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Comparison

Leaky Paywall vs Paid Memberships Pro

Leaky Paywall and Paid Memberships Pro both land on Depends.

Leaky Paywall versus Paid Memberships Pro
CompareLeaky PaywallPaid Memberships Pro
VerdictDependsDepends
Best forNews and magazine publishers on WordPressWordPress sites selling memberships
Who it's not forHobby bloggers . free core or Substack is plentyNon-WordPress projects
PrivacySeveral public CVEs from 2024-2025, including high-severity missing-authorization flaws . keep the plugin updated.⁷Multiple public CVEs (SQLi, CSRF, auth bypass) across 2023-2026; patching discipline is mandatory.
Support qualityCase studies show engagement; mixed community feedbackNo user 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.²WordPress reviewers rate it well, but Reddit threads flag fee changes and its exit from the repo.11
Biggest gotchaPro/hosted plans take 5% of new-subscriber revenue plus reported $750-$999 setup fees⁶Repeated CVEs (SQLi, CSRF, auth bypass) mean slow patching is genuinely risky

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 Paid Memberships Pro when

  • WordPress sites selling memberships
  • Creators gating content behind subscriptions
  • Sites migrating off Patreon

When Paid Memberships Pro is not a fit

  • Non-WordPress projects
  • Teams wanting zero plugin maintenance
  • Simple one-off paywalls . lighter tools suffice

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. Paid Memberships Pro Review (2026) . WPKubewpkube.com
    review
  12. Paid Memberships Pro Review . Membership Geeksmembershipgeeks.com
    review
  13. Paid Memberships Pro Reviews . G2g2.com
    review
  14. An Honest Paid Memberships Pro Review . BlogVaultblogvault.net
    review
  15. PSA: fee-avoidance friction . Redditreddit.com
    news
  16. PMPro leaving wordpress.org . Redditreddit.com
    news