Do you want to discover the best WordPress membership plugins in 2025?
Choosing the right membership plugin is one of the most important decisions you’ll make, as it directly affects the success of your WordPress membership site.
The right WordPress membership plugin will manage payments, restrict content, help you build a thriving community, deliver exclusive value, and grow your business with ease. Pick the wrong one, and you risk poor user experiences and limited features.
With so many options available, the search can feel overwhelming. That’s why we’ve researched and compared the best WordPress membership plugins for 2025 to help you make the right choice.
In this article, you’ll learn what to consider before choosing a membership plugin. Then, we’ll review each of our top picks in detail, covering their features, pros and cons, and pricing.
Whether you’re launching your first membership site or upgrading an existing one, this list will help you choose the best plugin to build a profitable membership business with recurring revenue using WordPress.
Table of Contents
Factors to Consider Before Choosing a WordPress Membership Plugin
Before exploring the best WordPress membership plugins, it’s important to understand what makes a plugin the right fit for your website. Here are the most important factors to consider when choosing a membership plugin for WordPress:
Ease of Use: A membership plugin should be beginner-friendly without compromising advanced functionality. Look for WordPress membership plugins that provide a clean dashboard, an easy setup process, and helpful documentation or tutorials. This makes it easier to manage members, payments, and content without constant developer help.
Payment Gateway Support: Revenue is the backbone of your membership site, so your plugin must support multiple payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, RazorPay, Mollie, and Bank Transfer.
Content Restriction Options: The core feature of any membership plugin is content protection. You should be able to restrict posts, pages, categories, files, or even specific sections of content based on membership levels.
Flexible Membership Levels: A successful membership site often has multiple tiers (e.g., free, standard, premium, VIP). Select a plugin that enables you to create and customize these levels with ease.
Integrations With Other Services: Your membership site won’t work in isolation. The best WordPress membership plugins seamlessly integrate with email marketing platforms, CRMs, and other tools.
Scalability and Performance: As your site grows, so will your membership base. The plugin you choose should be optimized for speed and capable of handling thousands of members without slowing down your website. Regular updates and excellent support are also crucial for long-term performance.
Member Experience: A seamless member experience leads to higher retention rates. Look for features such as self-service dashboards, profile management, and mobile-friendly layouts. The easier it is for members to access their content, the more likely they are to remain subscribed.
Pricing and Value: WordPress membership plugins vary widely in price. While some are free with limited features, others are premium solutions offering advanced functionality and dedicated support. Don’t just focus on the price tag; consider the value, ongoing updates, and level of support included.
By weighing these factors before making your choice, you’ll be able to select the best WordPress membership plugin for your business needs.
Now, let’s dive into the best WordPress membership plugins in 2025.
1. ProfilePress
ProfilePress is an all-in-one ecommerce and WordPress membership plugin designed to help you sell memberships, subscriptions, digital products, and services with ease. It offers both powerful payment integrations and advanced user management features.
ProfilePress supports unlimited membership tiers with flexible pricing models, including one-time payments, recurring subscriptions, free trials, and more, while integrating seamlessly with major payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, Paystack, and Mollie for effective monetization.
With ProfilePress, you can create customizable user profiles, member directories, and beautifully custom login and registration forms using a drag-and-drop builder. It also allows you to restrict content with paywalls, control access based on membership plans, and deliver an optimized member experience.
Whether you’re running an online community, selling digital downloads, or launching a subscription-based course site, ProfilePress gives you the flexibility to scale.
Features of ProfilePress
- Accept one-time and recurring payments.
- Conversion-optimized checkout page to increase revenue.
- Advanced paywall and content restriction (pages, posts, categories, menus, and widgets)
- Customizable forms: login, registration, checkout, password reset, and profile edit
- User profiles & member directories with filtering and search options
- Detailed ecommerce and membership reports
- Spam & fraud protection with reCAPTCHA, Cloudflare Turnstile, and Akismet
- Seamless integrations with WooCommerce and LMS plugins
- Advanced security features: 2FA, passwordless login, concurrent login prevention
- Integration with popular email marketing and CRM platforms, including Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, and MailerLite
Pros of ProfilePress
- Full-featured membership and e-commerce solution in one plugin
- Supports a wide range of payment gateways and global payment methods
- Easy drag-and-drop form builder for beginners
- Strong spam protection and advanced security features
- Great for WordPress beginners
- Flexible pricing plans
- Works well for course creators and coaches
Cons of ProfilePress
- Most of its advanced features are available in the premium version.
Cost of ProfilePress
ProfilePress offers a free version with limited features on WordPress.org. Premium plans start at $129/year.
2. MemberPress
MemberPress is a popular WordPress Membership plugin that is easy to set up and offers excellent functionality. It allows you to sell unlimited membership levels, manage subscriptions, and restrict content with ease.
With just a few clicks, the plugin automatically generates essential membership pages like pricing, login, account, and thank-you pages. Its powerful access control system allows you to restrict any content, including posts, pages, categories, tags, files, and even custom post types.
Features of MemberPress
- Unlimited membership levels with recurring or one-time payments
- Advanced content restriction for posts, pages, categories, tags, files, and more
- Courses Add-on for structured e-learning with quizzes, assignments, and gradebooks
- Drip content scheduling to release lessons gradually
- Integration with popular email marketing platforms (AWeber, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, etc.)
- Works with BuddyBoss for private networks and AWS/Blubrry for podcast hosting
- Membership dashboards, coupon codes, email notifications, and REST API support
Pros of MemberPress
- Quick setup with auto-generated membership pages
- Powerful access control for any type of content
- Supports both recurring and one-time payments
- Excellent for online courses with Courses & CoachKit add-ons
Cons of MemberPress
- There is no free version, and its pricing is quite expensive.
Cost of MemberPress
MemberPress is a premium plugin, with plans costing up to $799 per year.
3. Thrive Apprentice
Thrive Apprentice is a strong contender among the best WordPress membership plugins, especially if your goal is to build and sell online courses. It combines membership functionality with course creation, making it an excellent all-in-one solution for educators, coaches, and entrepreneurs.
With its drag-and-drop builder, advanced access control, and a wide selection of templates, you can design professional-looking courses without touching code.
Thrive Apprentice offers a guided school setup wizard, which makes it easy to design your school homepage, choose templates, and customize your course pages right from the start. Its student-focused features, such as progress tracking and flexible content-dripping schedules, ensure that learners have an engaging and structured experience.
Another reason Thrive Apprentice is so popular is its seamless integration with the Thrive Suite ecosystem. If you’re already using Thrive Leads, Thrive Quiz Builder, or Thrive Optimize, combining them with Thrive Apprentice gives you even more opportunities to grow your membership site, increase student engagement, and optimize conversions.
Features of Thrive Apprentice
- Drag-and-drop course builder with customizable templates
- Customizable certificates to reward students
- Personalized content display for visitors and members
- Student progress tracking and reporting
- Flexible content-dripping feature with multiple schedules
- Support for one-time and recurring subscriptions
- Landing page, coupon, and discount creation
- Built-in membership management dashboard for easy access control
Cons of Thrive Apprentice
- No free plan available
Cost of Thrive Apprentice
Thrive Apprentice costs $399 yearly for the standalone plugin, which is great if you want to add courses and memberships to an existing WordPress site.
4. MemberMouse
MemberMouse is one of the more advanced WordPress membership plugins, designed with growing businesses in mind. It’s built to handle scale, making it ideal for websites that want to move beyond basic membership management.
With MemberMouse, you can protect content, sell products, run online courses, and create a dedicated members-only area directly on your WordPress site.
One unique feature is its SmartTags, which let you display personalized content to each member without writing any code. This flexibility enables the easy presentation of the right material to the right audience, thereby boosting engagement and retention.
MemberMouse also supports content dripping, so you can release lessons or resources gradually, keeping members subscribed for longer.
Features of MemberMouse
- Protects content and creates member-only areas
- Supports both free and paid membership levels
- SmartTags for personalizing content without coding
- Content dripping to schedule access to lessons or resources
- One-click upsells and cross-sells for faster purchases
- Built-in reporting: customer lifetime value, churn rates, engagement
- Automated overdue payment handling
- Push notifications for member actions (payments, cancellations, new signups, etc.)
Cons of MemberMouse
- Limited built-in design options; customization requires theme styling or CSS
- No free plan
- Fewer payment gateway integrations.
Cost of MemberMouse
MemberMouse is a premium-only membership plugin with prices starting at $299/year.
5. WishList Member
WishList Member is one of the oldest and most reliable membership plugins in the WordPress ecosystem. Designed with a protection-first mindset, it gives you full control over who can access your premium content. Whether you’re running a blog, an online course, or a digital product site, WishList Member makes it easy to monetize by restricting access to posts, pages, or even sections of content.
What makes WishList Member unique is how user-friendly its content restriction system is. You can protect a piece of content with just one click inside the WordPress editor. For instance, bloggers can lock an article behind a paywall, while course creators can secure lessons, quizzes, and digital downloads easily.
On top of that, WishList Member integrates with 20+ popular payment gateways and major email marketing platforms, allowing you to accept global payments and manage subscribers effortlessly. With features like drip content, private tags, and built-in course creation, it offers flexibility for anyone looking to launch a professional membership site.
Features of WishList Member
- Unlimited membership levels
- One-click content protection directly in the editor
- Private Tags for locking specific sections within a post/page
- Sneak peek/teaser content for non-members
- Built-in course builder (CourseCure) with lessons and quizzes
- Drip content scheduling
- Integration with leading email marketing services
- Accepts payments from 20+ gateways, including Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, Authorize.net, and 2CheckOut
Cons of WishList Member
- The range of features can feel overwhelming to beginners
- No free version is available
Cost of WishList Member
WishList Member pricing starts at $299/year
6. s2Member
s2Member is an excellent WordPress membership plugin with over 15 years of active development. It remains a go-to solution for site owners who want to protect content, sell memberships, and generate recurring revenue.
With s2Member, you can restrict entire pages, posts, categories, tags, and even partial sections of content using shortcodes. It also provides built-in features to protect files, limit simultaneous logins, and secure accounts against unauthorized access. Whether you’re selling online courses, digital downloads, or exclusive community access, s2Member adapts to your specific business model.
Another strength of s2Member is its scalability. The plugin works seamlessly with popular platforms like PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.Net, and ClickBank, giving you multiple ways to monetize. Combined with features like content dripping, coupon codes, custom member redirections, and Amazon S3/CloudFront integration, s2Member is a powerhouse that can support everything from small communities to enterprise-level membership sites.
Features of s2Member
- Unlimited membership levels
- Protect posts, pages, categories, tags, files, and even parts of content
- Drip content scheduling
- Shortcode-based content protection for easy setup
- Secure file delivery, including audio/video streaming
- Prevent account sharing with IP restrictions
- Custom profile fields for member accounts
- Built-in integrations with PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.Net, and ClickBank
- Coupon codes and gift/redemption codes
- Integration with bbPress and BuddyPress for community sites
- Amazon S3/CloudFront support for secure file hosting
- Customizable login, registration, and welcome emails
- Bulk member import/export
Cons of s2Member
- Steeper learning curve
- Outdated user interface compared to more modern plugins
Cost of s2Member
s2Member offers a free version and a Pro version, with pricing starting at $89.
7. Ultimate Member
Ultimate Member is one of the popular WordPress membership plugins, with over two hundred thousand active installations. It is designed to make it easy for users to sign up and become members of your site. With its sleek user profile system, front-end WordPress registration and login forms, it’s an excellent choice for building online communities, membership sites, or platforms with social features.
Ultimate Member is a lightweight plugin that offers features like member directories and content restriction. With its wide range of extensions, you can customize and scale your site to meet almost any use case. From social activity feeds to private messaging, Ultimate Member enables you to transform your website into a fully functional community hub.
Features of Ultimate Member
- Front-end user profiles, registration, and login
- Custom form fields with conditional logic
- Drag-and-drop form builder
- Custom user roles and member directories
- User account pages with profile customization
- Content restriction and conditional navigation menus
- Built-in developer hooks for customization
- Extensions for social login, private messaging, followers, groups, and more
- Integration with WooCommerce, bbPress, Mailchimp, Zapier, etc
- Free extensions like Google reCAPTCHA, Online Users, and Terms & Conditions
Cons of Ultimate Member
- Some extensions may require extra setup and configuration
Cost of Ultimate Member
Ultimate Member is free to get started, offering all the core membership and profile features. However, for more advanced functionality, you’ll need the paid plans. Pricing starts at $276/year.
8. Restrict Content Pro
Restrict Content Pro is one of the reliable WordPress membership plugins made for creators and businesses who want to control who can see their content. It allows you to restrict access to posts, pages, categories, or specific tags based on membership levels, so only the right users can view them. Although it offers numerous features, it’s easy to use, thanks to a simple dashboard that facilitates the management of subscriptions and user access.
Alongside its content control, the plugin supports unlimited membership tiers, recurring payments, discount coupons, and drip content features. It also integrates seamlessly with email marketing services and payment gateways, giving you everything you need to build and scale a membership site without juggling multiple plugins.
Features of Restrict Content Pro
- Advanced content restriction for posts, pages, categories, and tags
- Unlimited membership levels and subscription tiers
- Recurring payments and one-time payment options
- Custom registration and login forms
- Discount coupons and promotional pricing options
- Drip content to schedule content releases
- Built-in reporting and analytics dashboard
- Integration with popular email marketing platforms
- Referral program support
- Intuitive admin dashboard for managing users and subscriptions
Cost of Restrict Content Pro
Restrict Content Pro offers a free version that includes basic features, such as simple content restriction, membership levels, a member dashboard, and Stripe payments. For advanced needs, the Pro version starts at $99 per year.
Bonus Pick: FuseWP
Now that we’ve introduced you to the best WordPress membership plugins, we’d also like to highlight FuseWP, a must-have companion plugin for anyone running a membership site. While not a traditional membership plugin on its own, FuseWP is designed to connect your WordPress site with your email marketing platforms and CRMs.
FuseWP syncs WordPress users, profile updates, and membership changes directly into your email lists and CRM. For example, if a member cancels a subscription in ProfilePress, MemberPress, Restrict Content Pro, or Paid Memberships Pro, FuseWP can instantly move them into the correct email segment.
Features of FuseWP
Automatic User Sync: Instantly sync WordPress users with your CRM or email marketing platform whenever they register, update their profile, or change membership status.
Membership Plugin Integrations: FuseWP works seamlessly with popular plugins like ProfilePress, MemberPress, Restrict Content Pro, Paid Memberships Pro, LearnDash, Tutor LMS, WooCommerce Memberships, and more.
Email Marketing & CRM Integrations: With FuseWP, you can connect your WordPress site to CRM like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Salesforce, Klaviyo, AWeber, Constant Contact, and many others.
Custom Field Mapping: FuseWP allows you to map your WordPress profile fields (including custom fields) to CRM or email platform fields for accurate data transfer.
Real-Time Automation: With FuseWP, no need for CSV uploads or manual syncing; data flows automatically in real time.
Multiple CRM Connections: FuseWP enables you to connect to multiple CRMs and email marketing software at the same time. For example, you can send form data to Brevo and Mailchimp simultaneously.
Scalability: Whether you run a small membership site or a large e-learning platform, FuseWP handles syncing without slowing down your site.
Cost of FuseWP
FuseWP has a free and premium version. The premium version costs start at $99/year for a single-site license, which includes updates and support.
Conclusion
Building a successful membership site in WordPress starts with choosing the right plugin. In this guide, we’ve reviewed the best WordPress membership plugins for 2025, each offering valuable features and flexible pricing.
If we had to recommend one, it would be ProfilePress. It provides everything you need to run a profitable membership business. It offers excellent content restriction and advanced features, including email verification, member management, subscription billing, content protection rules, and social login options.
For even better results, pair ProfilePress with FuseWP for automation and integration. Together, they create the ideal setup to generate recurring revenue, boost member engagement, and foster a thriving online community.