Paid Memberships Pro
Association management software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
Take the quiz to check if Paid Memberships Pro and its alternatives fit your requirements.
$174 per year
Free Trial unavailable
Free version
Small
Medium
Large
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation
- Media and communications
- Education and training
What is Paid Memberships Pro
Paid Memberships Pro is a WordPress plugin used to create and manage paid membership programs, including access control, subscription billing, and member account management. It is typically used by associations, clubs, and content-based organizations that run their website on WordPress and want membership functionality embedded into the site. The product relies on the WordPress ecosystem for themes, plugins, and hosting, and it supports integrations for payments and email/CRM through add-ons.
Native WordPress membership control
Paid Memberships Pro runs inside WordPress, allowing organizations to manage membership levels and restrict content without moving to a separate association management platform. It supports member self-service via WordPress user accounts and can be implemented directly on an existing site. This approach can reduce duplication between a public website and a membership portal when WordPress is already the system of record for web content.
Flexible billing and payments
The plugin supports recurring subscriptions and one-time payments, with configuration for membership levels, pricing, and access rules. Payment processing is handled through supported gateways and related add-ons, which can fit different operational requirements. This flexibility is useful for associations that need multiple tiers, trials, or donation-like membership options.
Extensible add-on ecosystem
Paid Memberships Pro provides add-ons and integrations that extend core membership features (for example, email marketing, analytics, and other WordPress tools). Organizations can tailor functionality by combining the plugin with other WordPress components rather than adopting an all-in-one suite. This can be advantageous for teams that want modularity and are comfortable managing a WordPress stack.
Not a full AMS suite
Compared with dedicated association management systems, Paid Memberships Pro focuses primarily on membership access and billing rather than end-to-end association operations. Capabilities such as event management, committees, certifications, complex member directories, and advanced reporting often require additional plugins or external tools. As requirements grow, the overall solution can become a collection of components rather than a single integrated platform.
Requires WordPress administration
Successful deployment depends on maintaining WordPress, including hosting, updates, security hardening, backups, and plugin compatibility testing. Organizations without in-house WordPress expertise may need a developer or managed service provider to operate reliably. Major WordPress or plugin updates can introduce conflicts that require troubleshooting.
Integration complexity via add-ons
Many advanced workflows rely on add-ons and third-party plugins, which can increase cost and configuration effort. Data consistency across tools (payments, email, CRM, accounting) may require custom mapping or additional automation. Support boundaries can be less clear when issues involve multiple vendors in the WordPress ecosystem.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Core plugin free forever; includes core features, 29 free add-ons, unlimited membership levels & members, multiple gateways (Stripe, PayPal), Memberlite theme, integrations (bbPress, BuddyPress, Slack community). |
| Standard | $174 for 1st year (normally $347/year) | 1 site license, premium support, Memberlite theme support, automatic updates, affiliate tracking, protect custom post types, email confirmation, membership cards, Google Analytics + Ecommerce Tracking, plus 22 Standard Add Ons. |
| Plus | $299 for 1st year (normally $597/year) | 2 site license, priority support, donations, invite-only membership, member approvals, member directory & profiles, multisite support, payment plans by level, prorated pricing, recover abandoned carts, sell gift memberships, content drip-feed, sponsored/group accounts, variable pricing; includes 31 Plus Add Ons. |
| Lifetime | $3,000 once | Lifetime Plus license: lifetime use on 2 sites, lifetime updates, access to all PMPro software and new products, lifetime support; pay once. |
| PMPro Hosting | $100 per month (starting) | Purpose-built hosting that includes an annual PMPro Plus license, dedicated DigitalOcean droplet, onboarding & migration, priority support, hosting stack (80GB+, 2 CPUs, 4GB RAM), backups, CDN, Redis object caching; final pricing may vary by site needs. |
Seller details
Stranger Studios
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
2011
Private
https://www.paidmembershipspro.com/
https://x.com/pmproplugin
https://www.linkedin.com/company/stranger-studios
