10 Best WordPress Membership Plugins Compared

WordPress plugins can transform your website, and a WordPress membership plugin is the key to unlocking its true potential. You’re ready to monetize your expertise, build an exclusive community, or manage access to specific resources, turning your passion into a real business.

But choosing the wrong one creates more problems than it solves—from a clunky user experience that drives members away to security gaps that put their data at risk. A membership site is a high-value target, making reliable backups and a solid firewall absolutely critical from day one.

This guide cuts through the noise. We’ll compare the top plugins based on real-world use cases—monetization, community, and access control—so you can confidently choose the right tool for the job.

TL;DR: We used a staging site to test the top membership plugins on the market. Our favourites were MemberPress for complex membership sites and ARMember for beginners. They are both feature packed, flexible and well priced. 

We used a staging plugin, spun up a staging site and put every plugin on this list through a rigorous test drive. We added fake users and created multiple membership levels and setup payment methods to see how each one performed in a real-world scenario.

We tested them against the following key factors that truly matter when running a membership site:

ℹ️ Expert Advice: Take a backup before you install any of them. Depending on the plugins you use, you may face some conflicts. 

Based on all that testing, here’s what I found:

1. MemberPress

MemberPress tops every “best of” list about MemberPress plugins. It’s the plugin that gets the balance right. It’s powerful enough to run a serious business, but it doesn’t make you struggle to configure it. It’s a true all-in-one solution, originally built by the solid team at Caseproof (now part of WP Engine). 

When we tested MemberPress, the first thing we noticed was the setup wizard. It genuinely guides you through the process, so you’re not left staring at a blank screen wondering what to do next. Everything feels like a natural part of WordPress, not some clunky third-party tool. 

The documentation is fantastic, the video tutorials are clear, and the customer support is consistently top-notch. It’s at the top of our list for a reason. 

Features:

• Content Restriction: Powerful, fine-grained access rules for posts, pages, categories, custom post types, and blocks.
• Membership Levels: Unlimited levels and grouping options for tier comparison pages.
• Payment & Billing: Integrates with Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.Net for one-time and recurring payments; supports trials and coupons.
• Content Dripping: Advanced scheduling for content release and expiration.
• Integrations: Extensive ecosystem, including email marketing services, help desks, and Zapier.

Pricing: Premium only.

• Launch: $199.50 per year
• Growth: $349.50 per year
• Scale: $499.50 per year

↪ Who It’s For: Beginners, coaches, and content creators focused on selling online courses and premium content who want a reliable, scalable, and user-friendly platform.

2. ARMember

ARMember is another popular membership plugin and we loved how easy it was to set up a site from scratch. It was affordable and designed for beginners. 

When we tried ARMember, a simple wizard got us going with the basics like currency and member approval. 

🗒️ Quick tip: use the email approval option. It’s a lifesaver for vetting new sign-ups. 

Setting up plans was a breeze; you can create free, paid, or recurring subscriptions and connect them to PayPal or bank transfers. Restricting content is just as easy—we were able to lock down specific galleries to a certain membership tier in a couple of clicks.

The only flaw I found was that it’s a bit buggy when it comes to their forms. If you can look past that minor annoyance, you get a feature-rich powerhouse for a fantastic price.

Features:

• Content Restriction: Comprehensive control, including partial content restriction and shortcodes.
• Membership Levels: Unlimited tiers with flexible pricing models like pay-per-post, trials, and subscriptions.
• Payment & Billing: Supports 21+ payment gateways (including Stripe and PayPal) for recurring and one-time payments.
• Content Dripping: Built-in scheduling for scheduled content release.
• Customization: Includes a drag-and-drop form builder, pre-made templates, and social login options.
• Engagement: Built-in gamification with badges, points, and rewards to boost user engagement.
• Security: Features account sharing prevention and brute force protection.

Pricing: Freemium.

• Standard: $69 per year (1 site)
• Professional: $129 per year (2 sites)
• Enterprise: $299 per year (10 sites)

↪ Who It’s For: Businesses and individuals needing a cost-effective, feature-rich solution with many tools bundled into one plugin, suitable for online courses, communities, and content monetization.

3. Paid Memberships Pro

Paid Memberships Pro has earned a great reputation because its free version is incredibly generous. It’s the plugin you choose when you have a great idea but not a huge budget, and you don’t want to be boxed in by a flimsy “lite” version.

In our review of Paid Membership Pro, we found the core plugin to be refreshingly straightforward. You can get your basic membership levels, content rules, create discounts and setup payment gateways set up without spending a dime. 

One of the best parts is the member-facing experience—users can easily manage their own profiles and subscriptions, which means less admin work for you. The reporting is also surprisingly detailed for a free tool, giving you solid data on sign-ups and sales.

You’ll rely on add-ons for more advanced features like content dripping. But that’s the whole point of its design. It gives you a rock-solid, free foundation and lets you build on top of it as your site grows. 

Features:

• Content Restriction: Comprehensive rules for posts, pages, and custom content, expandable with add-ons.
• Membership Levels: Unlimited levels and members are supported in the free core plugin.
• Payment & Billing: The free version integrates with Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, and Authorize.Net; supports payment plans via an add-on.
• Customization: 100% GPL and open-source for complete developer control and customization.
• Reporting: Includes strong, built-in reports for monitoring sales, sign-ups, and member activity.

Pricing: Freemium.

• Free Core Plugin: Offers basic functionality and several gateway integrations.
• Standard: $174 per year 2q
• Plus: $299 per year

↪ Who It’s For: Developers, budget-conscious users, and anyone who needs a highly customizable platform and is comfortable managing add-ons to extend functionality.

4. SureMembers

SureMembers, from the team behind the Astra theme, is built for fast, efficient content restriction. It’s designed to protect your content without slowing your site down to a crawl.

ℹ️ Expert Advice: We recommend installing a speed plugin. Other membership plugins usually slow down your site and a performance plugin can boost your page speed. 

During our SureMembers review, the setup was incredibly intuitive. All your access rules live in one central place called an “Access Group,” which keeps things tidy and easy to manage. However, we quickly realised that the plugin  relies on SureCart (which is free) for all the payment processing. 

If you’re already in the SureCart ecosystem or just want a lightweight, no-nonsense solution backed by a great support team, this is an excellent choice.

Features:

• Content Restriction: Fast, robust access control that can be applied down to the block or menu item level.
• Content Dripping: Includes functionality to schedule the release of content over time.
• Ease of Use: Praised for its simple, clean, and intuitive user interface.
• Integrations: Designed to integrate seamlessly with SureCart for payments and SureTriggers for automation.
• Performance: A lightweight and focused design ensures it won’t slow down your website.

Pricing: Premium only.

• Starter: $69/year
• Pro: $149/year
• Business: $199/year
• Business lifetime: $599/year

↪ Who It’s For: Users who value site performance and a minimalist interface, are already using the SureCart ecosystem, or simply want a clean, modern tool for content restriction.

5. Ultimate Membership Pro

Ultimate Membership Pro positions itself as a complete, premium solution right out of the box. Unlike plugins that make you hunt for add-ons, this one aims to give you every feature you need in one polished package, making it a strong contender for a serious membership site.

From what we’ve seen in our Ultimate Membership Pro testing, its main strength lies in its user-friendly dashboard. It’s designed to be intuitive, helping you get set up without needing to decipher complex menus. 

It also provides a comprehensive portal for your members, allowing them to easily manage their own subscriptions, view payment history, and update their profiles. That’s a huge plus because it reduces your administrative workload.

With solid documentation and support to back it up, it’s built for those who prefer to invest in a single tool that handles everything from payments to member management cleanly.

Features:

• Content Restriction: Restricts pages, posts, products, URLs, categories, images, and menu items.
• Membership Levels: Unlimited free, trial, or paid multi-level plans.
• Payment & Billing: Integrates with 8+ gateways (PayPal, Stripe, etc.) for recurring and one-time payments.
• Content Dripping: Schedule content to be released based on subscription time or a specific date.
• Customization: Offers multiple predefined templates, social logins, and a drag-and-drop form builder.
• Extras: Includes membership badges, printable member cards, and tax calculation.

Pricing: One-time purchase.

• Regular License: Around $69 on CodeCanyon (includes 6 months of support, which can be extended).

↪ Who It’s For: Content creators and small to medium businesses who need a flexible, feature-rich solution and prefer a one-time payment model over a recurring subscription.

6. MemberMouse

MemberMouse is an enterprise-level tool designed for serious marketers who want to squeeze every last drop of revenue out of their membership site. Think complex sales funnels, one-click upsells, and deep analytics.

When we used MemberMouse, we found that the member-facing experience is excellent. Uers can easily manage their own accounts, which cuts down on your support tickets. This is where MemberMouse truly shines.

However, the backend feels outdated, and simple tasks often require way too many clicks. And if you want to implement advanced features or custom integrations, the learning curve gets steep, fast. 

Features:

• Content Restriction: Robust and flexible content protection suitable for complex scenarios.
• Payment & Billing: Features 1-click upsells and downsells to maximize customer revenue.
• User Management: Provides advanced, CRM-like member tracking and management tools.
• Customization: Uses “SmartTags” to dynamically display specific content based on a member’s status or level.
• Reporting: In-depth analytics, including customer lifetime value (LTV) and retention reporting.
• Scalability: Built for high performance and stability under heavy traffic and transaction volume.

Pricing: Premium only.

• Basic: $149.50/year
• Plus: $ 249.50 /year
• Pro: $349.50/year

↪ Who It’s For: Experienced marketers, large businesses, and developers needing a highly scalable platform for complex sales funnels and high transaction volumes.

7. Wishlist Member

Wishlist Member is known for being incredibly reliable and flexible. This is the kind of tool you choose when you need a stable, proven platform that you know will still be around and supported in five years.

What stood out in our Wishlist Members review is its integration power. It connects with over 80 other tools, from email providers to webinar platforms, making it a fantastic central hub for your entire marketing stack. .

While the interface might not feel as slick or modern as some of the newer plugins on the market, you can’t argue with its track record.

Features:

• Content Restriction: Strong control over access to pages, posts, and digital downloads.
• Membership Levels: Supports unlimited levels and courses.
• Payment & Billing: Integrates with numerous payment gateways and automatically grants access upon purchase.
• Content Dripping: Includes a built-in content scheduler for releasing posts over time.
• Integrations: Works well with WooCommerce (for members-only pricing) and various email providers.

Pricing: Premium only.

• Basic: $149.50 /year
• Plus: $249.50/year
• Pro: $349.50/year

↪ Who It’s For: Long-standing businesses, coaches, and content creators who need a proven, stable, and flexible platform they can rely on for years to come.

8. Simple Membership

Simple Membership is a free, no-frills plugin for anyone who just needs basic content protection without a million confusing options. If you’re comfortable in the standard WordPress dashboard, you’ll feel right at home here.

From the moment we activated it, we were creating membership levels and protecting content within minutes. Unlike Ultimate Member, which also uses the native dashboard, this felt clean and easy to navigate. To protect a post, you just check a box on the edit screen and choose who gets access. My only wish is that I could apply a protection rule to a whole list of pages at once.

There are no bells and whistles here. There are a lot of add-ons you caninstall if you want more functionality. But if you’re a hobbyist or a small site owner, this plugin does the job perfectly and costs nothing.

Features:

• Content Restriction: Achieved easily by using simple shortcodes on any post or page.
• Membership Levels: Create unlimited free and premium access levels.
• Payment & Billing: The free plugin integrates directly with PayPal for both one-time and recurring payments.
• Ease of Use: Extremely beginner-friendly with a lightweight and straightforward setup process.

Pricing: Free.

• The core plugin is completely free. Optional paid add-ons are available for extra features.

↪ Who It’s For: Beginners, hobbyists, or small websites that need essential, easy-to-use membership functionality on a budget with minimal technical complexity.

9. Ultimate Member

If your goal is to build a community then Ultimate Member is probably on your radar. Its entire focus is on creating beautiful user profiles and member directories, and it excels at that.

I found my experience with Ultimate Member to be very clunky. The settings are all crammed into the native WordPress dashboard, using a confusing system of tabs and sub-tabs that feels like a maze. Honestly, after testing plugins with clean, dedicated dashboards, this felt like a step backward.

My take? Ultimate Member is a solid foundation for a developer who wants to build a highly customized community site. It’s stable and didn’t slow down our test site at all. But for a beginner just trying to get things running, the cluttered interface makes it a tough recommendation.

Features:

• Content Restriction: Basic capabilities to gate specific pages or sections of content.
• Customization: Create professional, customizable front-end user profiles, registration forms, and login pages.
• Community: Includes advanced member directories and user role assignments to build a community.
• Integrations: Offers built-in email automation for member communication.

Pricing: Freemium.

• Free Core Plugin: Provides all essential features for building a community site.
• Extensions: Paid extensions are required for advanced features like private messaging or payment integrations.

↪ Who It’s For: Website owners prioritizing the community aspect of their site—like forums, user profiles, and directories—over complex e-commerce or course selling.

10. WP-Members

WP-Members is about as basic as it gets. When you first install it, you’re greeted with a single page of settings, which is both simple and a little confusing. It’s not immediately clear how to even create different membership plans until you enable them and new tabs magically appear.

When I tried WP-Member, I really struggled with understanding how to manage plans and users. There was very little customizability; for instance, I couldn’t change how a form looked beyond adding or removing fields.

Honestly, this plugin feels like a tool from a different era of WordPress. It can hide content behind a registration wall, and that’s about it. For a private family blog or a tiny internal site, it might be enough, but for anything more, you’ll quickly hit its limitations.

Features:

• Content Restriction: Simple control for hiding posts, pages, and custom post types from non-members.
• User Management: Allows for the creation of custom registration fields.
• Ease of Use: Features a minimalist, no-frills setup for basic needs.
• Security: Provides basic security measures and is regularly updated.

Pricing: Free.

↪ Who It’s For: Users who need the absolute basics of content restriction and user registration, such as for a private family blog or a simple internal company website.

Best Practices for Running a Successful Membership Site

Choosing a membership plugin is just the first step. A successful membership site is a living, breathing thing that needs care and attention. Here are the non-negotiable practices we follow to keep our membership sites secure, engaging, and profitable.

• Back Up Your Site Religiously: Install a backup plugin, if you haven’t already. Your member data and premium content are your most valuable assets. Schedule daily, automated backups of your entire site (files and database) and store them in a secure, off-site location like Google Drive or Dropbox.
• Run Regular Security Scans: Use a reliable security plugin to constantly monitor for malware and suspicious activity, and make sure you have alerts set up so you know the second something is wrong.
• Install a Web Application Firewall (WAF): A firewall plugin acts as a security guard for your website. It inspects all incoming traffic and blocks hacking attempts, malicious bots, and spam before they can reach your site to exploit a vulnerability. This is your first and best line of defense.
• Keep Everything Updated: Consistently update your WordPress core, theme, and every single plugin. This helps to patch security holes as soon as they are discovered.
• Enforce Strong Passwords and Roles: Don’t make it easy for attackers. Mandate strong passwords for all users (members and admins) and be ruthless about limiting administrator access. Only give people the permissions they absolutely need.
• Use an SSL Certificate (HTTPS): An SSL certificate encrypts the data between your members’ browsers and your server, protecting their login credentials and payment information. It’s essential for both security and trust.
• Monitor Member Activity and Churn: Keep a close eye on your data. Track sign-ups, cancellations, and user behavior to understand what your members love and what’s causing them to leave. This is how you spot problems before they get out of hand.
• Have Clear Terms of Service: Protect yourself and set clear expectations. Make sure your site has transparent terms of service, privacy policy, and clear billing terms so members know exactly what they are signing up for.

Final Thoughts

We loved MemberPress and think it’s the perfect choice for established businesses or creators who need a professional, reliable platform that just works. However, if you’re just starting out and need an affordable but feature-packed option, ARMember offers incredible value for the price.

Irrespective of which plugin you choose, try it on a staging site first. This gives you a safe playground to test everything without risking your live website. A little bit of testing upfront can save you a world of headaches down the road.

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