ProfilePress Review: The Best Tool for Managing Memberships?

Are you considering monetizing your content by running a WordPress membership site?

While a site like that can be compelling, you have a lot of work ahead.

For instance, you have to figure out how to register and manage users, restrict content, and set up payment options (to name a few). And those tasks are just the tip of the iceberg!

But if you are still considering running a membership site, we have some exciting news. A WordPress plugin called ProfilePress allows you to do all that and more.

But without further ado, let’s dive in and see what the plugin is about!

ProfilePress Review at a Glance

Ease of use: 4/5

Features: 4/5

Pricing: 4.5/5

Support: 4.5/5

The Pros

• Free version available.
• Easy to use.
• You can build custom forms whether you are a beginner or a pro.
• You can extend the plugin with add-ons/integrations.

The Cons

• No AI features.
• Only a limited amount of email marketing or eCommerce integrations are available.
• You can’t sell physical products (although you can do this with WooCommerce integration).
• There is no chat support option.

The Verdict

ProfilePress gives you plenty of features to turn your website into a membership site and monetize your content!

You can create custom forms, extend the platform with add-ons, and restrict content with flexible rules. The plugin is also relatively easy to use, although some parts may require more learning.

You can download the free version to test the plugin first. If you find ProfilePress the right fit, you can opt for the premium version.

What is ProfilePress?

ProfilePress is a WordPress plugin that helps you turn your WordPress website into a membership site. You can offer paid membership plans or set recurring subscriptions.

You can use it to sell services, courses, digital products & downloadable files. So whether it’s images, videos, music, eBooks, or software (to name a few options), ProfilePress is your product.

ProfilePress contains many valuable features to meet your demands, including coupons and discounts, content restriction, and integrations with learning management systems (LMS) or email marketing platforms.

Who Should Use ProfilePress?

ProfilePress caters to various audiences.

For instance, if you are a blogger looking to monetize your content, ProfilePress may be handy. Also, if you are creating courses, ProfilePress could be your option (although you may also consider a full-blown LMS system instead).

Finally, if you build downloadable products, ProfilePress can be a robust platform for delivering and monetizing your creations.

Getting Started with ProfilePress

You can obtain the ProfilePress plugin in two steps.

First, you need to install the free version of ProfilePress. Without it, the premium version doesn’t work.

So go to your WordPress dashboard and then to Plugins > Add new plugin.

From there, you can search for ProfilePress, and after you have gotten the results, choose this one: Paid Membership Plugin, Ecommerce, User Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content – ProfilePress:

Once you have installed and activated the free version, go to Plugins > Installed plugins, and under ProfilePress, click on the Go Premium link. It will take you to the ProfilePress website, where you can purchase the premium version.

Alternatively, you can go directly to the ProfilePress pricing page and choose your plan. Once you have purchased the plugin, download the zip file onto your computer and upload it to WordPress.

Add your licensing information in the plugin settings when the premium version is activated on your WordPress. This section is on the ProfilePress account page.

Ease of Use

User Interface and Usability

Once you have installed and activated the ProfilePress plugin, you will notice a new section in your WordPress admin panel. This section makes accessing the plugin quick.

Once you open the menu, you’ll land on the home page, where you can see two things immediately: the next steps to take when configuring the plugin and the analytics.

You can quickly access other parts of the application on the left side.

You can also find some features that are not there, although they are visible on the menu. 

For instance, when you click on the User Sync menu item, you’ll learn that you have to install and activate the Fuse WP plugin separately to enable the functionality. The same principle applies to the Popups & Optins section as well.

The rest of the configurations are easily accessible. All the settings are in one place under one menu item, Settings.

Here is an overview of the most critical sections of ProfilePress and how they stand with user experience

Content Restriction

You can protect the content by building rules. 

First, you select the content to protect and add some AND or OR operators to refine the rule further. Then, you define which content falls outside the restriction rule and which user roles can access it.

Simple rules are easy to create, but more complex ones may require planning. Note to ProfilePress developers: Can you provide some ready-made rules (rule snippets) that would be easy to add to our membership projects?

Payment Methods

You can find all the payment methods under one tab in the Settings area.

The payment methods setup is straightforward, although the steps depend on the method. So, the fields you see for PayPal differ from those for Stripe.

Also see: PayPal vs Stripe: Which is the Best Solution?

Custom Frontend Forms

You can immediately see all the various forms on the Forms & Profiles homepage:

By default, the page shows all the custom Login forms you have created. You can access the rest of the forms by clicking on different tabs.

Creating the forms happens in ProfilePress in two ways: using a drag-and-drop method or the shortcode builder.

Providing both building options, ProfilePress caters to both audiences: those wanting to create the forms using the Drag-and-Drop Builder interface and those wanting more customization options (and knowing HTML and CSS) using the shortcode option.

Member Directory & Profiles

As with custom forms, ProfilePress allows you to create the member directory using drag-and-drop or the shortcode builder.

Both ways cater to both beginner and advanced users. In the former, you can design the profiles using a builder, while with the latter, you can use HTML & CSS to create your profiles.

Like with custom forms, I want to thank the ProfilePress development team for providing these two options. This decision ensures that even novice users can design profiles without knowing how to code.

Add-ons

An add-on can be activated, deactivated, or it’s unavailable.

If an add-on is installed on your system, you can activate or deactivate it. If the status is unavailable, it is not yet installed in WordPress. Once you install the plugin, you can toggle it between the activated and deactivated statuses.

Once an add-on is active, you can click the Settings button to configure the extension further. You can then see a dedicated settings page:

However, if ProfilePress is new to you and you don’t know how to proceed, you may need to consult the documentation or ask a question from customer support (on how to configure some of the add-ons). 

ProfilePress vs. Competitors

ProfilePress is not the only WordPress plugin that can turn your WordPress website into a membership site. Here are some of its main rivals and how they compare to ProfilePress.

Please note: To make the table more readable, I have abbreviated the product names as follows:

• ProfilePress (PP)
• MemberPress (MP)
• Paid Memberships Pro (PMP)
• UltimateMember (UM)
• Restrict Content Pro (RCP).

	PP	MP	PMP	UM	RCP
Pricing (starting)	Standard: $199/year*, one site.	Basic: $359/year*, one site.	Standard: $347/year*, one site.	Standard: $276/year, one site.	Pro: $99/year, one site.
Free version	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Payment options	Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, Mollie (iDEAL, Credit Card, Apple Pay, Klarna, SEPA Direct Debit, Bancontact), Direct Bank Transfer	Stripe, PayPal,  Authorize.net, and offline payments.	Stripe, PayPal, Paystack, CCBill, Payfast, and offline payments.	Stripe. You get more payment options through the WooCommerce integration.	Manual payments, Stripe, PayPal, and Braintree.
# of Add-ons/integrations	26	120 (and 2000+ integrations via Zapier)	80+	29	34
Content restriction	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Support options	Knowledge base, submit a ticket.	Knowledge base, submit a ticket.	Knowledge base, submit a ticket, and community.	Knowledge base, submit a ticket, and community.	Knowledge base, submit a ticket.

* This is the regular list price. Please see the website for occasional discounts.

MemberPress

ProfilePress is less expensive than MemberPress. Additionally, ProfilePress offers a free version, whereas MemberPress does not.

On the other hand, MemberPress offers more integrations than ProfilePress, including support for seven email marketing platforms. The total number of integrations depends on the plan.

Paid Memberships Pro

Paid Memberships Pro has a higher yearly pricing than ProfilePress. Fortunately, both plugins provide a free version.

Paid Memberships Pro shines on extensions, offering 120 of them. The number becomes even higher when you use Zapier. 

UltimateMember

UltimateMember offers only one payment integration, Stripe, through its platform (although you get more through WooCommerce integration). In ProfilePress, you can find integrations like Stripe, RazorPay, or Mollie.

UltimateMember’s license is also more expensive for one site than ProfilePress’s.

Restrict Content Pro

Restrict Content Pro plugin is cheaper than ProfilePress, costing only $99/year for one site license. It also offers more integrations, including support for seven email marketing platforms.

However, ProfilePress allows you to sell digital downloads natively, while Restrict Content Pro requires an integration (Easy Digital Downloads).

This difference is understandable, as Restrict Content Pro’s primary function is to limit access to content (like posts or pages) instead of providing a platform for selling digital downloads.

ProfilePress Top-5 Features

1. Sell digital products through a membership site

The core idea of ProfilePress is to monetize your content by enabling one-time or recurring payments through the membership site. You can also set up paywalls, offer free trials, create coupon codes, or provide discounts. 

ProfilePress integrates with popular payment gateways, such as Stripe or PayPal. Thanks to payment integrations, you can sell services or digital products, including images, videos, eBooks, plugins, and software (to name a few).

ProfilePress doesn’t support selling physical products. However, if you subscribe to their Plus plan, you can integrate ProfilePress with WooCommerce. WooCommerce is a fully featured eCommerce solution that specializes in selling physical products.

2. Custom Forms

ProfilePress enables you to build personalized forms for your audience. These forms include registration, password reset, and login forms.

You can build these forms using the drag-and-drop builder or from scratch using shortcodes.  

Other notable features of custom forms include security verifications using reCAPTCHA or 2-factor authentication or integrating social logins (Facebook, Google…, etc.) into the login process.

3. Add-ons

While the core set of ProfilePress features provides the foundation for building a membership site, the add-ons offer a bonus layer that complements the core offerings, making ProfilePress more useful.

Some notable add-ons you can find are:

• Social Logins (Standard): Allow your users to sign in/register with social media accounts, including Facebook, X, or LinkedIn.
• 2-factor authentication (Standard): 2FA adds another layer of security when logging into WordPress. Instead of just entering a username and password, the user must also enter a one-time passcode from their authentication app.
• Metered Paywall (Plus): This option allows your visitors to read a limited amount of content before they are asked to purchase a membership or upgrade their current plan. 
• Passwordless Login (Plus): With passwordless logins, visitors receive a one-time URL in their email, which they can use to log in to the website. The URL expires shortly, keeping security high.

These four add-ons are just an example of what extra functionality is available. The number of add-ons also depends on your plan: The Standard plan gives you access to 18 add-ons, while the Plus plan offers 26.

4. Content Restriction

One of ProfilePress’s core features is content restriction. With this functionality, you can restrict the visibility of specified content (posts, pages…, etc.) to users based on their authorization level.

The content can be restricted using rules you can set in the admin panel.

You can limit content visibility based on a user role, membership level, or login status and exclude certain content from the restriction rules.

5. User Profiles & Member Directory

ProfilePress has two features to increase community engagement: user profiles and member directories.

With the user profiles, administrators can create customizable profiles using the drag and drop or shortcode builder. 

Administrators design these forms and define how they look to the end user. They can also set the profiles’ visibility based on the membership level or user profile.

Users can then manage these profiles by uploading a profile image or changing other information.

The member directory feature helps registered users to contact each other easily. It gathers all the user profiles into one searchable and filterable directory.

As an admin, you can design how the member directory looks to the end user. You can also define the visibility based on the membership level or the user profile.

Extensibility and Integrations

ProfilePress provides new functionality through add-ons, and the total number of them depends on your ProfilePress plan.

For instance, the Standard plan includes 18 add-ons, and the Plus plan adds eight more. The Agency plan gives you access to every add-on and the ones developers will publish in the future.

So, what kinds of add-ons can you expect?

There are 26 add-ons in total, and you can find ones related to payment processors, LMSs (Learning Management Systems), or email marketing (to name a few).

While the number of add-ons may sound a lot, there is room for improvement. 

For instance, you can only integrate ProfilePress with two email marketing platforms (MailChimp and CampaignMonitor), and in the eCommerce space, they only support WooCommerce.

26 integrations are good as a starting point, but hopefully, more will come in the future.

Pricing

The plugin comes with three plans: Standard, Plus, and Agency.

The Standard plan (for one site) is the least expensive option, costing $199/year.

It gives you all the core features (paid memberships, content restriction, forms, member directories…) and 18 add-ons, including 2-factor authentication or email marketing integrations). Also, you don’t have to pay an extra 2% Stripe fee.

The next plan is the Plus (for three sites), costing $399/year. It has the same features as the Standard plan, but you get access to more add-ons (WooCommerce integration or Passwordless login).

Finally, the Agency plan (for unlimited sites) costs $699/year. This version has all the goodies of the Plus plan. In addition, you get access to all available add-ons and the ones they ever publish.

ProfilePress does not have a monthly recurring subscription, meaning you must pay the annual price upfront. While this is often a less expensive option, you still need to have some money to invest at once, which may turn some customers away.

The good thing is that a free version is available, but it comes with an additional 2% Stripe fee.

If you purchase ProfilePress but decide it’s not for you, it comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Customer Service

You can contact ProfilePress by asking a question from pre-sales, using the knowledge base, or submitting a ticket.

The pre-sales option is convenient if you have a product-related question you want to know more about (before making a purchase).

The knowledge base contains the most commonly asked instructions, including how to get started or configure various application parts. You can also find some information on their blog.

The ticket submission form is the most useful tool if your question is not answered in the documentation or you can’t find the answer you were looking for.

While the ticketing option works, there is no chat option. That would add another great option to the support arsenal.

Customer support works five days a week, from Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm UTC.

FAQ

The ProfilePress Review: Is It Right for You?

The big question is, is ProfilePress for you?

The plugin offers robust features for building a membership website and selling digital products. It’s also cheaper than its competitors.

Try ProfilePress Plugin

Eventually, you decide based on your needs and whether ProfilePress can meet them. Fortunately, ProfilePress has a free version, so you can test it before purchasing it.