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Best WordPress Membership Plugins

5 Best WordPress Membership Plugins for 2025 (Free & Paid)

October 11th, 2025


Are you looking for the best WordPress membership plugin? Luckily, your search ends right here! 

A WordPress membership plugin is a perfect tool for monetizing your website’s content and generating a good income. With the right membership plugin, you can convert your regular website into a complete membership website. 

However, in the times when dozens of WordPress membership plugins keep pouring in the WordPress market, you have to be more than ever interested in which is the best fit for your businesses? 

This article answers the exact question: 5 best WordPress membership plugins to turn your passion into profits. From key features, use cases to pricing, we’ll compare each and every plugin inside out.

Quick Overview: Best WordPress Membership Plugins 

No time to scroll down? If so, you can take a quick look at the top five best WordPress membership plugins. 

Apart from this, still I recommend you to keep scrolling to see each and every plugin in detail. 

PluginBest ForFree VersionStarting PriceRatings
ARMemberAll-in-one membership management solution for any type of businesses✅ Yes$69/year⭐ 4.8/5
MemberPressCourse creators and businesses owners ❌ No$179.50/year⭐ 4.7/5
Paid Memberships ProFlexible & scalable sites✅ Yes$174/year⭐ 4.3/5
Restrict Content ProContent protection & developers✅ Yes$99/year⭐ 3.1/5
Simple MembershipBeginners & small sites✅ YesFree⭐ 4.6/5

What to Look for in a Best WordPress Membership Plugin

There are dozens of WordPress membership plugins yet no two membership plugins are alike. 

Each one is unique and not all of them are going to have the features you need to build a perfect membership website. 

So, to find the “perfect” pick for your businesses, here are the features we have compared and tested before showing them off in our list:

  • Ease of Use: We have made sure all WordPress membership plugins we have listed here are super easy to use, perfect for non-tech savvy teams and people. 
  • Membership Management: There are always a few core features which must be checked for creating a membership site. Here are the key features which we have looked for while ranking down the best ones:  
    • Powerful content restriction 
    • Smooth drip content
    • Multiple integrations options 
    • Flexible membership levels
    • Automated notifications 
    • Advanced reporting
  • Payment Gateways: The more, the better. Always make sure your membership plugin comes with multiple secured and popular payment gateways for offering payment flexibility to your members. 
  • Price and Costing: Every business has their own needs, specific requirements, and…..budget. Thus, we have handpicked the best WordPress membership plugins which are best valued, affordable and money worth. 
  • User Reviews and Rating:  We always check the user reviews and rating of any plugin before showing it off. That’s why we also recommend you to do the same. 

So these are the features that make a WordPress membership plugin the best. Plus, worth noting we have only shown the plugins which are truly best and perfect for businesses of all industries. So without any further ado, let’s compare each one of them in and out in depth. 

Top 5 WordPress Membership Plugins for 2025

ARMember – Best WordPress Membership Plugin

ARMember

ARMember is an all-in-one WordPress membership plugin that lets you manage unlimited memberships easily. It comes with tons of features and integrates with popular third party tools seamlessly. 

Plus, it’s the best alternative to MemberPress and other overhyped membership plugins in the WordPress market. 

By so far, ARMember offers everything you need to create a successful membership site. It is designed by experts so it’s super easy to use for anyone. You get a complete set of robust features for monetizing your membership site with multiple pricing models. 

Top Features:

  • User friendly interface with super easy setup 
  • Content restriction for specific pages, posts and more. 
  • In-built form builder with sample forms for signup and login
  • 21+ payment gateways for secured payment 
  • Unlimited flexible membership plans including free, paid, recurring and pay per post 
  • 57+ in-built addons for free
  • Community building features such as public members profiles, member directories and many more
  • Amazing gamification elements like badges, points and achievement 
  • Advanced built-in security options 

What Makes It Our Top Pick:  ARMember is perfect for content creators, coaches and tutors, and all businesses who are looking for an all-in-one membership management solution. 

Pricing:  

  • Free version is available 
  • Paid plans starts at $69/Year

Rating:  4.8/5 Stars

MemberPress

MemberPress

MemberPress is one of the best WordPress membership plugins which is super easy to use for everyone. It is a perfect membership plugin for beginners and non-tech savvy people. You get everything, from powerful paywall, content drip, coaching platform to members-only dashboard. 

It tries its best to cover all core membership management features into one plugin. While expensive, it is still worth a shot for businesses who want to create a complete membership site with zero coding. 

Top Features:

  • Powerful content restriction to protect your content 
  • Easy to set up with zero coding 
  • Drip content and expiration date 
  • Integrated with Course Builder
  • Smoothly connects with multiple payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal 
  • Powerful community building features 
  • Customizable coupons 

What Makes It Our Top Pick: MemberPress is perfect for entrepreneurs and online course creators who want a reliable, feature-rich membership solution with strong automation and easy integration

Pricing:

  • No free version is available 
  • The paid plan starts from $179.50/year (Renews at regular price)

Rating:  4.8/5 Stars

Paid Memberships Pro

Paid Membership Pro

Paid Memberships Pro is a fantastic membership plugin for WordPress that is best for creating a fully customizable membership site. Best of all, it comes with an extensive addon ecosystem, making it a versatile choice. 

That being said, you can easily create flexible membership levels, and restrict content easily. Plus, it is open source and offers over 60+  free and premium addons. 

Top Features:

  • Unlimited membership levels 
  • Easy content restriction 
  • Extensive third party integrations 
  • Smoothly connects with popular payment gateways 
  • Customizable members dashboards
  • Advanced admin reporting 
  • Powerful addons

What Makes It Our Top Pick: 

Paid Memberships Pro is best for those who want a flexible plugin with a powerful free version and powerful addons. For us, It is the perfect option for growing membership sites on a budget

Pricing:  

  • The free version is available
  • The paid plan starts from $174/year (renews at regular price)

Rating:  4.3/5 Stars

Restrict Content Pro

Restrict Content Pro

Restrict Content Pro is one of the most powerful and lightweight membership plugins here. If your sole focus is to protect your content at all cost, it is worth it. 

Best of all, it is easy to use and comes with powerful content restrictions. You can also create multiple membership levels  with its friendly user interface. Thus, we can say it is a leading top choice for monetizing your premium content. 

Top Features:

  • Create unlimited subscription levels 
  • Most powerful content restriction 
  • Unlimited flexible discount codes
  • Secure multiple payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, Braintree and 2Checkout 
  • Powerful admin panel 
  • Advanced reporting 
  • Members Dashboards 
  • Easy to use and developer friendly too 

What Makes It Our Top Pick:  Restrict Content Pro is great for professionals and small businesses that prioritize powerful content restriction as its name suggests. 

Pricing:  

  • The free version is available in WordPress plugin directory 
  • The paid plan starts from only $99/Year for 1 site with all features

Rating: 3.1 /5 Stars

Simple Membership 

Simple Membership

One of the most flexible plugins, Simple Membership plugin is super easy to use. It lets you protect your free and premium content right from your WordPress dashboard. 

As it suggests, it is very simple to use. 

The best part? It is completely free. Unlike other plugins, Simple membership plugin offers all the features you need to create a complete membership site. Plus, there are a lot of hooks you can use to customize this plugin. Well, of course, if you are a tech-savvy person though. 

Top Features:

  • Easy to set up 
  • Password protected members area 
  • Supports one time or recurring payments
  • Unlimited membership access levels 
  • Content protection 
  • Offer customers a free trial
  • Easy PayPal integration 
  • Seamlessly works with almost any WordPress themes

What Makes It Our Top Pick: Simple Membership is an excellent option for beginners or small businesses who want a lightweight, free, and straightforward way to protect their premium content

Pricing:  It is absolutely 100% free of cost! 

Rating: 4.6 /5 Stars

Endnote – Best WordPress Membership Plugins to Try in 2025

In a nutshell, the best WordPress membership plugin is exactly what you need to create a full-fledged membership site. 

So looking for the best membership plugin for WordPress that fits your budget as well as requirements? No need to think twice!

Here’s a quick recap of the top rated WordPress membership plugins to try in 2025: 

  • ARMember – All-in-One membership and subscription solution for all businesses 
  • MemberPress – Perfect for advanced course creators
  • Paid Memberships Pro – Fully scalable plugin
  • Restrict Content Pro – Best for developers and agencies
  • Simple Membership – Perfect for beginners and small sites

So now it’s your turn and make a decision. Today pick the right fit membership plugin for your membership businesses and skyrocket your journey!  

FAQs About WordPress Membership Plugins 

What is the best membership plugin for WordPress?

ARMember is the best membership plugin for WordPress in the market. It allows you to create unlimited membership plans and more with zero coding and various customization options. From powerful content restriction, drip content to in-built form builder, ARMember lets you monetize your exclusive content effortlessly. 

What is the simple membership plugin for WordPress?

The Simple membership plugin is a free and user-friendly membership plugin for WordPress that lets you protect your free and premium content right from your WordPress dashboard.

What is a membership plugin?

A membership plugin allows you to create a complete membership website right from your WordPress dashboard with zero coding. 

How to make a membership website with WordPress?

You can use a WordPress membership plugin to create a membership website with WordPress. Plugins like ARMember and Simple Membership lets you create your own membership site with ease. 

Is MemberPress free?

No, MemberPress is not free as it is a premium membership plugin. Its paid plan starts from  $179.50 for the first year only. After that, it renews at a regular price starting from $359/Year. 

What is the free membership plugin for WordPress? 

ARMember Lite, a free version of ARMember, is the best free membership plugin for WordPress. With ARMember, you get a set of advanced features in a friendly user interface. It lets you create unlimited membership plans to monetize your premium content easily.

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