Membership Plugin – Kadence Memberships

What is Membership Plugin?

Kadence Memberships is a dual-purpose plugin that functions as both a membership subscription manager and a content restriction tool. Developed by Nexcess, this plugin has been in active development for 16 years. It currently holds 9K+ active installs. The plugin carries a 3.1/5 rating from 99 reviews, with a notable split of 42% 42% one-star ratings. The current version is 4.0.1, last updated on May 26, 2026.

The plugin allows you to monetize content by creating unlimited membership levels. It also enables simple content hiding for posts, pages, and custom post types. You can restrict access based on user role or membership level. This makes it a viable option for anyone searching for a wordpress membership plugin that does not require a page builder.

Key Features of Membership Plugin

• Unlimited Membership Levels: Create free, trial, and premium subscription packages with full control over content access for each plan.
• Stripe Payment Collection (Free): Collect payments directly within the free version using Stripe integration for manual or automatic billing.
• Prorated Upgrades & Downgrades: Members can switch between levels at any time, with pricing adjusted based on remaining time in their current membership.
• Content Restriction Shortcode: Use the [restrict] shortcode to protect specific parts of a post or page by specifying required user roles.
• REST API Restriction: All content restrictions apply to REST API requests, ensuring consistent access control across your entire site.
• Self-Service Account Management: Members can view their status, renewal dates, payment history, and download PDF invoices from their account dashboard.
• Bulk Membership Management: Admins can add, modify, or search memberships in bulk through an intuitive admin interface.

Who Should Use Membership Plugin?

This plugin suits site owners who need a straightforward way to restrict content wordpress without a steep learning curve. It works well for bloggers, course creators, and small businesses running on a standard WordPress setup. The plugin requires no coding knowledge for basic use. However, developers can extend it through a library of Pro add-ons. Users who want to restrict pages to logged in users wordpress will find the per-post restriction settings familiar and easy to apply.

Ideal users include those running membership sites with 1–3 membership tiers. The plugin supports sites that need to restrict content to members in wordpress using simple checkbox options. With 9K+ active installs, it has a modest but established user base. The 16-year development history suggests stability, though the support resolution rate of 0% over two months is a serious concern for mission-critical sites.

Installation & Setup

Installation follows the standard WordPress process. Search for "Kadence Memberships" from your Plugins page, install, and activate. The plugin works with WordPress 6.0+ and PHP 7.4+. Setup is beginner-friendly, as the core restriction settings appear directly on post and page editing screens. No configuration wizard is required to start restricting content immediately.

Support & Community

The support data raises red flags. Over the last two months, the plugin has 3 open support threads with 0 resolved, yielding a 0% resolution rate. This is a significant gap for a paid membership plugin. The rating distribution tells a similar story: 42% of users give it 2% give it one star. This polarized split indicates the plugin works well for some users but fails entirely for others. If you rely on active support, consider testing the free version thoroughly before committing to a paid plan. The plugin's age suggests it is not abandoned, but the support backlog is a risk factor for 2026.