MemberPress review- is it the best WordPress membership plugin?

If you’ve decided to build a membership site on WordPress, MemberPress is probably the first plugin name you’ve come across. It’s been around since 2012, it’s the most widely recommended membership plugin in the WordPress ecosystem, and it’s the one most guides default to when they cover this topic.

But “most recommended” and “right for your situation” aren’t always the same thing. This MemberPress review gives you an honest picture of what MemberPress does well, where it falls short, what it actually costs in both the US and UK, and how it compares to alternatives, so you can make the right call before committing to an annual subscription.

One thing upfront: this review contains affiliate links. If you sign up to MemberPress through a link here, I earn a commission at no cost to you.

MemberPress at a glance

	USA	UK
Best for	Content memberships, course sites, subscription businesses on WordPress
Starting price	~$179/year (Basic plan)	~£149/year (Basic plan)
Free plan	No – 14-day money-back guarantee
Payment gateways	Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net
Course functionality	Yes – MemberPress Courses add-on (free)
Community features	Via third-party integration (bbPress, BuddyPress)
Support	Email support, extensive documentation
WordPress.org rating	4.5/5 (1,000+ reviews)

What is MemberPress?

MemberPress is a WordPress membership plugin software that adds membership and subscription functionality to any self-hosted WordPress site.

It handles the core mechanics of running a membership business: restricting content to paying members, processing subscription payments, managing member accounts, and automating administrative tasks.

Without a membership plugin, WordPress has no built-in way to restrict content based on subscription status, process recurring payments, or manage a member database. MemberPress adds all of this in a way that integrates cleanly with your existing WordPress setup.

MemberPress pricing

MemberPress offers three plans, all billed annually. There are no monthly billing options; you commit to a year upfront.

Basic: USA ~$179/year, UK ~£149/year

• 1 site
• Unlimited members
• Unlimited membership levels
• Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net payment gateways
• Content restriction
• Member management
• Coupons and discounts
• Email reminders
• MemberPress Courses add-on (free)

Plus: USA ~$299/year, UK ~£249/year

• Everything in Basic
• Up to 2 sites
• Advanced integrations (Mailchimp, AWeber, ActiveCampaign, GetResponse)
• Corporate accounts feature
• Gift memberships

Pro: USA ~$419/year, UK ~£349/year

• Everything in Plus
• Up to 3 sites
• Affiliate programme integration (AffiliateWP)
• BuddyPress integration
• Zapier integration
• Premium support

Is the price justified?

At $179/year (USA) or £149/year (UK) for the Basic plan, MemberPress is among the more expensive WordPress plugins. Whether it’s worth it depends on your membership’s revenue.

The calculation is straightforward. At $179/£149 a year, MemberPress costs roughly $15/£12.42 a month. A membership priced at $12/£9 a month needs 2 paying members to cover the plugin cost. A membership priced at $18/£15 a month needs fewer than 1 paying member per month.

For any membership site generating more than a handful of subscribers, the plugin cost is negligible relative to revenue. The question isn’t whether MemberPress is expensive in absolute terms; it’s whether it delivers enough functionality and reliability to justify that cost compared to alternatives.

The money-back guarantee: MemberPress offers a 14-day money-back guarantee. You can request a full refund within 14 days of purchase if the plugin doesn’t meet your needs.

Setting up MemberPress

Setup is one of MemberPress’s cleaner aspects. The plugin includes a setup wizard that handles the essential configuration.

Installation: Purchase and download MemberPress, then install via WordPress Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.

Setup wizard: After activation, MemberPress’s wizard guides you through:

• Connecting your payment gateway (Stripe recommended)
• Configuring your account and login pages
• Setting up your first membership level
• Creating your first access rule

The wizard doesn’t cover every configuration option you’ll need to explore the settings further but it gets you to a functional starting point quickly.

Time to first working membership: A basic single-tier membership with Stripe payment processing, one membership level, and basic content restriction can be configured in 2–3 hours following the documentation.

Core features – what MemberPress actually does

Content restriction

This is MemberPress’s foundational feature – the ability to restrict any WordPress content to members only.

MemberPress uses an access rules system. You create a rule that says “content of type X is accessible to members of level Y.” For example:

• All posts in the “Members” category → accessible to Monthly Members and Annual Members
• A specific page → accessible to Annual Members only
• All posts tagged “premium” → accessible to any paid membership level

Rules can be broad (restrict entire categories) or granular (restrict a specific post). The system is flexible enough to handle complex access structures without becoming overwhelming.

The unauthorised experience: When a non-member tries to access restricted content, MemberPress can either show a custom message (“This content is for members only, join here”) or redirect them to a specific page (your sales page or registration page). Customising this unauthorised experience is worth doing carefully; it’s a conversion opportunity.

Membership levels and pricing

MemberPress handles multiple membership tiers cleanly. You can create:

• Free memberships (useful for a free tier or trial)
• One-time payment memberships
• Recurring monthly, quarterly, or annual memberships
• Trial periods before billing starts
• Membership expiry (access for a fixed period)

Each membership level has its own registration page, pricing, and access rules. Multiple levels can be stacked a member can belong to more than one level simultaneously.

Pricing flexibility: Coupons, discount codes, group pricing, and corporate accounts (on Plus and above) are all supported. For a membership launching at a founding-member price, coupon codes cleanly handle pricing variations.

Payment processing

MemberPress supports three payment gateways:

Stripe – the recommended option for most sites. Clean integration, supports recurring payments, strong security, and is available to both US and UK businesses. Stripe’s processing rates are 2.9% + 30¢ for US cards, and 1.4% + 20p for UK cards (2.9% + 30p for EU cards).

PayPal – supports recurring payments via PayPal’s subscription billing. Some customers prefer PayPal for trust reasons, which is worth enabling as a secondary option.

Authorize.net – a US-focused payment processor, and a natural fit for US-based memberships. Less relevant for UK sites.

MemberPress does not charge additional transaction fees on top of the payment gateway’s rates you pay only Stripe or PayPal’s standard processing costs.

Member management

The MemberPress member dashboard in your WordPress admin displays all your members, along with their subscription status, access level, and payment history.

You can search and filter members, manually add or remove access, issue refunds, cancel subscriptions, and send individual emails. For a growing membership, the management tools are adequate for most day-to-day tasks.

Member reporting: MemberPress includes basic reports on active members, revenue, new sign-ups, and churn. Not sophisticated analytics, but sufficient for tracking the key metrics of a growing membership.

Automated emails

MemberPress sends automated emails for key membership events:

• Welcome email on sign-up
• Payment receipts
• Failed payment notifications
• Expiry reminders before a membership expires
• Cancellation confirmation

All of these are customisable. The welcome email in particular is worth spending time on it’s the first impression a new member gets after paying.

MemberPress’s email functionality covers the essentials but isn’t a replacement for a proper email marketing tool. For onboarding sequences, community newsletters, and regular member communication, integrate with MailerLite, Kit, or your preferred email tool. Read our email marketing guide →

MemberPress Courses

MemberPress Courses is a free add-on that turns MemberPress into a course-delivery platform, adding structured course content with modules, lessons, and progress tracking.

This is one of MemberPress’s most significant recent additions. Previously, creating courses on MemberPress required a separate plugin (like LearnDash or LifterLMS). The free Courses add-on removes that dependency for most straightforward course setups.

What MemberPress Courses include:

• Course creation with modules and lessons
• Video lessons (hosted via YouTube, Vimeo, or embedded player)
• Progress tracking – students can mark lessons complete
• Course completion certificates (on higher plans)
• Quizzes (on higher plans)
• Integration with MemberPress membership levels – restrict course access to specific membership tiers

The limitations:

MemberPress Courses is a solid course delivery tool for straightforward course structures. For complex educational platforms with advanced quiz functionality, SCORM compliance, or sophisticated learner analytics, dedicated LMS plugins (e.g., LearnDash, LifterLMS) offer greater depth.

For most creators building a course alongside a membership, MemberPress Courses covers the need without additional plugin cost or complexity.

Integrations

MemberPress integrates with a meaningful range of third-party tools, though the depth of integration varies by plan.

Email marketing (Plus plan and above):

• Mailchimp
• AWeber
• ActiveCampaign
• GetResponse
• ConvertKit (Kit)
• Drip

On the Basic plan, email marketing integration requires either upgrading or using Zapier (Pro plan) to connect to your email tool. This is worth knowing before purchasing if email automation is central to your membership’s onboarding and communication; factor the Plus plan cost into your decision.

Community (Pro plan):

• BuddyPress integration on the Pro plan
• bbPress works without a specific integration; it’s controlled through MemberPress access rules

Affiliates (Pro plan):

• AffiliateWP integration for running an affiliate programme for your membership

Zapier (Pro plan):

• Connects MemberPress to 5,000+ apps via Zapier

Basic plan integrations:
The Basic plan’s limited integrations are the plan’s main practical limitation. If you’re on Basic and want to connect your email marketing tool, you’ll need to use a third-party solution or accept some manual work.

MemberPress pros and cons

The good:

• Comprehensive content restriction – handles complex access structures cleanly
• Clean setup wizard – faster to get started than most membership plugins
• Free Courses add-on – course delivery without additional plugin cost
• No additional transaction fees – pay only your payment gateway’s rates
• 14-day money-back guarantee
• Excellent documentation – one of the better knowledge bases of any WordPress plugin
• Active development – regular updates and feature additions
• Strong track record -over a decade in operation, trusted by thousands of sites

The not so good:

• Annual billing only – no monthly option for cost spreading, in either market
• Basic plan has limited email marketing integrations – upgrades required for most tools
• No built-in community features – bbPress/BuddyPress required separately
• Support is email-only – no live chat
• No free plan or trial – a money-back guarantee is the only risk-free option
• Advanced reporting is limited – basic metrics only

MemberPress vs the alternatives

MemberPress vs Restrict Content Pro

Restrict Content Pro is a direct competitor – a membership plugin with similar core functionality at a lower starting price (~$95/year in the USA or ~£79/year in the UK for the entry plan).

MemberPress advantages: More polished onboarding, free Courses add-on, better documentation, and more payment gateway options.

Restrict Content Pro advantages: Lower entry price and integration with more email tools on the base plan.

Verdict: For most new membership sites, MemberPress’s higher price buys a more refined experience and the free Courses add-on. If the budget is tight and you don’t need course functionality, Restrict Content Pro is worth comparing.

MemberPress vs Paid Memberships Pro

Paid Memberships Pro (PMP) has a free version, making it the most accessible entry point to WordPress memberships at no plugin cost.

Free version: Basic membership functionality – enough for a simple, single-tier membership.

Paid version: ~$236/year (USA) or ~£197/year (UK) for the standard plan, with more advanced features.

Verdict: For testing a membership concept before investing in a paid plugin, PMP’s free version is useful. For a serious membership business, MemberPress’s polish and the Courses add-on justify the cost difference.

MemberPress vs LearnDash (for courses)

If your primary use case is courses rather than recurring memberships, LearnDash is worth considering. It’s built specifically as a course platform, with more sophisticated learning management features than those of MemberPress Courses.

When LearnDash makes more sense: You’re building primarily a course platform rather than a membership site. Complex course structures, advanced quiz functionality, or SCORM compliance requirements.

When MemberPress makes more sense: You’re building a membership site that includes courses as one component. Combining membership and course functionality into a single plugin is simpler to manage.

MemberPress vs Kajabi

This is the most important comparison for many creators considering their platform options.

Kajabi is an all-in-one platform – hosting, membership, courses, email marketing, and community all in one subscription at ~$96–$192/month (USA) or ~£80–£160/month (UK).

MemberPress (WordPress) advantages: Complete ownership of your content and member data. Lower cost at scale, in both markets. More customisation flexibility. Full ad network compatibility.

Kajabi advantages: Everything in one place, no technical setup, no plugin management, built-in email marketing and community.

Verdict: For creators who want maximum simplicity and don’t mind the higher monthly cost, Kajabi is legitimate. For creators who want ownership, cost efficiency, and WordPress’s full ecosystem, MemberPress on WordPress is the stronger long-term foundation.

Who is MemberPress best for?

MemberPress is the right choice for:

Content creators are building a subscription membership that includes exclusive articles, guides, videos, or other resources. The content restriction system is clean, and the Courses add-on covers course delivery without additional plugins.

Businesses are adding membership functionality to an existing WordPress site. If you’re already on WordPress, adding MemberPress is the most seamless path to memberships.

Course creators who want a combined course and membership rather than a standalone course platform.

Anyone who prioritises ownership and wants their membership on infrastructure they control rather than a third-party platform.

MemberPress is probably not right for:

For creators who want everything in one managed platform with no technical setup, Kajabi or Podia better serve this need.

Memberships with very basic access restrictions are where the free Paid Memberships Pro tier might be sufficient for testing.

Sites that need sophisticated community features as a core membership component, BuddyPress integration requires the Pro plan, and the community experience is less polished than dedicated community platforms.

MemberPress review: the verdict

MemberPress earns its position as the most recommended WordPress membership plugin, the combination of clean content restriction, good payment gateway support, free course delivery, and a decade of reliable development makes it a strong foundation for most membership sites.

The annual billing and limited email integrations on the Basic plan are the clearest friction points. Budget $179/year (USA) or £149/year (UK) for Basic as the minimum, and if email marketing automation is central to your membership’s onboarding, factor in the $299/£249 a year Plus plan to get those integrations without Zapier workarounds.

For anyone building a serious membership site on WordPress, MemberPress is the default recommendation. The main reason to look elsewhere is if the budget requires starting with a free alternative; in that case, Paid Memberships Pro’s free tier gets you started, with the option to migrate to MemberPress once the membership is generating revenue.

Want to see how a full membership site comes together? Read our complete step-by-step guide.

How to build a membership website on WordPress →