uses Shopify customer accounts.
• Tools for member perks (discounts, early access).
• Recurring billing support via Shopify and third-party subscriptions.

Practical takeaway: Choose Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA when the product is a downloadable file and the priority is secure delivery. Choose Conjured Memberships when the priority is building recurring membership packages, perks, and access control.

Feature Comparison

File Delivery & Content Types

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Supports unlimited file attachments per product/variant (subject to plan storage limits).
• Handles a wide range of file types: PDFs, videos, music, software binaries.
• Offers download limits and secure URLs to reduce link sharing.
• License key distribution included and unlimited on all plans.
• Branded download pages and custom sender emails on higher plans.

Conjured Memberships

• Supports attachable downloadable content as part of membership perks.
• Files can be gated behind membership access, but the core is access control rather than complex file management.
• Integrates with file-delivery apps like Sky Pilot for richer file hosting workflows.

Practical implication: For heavy file distribution with per-file controls and licensing, Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA is generally more capable out of the box. Conjured handles downloadable assets as part of membership features, relying on integrations for more advanced file-hosting workflows.

Membership & Access Controls

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Basic access control via order-based delivery: files are delivered by email or thank-you page after purchase.
• No built-in membership portal for ongoing gated access or recurring perks.

Conjured Memberships

• Designed for memberships with features like unlimited members, member pricing, perks, and a member portal.
• Works with Shopify checkout and customer accounts for authentication.
• Allows perks like free shipping, member discounts, early access, and gated content.
• Offers customizable HTML emails for member communications.

Practical implication: If a merchant needs true membership functionality — members-only pricing, recurring subscriptions, and a portal — Conjured is the specialized choice. Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA lacks a native membership portal.

Bundling Digital + Physical Products

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Attaches digital files to products and variants, which enables digital add-ons to physical SKUs (e.g., manual with a machine).
• Bundling handling is mostly product-based; more complex offers require Shopify product/bundle strategies or additional apps.

Conjured Memberships

• Memberships can be used to control access to content after purchase and can coexist with physical products via Shopify checkout.
• Bundling physical items with membership access requires planning; Conjured focuses on the membership container rather than flexible bundling UIs.

Practical implication: Both apps support bundling in different ways. Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA attaches files to product SKUs directly; Conjured controls access post-purchase. For merchants who want to sell an AOV-increasing combo (physical kit + course), the integration depth into the Shopify product model matters.

Checkout, Customer Experience & Authentication

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Works with Shopify’s thank-you page and emails; delivers files via these standard channels.
• Relies on Shopify order flow for authentication; doesn’t provide a persistent member area on the storefront.

Conjured Memberships

• Built to integrate with Shopify checkout and customer accounts, which means memberships can be added at purchase without redirecting customers off-site.
• Offers a membership portal experience, keeping member sign-in and access on the store.

Practical implication: For a seamless checkout and recurring membership experience that keeps members logged in and able to access content via a portal, Conjured has the advantage. Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA is stronger for single-purchase file fulfillment.

Content Drip, Course Structure & Learning Tools

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Not a learning management system (LMS). Does not include drip content, quizzes, certificates, or course structures by default.
• Best when content is static files delivered immediately after purchase.

Conjured Memberships

• Focuses on gating content and perks; not primarily an LMS. Does not natively include features like drip release schedules or quizzes intended for structured courses.
• Can be paired with other course-focused apps or content delivery tools.

Practical implication: For merchants building structured online courses (with modules, drip schedules, certificates), neither app is purpose-built as a full LMS. That creates a gap for merchants who need course management plus memberships or downloads.

Pricing & Value

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA Pricing Overview

• Free Plan: 500MB storage, 15 orders, 3 products, unlimited license keys.
• Pro: $12.99/month — 10GB storage, unlimited orders and products.
• Max: $19.99/month — 50GB storage, custom sender email, priority support.
• Enterprise: $25.99/month — 1000GB storage, custom email domain, priority support.

Value analysis:

• Clear tiers tied to storage and email configuration. Good predictability for file-heavy stores.
• Free tier useful for testing but limited to 15 orders and 3 products — acceptable for early-stage merchants.
• Pricing scales primarily by storage rather than by member or order volume, which can be predictable for known file sizes.

Conjured Memberships Pricing Overview

• Free Development: free for dev stores.
• Limited Special: $9.99/month (limited-time).
• Starter: $19/month — unlimited members and revenue, customizable HTML & emails, member pricing, perks.
• Growth: $69/month — lower transaction fee, scaling features, enterprise pricing available.

Value analysis:

• Pricing focuses on member volume flexibility rather than file storage.
• Unlimited members on Starter is valuable for membership-first businesses starting out.
• Growth tier adds transactional savings and scaling features for high-volume programs.

Pricing comparison: Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA provides predictable storage-based pricing which is a strong fit for heavy-file usage. Conjured’s pricing is structured around membership scale, making it good value for recurring programs where member counts matter. Neither model is universally better; each offers more predictable pricing for its primary use case. For merchants who need both robust course features and membership controls within Shopify, a single native platform can offer better predictable pricing and fewer integrations.

Integrations & Ecosystem

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Works with Shopify thank-you pages and emails for delivery.
• Integrations are limited in scope since the app focuses on file hosting and delivery rather than membership ecosystems.

Conjured Memberships

• Explicit integrations with Checkout, Customer accounts, Shopify Flow, Klaviyo, SendGrid, Mailchimp, Churnbuster, CreditsYard, Sky Pilot.
• Integration list supports marketing automation, email deliverability, and file provisioning via third parties.

Practical implication: Conjured is built to play well within a broader retention and email automation stack. Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA is leaner — fewer integrations but straightforward for file delivery. When choosing, consider the existing Martech stack and whether members or downloadable goods drive primary revenue.

Security, DRM, and License Management

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Offers download limits, secure URLs, and license key distribution.
• Higher-tier plans allow custom sender emails and custom domains to reduce phishing risk and reinforce brand trust.

Conjured Memberships

• Protects member-only content behind customer accounts and Shopify authentication.
• Relies on integrations for secure file delivery and DRM features (e.g., Sky Pilot).

Practical implication: For software vendors or sellers who rely on license keys and strict download controls, Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA offers an advantage with built-in license management. Membership-centered security is different: it focuses on keeping content behind an authenticated area rather than per-download license keys.

Analytics, Reporting & Member Insights

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Reporting centers on order-based delivery metrics (how many downloads delivered, license keys issued).
• Not focused on member engagement analytics.

Conjured Memberships

• Focuses on membership metrics — member counts, recurring revenue, and churn-sensitive signals.
• Integration with tools like Klaviyo and Shopify Flow enables deeper engagement tracking and automation.

Practical implication: Conjured better supports membership metrics and retention workflows; Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA tracks file delivery and license usage. Merchants who want to analyze content engagement and churn will likely need a combination of app-level reporting and Shopify analytics.

Support & Onboarding

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Offers priority support on higher plans.
• Smaller review base (31 reviews, 5.0 rating) suggests a specialized user base; support responsiveness may vary based on plan.

Conjured Memberships

• Conjured promotes responsive, developer-level support (77 reviews, 4.7 rating).
• Offers development store access for testing and a clear path from Starter to Growth tiers.

Practical implication: Conjured’s support positioning suits brands that need help configuring membership perks and integrations. Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA’s support model emphasizes priority support as an upsell and is aligned with merchants who require file-hosting SLAs.

Scalability, Limits & Performance

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Scalability tied to storage tiers; Enterprise plan offers 1000GB, which suits large digital retailers.
• Delivery via email and thank-you page relies on Shopify throughput for order creation.

Conjured Memberships

• Built to handle high-volume membership programs and offers enterprise pricing for large customers.
• Designed to integrate with Shopify Flow and automations for scale.

Practical implication: Both apps scale, but they scale differently: Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA scales storage; Conjured scales member operations. Merchants with large numbers of members and recurring billing should evaluate Conjured’s Growth/enterprise support. Merchants with large file libraries should model storage cost vs. expected sales on Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA plans.

Migration & Ownership of Customer Experience

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA

• Keeps delivery anchored in Shopify emails and pages. Customers receive files tied to Shopify orders.
• No separate member portal means less chance of customers being redirected to external systems.

Conjured Memberships

• Emphasizes native checkout and customer accounts to avoid redirects.
• Membership portal remains within the Shopify experience, which keeps customers on-site.

Practical implication: Both apps attempt to keep the customer experience inside Shopify. The real issue for merchants is when other third-party course platforms (outside Shopify) force customers off-site. For brands migrating from external course hosts, moving content and members back into a Shopify-centric system reduces login friction and support tickets.

Real-World Use Cases and Decision Guidance

Below are recommended fit profiles for each app and practical trade-offs merchants should consider.

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA — Best For:

• Merchants selling standalone downloadable goods (ebooks, music, software installers).
• Businesses that require license key generation and tight download limits.
• Stores where digital products are an adjunct to the main catalog and file storage predictability is important.

Conjured Memberships — Best For:

• Brands launching recurring membership programs that need member perks, discounts, and gated content.
• Teams that want native Shopify checkout integration and member portals.
• Merchants who prioritize retention and recurring revenue.

When neither is enough:

• Merchants building structured online courses with drip schedules, quizzes, certificates, discussion forums, and native community features will notice gaps in both apps. That often leads brands to stitch together several apps or use an external hosted platform — but that creates fragmentation and friction.

The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively

Fragmentation is a common problem: using one app for files, another for memberships, and a third for courses usually forces customers to sign in to separate systems and creates friction at checkout. That pattern can lower conversion, increase support tickets, and reduce repeat purchases because customer journeys break when they exit the store to a third-party course or community site.

A natively integrated alternative keeps customers “at home” inside Shopify — the checkout, customer accounts, and purchase history remain unified. This reduces login friction, makes bundling physical and digital goods straightforward, and simplifies automation via Shopify Flow and standard apps. Tevello presents exactly this approach: a single Shopify-native platform for courses, digital products, and member communities that sits inside the store and leverages Shopify’s checkout and customer model.

Key reasons native unification matters:

• Increased LTV: Bundling physical goods with courses or membership access becomes simple, enabling larger AOVs and stronger repeat rates.
• Reduced support: Keeping logins and access inside Shopify reduces password-related tickets and cross-platform troubleshooting.
• Cleaner automations: Shopify Flow and standard email automations can trigger course enrollment, drip schedules, and member perks without custom middleware.
• Predictable pricing and ownership: One platform that handles courses, membership, and downloads simplifies billing and vendor management.

Tevello’s model demonstrates these benefits through merchant outcomes. See how merchants used a native approach to scale:

• A craft education brand sold over 4,000 courses and generated $112K+ in digital revenue while also generating $116K+ in physical revenue by bundling courses with products; the case study highlights how bundling on Shopify increased revenue per customer — read how this brand achieved that scale in the Crochetmilie story (see how merchants are earning six figures).
• A photography educator generated over €243,000 from 12,000+ courses, with more than half of sales coming from repeat purchasers who bought additional courses — demonstrating effective upsell and retention (generated over €243,000 by upselling existing customers).
• A large-scale migration illustrates the operational benefits: an educator moved 14,000+ members from a fragmented stack to a Shopify-native solution, added 2,000+ new members, and substantially reduced support tickets (migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets).

Tevello’s product positioning centers on keeping courses and community integrated with Shopify checkout and Shopify Flow. Merchants can manage course content, membership access, subscriptions, and bundles inside a single admin panel. For many merchants, that means:

• Simpler bundling of physical and digital products to drive AOV and repeat purchases.
• Easier automation of entitlements and communication via Shopify-native flows.
• Predictable measurements (orders, memberships, revenue) inside Shopify analytics.

Explore Tevello’s core capabilities and how the platform aligns with the “all-in-one” principle in its feature set (all the key features for courses and communities). For a direct look at success outcomes across industries, Tevello collects multiple merchant stories that illustrate the financial and operational benefits of the native approach (see how merchants are earning six figures).

Practical migration considerations

• Content migration: Moving videos, files, and course structures is project-dependent. Tevello’s success stories show it is feasible at scale: migrations exceeding 14,000 members have been completed with measurable improvements in support load and conversions (migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets).
• Bundling strategies: Tevello customers bundled physical kits with on-demand courses to raise LTV. One example saw a 59%+ returning customer rate and a 74%+ higher AOV for returning customers when bundling products and courses (achieved a 59%+ returning customer rate).
• Conversion improvements: Replacing multi-platform setups with a native platform has driven higher conversions; one brand doubled its store conversion rate after unifying commerce and content (doubled its store's conversion rate by fixing a fragmented system).

Why merchants choose a native model now

• Customer expectation: Shoppers expect a frictionless checkout and a single sign-on for content access.
• Operational simplicity: Handling refunds, entitlement changes, and customer support is easier when sales and content live in one place.
• Automation strength: Native integration enables advanced automations (drip, unlock conditions, member perks) without custom middleware.

To try Tevello in a store environment, merchants can compare pricing and plans to understand the cost-benefit trade-offs. Tevello provides an upfront pricing model and a free trial for evaluation — useful for testing content workflows and bundle strategies before fully committing (a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses). For merchants who prefer to test via the Shopify App Store, Tevello is also listed there for direct installation and review reading (natively integrated with Shopify checkout).

How To Decide: Practical Checklist

This checklist helps merchants pick between the two specialized apps and the native alternative, based on priorities and constraints.

Choose Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA if:

• Primary revenue comes from paid downloads or licensed software.
• License keys and per-download controls are central to the product.
• Storage-based pricing aligns with the business model and expected delivery volume.

Choose Conjured Memberships if:

• The business model centers on memberships, recurring revenue, and member perks.
• A native membership portal and member-based pricing are priorities.
• Integration with marketing automation and Shopify Flow is important.

Consider a native, unified platform (Tevello) if:

• The product mix includes courses, memberships, and physical goods that need to be bundled and sold together.
• The priority is a seamless customer experience and lower support overhead.
• The goal is to increase LTV by using content as a repeat-purchase driver.

Each choice implies trade-offs:

• Single-purpose apps can excel at narrow problems (secure downloads or membership perks) but may require additional apps to cover gaps.
• Multiple apps increase complexity and the potential for cross-platform friction and support tickets.
• A native platform reduces friction but requires confidence in one vendor to cover multiple needs.

Implementation Scenarios and Tactics

Below are specific, actionable approaches a merchant can take depending on the chosen path.

Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA tactics:

• Use storage tiers to forecast costs — estimate average file size × expected downloads to find the right plan.
• Use custom sender email (Max plan) to reinforce brand trust for license delivery emails.
• Attach unique files to variants for made-to-order digital assets to automate delivery per order.

Conjured Memberships tactics:

• Leverage member pricing and perks to convert first-time buyers into recurring revenue streams.
• Use Shopify Flow + Klaviyo integration to trigger onboarding sequences, upsell flows, and churn mitigation automations.
• Offer an initial low-cost tier to capture members, then upsell to higher-perk levels using exclusive early access drops.

Tevello tactics (native model):

• Bundle a physical starter kit with an on-demand course to increase AOV and create repeat buyers (example outcome: bundled course + physical product lifted repeat purchase and revenue in Crochetmilie’s case; read the case study to see tactics in action how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products).
• Use drip content and certificates to create tiered learning pathways that encourage additional purchases; combine with coupon-based incentives to re-engage.
• Migrate course access and customer accounts into Shopify to reduce multi-platform support tickets and improve conversion (see migration results: migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets).

Support & Onboarding Considerations

When evaluating solutions, support and onboarding matter as much as features. Some practical considerations:

• Time to launch: Single-purpose apps can often be installed quickly and used immediately for their intended tasks. Building a membership strategy with Conjured typically requires mapping of perks and checkout flows.
• Customer service load: Platforms that require separate logins or external portals will generate more account/password support tickets.
• Customization needs: If HTML email customization and fine-grained email controls are required, Conjured explicitly supports custom emails. Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA provides branded sender controls on higher plans.

If migrating from an external course platform, the value of a native onboarding path can be substantial. Tevello’s migration case studies illustrate that moving memberships into Shopify reduces support and improves conversion (doubled its store's conversion rate by fixing a fragmented system).

Final Comparison Summary (Feature Matrix)

• File delivery: Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA > Conjured (built-in license and download controls).
• Membership portal: Conjured > Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA.
• Bundling digital + physical commerce: Tie — both allow bundling but with different UX approaches; a native all-in-one platform can be superior for seamless bundles.
• Drip / course tools: Neither app is a full LMS; merchants needing LMS features should evaluate native course platforms or add-on course apps.
• Integrations & automations: Conjured provides more built-in integrations for marketing and flow-based automations.
• Pricing predictability: Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA is predictable for storage; Conjured favors member-scale predictability.
• Support for high-scale migrations: Conjured offers enterprise and dev-store testing; Tevello shows proven large-migration outcomes for merchant confidence (migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets).

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA and Conjured Memberships, the decision comes down to core business priorities: Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA excels at secure delivery and license management for downloadable goods; Conjured Memberships is built for recurring member programs, perks, and native checkout integration. Neither app is a full LMS, so stores building structured courses with drip content, quizzes, and certificates should account for that gap.

That said, there is a third path that resolves many of the trade-offs: a native, unified platform that brings courses, communities, and commerce together inside Shopify. Tevello is designed to keep sales and learning in one place, reducing friction and increasing LTV. Merchants have used a single Shopify-native approach to achieve measurable outcomes — for example, generating over $112K in digital revenue by bundling courses with physical products, generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers, and migrating 14,000+ members to a single platform while cutting support needs (how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products, generated over €243,000 by upselling existing customers, migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets). For merchants who want to avoid platform fragmentation and unify content, community, and commerce, Tevello provides a Shopify-native alternative with course and membership tooling built into the store.

Start your 14-day free trial to see how a native course platform transforms your store. (Explore plans and start a free trial).

FAQ

Q: Which app is better for selling downloadable software with license keys? A: Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA is best for software vendors who need license key distribution and per-download controls. It includes unlimited license keys and secure download links across plans, making it a strong fit for software download workflows.

Q: Which app should a brand pick to launch a membership program with discounts and perks? A: Conjured Memberships is purpose-built for membership programs, with native membership portals, member pricing, and perks such as free shipping and early access. It also integrates with Shopify checkout and marketing automations to support recurring revenue efforts.

Q: How does a native, all-in-one platform like Tevello compare to specialized or external apps? A: A native platform reduces friction by keeping checkout, customer accounts, and content access inside Shopify. That improves conversion, funnels repeat purchases through a single storefront, and lowers support overhead. Tevello customers have demonstrated real results using this approach, from six-figure course revenue to large-scale member migrations that reduced support tickets (see how merchants are earning six figures).

Q: If a merchant needs LMS features like drip content and certificates, which option works best? A: Neither Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA nor Conjured Memberships are full LMS platforms. For structured courses, an all-in-one native course platform that includes drip schedules, certificates, quizzes, and community features will reduce the need to stitch multiple tools together. Tevello’s feature set includes these course-oriented capabilities; merchants can review features and plan comparisons to see if that aligns with their course strategy (all the key features for courses and communities).

Further reading and tools:

• Compare Tevello plans and start a trial: a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses
• Install Tevello from the Shopify App Store to test in a live store environment: natively integrated with Shopify checkout
• Explore additional merchant success stories for real-world outcomes: see how merchants are earning six figures