The best WordPress membership plugins for 2022 can help you create new income streams and build a thriving, like-minded community from your WordPress website. But finding the perfect membership plugin for your project can be daunting, depending on your needs.

WordPress membership plugins exist today in varying degrees of complexity. Some allow you to add a phone number, address, and security info, which is it. Other membership plugins offer member tiers and the means to build a complex profile with unmatched security protocols.

In this guide, we’ll uncover for you the best WordPress membership plugins for 2022.

Let’s dive in.

What is a WordPress Membership Plugin?

A WordPress membership plugin allows you to sell memberships (sometimes called subscriptions) and offer members-only content from your WordPress website.

Memberships or subscriptions are a special type of digital e-commerce good that gives members or subscribers access to content that is gated behind a paywall and account login.

Some examples of membership websites include:

WordPress membership plugins, at the most basic level, provide you with the ability to restrict exclusive content to members or subscribers, offer subscription packages, and accept payments, along with a variety of other useful features depending on which plugin you choose.

Most WordPress membership plugins offer:

• Ability to sell memberships or subscriptions directly from your WordPress website using a payment gateway
• Multiple membership levels (with the ability for members to upgrade/downgrade)
• A member “dashboard” or account management area
• The ability to restrict website content to specific member or subscription levels

What to Look for in a WordPress Membership Plugin In 2022

WordPress membership plugins can be used to run any type of website, from online e-learning websites to tutorial-based websites, coaches, product/discount websites, and so many more.

But because of the number of different types of websites that a WordPress membership plugin can be used for, it can be difficult for the developers of the plugin to satisfy every need.

When it comes to WordPress membership plugins, don’t pay as much attention to negative reviews. Take them with a grain of salt in the WordPress membership plugin space.

Sometimes people are looking to achieve the impossible and won’t take no for an answer, and reviews can reflect that.

Ease of Use

WordPress membership plugins are complex. As such, setting them up can require you to read the entire documentation more than once to figure out exactly how to do what you want.

And that’s without even mentioning the plugin interfaces, which can often be a confusing mess of options, toggles, and switches.

Finding a WordPress membership plugin with an easy-to-use interface is critical to ensure that you aren’t tearing your hair out trying to set it up.

Multiple Membership Levels

Any good WordPress membership plugin will allow you to set up an unlimited number of Membership levels with support for all types you can think of.

This needs to include free, paid, and trial memberships which are essential for providing flexibility in what you can offer.

Payment Integrations

You’ll need a payment gateway to charge members their membership fees. Before you select a WordPress membership plugin, make sure that it supports your chosen payment gateway, such as PayPal or Stripe.

Some membership plugins also integrate with WooCommerce, allowing you to use any payment gateway that is supported by WooCommerce.

Membership Upgrades and Downgrades

Make sure whichever WordPress membership plugin you decide to go with supports upgrades and downgrades, ideally with prorated payments. After all, you want to give your members the best membership experience so they stick around.

One great way to do that is by making sure that members can move freely between plans.

Reporting and Analytics

Knowing exactly how many members churn and at which point is vital data for any membership site, along with spotting trends in new signups and slumps.

Ensure that the WordPress membership plugin you’re looking at supports these along with data exports.

Plugin Support

Membership plugins are complex. There’s a good chance you may need to contact support at some point during setup and implementation.

That’s why it’s often best to go with a membership plugin that offers, at minimum, ticketed support so you can get the help you need to launch your WordPress membership website business.

Best WordPress Membership Plugins

Based on the criteria above, here are the best WordPress membership plugins available in 2022:

1. Restrict Content Pro

Restrict Content Pro is far and away one of the best WordPress membership plugins for 2022.

The plugin was originally developed by Pippin Williamson and his team at Sandhills Development. It grew to be one of the most popular membership plugins for WordPress.

This robust plugin is chocked full of value and offers best-in-class support and development.

The feature set is extensive with Restrict Content Pro.

Discount codes, built-in integrations, data export, and a robust reporting system are a small part of Restrict Content Pro. Create unlimited subscription tiers such as a free trial, beginner, and paid.

View all your members and their status on the easy-to-navigate dashboard.

The plugin is easy to set up and allows you to begin delivering a high level of premium content to your members and other users. Use the email system to build your membership roles with new member emails and emails offering discounts and specials.

Restrict Content Pro lets you integrate with all the popular payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.Net.

Without a doubt, Restrict Content Pro is a membership plugin for WordPress that is the most developer-friendly, with a huge range of hooks and filters allowing developers to build whatever they need making it perfect for custom jobs.

Restrict Content Pro Pros

We’ve already mentioned the developer friendliness of Restrict Content Pro. But there is so much more to this plugin.

It supports multiple membership levels, upgrades, and downgrades, all the popular payment gateways (like Stripe), along with functionalities such as WooCommerce integration.

Like all good WordPress membership plugins, it supports drip content (releasing content over time on a schedule).

It even supports site creation on multisite.

Restrict Content Pro Cons

There aren’t any cons to the functionality or support of Restrict Content Pro. Although a few users have said that they would like a more “designed” membership panel on the front end of their website.

But the developers of this plugin have addressed many of those concerns within the last year.

Restrict Content Pro Pricing

Restrict Content Pro is available with the following plans:

• Personal ($99/yr) — A single site license with updates and support for a year along with 34 pro add-ons
• Plus ($149/year) — A 5-site license with updates and support for a year along with 34 pro add-ons
• Professional ($249/year) — An unlimited site license, update, and supports for a year, along with 34 pro add-ons.

Our Opinion on Restrict Content Pro

Restrict Content Pro is one of the best WordPress membership plugins available, with everything you need to build your membership site.

It’s really the best place to start your search for the best WordPress membership plugins in 2022.

2. Paid Memberships Pro

With well more than 100,000+ active installs and over 300 five-star ratings, you can be sure that you’re in good hands with this plugin. And it’s feature-rich as well, with 19 free add-ons and 65 Plus add-ons available in the Pro version.

If you’re looking for a plugin that offers unlimited everything, try Paid Memberships Pro. It is a little expensive to start; however, you may not have to purchase another member plugin in the future.

It offers complete integration with all the popular solutions for WordPress, such as bbPress, MailChimp, Stripe, and BuddyPress. The plugin can support any type of membership site. Create entire communities with forums, member tiers, and member-only content and product sampling.

The plugin also comes loaded with a very robust email system to keep in close contact with your members.

The plugin offers three tiers of memberships with a no questions asked money-back guarantee.

Paid Memberships Pro Pros

What we love most about Paid Memberships Pro is that you don’t need to buy the paid version. The free version offers everything you need to get started with your WordPress membership website, including:

• Payment gateways (Stripe and PayPal)
• Unlimited membership levels with free trial support, recurring payments, and one-time payments
• Reporting, analytics, and the ability to export data

Out of the box, it supports protecting custom post types and even integrates with both BuddyPress and bbPress.

Paid Memberships Pro Cons

There aren’t many cons associated with the software. While it has a lot of settings to configure, that’s a given with all membership plugins.

Instead, the main con is that the documentation requires an account to view. While it’s a clever marketing trick so later they can upsell you, it is annoying if you’re trying to evaluate and get a sense of the plugin before installing it.

Paid Memberships Pro Pricing

As we’ve already mentioned, there’s a free version that does plenty and is available on WordPress.org.

The paid version takes a simple pricing approach, with the plus add-ons available as part of a bundle only.

The add-ons are included in every paid bundle, with the only difference being the number of websites you can use them on.

• Standard ($247/year) — A 1 site license that includes support and updates for a year
• Plus ($397/year) — A 2 site license that includes support and updates for a year
• Builder ($697/year) — A 5 site license that includes support and updates for a year

Our Opinion on Paid Memberships Pro

Paid Memberships Pro is one of the best free WordPress membership plugins, with a wide array of functionality and 19 free add-ons.

This makes it the perfect starting point for those on a budget.

3. MemberPress

MemberPress is the only premium-only WordPress membership in our list, and was one of the first plugins to be invested in when Syed of AwesomeMotive and WPBeginner fame opened up his investment fund.

Since then, MemberPress has seen a raft of improvements and has gone on to be a dominant force in the WordPress membership plugin scene.

MemberPress is a rules-based WordPress membership plugin with tons of features to build a comprehensive tier-based site.

Quality membership plugins allow its users to control the content subscribers can access, and MemberPress is no different. Use child pages, custom post types, and categories to provide only the content you want subscribers to see.

Start a forum inside your site to build a like-minded community. Use built-in password protection and make subscribers sense that anything they post is secure.

Integrate your MemberPress forum with other popular WordPress forum plugins like BBBPress, and build a robust community.

MemberPress makes it easy to start monetizing your site with full coupon integration. Run any number of promotions and giveaways to generate new business.

Like most WordPress membership plugins, MemberPress has a range of Extensions. These are separate plugins you can upload that integrate a raft of third-party plugins and SaaS tools with your membership site.

MemberPress Pros

There’s no denying that MemberPress has the widest range of extensions and integrations on the WordPress membership plugin market.

Just some of the extensions include:

• ConvertKit
• Constant Contact
• Corporate Accounts
• GamiPress
• HelpScout
• LearnDash

New extensions are regularly released.

MemberPress also has comprehensive data analytics and reporting functionality, along with everything that you’d expect from a membership plugin, such as membership levels, upgrades, downgrades, and payment integrations like Stripe and PayPal.

MemberPress Cons

Overall, there aren’t many cons to MemberPress. It has a lot of settings that can be expected of any membership plugin. And it isn’t exactly the most beautiful plugin on the front-end.

But just like Restrict Content Pro, you can easily change that with some CSS manipulation.

MemberPress Pricing

MemberPress offers a three-tiered membership package that includes different add-ons/extensions depending on which tier you buy, which means that sometimes you have to buy the most expensive plan to get what you want.

The plans are:

• Basic ($179.50/year) — Includes a single site license, support, and updates for a year along with the MemberPress courses add-on
• Plus ($299.50/year) — Includes a 2 site license, support, and updates for a year, along with Advanced Marketing Integrations
• Pro ($399.50/year) — Includes a 5-site license, support, and updates for a year, along with the Authorize.net Integration

MemberPress is definitely more expensive than Restrict Content Pro and Paid Memberships Pro if you develop many sites for clients and want an unlimited license.

This plugin simply doesn’t offer that option.

Our Opinion on MemberPress

MemberPress is a comprehensive WordPress membership plugin that offers everything you need but comes at a cost.

If you’re on a budget or build a lot of sites and need an unlimited site license, then we’d recommend looking at Restrict Content Pro or Paid Memberships Pro instead.

Other WordPress Membership Plugins and Tools

Here are a few other WordPress membership plugins worth noting.

Paid Member Subscription

Paid Member Subscription is a lightweight solution and easy to set up. Get started with a free membership for your subscribers and offer a paid solution down the road. Members have an exceptional area to edit their content and membership details.

Restrict content to logged-in users or employ other criteria. Offer varying degrees of content to your users, such as posts and pages, WooCommerce products, and forum subjects. Place shortcodes throughout your site so a user can log in easily.

Subscription management is easy, allowing your members to upgrade whenever they feel the need for more content and from any member level. Even though this is a lightweight membership management plugin, there is still plenty of options to make your subscribers feel they are getting their money’s worth.

Configure the plugin for free memberships, free trial periods, one-time fees, or recurring payments. Paid Membership Subscription also features a robust email management system. Send an email template when a subscriber signs up or on a pre-determined schedule. Another useful feature of the plugin is the reporting function. It lets you know how your site is responding to the changes you are making.

The plugin allows for two types of pricing, which are billed annually.

• The Basic can be used on one site
• The Pro version can be used on an unlimited number of domains

WooCommerce Memberships

WooCommerce Memberships is the plugin you need for any e-commerce site. The plugin offers complete integration into the popular e-commerce system.

Take your e-commerce site to a whole other level with this plugin. Build on repeat sales by letting customers create an account and follow up with an email to promote your product. The WooCommerce Membership plugin enables you to create exclusive content and then drip that content on any schedule you prefer. Integrate your store with memberships for sale or after product purchases.

Once you have the plugin setup, the possibilities are endless. Create a selling club with the features of integrated WooCommerce. Restrict viewing of strategic products to specific members or tiers. Once you have your shipping in place, offer improved rates to members and products.

Discounts and coupons are a great way to sell more products. With WooCommerce Membership, you have everything in place to offer the best discounts for your products. Let members view their perks in the dashboard along with other drip content. Give them a reason to shop and keep shopping with incentives throughout your store.

WooCommerce Memberships is offered as an annual payment of $199 with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You also get a full year of updates when you subscribe.

WP-Members

WP-Members is a free plugin with a ton of features. This is the solution to check out if you are just starting with a new site and need a member plugin. The plugin becomes part of your theme with no restrictions.

Once you have the plugin downloaded and installed, the WP-Member plugin is wholly integrated with the base code of WordPress. This function allows you to focus on your business and not setting up a member site. The plugin is easy to use and extremely flexible. WP-Members offers all the features you would see in a paid membership plugin.

WP-Members is scalable to any depth and restricts content to any member or tier of members. Restrict any page, post, or content on your site and use a login for your subscribers to access. Create custom fields for registration and profile pages.

Use shortcodes throughout your site to enhance the customer experience. Use a shortcode to log in to different restricted areas or a different tier of content.

The WP-Member plugin is free of charge and integrates seamlessly with any other WordPress content. If you need a free solution for membership, this is the plugin to have.

Member Mouse

Member Mouse is an outstanding plugin for anybody stating a membership site if you can forget about the name. It is a comprehensive plugin for managing e-commerce solutions.

Deliver any type of content to your subscribers, including specials and promotions on any number of products. Member Mouse provides a complete customer management system, smart tags, and one-click upsells. Customers feel a part of the action with their self-service page to update passwords and preferences.

One of the best features is the ability to drip content to your subscribers. Use individual schedules or a tier system for any number of subscribers. Member Mouse offers plenty of automatic features, such as the ability to downsell an account if your customer attempts to cancel. Set up different price points for any number of subscribers in different tiers or the same level.

Three pricing levels for every need.

• The Builder level allows for up to 5,000 members with content protection
• Advanced offers up to 50,000 members with advanced reporting and analytics
• The Premium level gives you 100,000 members with Sticky.io integration

S2Member

S2Member is another feature-packed WordPress membership plugin. The plugin integrates easily into any WordPress theme and other plugins. It is compatible with PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.Net.

Shortcodes are a significant feature of S2Member. You can use WordPress shortcodes throughout your content to grow your readership and subscriber base. Make complex transactions quick and easy by learning the basics of WordPress shortcodes. Place buy and sell buttons wherever you need them.

Integrate any of the major payment gateways in any area you want by merely placing a shortcode. S2Member offers a host of options often reserved for more expensive plugins. Restrict content any way you choose by an individual subscriber, rule-based, or tier—drip content on any number of criteria such as custom schedules.

S2Member is a secure platform with encrypted content and protected audio/video streaming. Create custom fields for login and welcome pages to improve your subscriber community. Everything in S2Member is integrated with some of the largest brands on the internet.

S2Member offers three levels of membership with a money-back guarantee.

• Framework offers the base code for a single site for free
• The Pro version is offered for a single site plus upgrades for $89
• The Pro Unlimited version is precisely what the name implies, unlimited everything for $189

MagicMembers

MagicMembers is a simple yet highly effective plugin for your community. Integrate your existing content into the plugin and start making money.

MagicMembers lets you integrate your site into a full suite of payment gateways, including Stripe and Authorize.net. As a bonus, accept payments from as many portals as you like, giving your customers a broader choice. Build your customer base with multiple membership levels. Let your subscriber view their subscriptions on an individual dashboard.

Decide on different membership billing options. Choose weekly or monthly, whatever is convenient for you and your customer. Let your users manage downloads with the protected download manager and set access levels for your subscribers. A Valuable option is the integration of S3 Amazon and MagicMembers. Protect audio/video files even if they sit on Amazon’s servers.

Use ready-built custom widgets for login, text, and status. Use MagicMembers to build an unlimited number of coupons and build your subscriber base through the robust email system. The Sequential Course Delivery System allows you to time when content is delivered to your members. Drip content and make it available on a weekly or monthly basis.

MagicMembers offers three one-time-only subscription levels.

• The Single version is offered for one domain for $97
• A 3-Domain version is provided with training videos and one year of updates for $197
• The Unlimited Domain Version gives the user unlimited everything for $207

Wishlist Member

Wishlist Member is an excellent plugin for quickly creating communities and learning sites. It is an extremely easy-to-use software for the beginner and professional.

Wishlist is integrated with all the top payment gateways and email providers, including PayPal and Mailchimp. The plugin is also tightly integrated with Easy Webinar, iDevAffilliate, and Zapier. The best thing about Wishlist is the ease with which you can go through setup. The wizard lets you make a host of choices as you effortlessly move through the options.

WishList is built for WordPress and its base code. Run the wizard once, and the rest of your membership actions are integrated into every other task. No complicated setup; everything is there when you need it. A useful feature for WishList is its tight integration with Zapier. Use the online service to automate a lot of your daily tasks. This integration gives you the ability to focus on what is fun about running an online business.

Pricing options are straightforward with WishList. WishList Member is for one URL and unlimited memberships for $299. WishList Member + CourseCure is for one URL, unlimited memberships, and includes courses, quizzes, points, and badges for $499.

The Best WordPress Membership Plugins For 2022

Depending on what you are looking for in a membership plugin, one we’ve covered here will definitely get you up and running.

Of course, no membership site is complete without making sure that it is secured. iThemes Security Pro is there to fully protect your site.

Get the bonus content: An Inspiration Guide for Membership Websites

Kristen has been writing tutorials to help WordPress users since 2011. As marketing director here at iThemes, she’s dedicated to helping you find the best ways to build, manage, and maintain effective WordPress websites. Kristen also enjoys journaling (check out her side project, The Transformation Year!), hiking and camping, step aerobics, cooking, and daily adventures with her family, hoping to live a more present life.

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Keep reading the article at WordPress News | iThemes Blog. The article was originally written by Kristen Wright on 2022-09-02 12:34:00.

The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.

Do you own a WordPress membership site or plan to start one soon? They’re a great way to monetize websites that share exclusive content, tutorials, discounts and more to members. Membership sites are everywhere and in every industry – including online newspaper memberships like the Wall Street Journal, discount shopping websites like Shoedazzle, or a premium WordPress Theme membership site like Elegant Themes. If you own (or run) one, well and good, this article will benefit you greatly.

In today’s post, we will cover some of the top WordPress membership plugins to power up your membership site. The plugins will add all manner of functions and elements to your website, giving you all the power you need to wow your users with an experience like no other. Enjoy and keep the conversation going in the comment section below!

Disclaimer: WPExplorer is an affiliate for one or more products listed below. If you click a link and complete a purchase we could make a commission.

1. Restrict Content Pro Premium Membership Plugin

Restrict Content Pro is one of the best premium content membership plugins out there. No only does it give you the ability to charge users for use of your website, but you can create an unlimited number of of membership levels each with different rates, terms and/or benefits. Another great feature is the ability to restrict specific portions of your site. So you can still maintain a public blog to generate fresh traffic while also creating members only posts and pages. Restrict Content Pro also includes a membership signup report so you can see how many users are registering, and how your site is doing in general.

Other plugin features include easy setup, great support, complete member management, unlimited subscriptions/membership levels, PayPal payment support, promo/discount code support, earnings reports, data import/export, built-in help tab to guide you during setup, plus great plugin extensions (such as Strip, PayPal Express, strong passwords, math verification and more). This is a great plugin that you should definitely consider. In fact, we used to use it here at WPExplorer for membership signup. The plugin is quick to setup and easy to use. And from a developer perspective it’s also easy to customize to your needs.

2. MemberSpace

MemberSpace is a popular GDPR friendly membership platform that integrates with 14 popular site builders, including WordPress. But what really makes this platform great is that you don’t need to be a developer to get started. MemberSpace includes tons of easy and ready to use features that you can enable to restrict content, create membership levels, follow up with leads and more.

With MemberSpace you can manage all of your site membership features from one place. This means you can create member signup and login forms, enable free trials, create coupon codes, add membership tier levels, require membership approval, collect payments (via Stripe integration) and enable recurring payments. Plus MemberSpace is secure, using top of the line SSL encryption for payments.

There are also great features for custom styling, exit intent popups or email followups to recapture lost signups, drip content, and integrations with third party services like Zapier and Rewardful. And you can view real time reports for your site from your MemberSpace dashboard, giving you at a glance information like membership count, member page views, revenue and more. But that’s just scratching the surface. To see what else MemberSpace has to offer you really should head over to their landing page and take a look at a few of the case studies.

So what does all this cost? There is a free 14 day trial that you can signup for to try things out, but after that plans begin at just $29/mo for a MemberSpace Starting plan with unlimited members, VIP support, free migrations and up to 2 websites. Though as your business grows we’d really recommend at least considering an upgrade to a Growing Plan. It is $49/mo, but offers decreased transaction fees and removes the MemberSpace branding.

3. Memberful

Create your own membership program with Memberful. Use built-in features for subscriptions, upgrades, member management, referrals, and various settings to grow your member base and monetize your content. Designed to work great with blogs, newsletters, courses, podcasts and more Memberful is an excellent solution for your WordPress site.

With Memberful (and the corresponding plugin) you can quickly create members-only sections of your website, sell subscription levels, and process payments. But there are also options to offer free trials, coupons, gift subscriptions, group rates and even referrals to bring in more members. And Memberful’s shortcodes and WordPress functions make it easy to add signup forms and optins to your site design. Plus there are options to enable staff accounts, choose a language (12 are currently supported), review conversion rates and monitor member activity analytics. And for premium plans there is even white-labelling for a more professional member experience.

Overall Memberful offers powerful options that any entrepreneur will love, making it a top membership plugin option that you should consider. You do need to signup for Memberful to use the plugin on your site, but starter plans are completely free and they offer free trials for premium plans (which unlock all of Memberful’s capabilities).

4. ProfileGrid

Customize your user or customer profiles, build a community and even monetize your site memberships with ProfileGrid. This all in one plugin offer features that make creating and maintaining a membership site easy.

ProfileGrid includes easy options to create user profiles. The premium plugin includes options for display name, custom profile URLs, profile tabs, geolocation, user status, photos, profile labels, and even social media integration and logins. There’s also a built-in “friends” system, groups, private messaging, email notifications, and more. And you can assign managers to help keep track of site tasks, groups, member requests and more. Basically everything you (and users) could ever want for profiles.

But this is a list of membership plugins – and you can bet ProfileGrid manages that for your site too. The plugin offers privacy levels, menu restriction to show/hide navigation links based on groups, myCred participation points system integration, and most importantly payment integrations. Charge users or groups and accept payment via PayPal or Stripe.

ProfileGrid is also a part of the MetaBundle, along with EventPrime and RegistrationMagic, for even more membership site options. And if you want to give the plugin a try, you can find a free version of ProfileGrid on WordPress.org

5. PrivateContent Multilevel Content Plugin

Do you wish to restrict access to various areas of your WordPress membership site? If so, the PrivateContent plugin is exactly what you need. Thanks to the ingenious design of this plugin, you can decide who sees certain content or hide entire areas on your website by redirecting users. PrivateContent allows you to add multi-level login forms, user management features, user private pages, and private areas to your website. Furthermore, you can restrict access to all types of content including posts, pages, menu and even categories.

Other features include easy installation, time saving shortcodes, 1-click website lock to hide your entire website, extendable, public API, translation ready with multi-language support, and dedicated support staff.

6. USERPRO User Profiles With Social Login

UserPro is a powerful WordPress community plugin from the elite author DeluxeThemes. It is bursting at the seams with features and offers you login and registration features as well as beautiful front-end profiles to add some gusto to your membership site. Other than that, UserPro will help you to create searchable member directories, unlimited custom profiles and multiple sign up forms.

The plugin further supports shortcode functionality and social connect integration. Your users can login and connect using their favorite social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Bkontakt etc. UserPro integrates easily with WordPress, bbPress, WooCommerce and MailChimp.

7. ProfilePress

ProfilePress is a modern WordPress membership plugin with a drag-and-drop builder that lets you create custom login and user registration forms, a beautiful user profile page and member directories that is searchable and filterable, allowing users to find each other. There is also a My Account page where users can update their profile information and change their account settings. Your members will never have to see your WordPress admin panel because everything is handled on the front end of your site.

It gives you fine-grained control over what content your users can see based on your protection rules. You can restrict access to pages, child pages, posts, custom post types, categories, tags and custom taxonomies based on their user roles, logged-in status and more.

There are also a number of ProfilePress pro-addons for creating custom fields, ensuring users confirm their email addresses after registration, approving new users and integrating with other platforms and software such as Mailchimp, WooCommerce, Google reCAPTCHA, BuddyPress and more.

8. ARMember WordPress Membership Plugin

There are the plethora of WordPress membership plugins out there, but not all of them have certain features that you may require in order to create your membership site. Some of them offer distinct membership levels & subscription management feature while others are mere good for selling subscription on a single level. Some of them come with the extensive payment gateways, content access control, an easy integration and other robust features to create hassle free WordPress membership site.

If you are looking for all-in- one package added with the variety of adds-on and mentioned features then you are at right place. ARMember WordPress membership plugin takes your business to the summit of success with its ability to create the complete suite of membership system.

ARMember is a Swiss knife of WordPress membership plugin. The best WordPress membership plugin just got even better with tons of exclusive features. So let’s dwell each feature one-by- one briefly to give you solid understanding and reasons to try ARMember WordPress membership plugin.

ARMember features unique and simplest method for membership set-up wizard which creates the single shortcode to make treatment of whole participation process simple and advantageous. Along with that, it comes with built-in form builder to create an enticing login and WordPress registration forms with many other designing customizations. Choose from a number of membership models. As well as add social logins, setup a payment cycle, enable multi-level memberships, add a free trial and sync with WooCommerce. Plus ARMember offer unique options for member invites, account locking and two-step signups.

Unlike other membership plugins, ARMember also comes with built- in integrations which other plugins offer as a paid add-ons. Moreover, it is a complete package to create membership system without having an even basic programming background.

9. MemberPress Membership Plugin

This plugin is unlike the nine we just covered above. While the above plugins just add additional features to your membership site, MemberPress helps you to create a membership site from scratch in no time. I’ve included this plugin here as a way of introducing the second part of WordPress membership plugins. Part two of this post will only cover membership plugins that help you to set up membership sites on WordPress. Back to MemberPress.

MemberPress is a professional WordPress membership plugin that offers you all the features you need to run a fully functional membership site. The plugin is best known for features such as restrict access to all (or specific) content on your site, manage unlimited users, offer multiple pricing pages & packages, unlimited content access rules, sell unlimited number of products, PayPal Express Checkout and Stripe payment gateway support. MemberPress offers two pricing plans: Business and Developer, both of which are billed yearly. They also offer a one-time payment option that excludes support and updates.

10. Profile Builder – Front-end Registration, Login & Profiles

The Profile Builder plugin is a very easy to use plugin that will allow you to create front-end login, registration and profile edit screens via the use of shortcodes. The default WordPress login form is decent, but its not very flexible unless you get “down and dirty” with the code and if you are running a member ship site you really want people to be able to register, login and edit their profiles via the front end as opposed to the WP dashboard.

There is also a paid-for “Pro” version of the plugin which is very pricey. I haven’t personally used it so I can’t say whether it’s good or bad. Though it does seem to provide you with quite a lot more features as well as support.

11. Paid Member Subscriptions

Love the Profile Builder? Then get excited. With Paid Member Subscriptions you can create membership levels, accept payments, manage your members and even offer exclusive member content. The plugin includes easy to use shortcodes that you can use in sidebars, posts, or to create custom pages for signup, login, etc. The plugin also supports tiered (and free trial) subscription plans, member emails and includes built-in reporting. Plus it works great with PayPal and WooCommerce!

Want more? Consider upgrading to Paid Member Subscriptions Pro. When you upgrade you’ll haver access to bbPress integration, discount codes, reCAPTCHA, fixed period memberships, recurring payments, Stripe support and much more!

12. Wishlist Member WordPress Plugin

WishList Member is a great WordPress membership plugin that powers over 47,000 sites all over the world. This is probably because WishList Member is an easy to use solution that turns your WordPress platform into a powerful membership site in a matter of minutes.

This WordPress membership plugin comes with a number of great features such as unlimited membership levels, easy WordPress integration, control over who views your content, flexible membership options, sequential content delivery, integrates shipping costs, easy member management, multi-level content access and much more.

Plus the plugin ships with bonuses such as free professional themes, icons, support guides and free training among others.

13. S2Member Free WordPress Plugin

Are you looking for a professional WordPress membership plugin that integrates with email newsletters, shopping carts and other typical features of a membership site seamlessly? Are you on a tight budget and can’t afford to spend a fortune on a WordPress membership plugin?

If any of your answers was a resounding yes, S2Member WordPress membership plugin is exactly what you need. Take into account some of S2Member features including versatile and powerful options (it adapts to whatever WordPress theme you use), easy integration with PayPal and other payment gateways, recurring billing, affiliate activity (i.e commissions) monitoring, custom registration forms, custom profile fields, plugin and widget extensions, mailing list functionality, and social networking support.

If you feel S2Member is the WordPress membership plugin you need, you can choose the 100% free S2Member Framework which has all the features you need at no cost!

14. MagicMembers WordPress Plugin

For a single non-recurring price of $97, you can have one of the best WordPress membership plugins working 24/7 for you. MagicMembers is a great WordPress membership plugin especially if you are looking to sell courses or drip content over time. The plugin is best known for its superb content dripping capabilities.

Other features include integration with autoresponders such as AWeber, Constant contact, and Mailchimp,  compatibility with payment modules like PayPal Website Payments, eWay, WorldPay, Skrill (formely MoneyBookers), and iDeal,content access control, download managers for downloadable digital products (or what I like to call DDPs), multi-level membership support (users can buy more than one membership level), S3 Amazon support, widgets for extra functions, coupon support, content dripping system (most popular feature!), Import/Export users at will, free support, regular updates and even some bonuses. Create a one of a kind WordPress membership site and manage it effortlessly using the MagicMembers plugin.

15. OptimizePress WordPress Membership Plugin

From their website, “Optimize is the new way to create high converting landing pages sales pages and membership portals.” From this simple introduction, you can derive the benefits of OptimizePress immediately. You can easily create membership portals, authority blogs, sales pages, complete launch funnels, and converting landing pages.

This WordPress membership plugin comes with amazing features including a mobile friendly design, helpful webinars, a complete logging system, the LiveEditor System to build and editing real time, fully integrated with WordPress and over thirty (30+) templates. OptimizePress costs between $97 and $197.

16. Paid Memberships Pro Free WordPress Plugin

With thousands of downloads and a plethora of unique features, Paid Membership Pro is the real deal. Paid Membership Pro is 100% free, plays well with popular payment processors and comes with extensive documentation. The plugin features multiple membership levels, flexible pricing options, multi-level content access, member notifications, the option to hide ads from premium members, and it’s entirely SEO ready.

Looking for more? The developer have created quite a few awesome add-ons. Add features for PayPal Express, auto-renewals, BuddyPress integration, donations, user import, member badges and more.

17. aMember Pro WordPress Plugin

aMember Pro is a very flexible and user-friendly WordPress membership plugin that will help you to accept subscription payments, deliver downloads and digital content, send newsletters, run your very own affiliate program, easily integrate your online community with WordPress, and even manage your users/members. The plugin comes with a ton of other exciting features such as web-based administration, multi-language support, and free installation among others. At $179.95 bucks, aMember Pro is a bit pricey though.

18. WP-Members Free WordPress Plugin

WP-Members is a popular free WordPress membership plugin that comes with a ton of great features. It works out of the box, is easy to install and start using, create members only content, registration and login is inline with your content and theme, custom login widget, custom registration field options, admin approval option for new users, CAPTCHA integration, an plenty of hooks for custom extensions. This plugin is a great and affordable option for basic memberships on your WordPress site.

19. WooCommerce Memberships Plugin

If you want to create a membership for your store, then one of the best options is WooCommerce Memberships. With this you can create and sell memberships, which in turn gives users access to a selection of products in your WooCommerce Store. You can also set options to grant access to memberships after purchasing a product, yearly or monthly subscriptions or manually assign memberships for “invite-only” members.

Another unique feature is drip content access. With WooCommerce Memberships you can grant access to various content or products based on membership term (1 week, 1 month, 1 year, etc). You can also offer member exclusive shipping or discounts.

20. Ultimate Membership

Ultimate Membership Pro is a membership and subscription management WordPress plugin that you can use to create members only content on your WordPress site. With this plugin you can monetize your content in no time!

Creating members only content is a great way to make extra income from your blog, and with Ultimate Membership Pro you have tons of options for how to setup special content just for your members. One option is to create pages just for your members, but you also have the option to just restrict chunk of content on a page instead of the entire url.

Another great feature of Ultimate Membership Pro is the option to create subscription levels. This way you can create extra content or perks (like free ebooks or even special coupon codes) for those with premium memberships. And don’t worry about collecting payments, since Ultimate Membership Pro supports multiple payment gateways (PayPal, Scribe, etc) as well as single and recurring payments.

Other awesome plugin features include email marketing integration with 9 popular platforms, translation support, social logins, custom redirects, design options & templates plus more. More features are listed below, or you can checkout the preview to learn even more about Ultimate Membership Pro.

Final Thoughts on the Best WordPress Membership Plugins

A WordPress membership site is a great business model with so much potential for growth. If you’ve been thinking of starting a WordPress membership site, now you have 20 of the best WordPress membership plugins to do the heavy lifting for you.

Take your time to choose one that works for you. All the best as you create an amazing WordPress membership site!

Keep reading the article at WPExplorer. The article was originally written by Freddy on 2022-06-29 16:23:04.

The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.

One of the greatest qualities of the WordPress ecosystem is its ability to build a community based on interests of any type or personal preference. There have always been membership plugins in varying degrees of complexity. In 2020 there are some very good membership plugins on the horizon.

Some plugins allow you to just add a phone number, address, or maybe some security info, and that is it. While other plugins offer member tiers and the means to build a complex profile with unmatched security protocols.

Use a WordPress membership plugin to create new income streams or build a like minded community, the possibilities are endless.

Some of the best WordPress membership plugins for 2020.

MemberPress

MemberPress is a rules-based plugin with tons of features to build a comprehensive tier-based site. Quality membership plugins allow its users to control the content subscribers can access, and MemberPress is no different. Use child pages, custom post types, and categories to provide only the content you want subscribers to see.

Start a forum inside your site to build a like-minded community. Use built-in password protection and give subscribers a sense anything they post is secure. Integrate your MemberPress forum with other popular WordPress forum plugins like BBBPress and build a robust community.

Memberpress makes it easy to start monetizing your site with full coupon integration. Run any number of promotions and giveaways to generate new business.

This WordPress Membership Plugin offers everything a site owner could ask for.

MemberPress offers three tiers of subscription access.

• Basic Pricing is excellent for the beginner. This plan lets you use Memberpress on one site with unlimited members and content.
• Plus Pricing is excellent for Entrepreneurs just starting out. Use on two sites and works with Authorize. Net.
• Pro Pricing offers all the available features above plus use on up to five sites with exclusive add-on features.

Member Mouse

Member Mouse is an outstanding plugin for anybody stating a membership site if you can forget about the name. Member Mouse is a comprehensive plugin for managing e-commerce solutions.

Deliver any type of content to your subscribers, including specials and promotions on any number of products. Member Mouse provides a complete customer management system, smart tags, and one-click upsells. Customers feel a part of the action with their self-service page to update passwords and preferences.

One of the best features is the ability to drip content to your subscribers. Use individual schedules or a tier system for any number of subscribers. Member Mouse offers plenty of automatic features, such as the ability to downsell an account if your customer attempts to cancel. Set up different price-points for any number of subscribers in different tiers or the same level.

Three pricing levels for every need.

• The Starter Plan allows for up to 1000 members with content protection
• Advanced offers up to 50,000 members and Piracy Anti-Locking
• The Premium Level gives you 100,000 members with smart tags and drip content

Paid Member Subscription

Paid Member Subscription is a lightweight solution and easy to set up. Get started with a free membership for your subscribers and offer a paid solution down the road. Members have an exceptional area to edit their content and membership details.

Restrict content to logged-in users or employ other criteria. Offer varying degrees of content to your users, such as posts and pages, WooCommerce products, and forum subjects. Place shortcodes throughout your site so a user can log in easily.

Subscription management is easy, allowing your members to upgrade whenever they feel the need for more content and from any member level. Even though this is a lightweight membership management plugin, there is still plenty of options to make your subscribers feel they are getting their money’s worth.

Configure the plugin for free memberships, free trial period, one time fees, or recurring payments. Paid Membership Subscription also features a robust email management system. Send an email template when a subscriber signs up or on a pre-determined schedule. Another useful feature of the plugin is the reporting function. It lets you know how your site is responding to the changes you are making.

The plugin allows for two types of Pricing, which are billed annually.

• The Hobbyist can be used on one site
• A pro Version can be used on an unlimited number of domains

Restrict Content Pro 

Restrict Content Pro is a full-featured membership management plugin. If you are taking your site to the next level in membership and community status; this is the plugin that can get you there.

The feature set is extensive with Restrict Content Pro. Discount codes, built-in integrations, data export, and a robust reporting system are a small part of Restrict Content Pro. Create an unlimited number of subscription tiers such as a free trial, beginner, and paid. View all your members and their status on the well thought out dashboard.

The plugin is easy to set up and start delivering a high level of premium content. Use the email system to build your membership roles with new member emails and emails offering discounts and specials. Restrict Content Pro lets you integrate with all the popular payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.Net. 

Restrict Content Pro gives its user four subscription models.

• Personal gives you 14 add-ons and email support
• Plus membership can be used on five sites and offers 14 add-ons
• Professional allows unlimited sites and 17 add-ons
• Ultimate is lifetime support and updates along with unlimited sites

WooCommerce Memberships

WooCommerce Memberships is the plugin you need for any e-commerce site. The plugin offers complete integration into the popular e-commerce system.

Take your e-commerce site to a whole other level with this plugin. Build on repeat sales by letting customers create an account then follow-up with an email designed to promote your product. The WooCommerce Membership plugin enables you to create exclusive content and then drip that content on any schedule you prefer. Integrate your store with memberships for sale, or after product purchases.

Once you have the plugin setup, the possibilities are endless. Create a selling club with the features of integrated WooCommerce. Restrict viewing of strategic products to specific members or tiers. Once you have your shipping in place, offer improved rates to members and products.

Discounts and coupons are a great way to sell more product. With WooCommerce Membership, you have everything in place to offer the best discounts for your products. Let members view their perks in the dashboard along with other drip content. Give them a reason to shop and keep shopping with incentives throughout your store.

WooCommerce Memberships is offered as an annual payment with a 30-day moneyback guarantee. You also get a full year of updates when you subscribe.

WP-Members

WP-Members is a free plugin with a ton of features. If you are just starting with a new site and need a member plugin, this is the solution to check out. The plugin becomes part of your theme with no restrictions.

Once you have the plugin downloaded and installed, the WP-Member plugin is wholly integrated with the base code of WordPress. This function allows you to focus on your business and not setting up a member site. The plugin is easy to use and extremely flexible. WP-Members offers all the features you would see in a paid membership plugin.

WP-Members is scalable to any depth and restricts content to any member or tier of members. Restrict any page, post, or content on your site and use a login for your subscribers to access. Create custom fields for registration and profile pages.

Use shortcodes throughout your site to enhance the customer experience. Use a shortcode to login to different restricted areas or a different tier of content.

The WP-Member plugin is free of charge and integrates seamlessly with any other WordPress content. If you need a free solution for membership, this is the plugin to have.

Paid Memberships Pro

Paid Memberships Pro is one of the best member plugins available for WordPress. This solution offers everything you may need now and into the future.

If you are looking for a plugin that offers unlimited everything, try Paid Memberships Pro. It is a little expensive to start; however, you may not have to purchase another member plugin. Complete integration with all the popular solutions for WordPress, such as bbPress, Mailchimp, Stripe, and BuddyPress.

The plugin can support any type of site, professional organizations, e-Learning, or any kind of online content. Create entire communities with forums, member tiers, and member-only content and product sampling. Use your membership as a new revenue source with a very robust email system.

The plugin offers three tiers of memberships with a no questions asked money-back guarantee.

• Free is offered in a limited capacity; however, it is a great way to explore the product.
• Plus membership is by far the most popular. This tier offers gateways, themes, and add-ons.
• Unlimited provides everything you could need in a membership plugin.

S2Member

S2Member is another feature-packed plugin. The plugin integrates easily into any WordPress theme and other plugins. It is compatible with PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize. Net.

Shortcodes are a significant feature of S2Member. You can use WordPress shortcodes throughout your content to grow your readership and subscriber base. Make complex transactions quick and easy by learning the basics of WordPress shortcodes. Place buy and sell buttons wherever you need them.

Integrate any of the major payment gateways in any area you want with merely placing a shortcode. S2Member offers a host of options often reserved for more expensive plugins. Restrict content any way you choose by an individual subscriber, rule-based, or tier—drip content on any number of criteria such as custom schedules.

S2Member is a secure platform with encrypted content and protected audio/video streaming. Create custom fields for login and welcome pages to improve your subscriber community. Everything in S2Member in integrated with some of the largest brands on the internet.

S2Member offers three levels of membership with a money-back guarantee.

• Framework offers the base code for a single site
• Pro Version is offered for a single site plus upgrades
• Pro Version Unlimited is precisely what the name implies, unlimited everything

MagicMembers

MagicMembers is a simple yet highly effective plugin for your community. Integrate your existing content into the plugin and start making money.

MagicMembers lets you integrate your site into a full suite of payment gateways, including Stripe and Authorize.net. As a bonus, accept payments from as many portals as you like, giving your customers a broader choice. Build your customer base with multiple membership levels. Let your subscriber view their subscriptions on an individual dashboard.

Decide on different membership billing options. Choose weekly or monthly, whatever is convenient for you and your customer. Let your users manage downloads with the protected download manager and set access levels for your subscribers. A Valuable option is the integration of S3 Amazon and MagicMembers. Protect audio/video files even if they sit on Amazon’s servers.

Use ready-built custom widgets for login, text, and status. Use MagicMembers to build an unlimited number of coupons and build your subscribers base through the robust email system. The Sequential Course Delivery System allows you to time when content is delivered to your members. Drip content and make it available on a weekly or monthly basis.

MagicMembers offers three one-time-only subscription levels.

• The Single version is offered for one domain
• A 3-Domain version is provided with training videos and one year of updates
• The Unlimited Domain Version gives the user unlimited everything

Wishlist Member

Wishlist Member is an excellent plugin for quickly creating communities and learning sites. WishList is an extremely easy to use piece of software for the beginner to professional.

Wishlist is integrated with all the top payment gateways and email providers, including PayPal and Mailchimp. The plugin is also tightly integrated with Easy Webinar, iDevAffilliate, and Zapier. The best thing about Wishlist is the ease in which you can go through setup. The wizard lets you make a host of choices as you effortlessly move through the options.

WishList is built for WordPress and its base code. Run the wizard once, and the rest of your membership actions are integrated into every other task. No complicated setup, everything is there when you need it. A useful feature for WishList is its tight integration with Zapier. Use the online service to automate a lot of your daily tasks. This integration gives you the ability to focus on what is fun about running an online business.

Pricing options are straight forward with WishList. A Single Site License is for one domain and a year of updates and a multi-site license is for an unlimited number of domains and one year of support and updates.

WordPress Membership Plugins

Depending on what you are looking for in a membership plugin, one we’re covered here, will definitely get you up and running. There are several on this list that give you more than enough features to start with and grow into.

My favorites are Restrict Content Pro, WooCommerce Memberships (if I’m also selling products on my site), MemberPress and Paid Memberships Pro. I think all 4 of these options are great for beginners and as you continue to grow, they aren’t going to require you to change platforms.

Of course, no membership site is complete without making sure that it is secured. iThemes Security is there to protect your site.

Keep reading the article at WordPress News and Updates from iThemes – iThemes. The article was originally written by AJ Morris on 2020-04-07 10:00:00.

The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.