Are you looking for the best WordPress membership site plugins for your site?
Maybe you want to create a gated community of active members. Or have members-only content on your website. Maybe even launch special offers for your members.
It all begins with creating a site with a membership site. And if you’re running a WordPress site, then there’s some good news. You don’t have to code it from scratch. All you need is a good plugin.
But which one’s the right one for you?
We’re about to give you 12 of the best WordPress membership site plugins that can help you launch a fully functional membership site in a matter of hours.
- #1. MemberPress
- #2. Teachable
- #3. WooCommerce Memberships
- #4. Restrict Content Pro
- #5. aMember Pro
- #6. Paid Membership Pro
- #7. MemberMouse
- #8. Wishlist Member
- #9. WP-Members
- #10. ARMember
- #11. LearnDash
- #12. bbPress
Let’s dive in.
The 12 Best WordPress Membership Site Plugins
Before you dive in: Not all of these will help absolutely everyone. Our recommendations are based on very specific needs because there are many types of membership programs out there.
Let’s get started.
#1. MemberPress
MemberPress is one of the easiest WordPress membership site plugins to use. It also comes with an entire suite of great features to help you grow and monetize your members’ community.
To get started all you need to do is:
- Install the plugin
- Configure your payment gateway
- Create different membership levels
- Add perks to each membership level
- Add some products
And you’re good to go! After that, it’s a matter of inviting people to join your membership program.
You can also restrict access to different pages, post types, tags, and categories based on your membership levels. The best part is that you get a course builder as well. So, if you’re thinking of creating courses for your members, you can do that without having to install any other plugin.
Click here to get started with MemberPress.
#2. Teachable
Teachable is an all-in-one course-building platform that helps you create and sell online courses with a few simple clicks. Technically, you don’t even need a WordPress site to sign up for Teachable. But just in case you already have a WordPress site that’s drawing a lot of monthly visitors, then you can simply install the plugin and get started.
With Teachable, you can also create community pages and landing pages using a drag-and-drop page builder.
But that’s not really the core focus of Teachable. Instead, you should check out a powerful landing page builder like SeedProd to create your landing pages.
What’s really cool about Teachable is that you can automate a lot of marketing and management tasks. This includes emails, push notifications, and even progress tracking for your students.
Click here to get started with Teachable.
#3. WooCommerce Memberships
WooCommerce Memberships is a plugin that works directly with Woocommerce. As a result, it’s super easy to monetize your memberships. You can limit access to your products and services based on membership levels.
But WooCommerce Memberships doesn’t work as a standalone plugin. You’ll have to use WooCommerce Subscriptions to accept recurring payments. Also, it’s meant mostly for online stores and you don’t get advanced features such as course builders.
So, if you’re looking for a simple way to create a membership program without all the bell and whistles, then WooCommerce Memberships is a good option.
On the upside, you can also assign memberships manually as part of an invite-only members area. Besides easy member management options, you can also set up loyalty programs and membership perks such as free shipping. You can even set up a free trial and then lock content when the trial periods are over.
And if you have a healthy marketing plan in place, it’s really easy to integrate your email campaigns with WooCommerce Memberships.
Click here to get started with WooCommerce Memberships.
#4. Restrict Content Pro
Restrict Content Pro is probably the most easy-to-use membership plugin you’ll ever find. The plugin is extremely lightweight and you get all the core features that any membership site needs.
With Restrict Content Pro, you get:
- Built-in payment integrations
- Flexible subscription levels
- Compatibilty with all major themes and plugins
- Built-in discount and other promotional tools
The beauty of this plugin is that developers and non-developers love it equally. It’s so well-built that you can easily use their API to build advanced features. But if you’re running a small business, then Restrict Content Pro is one of the best WordPress membership site plugins to use.
Click here to get started with Restrict Content Pro.
#5. aMember Pro
aMember is not really a WordPress plugin. But you can use it on WordPress. And the software itself is feature-packed.
So, you may have to work through some theme compatibility issues with aMember. But you get:
- Multi-level memberships to create dynamic pricing options
- Integrated modules for affiliate marketing, email marketing, membership optins, helpdesks, shopping carts, and more
- Automated customer signups
- Payment gateway integrations
Again, the interface leaves something to be desired in terms of look and feel. But, the features are really good.
Click here to get started with aMember.
#6. Paid Membership Pro
Paid Memberships Pro is a free WordPress membership plugin that comes with a great set of features. And if you need more features, you can easily extend the capabilities using paid addons.
The paid version of the plugin allows you to set up unlimited access levels with flexible pricing to create a WordPress membership site. It also lets you create coupons and discount codes. If you’re looking for advanced marketing features, you can also send out drip content to engage with your subscribers.
Of course, you get the standard options for accepting payments and creating members-only products and services.
In our view, the only downside to this plugin is its user interface isn’t easy to use.
But if you’re looking to switch WordPress membership plugins, you could give this plugin a trial run with its free version.
Click here to get started with Paid Memberships Pro.
#7. MemberMouse
MemberMouse was built with creators in mind. To be more specific, it was built to be super easy to set up and use even if you know nothing about development.
It’s completely hassle-free and lets you create membership levels straight out of the box. That besides, you also get:
- Shortcode library
- Easy to configure checkout
- Time-release/drip content
- Single-click upsells
- Automatic downsells
- Split-testing
- Prorated upgrades
Keep in mind, though, MemberMouse is getting obsolete very quickly and the interface is also quite dated. So, in terms of usability and features, there are other options on this list that may suit you much better.
Click here to get started with MemberMouse.
#8. Wishlist Member
WishList Member is one of those mega plugins with so many features that you could end up being overwhelmed by it.
Some of the more important features include:
- Gated content with dynamic pricing
- Integrations with email marketing providers and payment gateways
- Autoresponder emails
- Developer tools such as REST API and WordPress template tags
- A detailed analytics dashboard for membership metrics
- Unlimited membership levels
We don’t recommend using WishList Member if you’ve never used WordPress membership site plugins before. The software is really good, but it’s easy to end up lost and confused because there are too many features here. But if you’ve used membership plugins before, and you’re looking for an upgrade, then WishList Member is super powerful.
Click here to get started with WishList Member.
#9. WP-Members
WP-Members is a free WordPress membership site plugin. And it’s ideal for people who have never used a membership plugin before.
Of course, you’re going to get a limited experience with the free version but if you’re on a small budget, you may want to check out WP-Members. On the upside, you get fairly great features such as:
- Works with any WordPress theme
- Custom registration and user profile fields
- Post excerpt teasers
To be clear, we don’t really recommend using the free plugin for anything besides trying out the software.
Click here to get started with WP-Members.
#10. ARMember
ARMember is another free WordPress membership plugin that comes with a wide range of features. A really great feature in ARMember is that you can create free and trial memberships. And this comes in handy whenever you’re creating digital goods such as software products or ebook libraries.
As with the other plugins on this list, you can create different membership levels. But unlike many other membership plugins, you get the option to offer social media logins right out of the gate. And this is on top of a membership form builder.
The cool part about ARMember is that it allows you to bring an actual social component to your community of members with achievements, badges, and unlockable content. This makes it a really great plugin to use especially if you use contests to grow your brand.
ARMember is one of those plugins where we can wholeheartedly endorse using the free version. The premium plugin comes with more features and a bunch of add-ons that make it super easy for you to grow your community. And you get a really unique feature called Pay Per Post, where you can sell each post separately without a pricing plan. It’s like a Pay Per View main event for sports, but for your content!
Click here to get started with ARMember.
#11. LearnDash
LearnDash is probably the world’s most advanced learning management software. It’s also a tool to build a paid community around digital courses. You get complete control over who gets access to your courses and for how long.
LearnDash also has a drip-feed feature that allows a user to view the next module only once they complete the current lesson. You can use this feature along with several other gamification features to measure, track, and nurture your community of online students.
You can even curate courses and exclusive perks to create packaged deals and membership plans. So, as soon as someone signs up as a member, they’ll instantly get access to every course that’s associated with the membership plan.
And if you want to take your membership to a whole new level, you can even integrate LearnDash with other membership plugins such as MemberPress to unlock even more powerful features.
Click here to get started with LearnDash.
#12. bbPress
bbPress is the best WordPress plugin to create discussion boards and forums. You can grant access to these forums only to those who are signed into their membership accounts.
Truth be told, bbPress isn’t really a membership plugin. But if you combine bbPress with a WordPress membership site plugin, you can quickly create multiple forums in a few clicks. And this is super useful for engaging, retaining, and growing your members’ community.
Also, did we mention that bbPress is FREE?
It’s like being able to create a miniature version of Reddit inside your website where your members can discuss different topics.
Click here to get started with bbPress.
Wrapping Up
That’s all for this one, folks!
Which of these WordPress membership site plugins did you find suitable for your business?
Let us know in the comments below.
Also, here’s a pro tip for you: You should consider using push notifications with your membership plugin. Most membership plugins come with automated email campaigns to engage and retain members. But we recommend using push notifications to grow traffic, engagement, and sales on your memberships alongside your email campaigns.
Did you know that push notifications come with a lot of automated campaigns as well? Take a look at a few that could help you grow your memberships quickly:
- Drip Campaigns and Autoresponders For Web Push Notifications
- 5 Benefits of Using Cart Abandonment Push Notification Campaign
- How to Convert Subscribers To Buyers Using Web Push Notifications
- How to Add a Web Notifications WordPress Plugin to Your Site
And if you’re just starting out with push notifications, we recommend using PushEngage. PushEngage is the #1 push notification software in the world. So, your campaigns will be in safe hands.
