If you’re trying to restrict content on a WooCommerce store, you’re about to walk into a trap.
You’ll Google “WooCommerce content restriction plugin.” You’ll find 10 options. 8 of them are full membership platforms with course builders, drip schedules, community forums, and 40-setting admin panels. You don’t need any of that. You need to hide a page until someone buys a product.
But every comparison article you’ll find ranks membership plugins against each other, as if the only way to restrict content in WooCommerce is to install a full membership system.
It’s not.
I’ve been building WooCommerce plugins for 12 years. I’ve installed every membership plugin on this list on production stores. And the pattern is always the same: store owners install a membership platform to solve a content gating problem, then spend weeks configuring features they never use.
This comparison is different. I’m ranking 5 plugins specifically on their ability to restrict content on a WooCommerce store. Some are full membership platforms. One is a lightweight content gate. I’ll tell you which one fits your situation and why.
Updated August 2026. All pricing was re-verified against vendor sites at that date.
Quick Answer: Which Plugin Should You Pick?
If you need simple content gating tied to WooCommerce products: Refinery Content Gate. Link any page or post to a product. Purchase grants access. No membership levels, no drip schedules, no overhead.
If you need a full membership platform with levels, drip content, and teams: WooCommerce Memberships. Deep WooCommerce integration, flexible restriction rules, and the backing of the official WooCommerce ecosystem.
If you’re building a non-WooCommerce membership site: MemberPress. It handles its own payments and works without WooCommerce entirely. Strong if WooCommerce isn’t your core.
The 5 Plugins, Ranked
Here’s where I stand on each one, in order.
| Plugin | Best For | Pricing | HPOS | Blocks | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refinery Content Gate | Simple content gating, product-linked access | $49-149/yr | Yes | Yes | 10 min |
| WooCommerce Memberships | Full membership features with WooCommerce | $199/yr | Yes | Yes | 1-2 hours |
| MemberPress | Standalone membership sites | $199-499/yr, renews $399-999 | N/A | Partial | 1-3 hours |
| Kadence Memberships (was Restrict Content Pro) | Teams already on the Kadence suite | $299-499/yr, bundled | Partial | Partial | 1-2 hours |
| Paid Memberships Pro | Free-tier membership needs | Free, or $499-999/yr | Partial | Partial | 2-4 hours |
Now let me break each one down.
1. Refinery Content Gate
Best for: Stores that need content gating without membership overhead.
Refinery Content Gate does one thing and does it well. You create content as a normal WordPress page or post. You link it to one or more WooCommerce products. When someone visits that page, the plugin checks their purchase history. If they bought the linked product, they see the content. If they didn’t, they see a teaser and a purchase prompt.
That’s the entire feature set. And that’s the point.
No membership levels to configure. No drip schedules to set up. No role management to debug when a customer complains they can’t access something. The WooCommerce product IS the access pass. If you can create a WooCommerce product, you can gate content.
What I like:
- Works with simple products, variable products, and WooCommerce Subscriptions. A subscription product grants ongoing access. A simple product grants permanent access. The product type determines the access model.
- HPOS compatible and WooCommerce Blocks compatible. This matters more in 2026 than it did 2 years ago because WooCommerce is actively deprecating the legacy order storage system. Plugins that don’t support HPOS will break.
- Setup takes about 10 minutes. Install, activate, link content to products. No membership configuration wizard. No 15-step onboarding flow.
- Teasers are customizable. You control how much of the page shows before the gate kicks in. Some stores show the first 2 paragraphs. Some show nothing. Your call.
- Lightweight. No database bloat, no custom tables for membership levels, no background processes running on every page load.
What to know:
- No drip content. If you need “Week 1 unlocks Module 1, Week 2 unlocks Module 2,” this isn’t the tool.
- No membership level hierarchies. You can’t create Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers that inherit access from lower tiers. Each product-content link is independent.
- No built-in community or forum features. If you need a members-only discussion board, you’ll need a separate solution.
Pricing: $49-149/year depending on site count. Part of the RefineryWP suite, so the All Access Pass ($199-399/yr) includes Content Gate plus 11 other plugins.
My take: This is the right choice for 80% of WooCommerce stores that think they need a membership plugin. If your use case is “sell access to content,” Content Gate handles it without the overhead. If your use case is “build and manage a membership program with levels, trials, teams, and drip content,” keep reading.
2. WooCommerce Memberships
Best for: Stores that need full membership features built on WooCommerce.
WooCommerce Memberships is the official membership solution from the WooCommerce ecosystem. It’s a real membership platform, not a content gate. Membership plans, restriction rules, drip content, member discounts, free shipping for members, and integration with WooCommerce Subscriptions for recurring billing.
If you need membership levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold) where each level unlocks progressively more content, WooCommerce Memberships handles that. If you need content to drip over time (Module 1 available immediately, Module 2 after 7 days, Module 3 after 14 days), it handles that too.
What I like:
- Deep WooCommerce integration. This isn’t a membership plugin that bolts onto WooCommerce. It’s built for WooCommerce from the ground up. Order data, customer data, subscription data all flow naturally.
- Flexible restriction rules. Restrict by post, page, custom post type, taxonomy, or even individual pieces of content within a page (using shortcodes). Granular control.
- Member discounts and perks. Members can get percentage or fixed discounts on products, free shipping, or access to members-only products. This is where it goes beyond content restriction into full member benefits.
- HPOS compatible. The WooCommerce team prioritizes their own plugins for compatibility updates, so this stays current.
What to know:
- $199/year. That’s just for the Memberships plugin. If you want recurring billing (and most membership sites do), you also need WooCommerce Subscriptions at $279/year. That’s $478/year total for a membership site with recurring payments.
- Configuration takes time. Membership plans, restriction rules, drip schedules, member messaging. You’ll spend 1 to 2 hours on initial setup, and more as you add plans and content.
- It’s a heavy plugin. Database tables for memberships, membership notes, user memberships. Background processes for drip schedules. It’s not slow, but it’s not lightweight either.
- The admin UI can feel dense. If you’re not a power user, you’ll spend time in the documentation.
Pricing: $199/year (single site). WooCommerce Subscriptions ($279/year) sold separately.
My take: This is the right choice when you’re actually building a membership business on WooCommerce. Multiple membership tiers, drip content, member discounts, the works. But if you’re gating 10 pages behind a product purchase, you’re paying $199/year for features you won’t touch. And if you need recurring billing, the $478/year combo with WooCommerce Subscriptions is a steep entry point.
3. MemberPress
Best for: Standalone membership sites, especially those not built on WooCommerce.
MemberPress is a WordPress membership plugin that handles its own payment processing. It connects to Stripe and PayPal directly without needing WooCommerce. That’s its biggest differentiator and its biggest limitation, depending on your situation.
If you’re building a pure membership site (online courses, premium content library, community access) and WooCommerce isn’t part of your stack, MemberPress makes sense. It handles signups, payments, access rules, and content dripping without any ecommerce dependency.
What I like:
- Built-in course builder (MemberPress Courses). If you’re selling online courses, this eliminates the need for a separate LMS plugin like LearnDash or LifterLMS.
- Clean paywall experience. The signup and login flows are polished. Members see clear access prompts. The front-end experience is better than most membership plugins out of the box.
- Works without WooCommerce. If you don’t sell physical products, you don’t need the overhead of an ecommerce plugin just to gate content.
- Solid documentation and active development. MemberPress has been around since 2013 and the team ships regular updates.
What to know:
- WooCommerce integration is an add-on, not a core feature. If you’re running a WooCommerce store and want to tie memberships to your existing products and orders, MemberPress treats WooCommerce as an afterthought. The integration exists, but it’s not as seamless as WooCommerce Memberships.
- Pricing starts at $199.50/year (Launch) and runs to $499.50/year (Scale), and those are first-year rates. Renewals jump to $399 and $999. The entry plan is limited. You need Growth or higher for most of the features worth having (courses, affiliates, developer tools).
- No native HPOS support. Because MemberPress manages its own payment system, it doesn’t interact with WooCommerce order storage in the same way. This is irrelevant if you’re not using WooCommerce, but it matters if you are.
- It’s opinionated about handling its own payments. If you already have Stripe set up through WooCommerce, MemberPress creates a separate Stripe integration. Two payment systems on one site can get messy.
Pricing: $199.50/year (Launch), $349.50/year (Growth), $499.50/year (Scale). Those are introductory rates. Renewals are $399, $699, and $999 respectively, so budget for year two.
My take: MemberPress is the best option if you’re building a membership site that doesn’t involve WooCommerce. A course site, a premium content library, a community paywall. But if you’re running a WooCommerce store and want to gate content tied to product purchases, MemberPress adds a parallel payment system you don’t need. That creates complexity in reporting, refunds, and customer management.
4. Kadence Memberships (formerly Restrict Content Pro)
Best for: Teams already paying for the Kadence suite.
If you came here looking for Restrict Content Pro, start with this: you can’t buy it anymore, at least not under that name. As of August 2026, restrictcontentpro.com redirects to Liquid Web, and the membership functionality ships as Kadence Memberships inside the Kadence suite.
That changes the whole calculation. RCP used to be the budget pick, a straightforward membership plugin you bought on its own for about $99. The same capability now arrives bundled with a page builder, a theme, a firewall, and a dozen other things you may not want.
What I like:
- The feature set survived the move. Membership tiers, subscriptions, and drip content are all still there. Nothing got gutted in the transition.
- If you already run Kadence, it costs nothing extra. Memberships is included in Pro and Elite, so stores on that stack get content restriction without another line item.
- Straightforward admin. Set up levels, set up restriction rules, done. No 40-setting configuration panel to work through.
What to know:
- You can’t buy it standalone. The cheapest route in is Kadence Pro at $299/year, which is three times what RCP cost by itself. If memberships are the only thing you need, you’re buying a suite to get one feature.
- WooCommerce integration is limited. It runs its own payment processing rather than using WooCommerce orders, products, or subscriptions. If you want “buy this product, get access to this content,” that isn’t the model.
- Existing RCP customers should check their renewal terms. A product moving into a bundle is exactly when licensing changes quietly.
- No course builder. If you need one, that’s another plugin on top.
Pricing: No standalone option. Bundled into Kadence Pro ($299/year) and Kadence Elite ($499/year). Kadence Essentials at $99/year does not include memberships.
My take: This only makes sense if you’re already on Kadence. Then memberships are effectively free and you should use them. If you’re not, paying $299/year for a suite to get one membership feature is a hard sell when WooCommerce Memberships is $199 and actually builds on your order data. The budget pick RCP used to represent doesn’t exist anymore.
5. Paid Memberships Pro
Best for: Stores that want a free membership plugin to start with.
Paid Memberships Pro (PMPro) is the most popular free membership plugin on WordPress.org. The free version includes membership levels, content restriction, basic payment processing (Stripe and PayPal), and member management. For a free plugin, that’s a lot.
The catch: the free version is functional but limited. Advanced features (WooCommerce integration, advanced content dripping, email integrations, social login, developer toolkit) require paid add-ons. And those add-ons add up fast.
What I like:
- Free to start. If you’re testing whether a membership model works for your store, PMPro lets you build and launch without spending anything. That’s a real advantage over $199/year plugins.
- Large add-on library. 60+ add-ons covering everything from Zapier integration to MailChimp, BuddyPress, bbPress, and WooCommerce. If you need a specific integration, there’s probably an add-on for it.
- Active community. PMPro has a large user base and active forums. If you hit a problem, someone has probably solved it before.
- Flexible content restriction. Restrict by page, post, category, or custom post type. Membership levels with hierarchical access (Gold includes everything in Silver).
What to know:
- The WooCommerce integration is a paid add-on. The free version runs its own payment system completely separate from WooCommerce.
- The paid tiers got expensive. PMPro restructured to Free, Standard at $499/year for one site, and Max at $999/year. The old sub-$400 plans are gone. Past the free version, this is now the priciest option on this list, and the Max tiers bundle managed hosting you may not want.
- HPOS support is partial and depends on which add-ons you’re using. The core plugin is progressing toward full compatibility, but some add-ons lag behind.
- The admin experience is dated. The interface works, but it feels like it was designed in 2018. Navigation is clunky compared to WooCommerce Memberships or MemberPress.
Pricing: Free (core), $499/year (Standard, 1 site), $999/year (Max, includes managed hosting).
My take: PMPro is the right starting point if you have zero budget and want to test the membership model. The free tier is genuinely useful. But the “free” label is misleading for WooCommerce stores because the WooCommerce integration requires a paid plan. And once you’re paying $499/year for Standard, you’re well past WooCommerce Memberships at $199, which has tighter WooCommerce integration out of the box.
Full Feature Comparison
Here’s the side-by-side for the 5 plugins across the features that matter most for content restriction on WooCommerce.
| Feature | Content Gate | WC Memberships | MemberPress | Kadence | PMPro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content restriction | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tied to WooCommerce products | Yes (native) | Yes (native) | Add-on | No | Add-on |
| Membership levels | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Drip content | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (add-on) |
| Course builder | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| WooCommerce Subscriptions support | Yes | Yes | No (own system) | No (own system) | Add-on |
| HPOS compatible | Yes | Yes | N/A | Partial | Partial |
| Blocks compatible | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Member discounts | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free version available | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Min. price (1 site) | $49/yr | $199/yr | $199.50/yr | $299/yr | Free |
| Setup complexity | Low | Medium | Medium-High | Medium | Medium-High |
The Real Question: Do You Need a Membership Plugin?
Here’s what I think most comparison articles get wrong. They compare 5 membership plugins and assume you need one. But for most WooCommerce stores, the answer is: you don’t need a membership plugin. You need content restriction.
Those are different problems.
A membership plugin manages members. Levels. Tiers. Drip schedules. Member directories. Member discounts. Renewal workflows. Cancellation flows. Trial periods. Team accounts.
Content restriction gates specific content behind a purchase. That’s it.
If you’re building a membership business with 500 subscribers across 4 tiers with drip content and member forums, yes, you need a membership plugin. WooCommerce Memberships is the pick if you’re already running WooCommerce. MemberPress is the pick if you’re not.
But if you’re running a WooCommerce store that sells products and you want to gate some premium content behind those purchases? A recipe site gating premium recipes. A supplement brand gating protocols and guides. A fitness store gating workout plans. An education company gating course materials.
You don’t need membership levels for that. You need to link content to products and check purchase history on page load.
That’s what Content Gate does. No membership infrastructure. No parallel payment system. No 40-setting admin panel for features you’ll never configure.
The product is the access pass. The purchase is the gate. Everything else is overhead.
How to Choose
Pick Refinery Content Gate if:
- You’re running a WooCommerce store and want to gate content behind product purchases
- You don’t need membership levels, drip content, or member management
- You want something running in 10 minutes, not 2 hours
- You’re already using WooCommerce Subscriptions for recurring access
- You care about HPOS and Blocks compatibility
Pick WooCommerce Memberships if:
- You’re building a real membership program with multiple tiers
- You need drip content, member discounts, and member-only product access
- You want deep WooCommerce integration (because your store IS the membership)
- You can handle the $199/year price (plus $279/year for Subscriptions if you need recurring billing)
Pick MemberPress if:
- You’re building a membership site without WooCommerce
- You need a built-in course builder
- WooCommerce isn’t part of your stack and you want payments handled independently
Pick Kadence Memberships if:
- You already pay for Kadence Pro or Elite, so memberships cost you nothing extra
- You’re building a standalone membership site that isn’t tied to WooCommerce products
- You were going to buy the Kadence suite anyway for the theme and page builder
Pick Paid Memberships Pro if:
- You have zero budget and need to validate the membership model first
- You’re okay with upgrading to a paid plan once you outgrow the free tier
- You want a large add-on ecosystem
Content Restriction Is Simpler Than You Think
The WooCommerce content restriction space has a packaging problem. Most solutions bundle content gating inside a full membership platform because that’s how the market evolved. Membership plugins started as content restriction tools and kept adding features until they became enterprise membership suites.
But the core problem hasn’t changed. You have content. You want some of it behind a paywall. You want WooCommerce to handle the transaction.
For stores already selling products, the simplest path is linking content to those products. No new payment system. No membership levels. No role management. The purchase history your store already tracks becomes the access control layer.
I built Content Gate because this pattern kept repeating across the WooCommerce ecosystem. Store owners installing $199/year membership platforms to gate 10 pages. Configuring membership levels they don’t need. Debugging access rules that are more complex than the business requires. Paying for course builders and drip engines and community tools that sit unused.
Content monetization on WooCommerce doesn’t require a membership platform. It requires a product, a page, and a gate that checks the purchase. Everything else is optional.
If you do end up needing membership features down the road, WooCommerce Memberships is the upgrade path. But start with what you need today. For most WooCommerce stores, that’s content restriction. Not a membership system.
The simplest tool that solves the problem is the right tool. For content gating on WooCommerce in 2026, that’s Content Gate.
And if you’re looking at broader conversion optimization for your store, or need help with site operations and maintenance, gated content is just one piece of the revenue puzzle. A side cart that increases average order value and a subscription retention system round out the picture.
But start with the content gate. 10 minutes to install. No membership baggage. Your content, your products, your rules.
Mike Valera builds WooCommerce growth tools at RefineryWP.