Publishers searching for a Paid Memberships Pro alternative usually hit the same three walls: a paywall meter anyone can hop in incognito mode, subscriber data that won’t sync with CRMs and circulation, and a plugin stack you have to assemble and maintain yourself.
None of that makes Paid Memberships Pro a bad plugin. It’s a good one. But a membership plugin and a publishing revenue platform are two different products, and the gap shows up fast when your business is subscriptions.
What Paid Memberships Pro does well
Paid Memberships Pro (PMPro) is one of the most established membership plugins in WordPress. The core plugin is free, with unlimited membership levels, unlimited content restriction, and 25+ free add-ons. The Standard plan runs $499/year for one site and unlocks all 50+ premium add-ons plus support. Hosted plans start at $999/year and include a “Do It For Me” setup service.
There are no platform fees once you’re licensed. You pay your payment processor’s standard rates and keep the rest.
If you’re building a course site, a community, or an association member portal, PMPro is a credible choice. It’s flexible, the dashboard is clean, and the free tier is a real free tier (with one catch we’ll get to in the pricing section).
Where publishers hit the wall
1. The meter is a cookie
PMPro’s metered paywall comes from its Limit Post Views add-on (premium tier only). It tracks how many articles a reader has viewed with a browser cookie.
PMPro is upfront about what that means. Their own documentation says the meter is “incredibly easy to circumvent… by using a different computer, different browser, or going into incognito mode,” and describes the add-on as a way to “gently nudge” readers rather than enforce a limit.
Most people use incognito mode to get around paywalls.
Leaky Paywall meters by cookie or by IP address. The IP-based paywall defends against incognito mode: it counts views at the network level, so switching browsers or opening a private window doesn’t reset the meter. When readers can’t read article three for free, more of them subscribe (we have seen this happen).
2. Your subscriptions live in more places than WordPress
If you publish a magazine or a newspaper, your subscriber list probably touches a circulation or fulfillment system. PMPro’s sync options center on Mailchimp and a handful of email platforms.
Looking to grow your publication?
Sign up for expert advice straight to your inbox.Leaky Paywall integrates with circulation and fulfillment platforms like SimpleCirc, Omeda, and DarwinCX, and with CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot, keeping print, digital, and sales data in sync across systems. Your web paywall, your fulfillment house, and your CRM stop disagreeing about who’s a subscriber.
3. You’re assembling, not publishing
PMPro is modular by design: pick your add-ons, configure each one, and maintain the stack. Reviewers consistently note it rewards people comfortable with PHP and custom CSS. That’s fine if you have a developer. Most newsrooms we talk to don’t.
Leaky Paywall setup is done for you. Our team configures the paywall, the registration wall, and your integrations inside your WordPress site, then works with you on subscription strategy for as long as you’re a customer. You publish. The platform runs.
What Leaky Paywall does differently
Leaky Paywall is built for one customer: news and magazine publishers. Over 800 of them run on it. The platform is organized around the Publisher Flywheel, a system for turning anonymous readers into subscribers:
- A registration wall grows your email list. Newsletter popups convert 0.9% of the readers who see them. Registration walls convert 3.2-6.7%. Small Boats Magazine grew email signups 20% each month after switching.
- Segmented newsletters send readers back to your site. Flowletter, our newsletter platform, runs inside WordPress with FastPass auto-login, so every click lands the reader on your site already logged in.
- Targeted offers convert registered readers to paid. Registered readers convert at up to 45x the rate of cold traffic.
- Subscriber Insights shows you what’s working. AI-powered tracking of every logged-in reader: which content converts, which free readers are ready to pay, which subscribers might cancel.
Mexico News Daily grew from under 500,000 to 1.4 million monthly visitors on this system. That’s the flywheel doing its job.
On top of the flywheel, the publisher-specific features PMPro doesn’t have: native iOS and Android apps managed from your WordPress dashboard, gated flipbook and PDF editions that require login (no more shared links), and an ad-free subscription tier through our AdDropper add-on.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Leaky Paywall | Paid Memberships Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | News & magazine publishers | General membership sites |
| Metered paywall | Cookie or IP-based | Cookie only (premium add-on) |
| Registration wall + flywheel | Yes | No |
| Newsletter platform in WordPress | Yes (Flowletter) | No (syncs to Mailchimp) |
| Circulation/fulfillment integrations | SimpleCirc, Omeda, DarwinCX + more | No |
| CRM integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot + more | No (Mailchimp only) |
| Native mobile apps | iOS + Android | No |
| Gated flipbooks/PDFs | Yes | No |
| Ad-free subscriber tier | Yes (AdDropper) | No |
| Setup | Done for you, with ongoing strategy | DIY (setup service on $999/yr hosted plans) |
| Subscription strategy support | Included | Documentation + ticket support |
What each one costs
PMP costs: the free plan is $0: sites connecting Stripe through the free plan pay an 2% fee on every transaction until you buy a license. The Standard plan is $499/year. Hosted plans with setup service run $999/year and up.
Leaky Paywall costs: Pro is $299/month plus 5% of revenue from new subscribers (existing subscribers aren’t part of the revenue share), with a $750 setup fee. That includes the platform, done-for-you configuration, and ongoing strategy from a team that only works with publishers. The revenue share on new subscribers means we make more money as you grow, which keeps us motivated to keep growing your subscriptions long after the sale.
Here’s the thing: if you need to restrict some content on a budget, that price gap should send you to PMPro. If subscription revenue is your business, the question isn’t the sticker price. It’s which system grows the number the sticker comes out of.
Which one should you pick?
Best fit for Paid Memberships Pro: course creators, communities, associations, and any membership site with a developer on hand and no print circulation to sync. It’s flexible, fairly priced, and the free tier lets you start without spending anything.
Best fit for Leaky Paywall: news and magazine publishers who want to take control of their audience and subscription growth, with a meter that holds, subscriptions synced across web, print, and apps, and a partner in that growth instead of a plugin stack to maintain.
Want to see how it would work on your site? Book a demo and we’ll tell you whether we’re the right fit. If PMPro serves you better, we’ll say so.
Frequently asked questions
Is Paid Memberships Pro really free?
The core plugin is free with 25+ free add-ons. Two costs to watch: premium add-ons (including the metered paywall) require a $499/year license, and free-plan sites using Stripe Connect pay an extra 2% per transaction until licensed.
Can Paid Memberships Pro do a metered paywall like the New York Times?
Sort of. The Limit Post Views premium add-on meters article views with a browser cookie, which PMPro’s own docs note is easy to bypass with incognito mode or a different browser. There’s no IP-based option.
Is Paid Memberships Pro still on WordPress.org?
No. PMPro left the WordPress.org plugin repository in October 2024 and now distributes the plugin and updates from its own site through an Update Manager add-on.
Can I switch from Paid Memberships Pro to Leaky Paywall?
Yes. We handle full migration, setup, and launch inside your existing WordPress site, then work with you on building subscription revenue from there. Over 500 publishers are thriving on Leaky Paywall. Book a demo and tell us you’re coming from PMPro.
