Paid Memberships Pro
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you run WordPress and need gated content with Stripe/PayPal subscriptions, and you will keep the plugin patched.
New check
Comparison
Paid Memberships Pro vs ARMember
Paid Memberships Pro and ARMember both land on Depends.
ARMember
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy it if you run WordPress, sell memberships or courses, and will apply security patches immediately.
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | WordPress sites selling memberships | WordPress sites selling subscriptions |
| Who it's not for | Non-WordPress projects | Non-WordPress sites . it's a WP plugin only |
| Privacy | Multiple public CVEs (SQLi, CSRF, auth bypass) across 2023-2026; patching discipline is mandatory.⁷ | Significant public CVE history (2022-2026): SQL injection, stored XSS, privilege escalation, plan bypass. |
| Support quality | No user support evidence in sources | Support praised across multiple review sites |
| Public sentiment | WordPress reviewers rate it well, but Reddit threads flag fee changes and its exit from the repo.¹ | Buyers praise feature breadth and responsive support, while Reddit threads also surface users troubleshooting issues or shopping for alternatives.16 |
| Biggest gotcha | Repeated CVEs (SQLi, CSRF, auth bypass) mean slow patching is genuinely risky⁸ | Multiple CVEs 2022-2026; one advisory said 'temporarily disable ARMember'. Update immediately on release. |
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
Pick ARMember when
- WordPress sites selling subscriptions
- Online courses and paid content
- Community sites with gated access
- Solo creators monetizing content
When ARMember is not a fit
- Non-WordPress sites . it's a WP plugin only
- Simple paywall needs . overkill, use something lighter
- Teams that won't patch within days of advisories
- Buyers allergic to annual license renewals
Sources
review
- Paid Memberships Pro Review . Membership Geeksmembershipgeeks.comreview
review
- An Honest Paid Memberships Pro Review . BlogVaultblogvault.netreview
- PSA: fee-avoidance friction . Redditreddit.comnews
- PMPro leaving wordpress.org . Redditreddit.comnews
- CVE-2023-23488 . SQL injectionsentinelone.comsecurity
- CVE-2024-37277 . NVDnvd.nist.govsecurity
- Pricing and Plans . PMPropaidmembershipspro.comofficial
- Free core plugin . PMPropaidmembershipspro.comofficial
- ARMember homepagearmemberplugin.comofficial
- ARMember pricingarmemberplugin.comofficial
- ARMember G2 reviewsg2.comreview
- ARMember Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.comreview
- ARMember Trustindex reviewstrustindex.ioreview
- WordPress.org support topicwordpress.orgreview