A membership site is among the most consistently effective methods of generating passive revenue.
Also, it’s important to educate yourself on the top WordPress membership plugins to create a membership site.
You can restrict access to portions or all of your information by charging an up-front or recurring subscription using a membership plugin.
And that, my friends, is the key to consistent financial flow: recurring revenue.
When selling particular products or services, you must convince each customer to purchase again, whether using email campaigns, abandoned cart messaging, or social media networks.
Businesses that accept automatic subscriptions (like Netflix, Dollar Shave Club, etc.) are free of much of their sales and marketing responsibilities. They’re more concerned with retaining existing clients.
These recurring subscriptions tend to attract a few customers who never use the service or product but continue to pay.
Membership websites may generate substantial revenue if you identify the correct niche, work diligently to provide high-quality products or services and use a good WordPress membership plugin to help you.
There are a few different types of membership sites that you can build.
The most common are:
- Product-based: Members receive access to a library of products that they can download and use.
- Service-based: Members receive access to a library of services that they can use. An excellent example of this is an online or over-the-phone coaching program.
- Curated content: Members receive access to a library of content curated by the site owner.
- Community-based: Private forums, live chats, articles, and other resources. Members pay membership rates to have full access to the forum and learn about niche topics.
- Drip-feed models are standard: Wherein content is slowly revealed to members based on how far they get in the program’s hierarchy.
What features to look for in WordPress membership plugins?
There are a few important ones to consider when looking for a WordPress membership plugin when it comes to features.
First, content drip tools are essential – they help you control content release to members over time. This is an essential feature because it can help increase retention rates and keep members coming back for more.
Second, digital downloads and recurring subscriptions can provide members with more than just access to content. This can help keep them engaged and come back for more, increasing revenue opportunities.
Third, social media logins and profile management options make it easy for members to engage with your community and feel like they’re part of something larger. This can encourage them to stick around longer and be more active on your site.
Fourth, courses, templates, themes, member management options, social media integrations (like Facebook or Twitter), and email marketing tools – these features can improve the overall quality of your website’s experience.
If you’re looking for a business model that uses them effectively to generate leads or sales opportunities, then these features are essential.
Finally, payment gateways are vital if you’re looking for a way to charge recurring payments from members. This allows them to have continuous access to your content without worrying about paying for it every month.
When looking for a WordPress membership plugin, consider these essential features.
Best Membership WordPress Plugins in 2022
Many membership WordPress plugins are available, but not all of them are created equal. The right plugin can turn your WordPress site into a powerful tool for managing users and subscriptions.
The most popular membership plugins include:
1. Restrict Content Pro
If you’re looking for a powerful membership plugin for WordPress, Restrict Content Pro is a great option. It’s part of the iThemes family, so you know it will be secure and reliable. There are many payment options to choose from, and the plugin integrates with the most popular payment methods.
Plus, there are tons of features included, like member levels and customer dashboards.
What makes Restrict Content Pro stand out is its integration with WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and email marketing services. This makes it easy to get started with your membership site and collect payments. And if you need help getting started, the team at iThemes is always happy to lend a hand.
Restrict Content Pro starts at $99 per year. So if you’re looking for a powerful and versatile membership plugin, be sure to check out Restrict Content Pro!
2. WooCommerce Memberships
WooCommerce is the market-leading WordPress Ecommerce plugin. Nonetheless, some website owners wish to supplement the standard product-selling capabilities with some membership products.
The WooCommerce Memberships plugin integrates your content and items with a fully functional membership system. You can sell or allocate memberships, restrict access based on a customer’s identity, and transform your store into a purchasing club.
It’s priced at $199 per year, and it includes some great features like content restriction, drip content, special discounts for members, and more!
3. MemberPress
MemberPress is an online membership platform that helps you manage members by granting and revoking their access to posts, pages, videos, tags, feeds, and communities. It offers courses – which can be used for anything from straightforward content dripping to more complex instruction like tutorials. Plans start at $129 per year.
MemberPress was built to be theme-neutral and can protect any posts or pages on your WordPress site. To achieve customizations, you can hire one of our trusted partners specializing in customization services like page templates and CSS stylesheets. It also works in conjunction with plugins such as bbPress to enhance user interaction in forums. This could assist you in developing a thriving community.
MemberPress is a comprehensive WordPress login-based plugin. It simplifies the process of creating fully-featured WordPress membership sites, and you can build an endless number of fully customizable subscriptions. You can categorize members and manage their upgrading paths. Additionally, the plugin enables you to create variable pricing pages.
MemberPress provides you with complete control of coupons and payments and allows you to handle payments via PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net. MemberPress is PCI compliant and much more secure than other solutions for accepting payments online.
4. S2Member
S2Member is a plugin that helps you manage memberships on your WordPress site. The free version integrates with PayPal, so it’s easy to get started, and you can also use it with several affiliate programs and caching plugins. The framework is free, and it’s a good starting point, but you can pay a one-time fee for additional pro features or if you want to use it on single/multiple sites without having to refill your membership each month.
The s2Member plugin makes it easy to manage roles and capabilities in WordPress. You can restrict content for free with the basic version of s2Member, but the pro version offers more advanced features. The premium version additionally allows you to integrate with PayPal Pro, Stripe, Authorize.net, and ClickBank.
s2Member is a good plugin because it builds trust with users; they know their information will be safe on your site. It also includes API access, event-driven notifications, and integrations with payment gateways and affiliate programs. The downsides of s2Member include the lack of modern looks and WooCommerce incompatibility.
5. aMember Pro
The aMember membership software includes an integration plugin that allows you to connect the membership framework to your WordPress website. Because the plugin is not available via the WordPress Repository, you must register for a demo to see how it performs for your business.
Additionally, the aMember developers hold regular sales for the plugin. Installing and publishing your site is included in the price of your purchase. You receive drip-feed content, over 200 payment systems, and recurring payments along with content protection.
The email autoresponder and broadcasts are integrated into the core program for continuous communication with your members. Additionally, the plugin offers product add-ons and extensions, which enable you to upsell extra services or items to your users. Given the breadth of the package’s features, it’s a pretty fair price, especially since you’re only committing to a one-time purchase.
The aMember product is listed on the main page at $179.95. This lifetime license includes six months of assistance and eliminates the need to renew monthly or annually.
Final thoughts
We believe MemberPress is the finest WordPress membership plugin because it’s the most robust solution. It includes a plethora of capabilities and comes with good documentation and support.
Our personal fave is not always the best option for you and that’s fine! You are the expert in your own business, and our job is to provide you with reviews on plugins we believe are the best in the industry.
Infoceptor's editorial team handpicks all of the products and services it recommends, regardless of external influences. Affiliate links appear in some of our stories. We may receive an affiliate commission if you purchase something through one of these links, which helps us stay independent and support our great team.
