Free WooCommerce Membership Plugin

What Is the WP Swings Membership Plugin for WooCommerce?

The plugin we are covering here is called Membership for WooCommerce, developed by WP Swings. It is available for free on the WordPress plugin repository and it is completely separate from the expensive official WooCommerce Memberships extension that costs over $200 per year. In plain terms, this plugin lets you create a members-only section inside your existing WooCommerce store. Customers can purchase a membership plan — just like buying a product — and once they do, they unlock special access: exclusive discounts, restricted pages or posts, members-only products, and more. It comes in both a free and a Pro version. The free version covers everything a small to mid-sized store needs to get started. If you outgrow it, upgrading to Pro unlocks advanced content dripping, more granular access rules, and deeper integrations. But for most of my clients, the free version does exactly what they need.

Key Features of the Free WooCommerce Membership Plugin

Here is what you actually get out of the box with the free version: – Create unlimited membership plans with custom pricing and duration (including lifetime memberships) – Restrict access to specific products, pages, posts, and categories — non-members simply cannot see or purchase that content – Offer exclusive discounts to members on individual products – Send automated membership emails for creation, expiration, and cancellation events – Show membership plan history to users directly on their My Account page – Guest checkout support — if a guest user buys a membership plan, the plugin can automatically create a WordPress account and email them their login credentials – Customers can cancel their own membership plans at any time from their account – Display membership plans anywhere on your site using shortcodes like [wps_membership_title_name] and [wps_membership_price] – Two ready-made display templates: a Simple Plan Template and a Comparison Plan Template – Works with all standard WooCommerce payment gateways – Compatible with popular WordPress themes that follow WooCommerce standards – WPML compatible for multilingual stores – Works with Elementor — you can use all membership shortcodes directly inside Elementor page builder That is a genuinely solid feature set for a free plugin. Most store owners will find everything they need right here.

How to Install the Plugin on Your WordPress Site

Installation is as straightforward as any other WordPress plugin. Here is how to do it: – Go to your WordPress Dashboard and click Plugins in the left sidebar – Click Add New – In the search bar, type Membership for WooCommerce – Find the plugin by WP Swings, click Install Now, and then Activate That is it. Once activated, you will see a new WP Swings menu appear in your dashboard sidebar. Navigate to WP Swings > Membership for WooCommerce to get started. If you prefer manual installation, you can download the plugin zip file directly from WordPress.org, then upload it to your site by going to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin. After uploading, activate it and you are good to go. One thing to note: make sure WooCommerce is already installed and activated before you set up this plugin. The membership functionality depends on WooCommerce being present on your site.

How to Create Your First Membership Plan

This is the part where most beginners get a little confused, so let me walk through it clearly. First, go to Dashboard > WP Swings > Membership for WooCommerce > General Settings. Here you will need to enable the plugin functionality so that membership plans show on the front end of your site. Toggle that on and save. Now to create a plan: – Go to WP Swings > Membership for WooCommerce and look for the option to add a new membership plan – Give your plan a name — for example, Gold Member or Monthly VIP – Set the membership duration (you can choose a fixed number of days or set it as a lifetime membership) – Set the price for the plan – Choose which products, pages, posts, or categories this plan gives access to – Set any member-exclusive discounts — you can apply percentage discounts to individual products for members of this plan – Save your plan Once the plan is saved, the plugin links it to a WooCommerce product automatically. This is the product customers will add to their cart to purchase the membership. You can find and edit that product in your WooCommerce Products list to add a proper title, description, and featured image. You can create as many membership tiers as you want — a Bronze, Silver, and Gold structure works really well for businesses that want to offer escalating benefits.

How to Restrict Content and Products to Members Only

Content restriction is the heart of any membership plugin, and this one handles it cleanly. Once you have a membership plan set up, you can choose exactly what becomes exclusive to that plan’s members. You can restrict: – Individual WooCommerce products (members only can buy them or even see them) – Specific pages and posts on your site – Product categories – Comments on protected content For products, you can also choose to simply show non-members the product at a teaser price with a message encouraging them to join, rather than hiding the product entirely. This is a smart approach — it shows the value to non-members and drives sign-ups. The plugin lets you display discounted prices to non-members to encourage them to join and unlock the member pricing. For pages and posts, restricted content will simply not be visible to non-members. You can add a custom message or redirect non-members to your membership signup page instead. All of this is handled through the membership plan settings — no need to touch any code.

How to Display Membership Plans on Your Website

Once your plans are created, you need a page where visitors can actually see and purchase them. The plugin provides shortcodes to make this easy. The two built-in display templates are: – Simple Plan Template — shows each plan in a clean, straightforward list – Comparison Plan Template — displays plans side-by-side so visitors can compare tiers easily To use them, simply add the relevant membership shortcode to any page or post. If you are using Elementor (which I recommend for almost all my clients), you can paste the shortcode inside an Elementor shortcode widget and it will render perfectly on the front end. Useful shortcodes include: – [wps_membership_title_name] — displays the plan name – [wps_membership_price] — displays the price – [wps_membership_desc_data] — displays the plan description I usually recommend creating a dedicated Membership Plans page in your navigation so it is easy for visitors to find. Make it simple and clear — show the tiers, the benefits of each, and a big obvious button to buy. Keep it clean. Fancy design is less important than clear information here.

Combining Memberships with the Subscriptions Plugin for Recurring Revenue

Here is where things get really powerful. By default, memberships are a one-time purchase — a customer pays once and gets access for however long you set the duration. But if you want to charge customers on a recurring basis (monthly, annually, etc.), you need to combine this plugin with a subscriptions plugin. WP Swings also offers a free Subscriptions for WooCommerce plugin that integrates seamlessly with the membership plugin. Together, they let you: – Create membership plans that renew automatically on a schedule you define – Offer free trials before the first billing cycle – Charge a one-time signup fee in addition to recurring billing – Let customers manage, pause, or cancel their subscriptions from their account page The combination of memberships plus subscriptions is what unlocks true recurring revenue for your store. Instead of chasing new customers constantly, you build a predictable monthly income stream from your existing member base. For any of my clients running a coaching service, fitness program, or digital content site, this setup is an absolute game changer.

Free vs Pro: When Should You Upgrade?

The free version is genuinely capable and will be enough for most small stores. But here are the situations where upgrading to the Pro version makes sense: – You need content dripping — releasing content to members gradually on a schedule rather than all at once – You want to sell courses or eLearning content and need integration with LMS plugins like Tutor LMS – You need more advanced email customization — the Pro version lets you fully customize subject lines and email body content for membership lifecycle events – You want to restrict how many units of a product a member can buy within a billing period – You want to offer more detailed membership reports and analytics on member growth and earnings over time – You need multisite support across a network of WordPress installations For a typical local business store — a salon, a gym, a coaching client — the free version handles everything perfectly. I only recommend Pro when a client has genuinely outgrown the basics and needs those advanced workflows.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the WP Swings WooCommerce membership plugin really free?

Yes, it is completely free to download and use from the WordPress plugin repository. The free version includes core features like creating membership plans, restricting content and products, offering member discounts, and sending membership emails. A Pro version is available for advanced features like content dripping and deeper LMS integrations.

Can I create multiple membership tiers with the free plugin?

Yes, you can create as many membership plans as you need — for example, Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiers each with their own pricing, duration, and member benefits. Each plan can have different discounts and access rules applied to it.

Do I need to know how to code to set this up?

No coding is required at all. The plugin is managed entirely through your WordPress dashboard with point-and-click settings. If you are using Elementor as your page builder, you can also drop the membership shortcodes directly into your pages without touching any code.

Can I charge recurring monthly fees for memberships?

The membership plugin itself handles one-time plan purchases by default. To add recurring billing, you need to also install the free Subscriptions for WooCommerce plugin by WP Swings, which integrates directly with the membership plugin and enables automatic monthly or annual renewals.

What happens when a membership expires?

Once a membership expires or is cancelled, the member immediately loses access to all the restricted content, discounts, and products tied to that plan. The plugin can also send automated email notifications before and after expiry to prompt members to renew.

Can non-members still see my restricted products?

You have control over this. You can choose to hide restricted products entirely from non-members, or you can display them at a teaser price to encourage non-members to join and unlock the member discount. The second approach typically works better for conversion.

Is this plugin compatible with Elementor?

Yes. The Membership for WooCommerce plugin is compatible with Elementor page builder, so you can use all the membership shortcodes inside Elementor widgets to display your membership plans anywhere on your site.

Final Thoughts

That is everything you need to know to get a fully working free WooCommerce membership system live on your store. It is honestly one of the most practical free plugins I have come across in 15 years of building websites — the WP Swings team has put together something genuinely useful here without forcing you into a paid plan just to cover the basics. If you are a visual learner, I have already published a full step-by-step video tutorial walking through the exact setup process on my YouTube channel. Go check that out — it will make the whole thing much clearer, especially the parts around linking your membership plan to a WooCommerce product. Have a question about your specific setup? Drop it in the comments below — I read every one and try to help where I can. And if you would rather have someone just handle the whole setup for you, feel free to reach out to me directly through the contact page at paramfreelance.com. I am happy to help.