Paid Memberships Pro vs Substack
Paid Memberships Pro
paidmembershipspro.com
Substack
substack.comSide by side
| Figure | Paid Memberships Pro | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $41.58/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 7 | 4 |
| Spec score · Membership Site Platforms | 9.1 (#5) | 9.4 (#2) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Official integrations include WooCommerce, BuddyPress, BuddyBoss, bbPress, Mailchimp, MailerLite, MailPoet, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier, LearnDash, and LifterLMS. | Official integrations include RSS, podcast distribution to Apple and Spotify, Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, X and Facebook pixels, Google site verification, YouTube and LinkedIn account connections. |
| Purpose | Paid Memberships Pro lets WordPress site owners restrict content, accept payments, and manage subscriptions from their website. | Substack is a publishing platform for writers, creators, and subscribers. |
| Support | The company provides support forums and says Max plans include hands-on help customizing membership sites and implementing new features. | Substack directs users to its Help Center for FAQs and walkthroughs and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers. |
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
Substack
- Free publishingFree
- Free to startFree
- Custom domain$50, paid once
- Paid subscriptionsPrice not published
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.
Substack
Substack is a publishing platform for writers, creators, and subscribers, bringing posts, newsletters, podcasts, video, live streams, and pages into one publishing flow. Its editor supports scheduling, autosaved drafts, version history, templates, SEO metadata, and headline A/B testing. Creators can offer free or paid posts, subscriptions, trials, gifts, and group plans. Discovery tools include recommendations, Notes, leaderboards, referrals, and search; audience segmentation and email automation are also available. Podcast episodes can be distributed automatically to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, while video can go automatically to YouTube and LinkedIn. Publishing is free. When creators enable paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges payment processing fees. Creators own their intellectual property and mailing list and can export their data. Substack serves writers, journalists, podcasters, video creators, experts, educators, and media companies. It is available on the web, Android, and iOS. Substack directs users to its Help Center and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers.