Low-temperature oxygen-free methane aromatization (OFMA) was carried out in a,multifunctional membrane fixed-bed catalytic reactor for the production of benzene and high-purity hydrogen. A 0.5% Ru-3% Mo-HZSM-5 catalyst was used in the temperature range 773-873 K. To assess the beneficial contribution of the membrane, OFMA. was conducted without permeation in a fixed-bed (FB) conventional configuration as well as with permeation in a membrane catalytic reactor (MCR) configuration. Selective crosswise withdrawal of produced hydrogen not only led to benzene production in the MCR of twice that in the FB configuration but also, at the highest tested temperature, boosted the conversion of methane to benzene slightly above the thermodynamic limit. However, because of continuous withdrawal of coproduced hydrogen, catalyst deactivation was more pronounced in the MCR configuration than in the FB configuration. Experiments exploring various FB and MCR operating conditions allowed the elaboration of a phenomenological reaction-separation model matching the observed behavior under steady-state conditions for both configurations.