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Comparison

Leaky Paywall vs Memberful

Leaky Paywall and Memberful both land on Depends.

Leaky Paywall versus Memberful
CompareLeaky PaywallMemberful
VerdictDependsDepends
Best forNews and magazine publishers on WordPressNewsletter writers and independent publishers
Who it's not forHobby bloggers . free core or Substack is plentyHobbyists not ready to run a paid membership business
PrivacySeveral public CVEs from 2024-2025, including high-severity missing-authorization flaws . keep the plugin updated.⁷No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.12
Support qualityCase studies show engagement; mixed community feedbackNo support evidence in sources
Public sentimentPublishers praise its flexibility and stay for years, but Redditors complain loudly about the 5% revenue cut and setup fees.²Public sources surfaced directory blurbs but no substantive independent user reviews.14
Biggest gotchaPro/hosted plans take 5% of new-subscriber revenue plus reported $750-$999 setup fees⁶No free tier . trial only; $49/mo Standard before revenue. Enterprise is custom-priced.13

Pick Leaky Paywall when

  • News and magazine publishers on WordPress
  • Metered/'leaky' paywall strategies
  • Publishers selling subscriptions and first-party data
  • Sites needing group or corporate accounts

When Leaky Paywall is not a fit

  • Hobby bloggers . free core or Substack is plenty
  • Non-WordPress sites; it's WordPress-native only
  • Anyone allergic to 5% revenue share plus setup fees
  • Teams too slow to patch plugin CVEs quickly

Pick Memberful when

  • Newsletter writers and independent publishers
  • Podcasters with paid feeds
  • WordPress site owners selling memberships
  • Discord communities charging dues

When Memberful is not a fit

  • Hobbyists not ready to run a paid membership business
  • Creators wanting Patreon-style discovery and network effects
  • Anyone needing a free tier . starts at $49/mo
  • Sellers of one-off products wanting simple checkout

Sources

  1. Leaky Paywall - WordPress pluginwordpress.org
    review
  2. Leaky Paywall Reviewswordpress.org
    review
  3. Leaky Paywall review . 3.8/5 . Benchmark Gridbenchmarkgrid.com
    review
  4. Paid Memberships Pro alternative . Leaky Paywall pricingleakypaywall.com
    official
  5. Leaky Paywall Pricingleakypaywall.com
    official
  6. Paywall discussion . Reddit r/Wordpressreddit.com
    review
  7. CVE-2024-33594: Missing Authorizationstrix.ai
    security
  8. Leaky Paywall security vulnerabilities . WPScanwpscan.com
    security
  9. Leaky Paywall Customer Reviews & Referencesfeaturedcustomers.com
    review
  10. Plugin Review - Leaky Paywall . WP Tavernwptavern.com
    review
  11. Memberful homepagememberful.com
    official
  12. Memberful Security pagememberful.com
    security
  13. Memberful pricing rundownvibeityourself.com
    review
  14. Memberful on Stack by ROSTRstack.rostr.cc
    review
  15. Memberful traffic overviewdeets.feedreader.com
    news
  16. Memberful on Xx.com
    official