Building a membership website allows you to create a community and monetize access to premium content. However, you need the right tools and WordPress theme to create a fully-featured membership site.
In this comprehensive guide, we will share the top WordPress themes and plugins for building membership and subscription-based websites.
As an experienced webmaster, I have built dozens of successful membership sites over the past 15 years. This guide will draw on my expertise and experience using these solutions to help you identify the best options for your needs.
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Why Use WordPress for Membership Sites?
With over 60 million websites, WordPress powers more than 40% of sites on the internet. Here are some of the key advantages of using WordPress for membership sites:
- Easy to use – WordPress is famous for its user-friendly dashboard. This makes it ideal even for beginners with no coding skills.
- Thousands of themes and plugins – No matter what features you need, there are WordPress solutions available. Extend functionality with membership plugins.
- Built-in access control – Manage members through WordPress‘ default user roles and permissions. Easily restrict access to premium content.
- Integrates with payment solutions – Add subscriptions and payments from platforms like Stripe with plugin integrations.
- SEO-friendly – Get better rankings with WordPress‘ SEO advantages. Easy to optimize pages for search engines.
- Secure – Protect member data with WordPress security plugins like WordFence. Built-in for security and privacy.
According to BuiltWith, over 4 million websites use popular WordPress membership plugins like MemberPress and Paid Memberships Pro.
With WordPress, you can create any kind of membership website like:
- Online course platforms
- Premium newsletter sites
- Job boards with paid listings
- Fan clubs and supporter communities
- Subscription box services
- Online conferences and events
- Private forums and networking groups
Now let‘s take a look at the top membership themes and plugins for WordPress:
Best WordPress Membership Themes
1. MemberPress
MemberPress is my top recommendation for WordPress membership plugins. With over 300,000 customers, it‘s the most popular choice for creating paid communities.
Some key features include:
- Flexible membership plans and pricing
- User registration and login
- Content restriction for members-only
- Drip content delivery for subscriptions
- Email notifications and member management
- Add-ons for webinars, courses, directories, and more
You can use MemberPress with any WordPress theme. It integrates nicely with page builders for full customization control over your membership site‘s design.
Pricing starts at $199 for a single site license.
2. Paid Memberships Pro
Paid Memberships Pro is a flexible WordPress membership plugin with over 100,000 customers.
It offers features like:
- Unlimited membership levels
- Content restrictions by post type
- Member profiles and registration
- Member directories
- Drip content delivery
- Discounts and promo codes
Add-ons are available for content dripping, digital downloads, and other features. As one of the most affordable solutions, pricing starts at $99 per year for a single site.
3. LifterLMS
LifterLMS claims over 70,000 active installs. It‘s a great beginner-friendly WordPress LMS plugin.
With LifterLMS you can:
- Create online courses
- Sell memberships and subscriptions
- Build lesson pages
- Add quizzes, assignments, and multimedia
- Offer certificates of completion
- Integrate affiliate marketing
The plugin comes bundled with the LifterLMS theme containing custom course templates. Pricing starts at $299 per year for a single site.
4. LearnDash
LearnDash is one of the most powerful LMS plugins for WordPress. It‘s used on over 200,000 sites.
Some key features include:
- Drag-and-drop course builder
- Drip content delivery
- Quizzes, surveys, and lessons
- Student progress tracking
- Certificates and achievements
- Group/private courses
LearnDash works great with popular WordPress themes. It offers advanced customization for course layouts. Pricing starts at $159 per year for a single site.
5. Restrict Content Pro
Restrict Content Pro is an easy-to-use content locking plugin with over 40,000 customers.
It lets you:
- Password protect pages and posts
- Show content to logged-in members
- Limit RSS feeds to members
- Create member registration forms
- Collect payments using Stripe and PayPal
Drag-and-drop modules make it easy for beginners to create landing pages. The plugin works with any WordPress theme. Pricing starts at $99 per year for a single site.
6. WooCommerce Memberships
WooCommerce Memberships offers membership features for WooCommerce stores. With over 300,000 active installs, it‘s a popular free choice.
It allows you to:
- Create subscription plans
- Restrict product access
- Limit member content
- Offer free/paid plans
- Collect recurring payments
The extension works with any theme. For WooCommerce sites, it provides an easy membership solution.
7. Ultimate Member
Ultimate Member powers over 1 million WordPress sites. It‘s a customizable user profiles and membership plugin.
Features include:
- Member directories
- User profile pages
- Community forums
- Private messaging
- Front-end login
Flexible customization options make it work great with premium themes like Divi, Avada, Flatsome, and more. The free version is limited, while pricing starts at $29 per year for the pro version.
8. Memberlite
Memberlite is a simple, lightweight WordPress membership plugin. It has over 10,000 installs.
It lets you:
- Restrict access to content
- Create membership registration forms
- Collect PayPal payments
- Limit RSS feeds
- Dripped content delivery
For a basic membership site, Memberlite is easy to set up. It works with any WordPress theme. The single site license costs $99.
Best Membership Plugins for WordPress
Now that we‘ve covered the top membership themes, let‘s explore the best plugins for accepting payments, managing members, and protecting content.
9. S2Member
s2Member is a hugely popular membership plugin with over 400,000 customers.
It enables you to:
- Password protect content
- Gate access to pages and posts
- Limit RSS feeds to members
- Integrate with email marketing platforms
- Collect subscription payments
s2Member plays nicely with other plugins and themes. Pricing starts at $179 per year for a single site.
10. Memberful
Memberful combines membership management with email marketing and member communication tools.
Features include:
- Paid newsletters and content
- Membership incentives
- Coupon codes
- Email integration
- Subscription tracking
Memberful is extendable and works with all WordPress themes. Pricing is $19 per month for up to 1,000 members.
11. WishList Member
WishList Member is a flexible solution for digital memberships. It‘s been around since 2008.
It provides:
- Unlimited membership levels
- Content restriction
- Forums, groups, and messaging
- Webinar integration
- Email notifications
- Member management
Features can be expanded with add-ons. It‘s compatible with all major WordPress themes. Pricing starts at $297 per year for a single site.
12. MemberMouse
MemberMouse is an all-in-one WordPress membership plugin. It offers extensive features like:
- Digital download protection
- Members-only forums
- Drip content delivery
- Membership management
- Marketing tools
- Payment processing
This makes it easy to sell memberships with physical goods, virtual goods, events, and more. Pricing starts at $299 per month.
13. Paid Memberships Pro
Paid Memberships Pro is a flexible subscription-based membership solution.
It provides:
- Unlimited membership levels
- Member profiles
- Content restriction
- Member directories
- Discount codes
- Add-ons for marketplaces, forums, and more
The plugin handles payments using Stripe, Braintree, PayPal, and others. Pricing is $129 per year for a single site.
14. MemberiZ
MemberiZ is a simple, easy-to-use WordPress membership plugin.
Key features:
- Drag-and-drop membership builder
- Content restriction
- Custom member layouts
- Subscription tracking
- Recurring payments with Stripe
The plugin is beginner-friendly but powerful for building membership sites. Pricing starts at $129 per year.
15. MemberPress
MemberPress is the industry leading WordPress membership plugin. It powers over 300,000 sites.
It offers:
- Flexible membership plans
- Level-based content access
- Courses, forums, directories
- Subscription tracking
- Add-ons for marketing and automation
Customize layouts using Elementor or Gutenberg blocks. Pricing starts at $199 per year for a single site.
Which Should You Choose?
With WordPress, you have the freedom to choose a membership plugin and theme combination that matches your needs and budget.
Here is a comparison table of the top options:
| Plugin | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| MemberPress | $199/year | Popular all-in-one membership solution |
| Paid Memberships Pro | $99/year | Flexible subscriptions with add-ons |
| LifterLMS | $299/year | Online courses and coaching |
| LearnDash | $159/year | Advanced online courses |
| Restrict Content Pro | $99/year | Simple content locking |
| WooCommerce Memberships | Free | WooCommerce stores |
| Ultimate Member | $29/year | Communities and user profiles |
| Memberlite | $99/year | Basic content locking |
| S2Member | $179/year | High-end membership sites |
| WishList Member | $297/year | All membership site types |
When choosing a theme, look for responsive design, flexibility, and options that match your industry or brand style. Popular multipurpose themes like Astra, OceanWP, GeneratePress, and Divi work nicely with most membership plugins.
For specialized sites like online courses, the LifterLMS and LearnDash themes are purpose-built to integrate smoothly with their respective plugins.
The best approach is to start by defining the features you need and testing different options to see which feels like the right fit. Look for solutions that will grow with your goals for building a membership site tailored to your audience.
Final Thoughts
Building a WordPress membership site does not need to be difficult or expensive. With the themes and plugins covered in this guide, you have a variety of solutions to choose from.
My recommendation is to start with an affordable membership plugin that covers the core access control and subscription features you need. Extend it by integrating with other plugins for payments, email marketing, webinars, and more.
Choose a flexible, customizable WordPress theme that plays nicely with your preferred membership plugin. Prioritize themes optimized for speed, conversions, and usability.
After reviewing the options in this guide, what questions do you still have? Let me know in the comments – I‘m always happy to help fellow members of the WordPress community!
