Protocells are theoretical or experimental models that consist of a compartment that separates chemical reactions taking place inside it, separated from the rest of the environment. They are studied to decipher the enigmatic origin of the first cells and life on Earth. Like cells, they are generally accepted to have been bound by a lipid bilayer membrane at some point in history. Such a membrane is semi-permeable and only allows hydrophobic molecules to pass through and enter the compartment, thereby allowing stable compartmentalization of important genetic or catalytic molecules within an evolving protocell. However, membranes could also project a barrier in exchange of certain nutrients and ions, especially for polar biomolecules like primordial nucleic acids, peptides, minerals, ions, etc. Moreover, it is thought that conditions conducive to the formation of lipids as chemically complex as phospholipids did not exist on early Earth, as complex biological reactions, non-existent at that time, are needed to synthesize such chemically complex molecules. Thus, it has been proposed that primitive cell membranes were composed of simpler amphiphiles such as fatty acids/alcohols more abundant on primitive Earth (likely due to the simplicity in their abiotic synthesis). Fatty acid membranes have increased lipid dynamics, and the presence of a lower number of acyl chains has been shown to increase membrane permeability. Thus, membranes formed by fatty acids containing single acyl chains are more permeable to polar molecules than membranes composed of phospholipids that contain two acyl chains. Higher permeability of primitive fatty acid membranes can result in the more potential exchange of life-relevant molecules between the interior and the exterior of the cell, leading to the chemical evolution of metabolic networks or genetic polymers inside the cell; however, too much permeability may result in diffusion/loss of encapsulated catalytic or genetic materials, suggesting that a balance is required. Although fatty acid monomers could potentially be synthesized on early Earth, the formation of fatty acid vesicles requires specific conditions of pH, salt and fatty acid concentrations, which may have been challenging in certain environments on primitive Earth. Therefore, if complex lipids could not have been synthesized to a significant extent and simple amphiphiles like fatty acids could not have adequately assembled into vesicles on early Earth due to suboptimal environmental synthetic conditions, then one must consider other types of compartments that could have formed on early Earth before the advent of membrane-based compartments, such as membraneless compartments, which could have eventually gained a membrane.