11 Best WordPress Paywall Plugins (Free and Paid Options)

At WPBeginner, we’ve had a lot of experience working with different website monetization tools, including paywall plugins, membership software, and more. We’ve tested everything from simple plugins to complex solutions, learning that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to paywalls.

The right paywall plugin can help you monetize your content effectively by controlling who can access specific pieces of content. It can also be handy for collecting leads and expanding your email list.

After extensive research and testing, MemberPress, MemberMouse, and WishList Member are our top picks for paywall plugins.

That said, in this article, we will review the 11 best paywall plugins for WordPress, including both free and paid options. This way, you can find the perfect fit for your site.

A Quick Look: The Best Paywall Plugins for WordPress

Want the highlights? Here’s a quick overview of each WordPress paywall plugin we’ll dive into:

#	Plugin	Best For	Starting Price	Free Version
🥇	MemberPress	Premium memberships for small + midsize businesses	$179.50 / year	✅
🥈	MemberMouse	Enterprise-level membership sites + selling physical products	$149.50 / year	❌
🥉	WishList Member	Maximum content control + Pay-per-Post feature	$149.50 / year	❌
4	Paid Memberships Pro	Free membership management	$174 / year	✅
5	Thrive Leads	Lead generation and conversion optimization	$99 / year	❌
6	OptinMonster	Hiding content until users subscribe to your email list	$59.60 / year	✅
7	AccessAlly	All-in-one learning management system	$82 / month	❌
8	Restrict Content Pro	Good customer dashboard + WooCommerce integration	$99 / year	✅
9	aMemberPro	Affiliate programs + multi-language support	One-time payment of $149	❌
10	LearnDash	Advanced course builder + selling courses + gamification	$199 / year	❌
11	WooCommerce Memberships	WooCommerce store owners	$199 / year	❌

What Are WordPress Paywall Plugins?

A WordPress paywall plugin allows you to monetize your content by restricting access to certain posts or pages until users make a payment or subscribe to a membership plan.

There are a lot of similarities between a paywall and a membership plugin, but the biggest difference is that membership plugins can offer anything in their plans. This can include things like private communities, courses, training programs, live events and meetups, discounts, and so on.

On the flip side, paywall plugins usually only limit gated content.

Think of sites like Medium.com, the New York Times, Patreon, or others that allow users to access premium content when they subscribe.

Some paywall sites charge by individual post, while others allow you to access everything after paying an upfront fee.

Why Do You Need a WordPress Paywall Plugin?

So, why do you need WordPress paywall plugins? Sometimes, you want to save your best content for your most loyal paying customers.

Gating your content is one of the most proven ways to make money online blogging. However, paywalls are not only limited to bloggers.

Here are some other use cases for paywalls:

• Content creators and podcasters could gate their most valuable media content to make it exclusive to their paying customers.
• Digital publishers like online newspapers or magazines can restrict access to premium articles.
• Course creators can offer premium tutorials and educational content with paywall plugins.
• Photographers and artists can use paywall plugins to sell artwork licenses, digital downloads, or high-resolution images.
• Freelancers or agencies could charge a fee to access premium resources, like templates or support.

The point is there are many directions you can take.

A paywall is often used to monetize your content, so you get paid for all the valuable information you provide to your audience.

But it’s also a great way to grow your email list since you can require users to create an account to access premium content.

How We Test and Review WordPress Paywall Plugins

We understand that selecting the right paywall plugin can be daunting, especially with so many options claiming to deliver the best results.

To help you make an informed decision, we tested popular paywall plugins to see whether they live up to their promises. When reviewing each plugin, we considered several key factors to ensure a thorough evaluation:

• Usability: We looked at how user-friendly each plugin is for both site owners and members. An intuitive interface can make a significant difference in how effectively you can manage gated content and memberships.
• Features: We made an effort to identify unique features that enhance the paywall experience, such as content dripping, customizable membership levels, and automated access management.
• Integrations: We considered how well each plugin integrates with popular email marketing services, payment gateways, and other essential tools to streamline your operations.
• Performance: We tested the plugins on real websites to evaluate their speed and reliability. A good plugin should not slow down your site or hurt the user experience.
• Flexibility: We looked at how easily each plugin allows you to customize content access rules, membership tiers, and pricing models to fit your business needs.
• Value for Money: We tried to determine whether each plugin’s pricing aligns with its features and benefits, making sure you get the best return on investment.

Now, here’s a breakdown of the 11 best WordPress paywall plugins.

1. MemberPress

MemberPress is the best paywall plugin on the market. It’s perfect if you run a small business and want to sell exclusive content as a premium membership. We used this plugin to create our video membership site, and we have had a great experience with it.

For more details about what this plugin can do, check out our ultimate MemberPress review.

Overall, the plugin comes packed with features that allow you to build a paywall, manage content and memberships, and receive recurring payments.

As the site owner, you are in charge of content access rules. You can drip content based on set time periods and access expirations.

In our experience, dripping content based on a time schedule is a great way to improve customer retention, as customers have to remain onboard for continued access.

Beyond that, you can also create different membership levels. Users can choose the plan they want to join, and each plan comes with its own unique content, pricing, and features. That way, you can build membership plans that appeal to different audiences, which can help boost sales.

When exploring MemberPress settings, we found other handy features that can help drive conversions. For example, you can choose how many pages a visitor can access without a subscription.

This lets new visitors sample your content and get a preview of what to expect in your premium content.

In addition, we appreciate that there are plenty of other rules you can set. They include choosing to gate content based on tags, categories, and other taxonomies.

Pros:

• MemberPress is easy to use.
• It integrates with many other third-party apps, such as Drip, Constant Contact, Stripe, PayPal, and others.
• You have total control over how you want to restrict content and create membership levels.

Cons:

• While MemberPress offers a free version with basic features to restrict content, the Pro version has much more advanced features like subscription billing, digital downloads, content dripping, and more.

Why We Recommend Using MemberPress: With MemberPress, it’s easy to set up and restrict specific posts, pages, categories, and files to paying site members. You can even restrict content based on account signups and unpaid subscriptions.

After all our research and testing, we haven’t found a paywall plugin that offers as many features as MemberPress does. It’s ideal for small to large businesses that want to paywall their content behind a premium membership.

Pricing: A free MemberPress version is available. That said, you can upgrade to MemberPress Pro, starting from $179.50 per year.

2. MemberMouse

MemberMouse is one of the most user-friendly paywall plugins you’ll find. At the same, its advanced features make it powerful enough for enterprise-level membership sites. In addition to gated content, you can also sell exclusive, physical products.

For more details about the features available, check out our MemberMouse review.

When testing out this tool, we discovered that it gives you plenty of options to maximize sales, such as one-click upsells, free and paid trials, and members-only pricing.

In addition, you can restrict content access by protecting certain pages and posts, and auto-lock shared accounts. Just like MemberPress, you can add custom content dripping schedules and multiple membership levels.

Overall, you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to content restriction and dripping.

For instance, you can set a specific content drip schedule based on the specific membership level. This helps to encourage subscribers to continue renewing their membership.

Another standout feature is that you can create login forms so users can easily sign in anytime once they’ve become members. MemberMouse creates custom HTML for each login form.

Then, you can add that HTML to a custom sales page or landing page you’ve created using a page builder plugin like SeedProd.

Pros:

• You can sell paywall subscriptions and physical products.
• The plugin connects with your favorite email marketing services and payment gateways.
• You can embed the login form on just about any page on your site, such as your home page, landing page, or other pages.

Cons:

• There’s no free plugin.

Why We Recommend Using MemberMouse: Due to its advanced features, we recommend MemberMouse for larger and enterprise-level companies. It’s good for creating paywalls, membership sites, and physical product sales.

Pricing: MemberMouse starts from $149.50 per year

3. WishList Member

WishList Member is a paywall plugin that allows you to sell premium content on your site with maximum control. This means that you have granular control over when, who, and which content you are giving access to.

We did a deep dive into the plugin’s features, which you can see in our WishList Member review.

WishList Member automatically provides and removes access based on the membership level. Like the other plugins, you can create as many member levels as you’d like.

During testing, we learned that you can also automate content distribution by scheduling posts to go live on a specific time and date.

The “sneak peek” feature is cool, too, and it can help drive conversions. It shows snippets of gated content, giving readers a taste of what they are missing.

Our research also revealed that WishList Member is one of the few plugins that offers a Pay-per-Post feature.

So, rather than providing access to specific content based on membership level, users can pay for each post separately. That means you can also set a different price point for each post, depending on its value.

On top of all that, one of the best things about WishList Member is its wide range of integrations. You’ll find a long list of payment providers, email marketing services, and other marketing automation.

For example, if you are a course creator or coach, then you can integrate the plugin with LearnDash or FunnelKit Automations to build a backend sales funnel for higher-ticket programs.

Pros:

• You can use sneak peeks with previews of specific content and invite users to sign up.
• There’s a huge library of integrations.
• You can choose to gate content by membership or charge per post.

Cons:

• The interface is a little complicated for beginners.

Why We Recommend Using WishList Member: This paywall plugin is a solid option if you want maximum control over your content. The feature that sets it apart from the rest of the options on this list is the ability to sell individual posts. Considering all of the features you get, you will have total control over your paywall at a fair price.

Pricing: You can buy WishList Member starting from $149.50 per year.

4. Paid Memberships Pro

Paid Memberships Pro proves that you don’t need to buy an expensive plugin to have an effective paywall. It is a free membership solution that allows you to secure your content and charge a recurring subscription for it. You can always upgrade to a premium plan when you need more advanced features.

We have tested it thoroughly to learn about all its features, and you can see our Paid Memberships Pro review for additional details.

The free version of Paid Memberships Pro offers 28 different types of content restrictions.

For example, you can limit access to a specific number of page views before hitting the paywall, show sneak peeks or hide the restricted content entirely, and drip feed access based on a schedule.

You can even offer directories to view other member profiles or create personalized content based on membership level.

That said, when we looked at the paid version, we found that it gives you more control and advanced features.

The paid plans offer premium customization recipes so you can edit your paywall’s look and feel to your exact needs. For example, you could add a progress bar to show how much content a user has consumed or redirect members upon logout based on level.

Additionally, you get a ton of addons like Google Analytics and eCommerce tracking, premium support, advanced checkout page customizations, and more.

Pros:

• The plugin supports popular payment gateways.
• It provides paywall site performance information, such as revenue and sales reports.
• You can allow users to buy single-category purchases, one-time access, or even individual content.

Cons:

• The plugin does not include a built-in feature that allows administrators to selectively enable or disable specific user actions. For example, you may want to allow users to self-upgrade but disable the self-cancellations option.

Why We Recommend Using Paid Memberships Pro: We like Paid Memberships Pro because the free version is good enough to get started if you just want to create a paywall in WordPress. But if you want to add other customizations like improving the checkout experience, the ability to accept donations, or other advanced features, then you can upgrade to the Pro version.

Pricing: Paid Memberships Pro starts from $174 per year. But there’s also a free version, which you can download when you sign up for an account.

5. Thrive Leads

Thrive Leads is designed to convert traffic visitors into email subscribers. It offers a variety of features, such as the ability to create a pop-up lightbox, sticky and floating bars, in-line forms, and even a content lock with a paywall.

For more details on our experience testing it, you can see our Thrive Themes Suite review and head over to the Thrive Leads section.

Upon activation, we were happy to see that the plugin has an easy-to-use drag-and-drop visual editor, allowing you to create an opt-in form. Beyond that, there are tons of professionally-designed templates, so you can pick one that best fits your offer.

But what we like most about Thrive Leads is that you can choose to gate your content via an email opt-in or by collecting payments.

If you want to set up a paywall for your premium content, you’ll need to add a link to your checkout page. However, keep in mind you’ll need a WordPress payment plugin such as WooCommerce.

Do note that Thrive Leads comes as a standalone plugin subscription or as part of the entire Thrive Suite. For example, with Thrive Apprentice, you can easily set up a paywall and get your visitors to pay for access to your membership site.

Pros:

• There are lots of opt-in templates to choose from.
• You can embed the content lock on any part of your website.
• The plugin is intuitive and easy to use.

Cons:

• You need a separate plugin to collect payments.

Why We Recommend Using Thrive Leads: Connecting your paywall plugin to other marketing and lead generation tools can be a hassle. That’s what makes Thrive Leads special. With the Thrive Suite, you have everything you need to attract and convert new customers without bouncing from one plugin to another.

Pricing: Thrive Leads costs $99 per year. Alternatively, you can buy the Thrive Suite bundle for $299 per year, and you’ll get all Thrive products, including Thrive Leads, Thrive Ovation, Thrive Comments, and more.

6. OptinMonster

OptinMonster is our favorite lead-generation software. Plus, it lets you hide content until users sign up for your email list.

We use OptinMonster at WPBeginner, and we strongly recommend it. You can get more information about the platform in our OptinMonster review.

Based on our experience, OptinMonster’s content-lock feature works really well with in-line campaigns. This way, you can embed lead generation forms directly on a page.

With this feature, you can also remove your gated content from the page until the reader signs up or make everything blurry for users until they sign up.

Then, once the user enters their email, the gated content will appear, and they will be able to start reading your exclusive material.

Plus, just like Thrive Leads, we appreciate that OptinMonster allows you to create engaging lead generation campaigns such as lightbox popups, slide-in scroll boxes, and fullscreen welcome mats.

Pros:

• It’s a great way to grow your email list.
• There are tons of templates and lead generation types.
• You can remove content from the page or make it blurry to fit your needs.

Cons:

• It doesn’t accept payments through its paywal.

Why We Recommend Using OptinMonster: If you are looking for a way to hide content until users sign up for your email list, then OptinMonster is a great option. Although it’s not a traditional paywall, it is a great option for lead generation.

Pricing: OptinMonster starts from $7 per month ($59.60 per year when billed annually.)

7. AccessAlly

AccessAlly is a learning management system (LMS) plugin. It provides you with several different ways to create a paywall and accept recurring membership payments. This makes it perfect for coaches, trainers, and creators who want to sell courses via a membership.

We have tested it extensively to see all its features, and we believe it is a great option for adding paywalls to WordPress blogs and websites.

Unlike the standard paywall plugins on this list, AccessAlly focuses on being an all-in-one platform that helps online coaches create stunning learning experiences.

With the platform, you can design online courses, memberships, certifications, high-end coaching programs, communities, and books. We also found templates for each of these campaigns, so you never have to start from scratch.

We really like the control you get when it comes to protecting content. With access tags, you can easily upload and protect files like PDFs, MP3s, and more.

As a course creator, you can restrict content based on membership level or course. We saw that everything is handled with tags and materials, ensuring only paying members can view certain content.

In addition, AccessAlly’s protected content allows you to remove it from Google search results. This prevents unauthorized users from stumbling upon your restricted paywall content.

Pros:

• You can house all of your digital products, memberships, communities, and gated content in one place.
• It can integrate with other tools like CRM apps and email marketing services.
• Use gamification to keep users engaged by earning points for accomplishing tasks.

Cons:

• No free version.

Why We Recommend Using AccessAlly: This powerful plugin is best suited to content creators and online coaches. With it, you can protect gated content and separate it into membership tiers. Plus, there are built-in recurring Stripe and PayPal payments.

Pricing: AccessAlly starts from $82 per year.

8. Restrict Content Pro

Restrict Content Pro is another solid option when it comes to WordPress paywall plugins. We like that it offers a user-friendly customer dashboard and WooCommerce integration.

We downloaded and thoroughly tested this plugin to check out all its features. During our research, we discovered that the plugin allows you to restrict content in a few ways. You can use tags, content categories, membership status, WordPress user roles, and more.

As we mentioned, this tool makes it super easy for customers to manage their accounts with its built-in dashboard. Members can view their account status and membership expiration date, upgrade or cancel their accounts, and view their complete payment history and past invoices.

Restrict Content Pro also lets you send automated, customizable emails to subscribers. It has tags to choose from, so you can personalize your emails by adding their first and last name, expiration dates, coupon codes, and more.

While there is a free version, the Pro version offers more advanced features, like detailed reports about your earnings and the option to offer free trials. If you need a free tool, this is a bit of a downside since analytics can be crucial for optimizing your sales strategies, and free trials are a great way to convert more leads.

Pros:

• The plugin offers a WooCommerce integration, allowing you to restrict who can buy products from your online store based on membership levels.
• You get a lot of content restriction options.
• You can offer free trials to boost sales.

Cons:

• Lots of the more advanced features like content dripping, free trials, and detailed reports are only available in the Pro version.

Why We Recommend Using Restrict Content Pro: This tool offers a comprehensive customer dashboard that allows users to make changes to memberships. We also like that it integrates with WooCommerce, making it perfect for online stores.

Pricing: Restrict Content Pro starts from $99 per year. There is also a free version, but it doesn’t include advanced features like analytics and support for discount codes.

9. aMemberPro

aMemberPro is a simple paywall plugin that lets you easily restrict your content. That said, it has some advanced settings that can be super useful for growing eCommerce sites. For example, it allows you to translate your site into multiple languages and offers a built-in affiliate program.

While we don’t use aMemberPro on our website, we made an account and went through all the features. After all that research and testing, we think it’s a great plugin for adding a paywall.

Like the other plugins on our list, aMemberPro lets users create unlimited member levels. This allows you to sell restricted content based on different price points and subscription terms.

Our testing also revealed that the plugin allows you to build your own members-only area. Every piece of content goes to only the members’ area, so non-paid members won’t know what’s inside.

As we mentioned, aMember Pro stands out for its multi-language support. You can easily translate your content into any of its 22 languages.

Beyond that, you get advanced features like flexible signup forms with automatic password generation and even a built-in affiliate program. We really appreciate the affiliate program feature, as it offers a great way to encourage subscribers to spread the word about your memberships.

Pros:

• You can create your own affiliate program, similar to a plugin like AffiliateWP.
• The checkout process allows for extensive customization, such as flexible signup forms, fail-back payment processors, coupon codes, and more.
• The plugin gives granular access control for your paywall site.

Cons:

• There’s no free version.
• It has an outdated interface.

Why We Recommend Using aMember Pro: This is a great plugin that offers plenty of customization. You also have full control over scheduled content drips, membership levels, and the type of content you want restricted. Standout features include multi-language support and a built-in affiliate program.

Pricing: You can get aMember Pro for a one-time payment of $149.

10. LearnDash

LearnDash is a popular WordPress LMS plugin, similar to AccessAlly, which we reviewed earlier. However, it offers an advanced custom course builder for additional control. It’s an excellent choice for anyone who wants to paywall online courses, quizzes, and lessons.

We tried it out to test all the features. You can check out our complete LearnDash review for more information.

One of our favorite things about LearnDash is its simple drag-and-drop editor, which lets you set up backend courses without writing a single line of code.

We also appreciate that this learning management system goes way beyond just a simple paywall site. It comes with comprehensive course builder tools, where you can design branded course content.

For example, users can access the next module only once they’ve completed the previous one, which offers more structured guidance for more efficient learning.

Online learning can quickly become dull, but yours doesn’t have to with LearnDash.

It helps you keep users engaged with your material by allowing you to create a private forum or membership quizzes. You can also issue user badges and give award certifications upon course completion.

On top of all that, you can set content restriction rules, such as requiring students to meet a certain number of points by completing quizzes or reading past articles in a series.

Pros:

• Great for selling online courses.
• LearnDash has plenty of gamification elements to engage users.
• You can control how you want to restrict content access.

Cons:

• It’s a plugin designed for courses rather than just a paywall.

Why We Recommend Using LearnDash: We like LearnDash because it takes a more dynamic approach to your traditional paywall site. Rather than just gating content, LearnDash offers more ways to engage users, such as progress bars, gamification elements, and awards, which is great for building customer loyalty.

Pricing: LearnDash plans start at $199 per year.

11. WooCommerce Memberships

WooCommerce Memberships is a membership plugin addon. As the name suggests, it’s perfect if you want to paywall membership content in WooCommerce.

When testing WooCommerce Memberships, we discovered that it allows you to restrict services, products, and content to registered users only. It is one of the few tools available that bring your shop, content, and memberships together.

Giving special access to paid members helps to build a tight-knit community and boost customer loyalty. WooCommerce Memberships makes this possible.

For example, you may want to send members gifts and exclusive content. This allows you to add more perks to each membership plan than you would get from a simple paywall plugin. You can even offer free shipping for paid members.

We also found that, like with the other paywall plugins, you can drip content using WooCommerce Memberships.

Besides that, we particularly appreciate its advanced control options. For instance, the plugin lets users restrict product viewing to only members. This way, only members can view your best, exclusive products.

This works great if you sell items using something like an auction plugin to deal with limited inventory.

Pros:

• You have tons of control options, like which types of content and products to restrict viewing.
• The add-on allows you to offer free trials.
• You can drip content on a schedule.

Cons:

• It is only available for WooCommerce store owners.

Why We Recommend Using WooCommerce Memberships: This plugin offers a great way to gate content for store visitors. When customers pay to become a member, they are happy to receive extra perks they might not find elsewhere.

Pricing: WooCommerce Memberships starts from $199 per year.

What Is the Best WordPress Paywall Plugin?

We hope you have a better idea by now of the best WordPress paywall plugin based on your specific needs.

That said, generally speaking, MemberPress, MemberMouse, and WishList Member are our top 3 picks. Each brings unique features to help you monetize your content effectively.

MemberPress is a powerhouse when it comes to managing memberships and content access. This plugin lets you easily create a paywall, offering various membership levels and drip content options to keep users engaged.

You can control how much content visitors can access before subscribing, allowing them to sample what you offer. Plus, its integrations with popular apps like Stripe and PayPal make it a seamless choice for payment processing.

Due to MemberPress’s robust set of features, we believe it’s an excellent choice for both small and midsize online businesses.

Meanwhile, MemberMouse stands out for its user-friendly interface and robust features. This plugin not only lets you sell protected content but also offers advanced sales tools like one-click upsells and customizable login forms.

You can set specific content drip schedules tailored to each membership level, which encourages subscribers to stick around. It’s perfect for businesses looking to boost their sales with flexible pricing options.

Since MemberMouse offers an advanced feature set and the ability to sell physical goods, it’s the perfect option for enterprise-level membership sites.

Last but not least, WishList Member provides extensive control over your content access with features like sneak peek and Pay-per-Post options. This means you can not only set membership levels but also charge users individually for specific posts, adding flexibility to your monetization strategy.

Also, it integrates well with various marketing tools, making it ideal for course creators and coaches who want to create comprehensive sales funnels.

Now, depending on your project, choosing the right paywall plugin can significantly impact how effectively you monetize your content. By assessing your specific needs, you can select the best solution that aligns with your goals and boost your site’s user experience.

Frequently Asked Questions About Paywall Plugins

As you consider paywall plugins, you may have some questions about their features and benefits. Let’s dive into some common FAQs to help you understand paywalls better and find the right fit for your WordPress site.

Can I put a paywall on WordPress?

Yes, all you need is a paywall plugin that allows you to restrict access to content by page, post, category, URL, and so on. That way, visitors must complete an action like creating an account on your site or becoming a paid member to view the paywall.

What is the best paywall plugin for WordPress?

The best paywall plugin is, hands-down, MemberPress. It comes with powerful access control, letting you restrict content however you’d like.

You can also drip content to members after a certain time. Beyond the basics, you’re able to sell online courses, which provide a more interactive learning experience than just a basic paywall.

What is the best free paywall plugin for WordPress?

Paid Memberships Pro is the best paywall plugin with a free version. It offers tons of content restriction types, giving you granular control, and you can accept recurring payments.

How does a paywall make money?

A paywall makes money by charging visitors for access to exclusive content. This can be through subscriptions, one-time payments, or membership fees. When people see value in your content, they’re more likely to pay for it!

How effective are paywalls?

Paywalls can be very effective, especially for sites that offer unique and high-quality content. They help generate steady income from subscribers. However, their success often depends on how well you market your content and the value it provides.

What are the effects of paywalls?

Paywalls can lead to increased revenue for content creators but may also limit access for some users. This can result in fewer visitors overall, but it helps build a dedicated audience willing to pay for quality. Ultimately, it can create a community that values your content.

We hope this article helped you find the best paywall plugin for WordPress. You may also want to check out our ultimate guide to creating a WordPress membership site and our expert picks of the best WordPress membership plugins.

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