10 WordPress Membership Plugins That Work
By Amanda MacArthur • 02/18/2011
Two handfuls of WordPress membership plugins that you can use to turn your free website into a paid membership product
If you’re running a website on WordPress, you probably know that it’s not meant to be run as a membership website. However, being as flexible as WordPress is, you’ll find many publishers who have turned it into a full-fledged membership or subscription site.
WordPress membership plugins are essential in saving both money in time when building a membership website. Here are some of the top ten that get a lot of buzz and compliments.
W3 Total Cache is an excellent plugin that can be used by any WordPress site, not just membership sites. However it’s worth mentioning because membership websites tend to be heavier on content and this plugin will help your pages load faster by saving static versions of your site to 99% of your users, which are mostly people who are “new” to your site or not logged in.
WordPress Editorial Calendar is an excellent plugin for managing content. If you’re serving your new membership content through WordPress posts, then this plugin will help you visually look at a calendar and add or organize new posts (or articles, issues, etc.).
S2 Member is one of the only free WordPress membership plugins. It integrates with PayPal and allows you to create several different membership levels. An upgrade to S2 Member Pro allows you to use a Paypal Pro.
Mingle will help you build a social network using WordPress, but will also allow you to turn it into a membership website where users will pay on a monthly basis.
Magic Members Plugin is a popular and robust paid platform and WordPress membership plugin. It integrates seamlessly with 14 different payment platforms, including PayPal, has auto-responders built in, allows you to have users pay per post, unlimited membership options, amongst tons of other high-end features. Since we also happen to be affiliates of theirs, here are discount codes you can use:
For $10 off a single license, use code MGM876MM and $25 of an unlimited license is MGM996MM.
WishList Member is another similar paid plugin. A less expensive (and less robust) premium plugin is WP-Member. To get it even cheaper, use their 25% off “member25″ promo code.
WordPress Directory is a solid premium WordPress membership plugin that will let you create your own online directory site. If you’re looking to create a membership site that creates revenue through paid posts on their site, this plugin will allow you to charge people in order to post in your directory.
WP JobAds is a similar plugin that will help you build an online job listings site.
There are TONS of WordPress membership plugins out there to look at. If you have any to share or that you can vouch for, let us know in the comments!
March 6th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
It is amazing what you can do with WordPress plug-ins… infinite innovation and choices…
Don
April 5th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
I’ve been comparing membership plug-ins for a client and was leaning toward Digital Access Pass http://www.digitalaccesspass.com/. I had not run across Magic Members. It looks pretty good but I like to see an online support community which they don’t appear to have. I see you have an affiliation with them. Does that mean that Mequoda is built on it? If so that says a lot. If not, what are you using here? Thanks.
April 13th, 2011 at 10:28 am
Hi Sheila,
Mequoda is not built on Magic Members. Our order flow plugin helps WP know who should have access to our subscription service and who should not.
Thanks for your comment.
Best,
Chris
August 2nd, 2011 at 6:20 am
im looking for one that people can register free in my web site
August 8th, 2011 at 9:34 am
Just to add you might want to check out Your Members, Magic Members was built on a very old version of Your Members code which it later licensed. Obviously its now exceptionally out dated compared to Your Members which celebrated it’s 4th birthday with the release of YM10 recently. You may also wish to consider Digital Access Pass which is another great WordPress membership plugin.
*Worth point out I’m the Technical Director at Coding Futures makers of Your Members.
August 9th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
Thanks so much for the additional recommendations, Tim.
http://www.yourmembers.co.uk/
http://digitalaccesspass.com/
August 13th, 2011 at 4:05 am
Hi,
I just want to have a plug in through which I can define a member-specific area. I don’t need to hide or show content based on membership level. Rather I want a member-specific content for each member. Which means that after user A log in to site he can only see the content customized for him but when user B logs in he sees a different set of content/info.
Thanks in advance,
Regards,
Zeyad
September 6th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Wanted to add to the list as well. There is a new WordPress membership plugin called MemberMouse which is focused on the user experience and optimizing for marketing best practices. MemberMouse is also constantly updating its platform with new, innovative features and we commonly see people who are frustrated with many of the other tools out there because the simply can’t get it to work. I’d recommend checking out especially if you’re looking for a simply easy to use plugin that always works.
http://www.membermouse.com
FYI, I do work for MemberMouse
September 26th, 2011 at 12:46 am
Wow – Membermouse is slick but those monthly’s are a bit expensive. Memberwing is another paid version, and wp-members
October 20th, 2011 at 5:13 am
Nice collection of wp membership plugins
October 24th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Thanks Raj, glad you enjoy the collection.
-Chris
November 7th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Hello, Neat post. There’s a problem along with your website in internet explorer, might test this? IE still is the marketplace chief and a good element of other people will pass over your magnificent writing due to this problem.
November 9th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Pretty element of content. I just stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to say that I acquire in fact loved account your weblog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing in your feeds and even I success you get admission to constantly fast.
November 25th, 2011 at 5:09 am
hey there and thank you on your info ? I?ve definitely picked up something new from right here. I did on the other hand experience a few technical points the usage of this website, since I skilled to reload the site lots of times prior to I could get it to load correctly. I have been brooding about if your web host is OK? No longer that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading circumstances occasions will very frequently impact your placement in google and could injury your quality score if ads and ***********
December 3rd, 2011 at 11:25 am
[...] Blog – Part 1/3Update 1.2.3: Membership Expiration and Discount Codes – Paid Memberships Pro10 WordPress Membership Plugins That Work (Free & Premium)jQuery(document).ready(function($){ if (navigator.platform == "iPad") return; [...]
April 28th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
How is W3 Total cache a membership plugin? It has no membership features at all. The link in your post doesn’t even direct to w3 total cache it directs to WP Super cache.
WordPress Editorial Calendar is not a membership plugin, it’s a calendar, the only member features it has is the ability to delete content from other members.
Neither of these plugins have anything to do with creating a premium membership site. It’s like saying using a Youtube shortcode plugin is perfect for any premium membership site because it allows users to post youtube videos easier. Totally irrelevant.