Do you want to generate more income by providing exclusive content through a membership system? In this article, we discuss 7 top WordPress membership plugins that can add advanced membership features to your WordPress site.
WordPress has become a popular choice for hosting membership sites due to its user-friendly nature, customization options, and dedicated membership plugins.
When it comes to creating a membership site, choosing the right WordPress membership plugin is crucial. The plugin plays a vital role in managing memberships, handling payments, and restricting access to content. With a wide range of WordPress membership plugins available, it’s important to select one that aligns with the specific needs of the website, whether it’s a new, medium-traffic, or high-traffic site.
In our blog post, we will explore the 7 best WordPress membership plugins for 2024, catering to various website needs. We will highlight their features, pricing, and ease of use, among other things.
Let’s dive in!
Table of contents
Key Considerations When Choosing a WordPress Membership Plugin
When choosing a WordPress membership plugin, several important parameters should be considered to ensure it aligns with the specific needs of the website. The following are the key parameters to keep in mind:
- Features: Content restriction, drip content, recurring payments, etc.
- Ease of use: Installation, configuration, and user experience for both site owner and members.
- Integrations: Payment gateways, email marketing platforms, LMS, etc.
- Scalability: Ability to handle growth in members and content.
- Support: Quality and availability of customer support.
- Pricing: Freemium vs. paid options, value for money.
Top 7 WordPress Membership Plugins (Detailed Reviews):
- MemberPress: Powerful, all-in-one solution with advanced features.
- Paid Memberships Pro: Flexible and user-friendly, good for simple sites.
- Restrict Content Pro: Popular option with freemium and paid plans.
- WishList Member: Powerful and versatile, but steeper learning curve.
- WooCommerce Memberships: Integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce stores.
- LearnDash: Powerful LMS with membership features, ideal for in-depth courses.
- ARMember: Feature-rich with various integrations, good for complex sites.
- Simple Membership: Easy to use, ideal for basic membership needs.
MemberPress
MemberPress is a comprehensive membership plugin for WordPress, offering a wide range of features, ease of use, integrations, scalability, and support. Here’s an overview of its key aspects:
Features
- Content Protection: It allows fully customizable content protection, including limiting access to specific pages, posts, categories, tags, and individual course lessons. It also supports content dripping.
- Membership Management: MemberPress enables the creation and management of membership levels, subscription plans, and member accounts, as well as the handling of payments securely.
- Integrations: It integrates with popular third-party services and software, offering flexibility and extended functionalities.
- Support and Updates: The plugin is well-maintained, consistently updated with new features, and backed by a team of professional support engineers.
Ease of Use
MemberPress is known for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for both beginners and experienced users to configure options and settings.
Integrations
It offers seamless integrations with various third-party services, expanding its capabilities and compatibility with other tools and platforms.
Scalability
The plugin is designed to scale with the needs of a membership website, offering features such as a built-in course builder and the ability to create and sell online courses.
Support
MemberPress is backed by an award-winning support team, providing users with comprehensive technical assistance and a stress-free support experience.
Pricing
While MemberPress doesn’t have a free version, it offers various pricing plans with different features and add-ons, catering to the diverse needs of membership site owners.
Paid Memberships Pro
Paid Memberships Pro (PMPro) is a popular WordPress plugin that offers a range of features for creating and managing membership sites. Here’s an overview of its key aspects:
Features
- Content Restriction: It allows you to restrict content based on membership levels.
- Membership Management: You can create and manage multiple membership levels and members.
- Recurring Payments: The plugin supports recurring payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net.
Ease of Use
Users have reported that PMPro provides ease of use and flexibility for creating and managing membership sites.
Integrations
PMPro can integrate with various WordPress plugins, page builders, and third-party services, making it versatile and adaptable to different needs.
Scalability
The plugin is designed to support any kind of member-focused business or organization, and its open-source nature allows for customization and scalability.
Support and Pricing
PMPro offers a free version with no limitations, as well as paid plans (Standard and Plus) with additional features and support. The paid plans come with a 100-day money-back guarantee. The plugin is supported by a community forum and documentation, and the company behind it offers a refund policy and customer support.
Restrict Content Pro
Restrict Content Pro is a WordPress membership plugin that offers robust content restriction tools and powerful membership site management in one easy-to-use plugin. The plugin is user-friendly, scalable, and well-supported, with extensive developer features, action hooks, and filters for easy modification and extension. Here’s a brief overview of its features, ease of use, integrations, scalability, support, and pricing.
Features
- Powerful Content Restriction: It allows you to restrict content by membership level, access level, WordPress user role, and more.
- Unlimited Membership Levels: Create and sell an unlimited number of membership plans, each with specific access to content.
- Customizable Member Emails: Send welcome emails, payment receipts, and account expiration reminders to members.
- WooCommerce Integration: Control access to products in WooCommerce based on membership.
- Easy Content Paywalls: Display a content preview with a customizable message to encourage membership purchase.
- Member Access Control: Decide who can access specific pages, posts, archives, and even WordPress blocks based on a member’s plan.
Ease of Use
The plugin is designed to be lightweight, powerful, and extensible, making it easy to manage and customize.
Integrations
It offers integrations with popular services such as ActiveCampaign, Stripe, 2Checkout, Braintree, and PayPal, among others.
Scalability
Restrict Content Pro is flexible and can scale to the needs of a membership website, offering add-ons for extended functionality.
Support
The plugin is built with developers in mind, providing extensive developer features, action hooks, and filters for easy modification and extension.
Pricing
The pricing plans for Restrict Content Pro include various features and add-ons, with different levels of support and updates.
WishList Member
WishList Member is a WordPress plugin designed to facilitate the creation and management of membership sites. Here’s an overview of its key aspects:
Features
- Content Control: It allows for the restriction of content, including posts, files, and pages, based on membership levels.
- Payment Integration: The plugin supports various payment processors, such as PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net, for easy collection of payments.
- Member Management: It provides tools for managing members, creating multiple membership levels, and integrating with marketing tools.
Ease of Use
WishList Member is known for its simple setup, complete content control, and seamless integration with existing WordPress tools and plugins.
Integrations
The plugin offers over 50 integrations, allowing users to connect their entire membership workflow with other tools and services.
Scalability
WishList Member is designed to be simple yet scalable, offering unlimited membership levels and members without upsells or advertising.
Support and Pricing
The plugin provides dedicated support and offers a range of powerful tools, including access control, multiple membership levels, and marketing tools.
Pricing details for WishList Member are not explicitly mentioned in the search results, but the plugin is known to offer a simple and easy-to-use membership site toolbox.
WooCommerce Memberships
WooCommerce Memberships is a WordPress plugin designed to create and manage membership sites within an eCommerce environment. Here’s an overview of its key aspects:
Features
- Membership Plans: It allows you to create and manage membership plans, including recurring revenue and limited access to your eCommerce store[1].
- Content Restriction: WooCommerce Memberships enable you to restrict content, products, and pages based on membership levels.
- Integration with WooCommerce Subscriptions: The plugin works seamlessly with WooCommerce Subscriptions, allowing for recurring billing and more flexible membership options.
Ease of Use
WooCommerce Memberships is known for its ease of use and integration with existing WooCommerce tools and plugins.
Integrations
The plugin offers integration with various third-party tools and plugins, such as WooCommerce Subscriptions, WooCommerce Social Login, and Advanced Coupons for WooCommerce[2][3].
Scalability
WooCommerce Memberships is designed to be scalable, allowing for unlimited membership levels and members without upsells or advertising..
Support and Pricing
WooCommerce Memberships is a free plugin, with additional support available through the WooCommerce documentation and community forums.
In 2024, WooCommerce Memberships remain a valuable option for creating and managing membership sites within an eCommerce environment, given its features, ease of use, and integrations. However, the decision to use it should be based on specific project requirements and comparisons with other available solutions.
AR Member
ARMember is a WordPress plugin designed to create and manage membership websites. Here’s an overview of its key aspects:
Features
- Content Restriction: ARMember allows for the restriction of content, including posts, pages, and custom post types, based on membership levels.
- Membership Management: It provides tools for creating and managing multiple membership levels, including free and trial memberships[2].
- Form Builder: ARMember includes a form builder for creating signup pages and customizing registration forms.
- Badges and Achievements: The plugin offers badges and achievements to motivate members ad reward their engagement.
- Pay-per-post Option: ARMember allows for a pay-per-post option, enabling users to charge for individual posts.
Ease of Use
ARMember is known for its user-friendly interface and ease of use[1].
Integrations
ARMember offers a wide variety of paid add-ons, including online courses, affiliate programs, and advanced integrations.
Scalability
ARMember is designed to be scalable, allowing for unlimited membership levels and members without upsells or advertising.
Support and Pricing
ARMember offers a free Lite version, with a more robust Pro plan available for a one-time fee of $69.
Additional add-ons are available for purchase, with a bundle of all add-ons priced at $199.
In 2024, ARMember remains a valuable option for creating and managing membership sites within a WordPress environment, given its features, ease of use, and integrations. However, the decision to use it should be based on specific project requirements and comparisons with other available solutions.
Ultimate Member
Ultimate Member is a WordPress plugin that helps in creating and managing membership websites. Here’s an overview of its key aspects:
Features
- User Profiles: Ultimate Member allows for the creation of user profiles with custom fields and tabs.
- Membership Management: It provides tools for creating and managing multiple membership levels, including free and paid memberships.
- Form Builder: Ultimate Member includes a form builder for creating signup pages and customizing registration forms.
- Content Restriction: The plugin allows for the restriction of content, including posts, pages, and custom post types, based on membership levels.
- Integrations: Ultimate Member offers integration with various third-party tools and plugins, such as WooCommerce, MailChimp, and AWeber.
Ease of Use
Ultimate Member is known for its user-friendly interface and ease of use.
Scalability
Ultimate Member is designed to be scalable, allowing for unlimited membership levels and members without upsells or advertising.
Support and Pricing
Ultimate Member is a free plugin, with additional support available through the plugin’s documentation and community forums.
7 Best Membership Plugins for WordPress: Head-to-head comparison
| Plugin | Key Features | Pricing | Pros | Cons |
| MemberPress | Content restriction, membership management, payment integration, drip content, affiliate program | Starts at $149/year | Easy to use, powerful features, integrates with popular tools | No free version, limited payment gateway options |
| Paid Memberships Pro | Content restriction, membership management, recurring payments, integrations | Free version available, paid plans start at $297/year | Flexible pricing options, integrates with popular tools | Limited payment gateway options, some features only available in paid plans |
| Restrict Content Pro | Content restriction, membership management, payment integration, drip content | Starts at $99/year | Easy to use, integrates with popular tools, flexible pricing options | Limited payment gateway options, some features only available in paid plans |
| Wishlist Member | Content restriction, membership management, payment integration, drip content | Starts at $199/year | All-in-one solution, integrates with popular tools | Limited payment gateway options, no free version |
| WooCommerce Memberships | Content restriction, membership management, payment integration, integrates with WooCommerce | Free version available, paid plans start at $149/year | Integrates with WooCommerce, flexible pricing options | Limited payment gateway options, some features only available in paid plans |
| AP Member | Content restriction, membership management, payment integration, drip content | Starts at $49/year | Affordable pricing, easy to use | Limited payment gateway options, some features only available in paid plans |
| Ultimate Member | User profiles, membership management, form builder, content restriction, integrations | Free version available, paid plans start at $249/year | User-friendly interface, integrates with popular tools | Limited payment gateway options, some features only available in paid plans |
Wrapping Up…
Ultimately, the best WordPress membership plugin for a particular website depends on its specific requirements, such as content restriction, payment integration, ease of use, and scalability. Therefore, it’s essential for website owners to carefully evaluate the features and pricing of each plugin to determine the most suitable option for their membership site.
Plugins, like Restrict Content Pro, WooCommerce Memberships, and Ultimate Member, offer unique features and integrations, making them suitable for different use cases.
For instance, WooCommerce Memberships seamlessly integrate with WooCommerce, making it an ideal choice for eCommerce-focused membership sites.
If your website is fairly new you can go with ARMember or Paid Memberships Pro. If you have a medium-traffic website you can consider MemberPress and Restrict Content Pro, and if you have a high-traffic website you can opt for Ultimate Member.
In casenone of the mentioned plugins fit your needs or if you need some custom or personalized features, our team can customize it for you!
You can discuss your project with our experts and we’ll take it from there.
One Response
Greetings! Very helpful advice within this article!
It is the little changes which will make the most important changes.
Thanks a lot for sharing!