Building a membership site from scratch is no joke. Between fighting off tech headaches, creating content, and trying to keep your members happy, a membership platform can be quite challenging, especially for non-tech-savvy users.
However, thankfully, we now have plugins that make this job a breeze. And among those membership plugins, SureMembers is a very useful WordPress plugin that does the heavy lifting for you. It lets you launch a membership site with just a few clicks, expediting and simplifying lengthy manual processes.
In this detailed review, we’ll explore how SureMembers can turn your WordPress site into a feature-packed and revenue-generating membership site. It is compatible with our WordPress hosting.
What is SureMembers?
SureMembers is a popular WordPress membership plugin. Launched back in September 2022, it quickly became a firm favorite for people and businesses that want an easy yet powerful membership tool.
Its main goal was to simplify payments
using a lot of other features to protect your content, custom checkout screens, and connections to other tools.
All of this comes with a modern, user-friendly design.
The people behind SureMembers wanted to build an affordable plugin that looks sleek and clean. They focused on giving users a great experience and awesome support.
Whether you want to restrict access to some of your content, connect with other platforms, or gain insights from its analytics, SureMembers has your back.
Use SureMembers With Our Managed Hosting Service
Cloudways Managed WordPress Hosting lets you integrate thousands of WordPress plugins seamlessly
SureMembers Review – Pros and Cons
Before diving into everything SureMembers can do, here’s a quick look at the pros and cons:
The pros
- Lots of integrations and ways to lock content: SureMembers connects with many other platforms so you can expand what your membership site offers. It also gives you options like full or partial locks to restrict access to content.
- Drip content: This feature automatically publishes content over time. Your members get new stuff on a schedule to keep them engaged while you ensure a steady stream of updates.
- Custom checkout with SureCart: You can easily make nice checkout pages that match your brand. This helps convince more people to sign up and builds trust.
- Modern and easy to use: The clean layout is simple to navigate, so you’ll have an easier time managing your membership site. Setting things up is straightforward, too.
- Unlimited sites: The payment plans give you options at different price points, even allowing unlimited memberships for higher tiers. You have flexibility, no matter your needs or budget.
The cons
- No freemium version: While some membership plugins let you test drive a free limited version, SureMembers goes straight to the paid plans. The upside is that the base plan starts at $69/year and has all the features of SureMembers—perfect if you are looking for a single membership site.
- Integrations require an additional plugin: To buddy up SureMembers with some of your other tools, you need its sidekick, SureTriggers. This can feel like an unnecessary extra step but think of SureTriggers as your plugin’s personal assistant. It makes connecting everything together effortless.
How to Install & Configure SureMembers Plugin (Steps)
Before we learn about how to install and set up SureMembers, let’s go through its installation prerequisites.
SureMembers System Requirements
- WordPress version 5.9 or higher
- PHP version 7.4 or higher
- MySQL version 5.6 or higher
- Apache or Nginx web server
- SSL certificate (recommended for secure transactions)
Here are the quick steps to install SureMembers on your WordPress site:
- Purchase SureMembers from their official site.
- Download the zipped file.
- Log into WordPress and go to Plugins.
- Click “Add New” and upload the zip file that you’ve downloaded from the SureMembers’ website
- Once installed, the plugin will be ready to be activated.
- Finally, enter the license key you received after your purchase.
SureMembers Configuration Settings
SureMembers offers a wide range of configuration options. Here’s a video playlist that walks you through the complete setup and configuration of SureMembers.
- To get started, activate the plugin and click the SureMembers link on your left sidebar.
- Then, on the top right of your screen, click the small settings icon to explore the configuration options.
- You’ll find the admin settings, user role creation options, and redirection rules here. Set up the configuration as required on this page.
- You can also create subscription plans using the SureCart plugin, which directly integrates with SureMembers and automatically assigns user groups to members based on their plans.
- Once you’ve followed the above steps, any content that’s made visible for a specific group will require users to log in to their account.
- If a user isn’t logged in, SureMembers can automatically redirect the user to the login page or another page of your choice.
Features Comparison with Other Plugins
| Features/Plugins | SureMembers | MemberPress | Paid Memberships | LearnDash |
| Pricing for 1 Site | $69/year | $359/year | $247/year | $199/year |
| Dedicated Dashboard | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Events & Triggers Automation | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Payment Options | Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Razorpay, Authorize.net | Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net | Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net | Stripe, WooCommerce payment gateways |
| Content Lock Rules | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Post Excerpts | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Drip Content | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Expiration Rules | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| View Post Limits | Yes | No | No | No |
| Redirection Rules | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Menu Items Visibility | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Integrations | SureTriggers (connects with all major plugins), SureCart (connects with all major payment gateways), LearnDash, TutorLMS, WooCommerce, EDD, MailChimp | MailChimp, Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, TaxJar, Zapier, HelpScout, Blubrry PowerPress, BuddyPress, Google reCaptcha | Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net | BuddyBoss, GamiPress, The Events Calendar, EDD, MailChimp, bbPress, Slack |
10 Key Features of SureMembers
Now you have a brief overview of SureMembers, let’s explore each of its features in more detail.
1. Control Who Can and Cannot See Your Content
One of SureMembers’ standout capabilities is its ability to restrict content. You can lock content like specific posts, ebooks, video tutorials, audio lessons, and other downloadable resources behind a signup screen or paywall.
This allows you to keep some content private for paying members only while leaving other content open to everyone.
When a user creates an “Access Group,” they first name it and then pick the content they want to make available for this group. This feature puts you in the driver’s seat to determine what content is public and what’s only for members’ eyes.
Whether you want to limit views, downloads, or something else, you decide how to restrict your content, giving you the confidence that your valuable digital assets are kept safe and readily available to subscribers at any time.
2. Increase Member Engagement with Automated Content Releases
SureMembers includes a useful drip content feature that automatically publishes content over time. This helps ensure members always have new resources and benefits to enjoy, which can improve retention and loyalty.
The drip content option is highly flexible. You decide precisely when and how content is released. For example, you may schedule content to be published a few days after someone joins, spread out over several months, or be unlocked only after members complete other required items.
Plus, SureMembers provides you full control over content schedules and access levels for different membership tiers.
With SureMembers automating your content releases, subscribers always have something new to look forward to each month. You no longer have to manually publish content or worry about providing enough resources to keep members engaged on your own.
The drip content feature handles the details so you can focus your efforts on creating value for members.
3. Accept Payments with an Integrated Payment Processing Solution
SureMembers seamlessly integrates with SureCart to accept payments. SureCart lets you create checkout pages for one-time or recurring payments so members can pay subscription or billing plan fees.
SureCart’s payment processing is simple to set up and offers advanced features like fraud prevention, customizable checkout pages, and multi-payment support. Its visually appealing interface helps provide a positive payment experience for members.
4. Extend SureMembers With Powerful Integrations
SureMembers offers powerful integrations through SureTriggers. You can automate actions in other tools based on membership site events like signups or purchases.
For example, SureMembers support triggers for the following events:
- Order confirmation emails
- Free order emails
- Refund emails
- Subscription renewal emails
- Subscription cancellation notifications
- Subscription reminder notifications
- Recovery reminder notifications
- Abandoned cart emails
SureTriggers enables cohesion across the tools you rely on for payments, email, project management, and more. The result is less manual effort on repetitive tasks and more time focused on growth and member benefits.
5. Preview Content Snippets
SureMembers lets you show snippets of your posts and pages to non-members. This little peek into what subscribers get is a simple way to reel in more members. And setting those preview content bits, called visible excerpts, is simple.
You only need to enable excerpts and pick how long or short you want each snippet to be. SureMembers will automatically hide the content below the set length.
Visible excerpts are the ultimate bait and switch (in a good way!). You bait potential members with a juicy preview of your content, then switch them over to paying subscribers so they can enjoy all your resources and benefits. This nifty feature helps transform casual visitors into loyal members, one snippet at a time.
6. Style Your Signup Forms
SureMembers also helps you create customizable login forms to match your site’s look. Personalizing how these forms appear helps provide potential members with a slick, consistent experience from the get-go.
Also, designing your own forms is simple.
Simply pick your colors for buttons, text, links, and anything else to make the forms fit into your branding.
Once you save your custom form, subscribers will see it anytime they hit your members-only content and need to sign up for access.
This small but significant feature puts control over your membership signup process right where it should be—in your hands.
7. Secure Your Members’ Data
SureMembers takes security and privacy seriously, with robust features to protect sensitive data.
SSL encryption ensures secure data transfer and comprehensive security &privacy help keep member data safe.
SureMembers assures your platform and members’ details remain protected with precautions like:
- Access levels are based on membership plans. Choose what content and resources each level can access.
- Login requirements. Add extra login security like two-factor authentication if desired.
- SSL encryption. Secure Sockets Layer encryption protects data transmitted between your site and members during login, signups, or purchases.
- Restricted admin access. Access controls allow setting limited permissions to prevent unauthorized admin activity.
SureMembers makes security part of membership management, with user trust and peace of mind as top priorities.
8. Manage Your Site with an Intuitive Interface
SureMembers has a sleek, modern interface for smooth membership site management. A streamlined UI is vital for an engaging membership management experience.
SureMembers’ dashboard gives you a centralized place to:
- Set up subscription plans and pricing. Create unlimited plans with details like billing periods, trial offers, and more.
- Manage members and access. Review, edit, or remove members and control what content each level sees.
- Configure plugins and automations. Access settings for payments, content protection, drip schedules, integrations, and other functionality.
- View reports and stats. Monitor membership site metrics like signup rates, subscription renewals, popular resources, and overall program health.
SureMembers aims for membership platforms that are both simple to set up and optimize over time.
Its elegant yet user-friendly interface plays an important role in delivering an effortless end-to-end solution for building, growing, and managing a successful membership website or program.
9. Fully Customizable Checkout
With SureMembers, you get powerful yet easy-to-use capabilities for customizing your membership checkout page.
You can customize everything from styling details to payment options using SureCart and even include automations using SureTriggers.
A streamlined checkout that matches your brand helps move visitors smoothly to paying members, increases signups and retention, and delivers the experience today’s subscribers expect.
The result is an efficient signup flow, happy members, and sustainable growth for your membership program!
10. Valuable Insights with Built-In Analytics
SureMembers (and SureCart) includes beautiful, comprehensive reporting and analytics to gain insights into your membership site’s performance.
Its dashboard provides the following:
- Revenue amount
- Number of orders
- Average value
- Recent orders
For comparison, here’s what the analytics dashboard for MemberPress and LearnDash look like:
MemberPress
LearnDash
With the advancements in data plotting tools, why spend time with text data, trying to make sense of it?
Simply putting the data on a visually interactive graph makes a lot more sense. It saves more time and helps you pull the information you need easily.
SureMembers: Customer Support
SureMembers comes with knowledgeable support to help you anytime.
Resources include:
- Documentation and video training. Learn how to quickly set up and maximize the platform with well-written documentation.
- Facebook community. Discuss plugins, ask questions, and share tips and experiences with others on the SureCrafted group. Find answers from experienced users.
- Helpdesk support. Submit tickets directly for one-on-one guidance from the dedicated support team.
SureMembers aims to simplify membership platforms end-to-end, including providing any guidance needed along the way.
Their team offers a helpful, personal touch through available self-serve and direct support channels.
How Much Does SureMembers Cost?
SureMembers Pricing
SureMembers is an incredibly pocket-friendly membership plugin. In fact, it’s up to 8 times cheaper than its closest competitors!
The Pro plan starts at just $99 per year.
This makes it one of the most cost-effective solutions on the market and an ideal choice for those looking to get started quickly.
The plan includes a license to use SureMembers on one site, a year of updates, and priority support.
You only need to upgrade the plan if you want to use SureMembers on multiple websites. Then a Business plan (5 sites) at $199/year and the Agency Plan (10 sites) at $299/year might make more sense.
If pricing is the deciding factor, the competition doesn’t stand a chance!
Final Thoughts
Let’s be real—membership sites aren’t easy to build or manage. You need the right tools to hook visitors, keep them happy and coming back for more.
That’s why SureMembers should be at the top of your list.
This powerhouse of a WordPress plugin takes care of pretty much everything so you can focus on community building versus tech troubleshooting.
It offers a powerful, versatile, and user-friendly solution for creating and managing a thriving membership site with robust features, a modern interface, and affordable pricing plans.
After trying multiple hands-on membership plugins, we can safely conclude that there’s no better one than SureMembers at this point.
Give it a spin, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it!
