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The 10 Best WordPress Plugins to Restrict Content in 2024

Last Updated on February 2nd, 2024

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Are you looking for a way to restrict content on WordPress? There are many scenarios where you might need to do this. For example, perhaps you have set up a site for your upcoming wedding and only want guests to access it, or you need to give different levels of access to those more closely involved with the big day. Or maybe you run a website where you need a “Members Only” section, such as a club website.

Either way, you could use a fully-featured membership plugin, but you may end up with lots of features you will never use, slowing your site down. So, instead, you might be better off looking for something super-simple and more lightweight like the ones we are going to suggest in this article. They will give you the functionality you need without having loads of code-laden features to hinder your site’s speed.

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a WordPress Content Restriction Plugin

The first and, in my opinion, the most important question you’ll have to answer is whether you need more content restriction options than WordPress offers by default. 

Its visibility options allow you to make content private or public or protect it with a password. Membership and content restriction plugins give you access to advanced tools that enable you to hide entire categories or page sections. 

Hence, going through the plugin’s feature list is among the things you’ll need to do when determining if it is the right solution for your site. 

Intended use is another vital factor you must pay attention to because opting for a plugin stacked with features you don’t need could be a mistake because you might end up slowing down your website without a good reason. 

Remember, a plugin must be compatible with your website’s theme; otherwise, you won’t be able to install it. 

Finally, the content restriction plugin’s price can be a factor if its free version doesn’t have all the functionalities you need to hide content on your site.

The Best Plugins to Restrict Content on WordPress in 2024

There are numerous WordPress plugins to restrict content for the users. Out of which, we have curated the 10 best membership WordPress plugins that help you achieve the result in the best possible way. 

  1. Restrict Content
  2. ProfilePress
  3. Ultimate Member
  4. S2 Member
  5. WP-Members
  6. Restrict User Access
  7. WishList Member
  8. PPWP – Password Protect Pages
  9. PrivateContent – Multilevel Content Plugin 
  10. Paid Membership Subscriptions by Coszmoslabs

Most of these plugins have a free version offering enough website functionality. Apart from that, there are paid versions of the plugins that help you enhance the functionality. Hence, you won’t face any compatibility issues on the website.

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1. Restrict Content

Restrict Content Pro Plugin

Available as both free and Pro versions, Restrict Content is a popular WordPress content restriction plugin that allows you to restrict specific parts of your site via shortcode, or alternatively, access to entire posts or pages can be limited using a simple meta box.

Additional key features of the free version include:

  • Control user access and protect sensitive content, including separate public and private content
  • Collect email addresses
  • Restrict access to entire pages or just specific sections
  • Allow users to register themselves and log in from the frontend of your site
  • Access membership level and membership dashboard.

If you are just looking for a straightforward way of restricting content on your site, the free version may be all you need. However, if you need more, the Pro versions add things like:

  • Users can manage their own accounts
  • Unlimited membership levels
  • Payment processing support for various payment gateways, including Stripe and PayPal
  • Mailchimp, ConvertKit, AWeber, etc., email marketing integration
  • AffiliateWP integration
  • WooCommerce product access restriction
  • Discount codes
  • Complete member management, including email updates to members
  • Export data to CSV
  • Detailed reports
  • Various add-ons
  • Developer-friendly for building custom integrations, plus many official and third-party add-ons are available
  • One year of support and updates

The Restrict Content Pro plugin costs between $99 and $249 per year, and the additional features included vary depending on the subscription purchased. These subscription prices are introductory for the first year only, rising to between $129 and $349 from the second year onwards.

Restrict Content has over 10,000 active downloads and an average user rating of 3.2/5 stars. The majority of the negative feedback that has resulted in such a relatively low score dates back several years, and the developer has since addressed problems identified in those.

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2. ProfilePress

ProfilePress

ProfilePress is a great solution if you are looking to restrict your WordPress site content to members or subscribers. This user profile and membership plugin for WordPress allows you to create registration forms, user profiles, login forms, and more without any hassle. Easy to install and set up, you can have your membership site up and running in no time.

Among ProfilePress’ functions is the ability to control who can access your posts or pages. Beyond that, you can also access these key features from the free version of this plugin:

  • Custom Frontend Forms
  • User Profiles and Member Directories
  • Advanced Drag and Drop Form Builder
  • Customizable pre-built templates
  • Access and content restriction
  • Easily customize your emails 
  • 2-Factor Authentication
  • LMS integration

The free version is packed with everything you need to maintain your membership site. However, if you are looking to extend the functionality of your site, ProfilePress is among the best membership WordPress plugins in the market. 

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  • Custom Fields Email Confirmation
  • User moderation
  • Social login and passwordless login
  • Google reCAPTCHA
  • Site creation
  • Mailchimp
  • WooCommerce

The plans start at $129 a year for one site, $299 per year for three sites, and unlimited sites for $499. With over 200,000 active downloads on the WordPress plugin directory, ProfilePress is among the most popular membership plugins in the market. 

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3. Ultimate Member

restrict content on WordPress with Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member is another popular content restriction plugin for WordPress, boasting over 200,000 active downloads and a good 4.4/5.0 average user rating. It allows you to easily add sign-up and membership functionality to your site and restrict content accordingly.

The features list of this free plugin are impressive:

  • Front-end user profiles, registration, and login
  • Custom form fields with conditional logic
  • Drag and drop form builder
  • User account page
  • Custom user roles
  • Member directories
  • User emails
  • Content restriction
  • Conditional navigation menus
  • Show author posts and comments on user profiles
  • Developer friendly
  • Free extensions for added integrations and functionality, such as JobsBoardWP, ForumWP, reCAPTCHA, online users, and terms and conditions

Many premium extensions are also available, adding cool functions such as user locations, WooCommerce integration, profile completeness, social activity, MailChimp, friends, etc. The good thing about plugin extensions is that you can add only the functions you need without bloating your site with code from those you don’t. On the downside, the extensions don’t come cheap, costing around $30-$50 each per year for a single site. However, an extension

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4. S2 Member

s2Member

S2 Member is a plugin offering you several ways to control access to your web content. For example, using shortcodes, you can restrict access to entire post types or taxonomies, individual pieces of content (such as a post), or just a portion of that content.

The free version of S2 Member gives you plenty of features to play with, including:

  • PayPal standard button integration
  • WordPress roles, capabilities, and CCAPS
  • Manual account creation and open registration option
  • Various content restriction options
  • Security features such as protection against brute-force logins, unique IP and file download restrictions, protected media streams, and security encryption key
  • Conditionals via shortcode
  • Customization features include registration/profile fields, login/registration form, email templates, login welcome and membership options pages, etc.
  • Member profile updates
  • Integrations for mailing lists, affiliate programs, bbPress/BuddyPress, etc.
  • Caching plugin compatible
  • Developer options, such as WordPress hooks, filters, and accessible source code

Pro versions, which cost $89 per year for a single site or $189 for unlimited domains, enhance functionality with features such as:

  • More payment gateway and customization options
  • More shortcodes, including content dripping
  • One-step registration and checkout
  • Unlimited paid membership levels
  • Anti-spam measures
  • Simultaneous login monitoring
  • Data import and export tools
  • Configurable coupon and gift codes
  • Public members list
  • Remote operations API

S2 Member is currently active on over 10,000 sites globally, with an average user rating of 4.0/5.0. All negative reviews date back well over a year, and the favorable ones since then indicate that previous problems are now fixed.

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5. WP-Members

WP-Members

WP-Members is a plugin for WordPress to restrict page access to logged-in users. With it, you will be able to control access to your content, create custom registration fields, and do pretty much everything else you need to do to make member-only areas on your site.

Despite being free, the plugin puts plenty of powerful features at your fingertips:

  • Ability to hide or restrict posts, pages, custom post types, and menu items to logged-in users
  • Theme integrated user login, registration, and profiles
  • Custom registration and profile fields
  • Admin notification of new user registrations
  • Option to hold new registrations pending admin approval
  • Automatic post excerpt teaser to encourage people to subscribe
  • Plenty of shortcodes
  • WordPress action and filter hooks for customization, plus a library of API functions
  • A large amount of documentation is freely available on the developer’s website
  • Free extensions to stop spam registrations and to send test emails.

Many premium extensions are also available to enhance and tailor the functionality of this plugin to suit your needs precisely. These include:

  • Advanced options
  • Download protect
  • Invite codes
  • MailChimp integration
  • WooCommerce memberships
  • PayPal subscriptions
  • Additional security features
  • Text editor
  • User list and tracking
  • Word-based password generator

You can buy these premium extensions individually, with prices averaging around $30-$50. However, if you need more than one extension, the “Pro Bundle” could prove more cost-effective. For $125 per year, it includes all extensions, updates, and support for one year, plus access to more tutorials and a code snippet library for customizations.

WP-Members is hugely popular, with 60,000+ active downloads and an excellent user rating of 4.7/5.0 stars. You should check out this plugin if you need a great free option with plenty of functionality.

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6. Restrict User Access

Restrict user access plugIn

Adding a Restrict User Access plugin to your website might be an overkill if you just want to hide posts or pages. 

The plugin’s free version lets you manage user access levels, set membership durations, and automatically assign access levels to users based on their purchase history, roles, or member types. 

Its built-in User Manager makes defining the capabilities of individual members effortless, as you can easily alter the default permissions created by a role. 

In addition, it allows you to restrict access to tags, categories, WooCommerce products, or pages. Restrict User Access can hide taxonomies and custom post types created with plugins like BuddyPress, PolyLang, and WPML.  

Besides these, the plugin offers various other essential features. 

  • It lets you drip content for the new members. It means unlocking content after a specific period.
  • The plugin offers 1-click synchronization.
  • It maintains the top security & coding practices to ensure that the admin never gets locked out.
  • Utilize shortcode to set WordPress restrictions and controls.
  • Ensure that the selected nav items are accessible to authorized users. 
  • Redirect all the non-members to a dedicated URL.

The plugin offers various bundle plans with advanced functionalities. It has three plans: Essentials, Plus, and All Access.

The Essentials plan costs $177 per year. However, while writing this blog, the plan has been priced at $99 per year. It will unlock URL restriction, date restriction, and timelock features. 

If you want the plugin to work on multiple sites, opt for the Plus plan. Generally, it is priced at $544 per year. But, it is available at a discounted price of $199 per year.

The annual subscription for the All Access package is priced at $1,044 per year. However, this plan is also available at a discounted price of $399, and it includes the license to install the plugin on fifty sites, visibility controls, and meta box restriction features.

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7. WishList Member

Wishlist Member plugIn

WishList Member is by no means a newcomer to the WordPress membership plugin market. It has been running on 120,000+ sites over the last decade and a half, which speaks volumes about its trustworthiness. 

That said, the plugin isn’t ideal for new membership sites because it doesn’t have a free version. 

Here are some of the key features of the Wishlist Member Plugin.

  • The plugin lets you take complete control over the content. It includes automatic content distribution, archive content, protection of valuable content, and more.
  • It lets you customize the membership site to a great extent. These comprise giving as many modular permissions and setting triggers based on the logic-based system, etc.
  • Accept payment from leading payment providers worldwide, such as PayPal, Stripe, 1ShoppingCart, CloudNet360, etc.
  • You can integrate more than 50+ tools into your membership plugin for WordPress.

Usually, the plugin’s price starts from $299 and goes up to $2399. However, it is available at discounted rates. Let’s take a glance at the prices.

The Starter package costs $149.50 per year, and it is the most affordable option if you opt for this plugin.

The plan includes the license to use the plugin on one site and access all its features. WishList Member supports integrations with popular payment platforms like PayPal and Stripe. Moreover, you can use the plugin with: 

  • WooCommerce
  • ThriveCart 
  • Samcart
  • Recurly

The plugin is compatible with Elementor and Divi page builders and countless other applications that can expand your website’s functionalities. 

Besides this plan, there are other plans too. Plus plan is available at $249.50 per year, Pro at $349.50 per year, and Elite at $1199.50 per year.

All the plugin plans let you distribute drip content, create content archives, or create content snippets that incentivize visitors to become subscribers.

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8. PPWP – Password Protect Pages

PPWP - Password Protect Pages

Regarding the WordPress content restriction plugins, the list is incomplete without mentioning the PPWP. As the name suggests, the plugin lets you protect content on your WordPress site using the password.

The free version of the plugin offers several essential features. They are as follows:

  • Protect content with a single click.
  • Protect all of your posts in a single category.
  • It enables you to protect templates as well as custom fields.
  • The plugin offers several of the best password management features, such as creating global passwords, deleting passwords, and including passwords while writing content and creating role passwords.
  • Set multiple passwords per page and shortcode.
  • Integration with various page builders and caching tools.

Compared to other plugins that let you protect only a single entity, such as pages or posts, it stands above them all. How? The Pro version of the plugin enables you to protect pages, posts, or the entire website. 

Here are some of the features available in the pro version.

  • Password protect multiple pages, and sub-pages at once.
  • Auto-generate random passwords.
  • Auto-deactivate passwords by time and usage.
  • The plugin offers various premium add-ons and integrations.

More than 21,800+ websites are using PWP Pro. The pricing of the paid version starts from $179 per year, which allows you to install plugins on 3 sites. The business plan costs $349 annually and will enable you to install the plugin on 10 websites. Lastly, the agency plan costs $389, allowing you to install the plugin on unlimited sites.

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9. PrivateContent- Multilevel Content Plugin

PrivateContent

PrivateContent is a premium content restriction plugin for WordPress sites. The robust plugin lets you convert your website into a multilevel membership platform. It allows you to restrict any part of the site, such as pages, posts, categories, menus, widgets, etc., without doing any coding.

The membership plugin for WordPress is GDPR compliant and comes with some of the best features. They are as follows:

  • Lock everything on your site with one click.
  • With the help of User Activities Add-On or Google Analytics integration, you can create marketing campaigns and track users’ access to your site.
  • The plugin’s advanced user management feature lets you easily manage thousands of users.
  • Integrate the plugin with popular builders such as Elementor, WPBakery, and Divi to modify your site well and offer the best user experience.
  • The plugin supports multi-language on the frontend as well as the admin sides.
  • It provides a form skin builder to modify the design of your theme using various colors, fonts, margins, borders, and gradients.

The WordPress content restriction plugin is used by more than 11,000+ users worldwide and has a rating of 4.4 out of 5. It costs $35 for a regular license, which comes with 6-months of support from LCweb. 

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10. Paid Membership Subscriptions by Coszmoslabs

Paid Membership Subscriptions by Coszmoslabs

Paid Membership Subscriptions is one of the best membership WordPress plugins that emphasizes more on generating recurring revenue. 

As the name suggests, the plugin lets you kickstart your subscription business as quickly as possible and generate revenue. It is well-known for membership management and restricts access to premium content.

The plugin integrates well with WooCommerce and enables you to restrict products to specific members. You can even provide special discounted product prices depending on the 

subscription plans and allow customers to buy a subscription plan with the help of WooCommerce checkout.

The plugin lets you restrict the content of particular posts, pages, or categories. Besides this, it enables you to restrict the content of a specific section. 

Some of the most essential features of the free version of the plugin are as follows:

  • Manage all the members and their subscription plans. You can even edit/remove the members and their subscription details.
  • It lets you accept payments via credit card, PayPal, and more. And the plugin allows you to track payments.
  • The plugin allows you to automate the revenue streams using proven membership tools.
  • Leverage shortcodes and blocks for member registration, login, content restriction, and managing membership plans.
  • Export and get all the member reports in CSV format.

Besides this, there is also a paid version of the plugin with prices starting from €99 / year for the basic version with 1 website. Further, it costs €169 / year for 3 sites and €299 / year for the agency. Here are some of the features available in the pro version.

  • The plugin offers some of the best pre-designed form templates to modify the web design and showcase registration or login forms effectively. 
  • It allows you to set up automatic payment gateways, discounts, free trials, and more.
  • Restrict access to the content and showcase content to the paying members only. It helps you generate money with minimal effort.
  • The pro version gives you access to 6 highly advanced Add-ons for the website.
  • Get reliable customer support from a team that is always there for you.
  • The pro and agency version comes with 7 Pro Addons, which are not available in the basic version.

The plugin is recognized by leading industry experts like Colorlib, Themeisle, WP Mayor, etc. It has gained 4.7 out of 5 stars from over 200+ users.

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Final Thoughts

In the end, content restriction on the WordPress site becomes easy with the help of the right set of tools. All the popular WordPress content restriction plugins we have shared above cater to different things, from membership management to robust access controls to content restriction.

Out of all the plugins, Restrict Content and Ultimate Member are the most popular content restriction plugins for WordPress for restricting content. If you are new to these kinds of plugins, we recommend you first experience the free version. Further, you can purchase the paid version to integrate additional features.

If you are searching for the best WordPress membership plugin, the paid membership subscription is the best option. Lastly, leverage these popular WordPress plugins to restrict access and improve your site’s functionality, user experience & engagement, and overall success.

Frequently Asked Questions about Content Restriction Plugins 

What is Restrict Content Pro Plugin?

The long list of features the plugin offers makes it one of the most reliable solutions for membership sites. 

Restrict Content Pro is the paid version of the plugin that delivers a variety of payment processing, safety, and email customization tools. 

You’ll have to spend $99 to install this plugin on one website, $149 for a license to use it on five websites, or $249 for unlimited installations. 

The features you’ll get are the same regardless of the subscription plan you choose. Installing the Restrict Content Pro on your website will enable you to accept payments through PayPal, prevent subscribers from sharing their passwords, and create product discounts. 

How Do I Restrict Content in WordPress?

Each page or post you create in WordPress has default visibility options. Hence, you can make a page private, public, or password-protected. 

Switching between different visibility options is simple, as you just have to open a page or blog post in the WordPress block editor, click the Settings icon, and choose one of the available options from the Visibility menu. 

The page’s visibility will be set to public by default, meaning anyone on the Internet can see it. Changing visibility to private will make a page or post accessible only to the website’s admin and editor. 

Visitors must provide login data to see password-protected pages and posts.

What is Restrict Content Pro Drip Content?

The Pro version of this freemium WordPress plugin comes with 34 billing, content, email, security, and marketing add-ons. 

Drip Content is one of the content add-ons included in all Pro plans that allows you to choose when content becomes available to a subscriber. 

The add-on informs the Restrict Content Pro how long it needs to wait before allowing a member to view a certain piece of content. 

The plugin displays a message informing subscribers they don’t have access to that content if they attempt to view it before the delay access period expires. 

How Do I Restrict Content by Category in WordPress? 

You cannot hide an entire content category on a WordPress website without a plugin. Hence, you must install Restrict Content, Content Control, or a similar plugin that allows users to limit access to a content category on their websites. 

If you already have Restrict Content installed, you can navigate to the Posts menu on the dashboard and open the Categories window. 

Click the Edit button next to the category you’d like to hide and proceed to adjust the access options. The plugin lets you restrict content to members with paid subscriptions and define subscription and access levels.

A team of WordPress experts that love to test out new WordPress related software, WordPress plugins and WordPress themes.