10 Best Free WordPress Membership Plugins You Would Like
September 11th, 2017 | by Ravi Chahar || 5 Comments |
There was a time when WordPress was considered as a CMS only to start a blog but now it broadens its wings. People search for best free WordPress membership plugins to create a membership website.
Haven’t you seen the website showing a notification for the content which is restricted only to the members only?
In the past few years, people have started to realize the power of WordPress and having a website like that is possible using a membership plugin.
If you’re thinking about giving your readers a chance to contribute to your website or wanting them to see any special kind of content then you’re up for that.
There are many premium plugins but you’re going to know about some of the best free WordPress membership WordPress plugins.
Use Any of the Plugins for Your Next Membership Website
It’s kind of confusing sometimes to choose the plugin which can help you accomplish your goal. I am going to mention the possible plugins which can help you.
#1. Paid Membership Pro
Most of the people confuse this plugin because of its name. Well, it’s 100% free and you can download it from the WordPress repository.
It provides you the freedom to set different membership levels to add the restricted content. It can be posts, pages, videos, forums etc.
It can integrate with any of the famous payment gateways including PayPal and Stripe.
The best thing is that it’s compatible with any WordPress theme you use. Though if you want to use a specific theme, they have developed it too.
#2. WP-Members: Membership Framework
This plugin can help you provide the premium content to only the restricted members. The best thing is that you don’t need to customize your theme while using this plugin.
It adds a login page inline the content or in the front-end instead of like the main WordPress login page which is quite effective.
You can block posts, pages or both. You can also restrict users to access a particular single post. The users are free to create the custom login fields.
There is also a sidebar login custom widget which can be added to your existing website easily.
New member registration can be modified by the admin. The plugin will hold them until the admin approves.
#3. Memberful WP
This is a plugin which helps you integrate your Memberful account to your WordPress website using Stripe.
Like the first plugin, it doesn’t have many Payment gateway options. Memberful is a website which is used to the membership and you can use that data on your WordPress website, MailChimp etc.
Based on the membership level, you can create the restricted content. You can use the login widget and cancel their account easily.
It’s more like a plugin which is for the Memberful users.
#4. Membership 2
This is also one of the best free membership WordPress plugins developed the WPMU DEV team.
They have developed this plugin in such a way so that it can work with the old and the new methods. It supports almost all the payment gateways.
You can restrict the download access below your posts’ read more button. It’s flexible and easy to use.
There are different membership levels you can set this plugin for. It doesn’t take much time to configure its settings.
And if you’re looking for more options, they have also developed a premium version.
#5. Ultimate Member
It’s also a great plugin to control the user profile and membership for a WordPress website.
The plugin allows you to add the signup page to give an interface to your readers to become a member of your website. It can be used to build a community.
It contains many features including front-end registration, profiles, custom form fields, drag and drop builder, custom user roles etc.
And the best thing is that this plugin also has its extensions. Though most of them are paid still, you would like to explore it.
#6. Membership & Content Restriction
It provides a solution to your problems for creating different membership plans and handle everything smoothly.
I like it because it can also be integrated with a WooCommerce website. You can restrict any of the products for the premium members only.
You just need to do the proper settings for the different kinds of pages and the plugin will generate the shortcode.
Copy and paste those shortcodes just like you it for a simple WordPress page and publish it. The name can be given according to your choice.
#7. Simple Membership
It’s a flexible, well-supported, and easy to use WordPress plugin used to add the members only content on your website.
There are unlimited membership levels. It’s up to you how you handle those. The best thing is that you get an option in your default WordPress post editor whether you want to protect it or not.
You can set a free or a paid membership and the payment will be received accordingly using different payment gateways.
You will have the record of all of the payments made by your members.
#8. Users Ultra Membership Plugin
This is also a plugin you would like to try. It can be used to create the different kinds of community websites.
You can start a model community, a talent community and what not. It doesn’t take much time to accomplish this. The plugin easy to configure.
It has an auto-sync WooCommerce feature which can help you if you have any.
You can create more like a social media platform where you can also send the private messages to other users.
There will also be the partial content protection.
#9. s2Membership Framework
You can protect your posts, pages, tags, categories, BuddyPress, and even a particular portion of the content.
This plugin can help you accomplish your tasks using the WordPress shortcodes. It’s easy to access and the free version is capable to accept the payment via PayPal.
You can sell any digital product by restricting any file to download only for members. There is also a premium version which is full of features you would like to try.
#10. Groups
Last but not the least, this plugin is developed to create the a powerful, flexible, and create the group-oriented membership websites.
This plugin provides quite an easy interface with numerous of options. And the best this is that it doesn’t put any load on your website due to its light weight.
It supports the unlimited number of groups. Users can be assigned to any group. The standard WordPress features can be integrated with the groups.
I Hope You Can Use Any of the Best Free WordPress Membership Plugins
Creating a membership website can be overwhelming if you don’t have the reliable tools. But with the use of any of the plugins mentioned above, you can do it within a few minutes.
Most of the plugins are easy to configure because of their different kinds of integration features.
A few plugins use the shortcodes which are great. You just need to copy and paste them into your WordPress page editor and publish them.
I like the first plugin because of its practicality. You should try others too on your offline server and then use the one which can fulfill your needs.
I hope the list of the best free WordPress membership plugin is helpful. If you have any doubt, feel free to ask.
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Hi Ravi,
Great list of membership plugins, personally, I’ve never used any of them. When I first started my blog, I thought about creating a membership site.
Creating membership sites is not new to me. I’ve had one in the past. I didn’t use any of the plugins on your list, instead, I chose to pay for Digital Access Pass.
The main reason I chose Digital Access Pass was mainly for the support and the ease of set up. It does take a little time to figure out how to set up a membership site, but DAP makes it easy. (at least I found it easy to use)
These are great options for anyone who doesn’t want to pay for a membership plugin.
Thanks for sharing, have a great day ?
Susan
Hi Susan,
I was searching for a good membership plugin for my new website. You have shared a list who looks good, and I will be trying them for sure.
I have used the ultimate member plugin, but I want to go for the best one.
Thanks for the share.
Hi Ravi
You have added such a nice list of plugins. Actually I want to make a website like this dragonslairthemovie . com
I am still figuring out which plugin i shall use to make this kind of website where readers can read posts only if they are member of the website.
Looking forward to your answer.
Regards
V
Hey Vashishtha,
All the plugins mentioned above are capable to add the members only content but I like the first one. It’s flexible and doesn’t really put any load on the website.
Give it a try.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Thanks for the knowledgeable post. I appreciate your suggestions and membership which you have mention in this post. You can add Wishlist member plugin in the list. It is most popular membership plugin.
Keep writing informative articles.
Regards,