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.
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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!
Nice review. I think that with a free platform there are less possibilities to expanding your membership site so I prefer using a paid platform.
I must say that initially I liked the looks of BuddyPress, but as I’m a big fan of Thesis for WordPress (and BuddyPress is a bit harsh on non-BuddyPress themes) I had to look elsewhere.
Then I found WP-Symposium. Great, straight-forward membership functionality with integrated forum, different levels of membership, etc… Pro features only cost an extra $37/year. Really seems to work well for my new site…
Just a thought…
Later,
Scott
Hi ,
I actually want to build different products with different membership, not different level of membership, just different products. Does anyone know which plugin will work.
thanks advanced
Fabriano
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.
Nice collection of wp membership plugins
🙂
Thanks Raj, glad you enjoy the collection.
-Chris
Wow – Membermouse is slick but those monthly’s are a bit expensive. Memberwing is another paid version, and wp-members
Thanks so much for the additional recommendations, Tim.
http://www.yourmembers.co.uk/
http://digitalaccesspass.com/
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.
im looking for one that people can register free in my web site
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.
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
It is amazing what you can do with WordPress plug-ins… infinite innovation and choices…
Don