10 Best Membership Plugins for WordPress in 2024 [Free & Paid]

Finding the best membership plugins for your WordPress site can be a game-changer for managing subscriptions, protecting content, and building a loyal community.

With so many options available, it’s important to choose a plugin that fits your needs, whether you’re creating an online course, a subscription-based service, or a members-only community.

In this article, we’ll explore the top membership plugins for WordPress to help you make an informed decision.

Dive in to discover which plugin can transform your WordPress website into a robust membership platform!

What Is a WordPress Membership Plugin?

A WordPress membership plugin is an essential tool that allows you to offer exclusive, members-only content through a secure login system. By installing a WordPress subscription plugin, you can enhance your website with features such as:

• Registration and login forms
• Exclusive content access
• Recurring payment options
• Free trial periods
• Tiered membership levels

Unlike gated content marketing, which typically only requires users to subscribe to an email newsletter, membership plugins enable you to charge membership fees and collect more detailed subscriber information. This makes them a powerful solution for monetizing your content and building a dedicated member community.

How to Choose the Best WordPress Membership Plugin?

Choosing the best plugin for membership can significantly impact the success of your site. Here are some key factors to consider when making your decision:

• Ease of Use: The plugin should be user-friendly, both for you and your members.
• Features and Functionality: Be sure it offers all the features you want, such as content restriction, membership tiers, drip content, etc.
• Compatibility: Ensure the plugin is compatible with your existing WordPress theme and other plugins you use.
• Payment Integration: Check if the plugin offers support for multiple payment gateways, such as PayPal, Stripe, and credit cards.
• Customization Options: Make sure it offers customization options for registration forms, login pages, and member areas to create a cohesive user experience.
• Pricing: Evaluate the cost of the plugin and its value for money. Some plugins offer free versions with basic features, while others require a subscription or one-time payment for premium features.

10 Best Membership Plugins for WordPress

Below are some of the best WordPress membership plugins, free & paid, to help you create a membership website.

1. MemberPress

MemberPress is one of the best membership plugins and also the best learning management system (LMS). It offers all of the features you need to create a fully-featured WordPress membership site.

MemberPress empowers you to create an unlimited number of memberships and set robust access rules for your premium content. You have the flexibility to restrict access to pages, posts, custom post types, categories, tags, and more.

Furthermore, it includes a paywall feature that allows you to build premium membership tiers and accept payments using Stripe, PayPal, and other services.

MemberPress also has a content dripping option if you want to deliver content over time rather than all at once. This feature is great for e-learning sites that sell online courses.

It pairs with plugins like bbPress to encourage users to interact in forums. This feature can help you create a thriving community. Plus, you can discount courses or subscriptions with coupons, launch affiliate programs, and set up member emails.

But is it the easiest WordPress plugin? Absolutely!

With its ReadyLaunch™ feature, you can create a membership pricing page in as little as 1 minute. And you can have your entire site online and ready to sell in just one day.

In short, MemberPress is the most robust and customizable WordPress membership plugin available.

For more, check out our complete MemberPress review.

MemberPress Pricing:

MemberPress plans start from $179.50 a year for a single site license.

Get MemberPress

2. LearnDash

LearnDash is a super flexible and most popular WordPress LMS plugin. It’s the perfect plugin for creating and selling online courses.

The plugin includes an intelligent course builder to help create highly engaging courses. Then, you may sell access to your classes as a one-time fee or as subscriptions, memberships, bundles, etc. You can also drip-feed lesson content on a set schedule.

The plugin allows the users to send automatic email reminders to their learners based on their activities. To keep your users informed, you can link to popular email marketing tools like Mailchimp.

It allows you to use PayPal, Stripe, and over 300 others as payment gateways. Additionally, It also supports useful plugins such as bbPress, Slack, and others.

LearDash Pricing:

LearnDash plans start from $199 a year for a single site license.

Get LearnDash

3. Restrict Content Pro

Another top membership plugin for WordPress is Restrict Content Pro. It allows to create an all-powerful membership site and earn money by selling different membership levels.

Furthermore, it allows you to build an unlimited number of subscription packages, including free, trial, and premium subscriptions. It has a simple member administration interface where you can see all of your active, pending, expired, canceled, and free users.

Additionally, It allows you to send automatic emails to your members to keep them up to date. For example, a welcome email when a new member joins, when payment is received, when a subscription is about to expire, etc. It also provides a great customer dashboard from which members can view and manage their account information.

It also integrates with WooCommerce and multiple payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and 2Checkout.

What makes Restrict Content Pro different from the competition is its “proration feature.” Members must pay the price difference between membership levels if they decide to upgrade. It allows you to develop strong relationships with users because you only charge for the information consumed.

Further, Restrict Content Pro also offers detailed reports on monthly site performance, revenue, transaction tracking, etc., in an easily understandable manner.

Plus, it also provides a selection of great add-ons for more functionality.

Restrict Content Pro Pricing:

A free version with limited functionality is available on WordPress.org. The premium membership plans start from $99 a year for a single site license.

Get Restrict Content Pro

4. Paid Memberships Pro

Paid Memberships Pro is a robust membership plugin suitable for those looking to build feature-rich subscription websites.

The best part about this plugin is that it comes with its own WordPress theme. This is a good touch because certain themes don’t work well with membership plugins.

Further, it also allows you to create unlimited membership levels with flexible payment terms. You can select a price, recurring billing cycle, membership period, and free or discounted trial periods.

With its AffiliateWP integration, you can create an affiliate program and turn members into partners. It allows you to reward members who refer new members with coupon codes and discounted membership rates.

Finally, Paid Memberships Pro supports other great plugins that make it easier to create a membership site. For example, Mailchimp integration allows you to create an email list for email marketing campaigns.

Paid Memberships Pro Pricing:

A free version with limited functionality is available on WordPress.org. The premium membership plans start from $247 a year for a single site license.

Get Paid Memberships Pro

5. WooCommerce Memberships

WooCommerce Memberships is an extension of the popular WooCommerce plugin. It lets you limit your content to only registered members of your site. Every new member will be granted user access and special permissions to the premium version of your site.

Remember that there is no single plugin option for developing a membership site. To list your products with cart and checkout options, you’ll need to install the free WooCommerce plugin. Additionally, if you want to accept recurring payments, you’ll need to install the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin.

This plugin is ideal for online magazines, e-learning sites, membership sites, and forums.

WooCommerce Memberships Pricing:

It offers a single plan that costs $199 per year.

Get WooCommerce Memberships

6. S2Member

S2Member is the best free membership plugin for WordPress with a pro version. This plugin offers all the features to build a complete membership website, such as content restrictions and recurring subscriptions.

The plugin allows you to offer free memberships and synchronize user roles with the new membership system. Users who own a business can use s2Member’s file protection function to sell download keys for digital content like eBooks and online courses.

You can modify the content limitations using the plugin’s simple shortcode conditionals. This also applies to the design of the login and registration pages, the email marketing template, and the membership options page.

S2Member Pricing:

S2Member offers a free version that you can download from the WordPress.org plugin repository. However, the paid plan starts from $89 a year for a single site license.

Get S2Member

7. Teachable

Teachable is a robust online course builder platform that allows you to create and sell visually appealing online courses. Although it is not a WordPress plugin, you can integrate it with your WordPress site by adding links.

Teachable allows you to create multimedia lessons that include video, images, text, audio, and PDF files. You can also use quizzes, debates, and course completion certificates to improve your members’ learning experience.

There are advanced pricing choices for selling your online courses. You can create a pricing structure to sell individual or bundled courses, sell subscriptions, or charge a one-time cost. Payments can be accepted by Stripe or PayPal.

It also has an affiliate marketing feature, coupons, and promotion tools to help you with your marketing efforts.

Teachable Pricing:

Teachable offers a free plan that supports unlimited courses with limited features. Paid plans start at $39 per month (billed annually).

Get Teachable

8. ARMember

ARMember is a popular free WordPress membership plugin with lots of features. This WordPress membership plugin allows you to build unlimited membership tiers with a trial period and multiple payment cycles. This allows newcomers to explore what you have to offer before committing.

ARMember also allows you to feed content to members on a specified schedule. You can also earn money from visitors by using content limitations and pay-per-post features. This allows you to monetize posts or courses that are not part of your subscription plans.

The plugin offers payment gateway integrations with PayPal, Authorize.net, and Stripe. There is also the option to accept payments using WooCommerce’s local gateways.

Furthermore, the plugin’s built-in security protections are as robust as its membership functionality. All installs include brute force login protection, a CAPTCHA anti-spam technique, and site access limits.

ARMember Pricing:

ARMember offers a free version that you can download from the WordPress.org plugin repository. However, the paid plan costs a $59 one-time payment for a single site license.

Get ARMember

9. WP-Members

WP-Members is one of the best free WordPress membership plugins for restricting content. It’s easy to use and allows you to hide content from the front end.

You can use the plugin to build custom profiles, registration fields, and short teaser content to capture the user’s attention.

WP-Members also includes over 120 different filter hooks and actions to let you design your membership area. You may even use its security features to keep your members secure.

Overall, WP-Members is perhaps the best membership plugin for beginners who want to try out a membership system without risk.

WP-Members Pricing:

WP-Members offers a free version that you can download from the WordPress.org plugin repository. However, the paid plan starts from $59.

Get WP-Members

10. MemberMouse

MemberMouse is a premium WordPress membership plugin that allows you to create a membership site in minutes. The plugin was created with non-techies in mind, and it simply takes a few minutes to set up.

The best part about this plugin is that everything is built-in from the start, which is a huge part of what makes it so simple for non-technical users.

In addition to the ability to restrict content, MemberMouse allows you to offer special content for additional income. Members can share part of their favorite content on social media, increasing brand exposure.

In terms of security, MemberMouse allows you to limit the number of login attempts. Furthermore, the membership plugin can lock shared accounts to reduce security threats.

To make your job easier, MemberMouse provides several automatic member engagements, support, and marketing functions. Newcomers can also use their social media login details to access your protected content.

MemberMouse Pricing:

MemberMouse plans start from $199 a year for unlimited members.

Get Membermouse

Final Thought – Best Membership Plugins for WordPress

After thoroughly analyzing the best WordPress membership plugins, we found that MemberPress is the best overall option. It offers all the features required to build a full-featured membership site. Plus, as a WordPress user, you will love the interface since it’s very similar to the native WordPress admin dashboard.

If you want to build a membership site, especially for offering online courses, you can use LearnDash. The plugin includes extra features to engage your learners and improve their learning experiences, such as quizzes, awards, and certificates.

Restrict Content Pro is an excellent choice if you want something simple and flexible. The team behind it has a solid track record of developing high-quality products.

We hope this post helps you find the best WordPress membership plugin for your site.

For more, check out these other helpful resources:

• 12 Best WordPress Payment Plugins For Easy Online Transactions
• 10 Best WordPress Paywall Plugins for Content Monetization

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