WishList Member
by WishList Products
Long-running membership plugin with levels, sequential content and pay-per-post options.
This link may earn us a commission. It never changes our rating.
What WishList Member does
Long-running membership plugin with levels, sequential content and pay-per-post options.
It sits in the memberships part of a WordPress stack and is sold by WishList Products on a premium basis. We recommend it in our memberships guides because it does that one job well without asking you to rebuild the rest of the site around it.
Every plugin adds work to a page request, so treat this as a decision with a cost. Record a speed test before you install it and run the same test afterwards, on the same page, so you know exactly what it charged you.
Real user ratings
WishList Member is sold outside the WordPress.org directory, so there is no public user rating to quote. Our own editorial score is 4.2/5, based on the vendor documentation, the refund window and the measured performance cost.
Where WishList Member ranks elsewhere
| Publisher | List | Position |
|---|---|---|
| WPForms | Best WordPress Membership Plugins Compared | #5 of 14 |
Positions are read from the published articles themselves, so they reflect that publisher's order rather than ours. Lists get re-ordered over time, so follow the link if you want the current version.
What changed in the latest version
WishList Member does not publish a changelog we can read automatically, so check the vendor's own release notes before you update a live site.
Pros and cons
- Flexible level and drip configuration
- Paid support and updates from the vendor
- Actively maintained and used on production sites we test
- Interface shows its age
- Renewal cost is annual and per site
How to use it
- 1Map out your levels and what each one unlocks before configuring anything.
- 2Create the levels, then apply access rules to content rather than per post.
- 3Test signup, renewal and cancellation as a real member would.
- 4Exclude account and members-only pages from caching.
- 5Set up dunning emails for failed recurring payments.
How it compares
Other memberships plugins we recommend, with their rating and pricing model.
| Plugin | Our rating | WordPress.org | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WishList Member | 4.2 | n/a | Premium | Flexible level and drip configuration |
| Leaky Paywall | 4.3 | 4.2 (35) | Premium | Metered access built for publishers |
| MemberPress | 4.6 | n/a | Premium | Cleanest access rules of any option |
| Members | 4.9 | 4.9 (1,275) | Free | Content restriction and role editing in one free plugin |
| Paid Memberships Pro | 4.5 | n/a | Freemium | Free core with real functionality |
| ProfilePress | 4.4 | n/a | Freemium | Front-end user management done well |
Guides that cover WishList Member
Alternatives
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