ARMember
All-in-one WordPress membership plugin with a free Lite edition and paid plans bundling 60+ add-ons, 22+ gateways, drip, courses and community.
100
Paid Memberships Pro
Open-source WordPress membership plugin with free core, unlimited levels, Stripe/PayPal subscriptions and a large library of free and premium add-ons.
Est. Pro installs~5KLikely 2.5K–10K
Vendor claims100K+Vendor's own figure
Price from$499/yrFreemium
Overview
Paid Memberships Pro (PMPro) is a GPL membership plugin built by Stranger Studios, the company run by Jason and Kim Coleman. The full core plugin is free, and the business sells support, premium add-ons and, more recently, managed hosting plans.
Note that PMPro closed its WordPress.org listing in October 2024 and now ships the free plugin and updates from its own site and GitHub. Existing installs keep updating from the dashboard as before.
What the free core includes
You can create unlimited membership levels that are free, one-time or recurring, with trials and built-in discount codes. Restriction works on posts, pages and categories, and non-members can be shown an excerpt instead of the full content. Stripe and PayPal are supported in core, along with offline payments. Members get front-end checkout, login, account and billing pages, custom user fields per level, and editable email templates, while admins get sales, signup, cancellation and visit reports. Developers have a REST API and hundreds of hooks.
Add-ons and paid plans
Many features ship as add-ons. Free ones include Courses for Membership, WooCommerce, Mailchimp, Kit, bbPress, BuddyPress/BuddyBoss and Zapier webhooks. Premium ones, unlocked with the Standard plan, include Series drip content, Group Accounts, Proration, VAT tax, Member Directory, Protected Downloads, Import Members from CSV, Social Login and Approval workflows. Max plans bundle the add-ons with managed hosting and done-for-you service credits.
Strengths and limitations
- The free core is far more capable than most free membership plugins.
- Open, unobfuscated code and a very large add-on catalogue.
- Long 100-day money-back guarantee on paid plans.
The trade-off is assembly: building a full site often means enabling and configuring several add-ons, and some popular features such as drip content, group accounts and proration need the paid Standard plan. The add-on approach also means more settings screens to learn.
PMPro suits budget-conscious site owners, developers and agencies who want an open-source membership core they can extend, and who prefer paying for support and add-ons rather than per-site feature tiers.
Best for: Site owners and developers who want a capable free, open-source membership core and are happy to extend it with add-ons.
Paid Memberships Pro gives away more in its free core than most rivals, and its open code makes it a favourite with developers. Expect to buy the Standard plan once you need drip content, group accounts or proration, and to spend time wiring add-ons together.
Pros
- Free core includes unlimited levels, Stripe/PayPal, recurring billing and discount codes
- Open-source, unobfuscated GPL code with 300+ hooks and a REST API
- Large catalogue of free and premium add-ons
- Built-in reports for sales, signups, cancellations and visits
- 100-day money-back guarantee on paid plans
Cons
- Drip content, group accounts, proration and VAT need premium add-ons
- Feature set is spread across many add-ons to install and configure
- No longer listed on WordPress.org, so discovery and updates come from the vendor
- Standard plan is priced per single site
Key features
What Paid Memberships Pro highlights on its own website, split by version.
Free version Free
- Unlimited free or paid membership levels
- Restrict posts, pages and categories
- Excerpts or teasers for non-members
- Stripe, PayPal and offline payments
- Recurring billing with trial periods
- Built-in discount codes
- Custom user fields per level
- Front-end account and billing pages
- Customisable member emails
- Sales, signup and visit reports
- REST API and 300+ hooks
- Membership blocks for the block editor
Pro / paid adds From $499/yr
- Premium add-ons with Standard plan
- Series drip-feed content
- Group Accounts for team seats
- Proration and delayed downgrades
- VAT tax add-on
- Member directory and profile pages
- Protected downloads
- Import members from CSV
- Social login and approval workflows
- Technical support included
- Managed hosting on Max plans
Feature checklist
25 of 25 features we track in Membership Plugins, feature score 94/100
Access & content 6/6
Unlimited membership levels
Create as many membership levels/plans as you need.
Unlimited free, one-time or recurring levels in the free core.
Included
Content restriction Key
Restrict posts, pages, categories and custom post types by membership.
Core restricts posts, pages and categories; CPT access via add-ons.
Included
Content dripping Key
Release content over time after sign-up.
Series drip-feed content is a premium add-on (Standard plan).
Via add-on
Teasers & partial restriction
Show an excerpt or part of a page to non-members.
Show excerpts or a teaser of protected content to non-members.
Included
File / download protection
Protect media files and downloads from direct access.
Protected Downloads premium add-on; free Download Monitor integration also available.
Via add-on
Courses / LMS
Built-in course builder or official LMS integration.
Free Courses for Membership add-on plus LearnDash and LifterLMS integrations.
Via add-on
Payments & billing 8/8
Stripe Key
Take payments through Stripe.
Stripe gateway included in the free core.
Included
PayPal
Take payments through PayPal.
PayPal gateway included in the free core.
Included
Recurring subscriptions Key
Automatic recurring billing for memberships.
Recurring subscriptions with automatic renewal orders in core.
Included
Free & paid trials
Offer trial periods before billing starts.
Free or reduced-price trial periods supported in core.
Included
Coupons & discounts
Discount codes for memberships.
Discount codes are a built-in core feature.
Included
Upgrades, downgrades & proration
Members switch plans with fair proration.
Proration and Delayed Downgrades is a premium add-on.
Via add-on
Taxes & invoices
Tax rates/VAT handling and PDF invoices.
VAT tax is a premium add-on; core shows order invoices, PDF invoices via a partner add-on.
Via add-on
Group / corporate memberships
One account buys seats for a team.
Group Accounts premium add-on sells seats under a parent account.
Via add-on
Members & experience 5/5
Member account area Key
Front-end account page for subscriptions, payments and profile.
Front-end account page with memberships, invoices, billing and cancel.
Included
Custom registration fields
Add custom fields to sign-up forms.
User fields per level are built into the core plugin.
Included
Member directory & profiles
Public or private member directory and profile pages.
Member Directory and Profile Pages is a premium add-on.
Via add-on
Community / forums
Built-in community or official forum integration.
Free official bbPress and BuddyPress/BuddyBoss integration add-ons.
Via add-on
Member emails
Welcome, renewal, failed-payment and expiry emails.
Editable templates for confirmations, invoices, expirations and more.
Included
Integrations & tools 6/6
WooCommerce integration
Sell memberships through WooCommerce or tie access to purchases.
Free official WooCommerce add-on sells levels as products and member discounts.
Via add-on
Email marketing integrations
Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit and similar.
Free add-ons for Mailchimp, Kit and other email platforms.
Via add-on
Zapier / automation
Zapier, webhooks or automation integrations.
Free Zapier webhook automations add-on.
Via add-on
Reports & analytics
Revenue, churn and member reports.
Core reports for sales, revenue, signups, cancellations, active members and visits.
Included
Member import & migration
Import members or migrate from another membership plugin.
Import Members From CSV is a premium add-on; core exports members to CSV.
Via add-on
Developer API
REST API, hooks and webhooks for custom work.
Open GPL code, 300+ hooks and a REST API in core.
Included
Pricing
Free
$0Free version available
Free
Freeper yearUnlimited
Core plugin, Memberlite theme and the free add-ons; no support.
Standard
$499per year1 site
Or $49/month. All free plus premium add-ons and technical support.
Max
$999per yearUnlimited
Or $99/month (normally $149). Managed hosting with all add-ons, support and done-for-you credits; unlimited sites on the server plus 1 external.
Max 2x
$2,999per yearUnlimited
Or $299/month. Doubled server resources for larger sites.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use Paid Memberships Pro?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
—
No free version on WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
100K+
Sites/users claimed on the vendor's website. source
Estimated Pro / paid installs
~5K
Our estimate, see method below.
How we estimated this: Assumed 4–6% paid conversion of ~90K–100K claimed active sites (generous free core, but drip/groups/proration are premium) -> ~4K–6K, midpoint ~5K. Likely range: 2.5K to 10K. This counts sites running the paid version, including sites whose licence has lapsed. Estimates are rough and based on public figures as of 14 Oct 2026.
Company & policy
| Founded | 2011 (source, 5 Oct 2026) Started in 2010 by Jason and Kim Coleman; first released July 2011. |
|---|---|
| Refund policy | 100-day money-back (source, 5 Oct 2026) |
Paid Memberships Pro compared
Paid Memberships Pro/ProfilePress
Paid Memberships Pro/s2Member
Paid Memberships Pro/Restrict Content Pro (Kadence Memberships)
Paid Memberships Pro/SureMembersARMember/Paid Memberships Pro
Paid Memberships Pro/Ultimate Member
Paid Memberships Pro/WooCommerce Memberships
MemberPress/Paid Memberships Pro
Paid Memberships Pro/WishList Member
MemberMouse/Paid Memberships Pro Alternatives to Paid Memberships Pro
MemberPress
Premium WordPress membership plugin from Caseproof with paywall rules, subscriptions, built-in courses and community add-ons for creators.
98
WishList Member
Premium WordPress membership plugin with unlimited levels, drip content, CourseCure LMS and 20+ payment-provider integrations.
92
WooCommerce Memberships
Premium WooCommerce extension that turns store purchases into memberships, with content and product restriction, drip, member discounts and a member area.
90
SureMembers
Access-control membership plugin from Brainstorm Force: unlimited memberships and content rules, with selling handled by SureCart or WooCommerce.
88
MemberMouse
Premium WordPress membership and subscription platform with built-in checkout, upsells, dunning, courses and lifetime-value reporting.
86
FAQ
Is Paid Memberships Pro free?
Yes. Paid Memberships Pro has a free version. Paid plans start at $499/yr.
How many sites use Paid Memberships Pro?
The vendor claims 100K+ sites in total. We estimate around 5K sites run the paid version.
Does Paid Memberships Pro have content restriction?
Yes: included. Core restricts posts, pages and categories; CPT access via add-ons.
Does Paid Memberships Pro have content dripping?
Yes: via add-on. Series drip-feed content is a premium add-on (Standard plan).
Does Paid Memberships Pro have stripe?
Yes: included. Stripe gateway included in the free core.
Does Paid Memberships Pro have recurring subscriptions?
Yes: included. Recurring subscriptions with automatic renewal orders in core.
Does Paid Memberships Pro have member account area?
Yes: included. Front-end account page with memberships, invoices, billing and cancel.
Is Paid Memberships Pro really free?
Yes. The core plugin is free and GPL licensed with unlimited levels, Stripe/PayPal and recurring billing. Paid plans add premium add-ons and support.
Why is PMPro no longer on WordPress.org?
The team closed its listing in October 2024 over concerns about WordPress.org governance. The plugin is now downloaded and updated from paidmembershipspro.com and GitHub.
Which features need the paid Standard plan?
Premium add-ons such as Series drip content, Group Accounts, Proration, VAT tax, Member Directory, Protected Downloads and CSV member import.
Can I sell memberships through WooCommerce?
Yes, via the free official WooCommerce integration add-on, which links products to membership levels.
Last updated 5 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.