Paid Memberships Pro vs s2Member
Paid Memberships Pro
paidmembershipspro.com
s2Member
s2member.comSide by side
| Figure | Paid Memberships Pro | s2Member |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $41.58/mo | $89/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 5 |
| Spec score · Membership Site Platforms | 9.1 (#5) | 8.4 (#27) |
| Content gating | post | full_site |
| Developer tools | PMPro provides more than 300 action and filter hooks, REST API support with eight endpoints, bulk update tools, and debugging tools. | The product provides API notifications/webhooks and a Pro Remote Operations API for operations such as creating or modifying user accounts. |
| Drip content | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Official integrations include WooCommerce, BuddyPress, BuddyBoss, bbPress, Mailchimp, MailerLite, MailPoet, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier, LearnDash, and LifterLMS. | The maker documents Amazon S3 and CloudFront storage or streaming integrations, JW Player, bbPress, BuddyPress, and caching plugins. |
| Payment gateways | Core or free integrations support Stripe, PayPal, Paystack, CCBill, Payfast, and manual or offline payments, with recurring subscriptions supported. | The maker lists Stripe, PayPal Standard, PayPal Pro, Authorize.Net, and ClickBank integrations. |
| Purpose | Paid Memberships Pro lets WordPress site owners restrict content, accept payments, and manage subscriptions from their website. | s2Member is a WordPress membership plugin for protecting content and selling subscriptions or one-time access. |
| Security | The setup wizard includes checkout spam protection that blocks repeated attempts from the same IP address and recommends reCAPTCHA or Akismet. | Documented security measures include brute-force login protection, configurable unique-IP restrictions, an installation-specific encryption key, and an optional security badge. |
| Subscription billing | both | both |
| Support | The company provides support forums and says Max plans include hands-on help customizing membership sites and implementing new features. | Support is provided through volunteer community interaction, documentation, videos, FAQs, and forums; the maker says it offers no support beyond these resources. |
Plans
Paid Memberships Pro
- FreeFree
- Standard$49 a month
- Max$99 a month
- Max 2x$299 a month
- Standard$499 a year
- Max$999 a year
- Max 2x$2,999 a year
s2Member
- FrameworkFree
- Pro Single-Site License$89 a month
- Pro Unlimited-Site License$189 a month
- Pro Single-Site License$89, paid once
- Pro Unlimited-Site License$189, paid once
In their own words
Paid Memberships Pro
Paid Memberships Pro is a WordPress plugin and open-source platform for restricting content, taking payments, and managing subscriptions on a website. Site owners can protect 28 types of content and create unlimited membership levels, with free or paid access, one-time charges, or recurring billing from hourly to annual intervals. Pricing tools include trials, coupons, proration, donations, gift codes, invite codes, and variable pricing. Stripe and PayPal are included without a platform transaction fee, although gateway charges still apply. The free plan provides the self-hosted platform and 25 free add-ons; Standard, Max, and Max 2x include 54 premium add-ons. Paid plans start at $49/mo. Standard is $49 a month, Max is $99 a month, and Max 2x is $299 a month, all billed monthly. The platform includes member administration, customizable dashboards and forms, reporting, and integrations such as WooCommerce, Mailchimp, and LearnDash. It supports WordPress installations running version 5.2 or higher, while technical support covers only the three most recent minor releases. Premium purchases have a 100-day money-back guarantee covering one payment.