Are you looking to create a membership website with WordPress? With the right plugin, you can easily create a membership site with login, registration, and profile features, restrict content, and even sell premium subscriptions. In this post, you will discover the top 12 WordPress plugins for membership sites, including their features, pros, cons, and prices. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced developer, you will find a plugin that suits your needs. So, let’s dive in and explore the best WordPress membership plugins available!
Best 10 WordPress Plugins for Membership Sites
Before we explore the list of top WordPress plugins for membership sites, it’s necessary to understand that each plugin has its unique features, pros, and cons. As you read through this list, consider your specific needs and requirements to choose the best plugin for your membership site.
Creating a membership website can be a daunting task, but with the right plugin, you can easily manage user registrations, login, and profiles, restrict content access, and offer premium subscriptions. Here are the top 12 WordPress plugins for membership sites, including their features, pros, and cons.
In this list, we’ll explore the most popular and highly-rated plugins, including Ultimate Member, Members, Paid Memberships Pro, Simple Membership, and more. Each plugin has its strengths and weaknesses, so it’s crucial to understand what you need from a membership plugin before making a decision.
So, without further ado, let’s explore the top 12 WordPress plugins for membership sites!
1. Ultimate Member
Are you looking for a powerful and feature-rich membership plugin for your WordPress website? Look no further than Ultimate Member! With over 200,000 active installations, it’s one of the most popular and highly-rated membership plugins available.
Ultimate Member offers a range of features that make it easy to create a membership site, including:
Key Features:
- Front-end user registration, login, and profile management
- Custom user roles, Content restriction , Advanced member directory
- Easy block creation with Gutenberg blocks
- Permission to restrict access to your site based on user roles
- Customizable email templates for membership invitations
However, it’s worth noting that Ultimate Member lacks some features
- Drip content functionality
- Membership selling functionality or extensions
- Reporting tools
Pricing: Free
Overall, Ultimate Member is a powerful and feature-rich membership plugin that’s perfect for creating a membership site with WordPress.
2. Members
The Members plugin is a top-rated membership and user role editor plugin from the MemberPress team. This plugin allows you to easily manage your users’ capabilities so that you can restrict content based on their needs.
With Members, you can create custom user roles and assign them to your users. You can also restrict content based on these roles, ensuring that only authorized users can access specific content.
The plugin offers a simple user interface that integrates well with WordPress’s built-in role and capability system. You can also use Gutenberg blocks to create custom registration forms and login pages.
Key Features:
- Front-end user registration, login, and profile management
- Custom user roles and capabilities
- Content restriction based on user roles
Pros:
- Easy to use and set up
- Integrates well with WordPress’s built-in role and capability system
- Supports Gutenberg blocks for custom registration forms and login pages
Cons:
- No drip content functionality
- No built-in reporting tools
- No premium add-ons or extensions available
Pricing: Free
3. Paid Memberships Pro
While there are many membership plugins available for WordPress, Paid Memberships Pro stands out as one of the most comprehensive and widely used plugins. Like Ultimate Member, it offers a range of features that make it easy to create and manage membership sites, but it also provides some additional built-in functionality.
Features:
- Front-end user registration, login, and profile management
- Content restriction based on membership levels
- Membership level management
Pros:
- You can restrict access to different types of content, posts, and courses
- You can create multiple membership levels at different price points
- It supports six payment gateways, including PayPal and Stripe
Cons:
- Drip content functionality is available, but requires an add-on, which can be expensive
- The reporting dashboard is limited to three reports
Pricing: Free, with optional add-ons and extensions available for purchase.
Overall, Paid Memberships Pro is a powerful plugin that offers a lot of features and flexibility, making it a great choice for creating and managing membership sites. However, some of its advanced features may require additional purchases, which can add to the overall cost.
4. Simple Membership
Any membership site owner looking for a free and flexible plugin to manage their membership levels and content restrictions will find Simple Membership an attractive option. This plugin offers a range of features that make it easy to create and manage membership levels, restrict content, and integrate with payment gateways.
Simple Membership allows you to create unlimited membership levels, each with its own set of permissions and access rights. You can restrict access to specific posts, pages, and custom post types, giving you fine-grained control over what your members can see and do. The plugin also supports three payment gateways, including PayPal and Stripe, making it easy to integrate with your existing payment systems.
Key Features:
- Front-end user registration, login, and profile management
- Content restrictions based on membership levels
- Unlimited membership levels with customizable permissions
- Support for three payment gateways: PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net
Pros:
- Highly customizable using actions and filter hooks
- Flexible pricing options for membership levels
- Supports bulk and post-level access restrictions
Cons:
- No premium add-ons available;
- customization requires coding knowledge
Pricing: Free
5. WP-Members Membership Plugin
WP-Members Membership Plugin is another free tool that allows you to create a membership site on your WordPress website.
This plugin provides a simple and easy-to-use interface to manage your membership site. With WP-Members, you can create a membership system that restricts access to certain content, allows users to register and login, and provides a profile management system.
Key Features:
- Front-end user registration, login, and profile management
- Content restriction based on membership levels
- Customizable email templates for membership invitations
- Support for multiple payment gateways, including PayPal and Stripe
Pros:
- Easy to use and set up, even for those without extensive technical knowledge
- Highly customizable, with a range of options for tailoring the plugin to your needs
- Support for multiple payment gateways, making it easy to integrate with your existing payment systems
Cons:
- No drip content functionality, which may limit the plugin’s usefulness for certain types of membership sites
- No built-in reporting tools, which can make it difficult to track user engagement and membership metrics
- Limited support for premium add-ons, which may limit the plugin’s functionality compared to other options
Pricing: Free