Do you ever think about starting a membership site? If you are then, you are a smart player my friend. Membership sites are all over the internet and have proven to be beneficial for any website or business growth. A membership site will allow you to initiate control on your entire revenue. It means you don’t have to worry about losing a deal or any other thing related to revenue streams. You will always have a competitive edge over others in the market with a membership site like there are a large number of WordPress membership plugins for you to make you site appear and function differently. In this article, we will talk about the best membership plugins for WordPress that will help you to popularize your site and get more viewers.

MemberPress (Premium)

MemebrPress is the best option for you if you are looking for a looking for an all-around membership plugin. It is a popular and well-supported plugin and is preferred by its clients because of its reliability. MemeberPress comes with a list of standard features and add-ons as well. It allows you to create unlimited numbers of membership levels with both paid and trial period options. You can create categories called ‘membership groups’ to set up different upsell and upgrade your campaigns. MemberPress authorizes you to impose certain restrictions on your content as well. You can restrict access to a particular post, pages or categories to a certain group of individuals. For example- if you run a site that contains some content which is not suitable to certain age groups then you can put restrictions on such posts and pages. You can also schedule the posting of your contents to keeps your members in a loop.

Moreover, It gives access to reports to track the performance of your site and also provides reminders for emails for subscription renewals or any other event. MemberPress integrated with AWeber, Mailchimp and other email marketing platforms to reach a large audience. Its subscription starts at $149/year and goes up to at $349/year for the pro plan.

Pros

1.  Light and fast, easy to use, intuitive UI
2. Plenty of add-ons for extended functionality
3. Compatible with most themes and plugins
4.  Content Dripping to restrict content access

Cons

1.  Pricey
2.   Login and signup forms can’t be customized

Download

Demo

MemberMouse (Premium)

Membermouse membership plugin is one of the most budget-friendly options for you. It is loaded with features and functions which allows you to create multiple membership levels. As you go up through the plans, its features satisfaction also increases. You won’t regret spending money on any of its features, it is a complete package deal. Its ability to bundle allows you to sell individual pages, post or groups of pages on a one-off basis. Like other membership plugins on the list it also offers content dripping to restrict access for certain content. Moreover, they provide demo user experience to non-members by opening certain features, so that they can get an idea of what this plugin can do for them. It also comes with a widget that shows them than content which is accessible to them or which content restricted. Membermouse includes many built-in optimization tools using which you can carry out the various test to check upsells and downsells. Contrary to this, Membermouse doesn’t offer a General Public License( GPL), here you can’t tweak a code like other membership plugins. Its price starts at $19.95 year and can increase as per add-ons, the more member you gain the more you pay.

Pros

1. 14 days Free trial
2.  Provides online training and webinars.
3. Comes with built-in optimization tools.

Cons

1.   Can cause complications with your current WordPress setup
2.  You need to have some knowledge before you use it

Download 

Demo

iThemes Exchange Membership  Add-On (Premium)

the iThemes Exchange Membership Add-on plugins is an add-on product of iThemes Exchange eCommerce plugin. It is a WordPress member directory plugin using which you can create unlimited membership levels and comes with both free and paid versions. It authorizes the members to switch levels. It lets you assign membership levels and implement content dripping. However, its ability to combine paid digital products with a WordPress membership site is something which is quite appreciated. Unfortunately, it is an add-on and not a complete theme, so you have to purchase iThemes Exchange eCommerce plugin sooner or later to gain full access to other features. iThemes Exchange Membership Add-on only costs $97 and it may increase and decrease as per the features you acquire in this theme.

Pros

1. Helps to increase the functioning of iThemes Exchange eCommerce plugin
2. Comes with both free and paid versions
3. Can combine digital products with WordPress Membership sites

Cons

1. Not a complete theme, Add-on of iThemes Exchange eCommerce plugin

Download and Demo

Magic Members (Premium)

Magic members plugin is not popular as other on the list and for good reasons, it has outdated interface and brings back memories of the AOL dial-up days sometimes. Despite its drawbacks, its features might impress you. Firstly, it provides access to unlimited membership levels, different pricing and trial options, content dripping, shortcodes can be used to restrict specific segments of your posts as well. One noteworthy feature is its “Pay Per Post” feature using which you can sell individual pages or posts in along with membership subscriptions. In addition to this, it also integrated with PayPal and other gateways and email marketing services as well. Magic Members comes with a free 7-day trial, so you can try then make a move. Its price starts at $97 and increases based on add-ons you do.

Pros

1. More Payment Options
2. Integration with AWeber, GetResponse, Constant Contact, etc.
3. Comes with 30-days money-back guarantee

Cons

1. No built-in affiliate management
2. Outdated interface

Download and Demo

Paid Memberships Pro ( Free+Premium)

Paid Memberships Pro is a popular choice of WordPress users. The best thing about Paid memberships pro is that it comes with a dedicated WordPress theme. You can create unlimited memberships levels with many payment modes and prices. Along with this, it allows you to add a meta box to each post, content dripping for each individual or group users. It displays snippets of restricted content as demo files to non- members to increase curiosity and interest to lure them into paying for pro versions and access to the entire content and features. Moreover, it also comes with interesting advertisement options to promote your content. It offers integration with different payment options and customization of shortcodes for your posts and initiates control as per your wish. It is a freemium plugin, and its paid plan starts at $297 – 1 to 5 sites ($24.75 pm) $597 – unlimited sites and increases as per add-ons and upgraded features.

Pros

1. Easy Managing of subscribers, levels and groups
2. Memberlite theme is fully customized
3. Offers over 60 addons and integrations
4. Freemium
5. Comes with 30 days money-back guarantee

Cons

1. Doesn’t support video hosting
2. Addons cannot be purchased individually, you have to upgrade and make bulk purchases
3. Pricing is high for small websites

Download

Demo

aMember Pro ( Free+ Premium)

aMember Pro membership plugin for WordPress is packed with features that can help you launch any type of membership site, irrespective of its size. Its comes with customized themes, its interface is bit outdated but that doesn’t mean it is not as good as others on the list. Despite its outdated interface it still upholds the trust of its clients and provides features like creating unlimited membership levels, set dynamic products, creating product categories, adding unlimited products and more.

Most importantly, it comes with a member management area, from where you can add, delete member subscriptions and admin panel to check data and access detailed reports. It is considered as one of the best membership plugins for WordPress because of its advance features like integrated modules for email marketing, affiliate management and a help desk to resolve your issues. Apart from this, it comes with seven different languages English, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, French and Greek for easy navigation. It comes with a free version and its price starts at $149/month, which is a bit expensive. However, with this amount you can set up and run unlimited sites, so it is worth every penny when you are managing more than 1 site.

Pros

1. Content Dripping, to restrict access to individuals
2. Muti-Level Memberships
3. Integrated Modules like email marketing, affiliate management and help desk.

Cons

1. Outdates Interface
2. A bit expensive for those who run 1-2 websites
3. Lacks certain advance features

Download

Demo

Paid Member Subscriptions (Free + Premium)

Paid Member Subscriptions is an easy to use membership plugin for WP, which comes in both free and premium version. You want a bunch of new and useful features then this is a good option for you. Its free version provides more than enough features that are mostly paid in other plugins.

This plugin allows you to create multiple membership levels, content restrictions as per the plan purchased by a person, creating front-end login and member registration forms, accepts one-time payment through PayPal for various plans. The free version provides you features to create an organized and fully-functioning memberships site.

If you are looking for a simple WordPress plugin then this is the right one for you to make a sold website. However, if you shift to the pro version then you will get access to a lot of new features. In the pro version, you will get access to content dripping, more payment options, discount codes and other payment gateways like PayPal Express and stripe. And what’s the best, your members can subscribe to multiple membership levels too, which is a great way to earn the profit. Furthermore, it allows you to integrate WooCommerce and bbpress with your site to offer discounts and other benefits to your members. As I said earlier it comes with the both free and paid version, its paid version comes with further 2 plans costing $69 and $149 a year respectively. The more you pay the more features you acquire.

Pros

1. Comes with a free version
2.   Allows content dripping, setting access restriction on certain content
3. Easy UI

Cons

1. No intermediate pricing, there are only 2 plans to choose from
2.  The refund policy only in case if you face any inconvenience on behalf of the plugin

Download and Demo

Restrict Content Pro (Free+Premium)

If you are a newbie and planning to lose your website soon and want a membership site with pro-quality features then this plugin is something you should always keep in your list. Using restrict content pro you can create unlimited subscription levels. If not also allows you to offer an array of premium offers but allows you to provides free and trial subscriptions as well. When it comes to pricing, it comes with many flexible plans. With paid memberships, it allows you to charge a specific fee or any amount of time, one-time fee and other pricing structures. Apart from this, it let the user upgrade or downgrade plans with their permission. As its names what it does, it restricts the content for the individual post of can restrict specific categories and types of content using shortcodes. It allows integration with Easy digital downloads, WooCommerce and different payment gateways and email marketing services providers.

In addition to this, you can also create coupon codes and select membership levels and promotional options which you would like to offer. Its pricing starts from $99/year, which is not bad considering its features. Its comes with a trial period, so give it a try for sure.

Pros

1. Integration with multiple payment platforms
2. Detailed reporting function
3. Works with WooCommerce and other third-party plugins
4. Comes with a free trial

Cons

1. Limited publicity options for promoting your website

Download and Demo

All the membership plugins mentioned above are best out of all in the market. So to narrow down your search you can compare the plugins based on flexibility, performance, compatibility and price. Restrict Content Pro provides you with flexibility and features for an affordable price. It’s well-designed and comes with every feature you could possibly need in a membership website. However, features, like content dripping, are only available with the more expensive plans.

On the other hand, if you wish to add a membership site to an eCommerce store, then the iThemes Exchange Membership Add-on plugin is the one for you. Like is said earlier, all these plugins are good so don’t need to worry about there performance, just check each plugin and find the right one for you.