Recurring revenue on WordPress can be implemented three ways: WooCommerce Subscriptions, Restrict Content Pro, or MemberPress. All three charge customers on a recurring basis and control access to content or products. The differences determine which fits your specific business model.
WooCommerce Subscriptions
WooCommerce Subscriptions adds recurring billing to WooCommerce products. The subscription is a WooCommerce product that customers purchase. Access control is handled separately – the subscription creates an active subscription status, but restricting content based on that status requires additional plugins or custom code.
WooCommerce Subscriptions is the right choice when: the subscription is for a physical product (a monthly box, regular deliveries), the subscription gives access to a WooCommerce store with specific products, you already run a WooCommerce store and want to add subscriptions alongside one-time purchases, or you need the full WooCommerce product catalog and order management features.
Restrict Content Pro
Restrict Content Pro (RCP) is a dedicated membership plugin that handles subscription billing and content restriction in one. Members subscribe to membership levels, payment processes through RCP’s built-in integration (Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net), and content is restricted to specific membership levels using shortcodes or meta boxes. RCP is simpler than WooCommerce Subscriptions for pure content access – no cart, no product catalog, just subscribe and access.
RCP is appropriate for content membership sites: publications, course sites without an LMS, communities, professional networks. The lack of WooCommerce dependency means less overhead. Cost: $99-249/year.
MemberPress
MemberPress is more feature-complete than RCP with built-in course creation (MemberPress Courses), drip content scheduling, and more detailed reporting. Like RCP, it handles subscription billing and content restriction without WooCommerce. MemberPress’s higher feature set comes with a higher price ($179-399/year) and more configuration complexity.
MemberPress is appropriate for serious membership businesses – online education platforms, subscription communities, professional associations – where the additional features justify the cost and complexity.
| Use Case | Best Option | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly physical product box | WooCommerce Subscriptions | WooCommerce handles fulfillment |
| Software license renewal | WooCommerce Subscriptions | Integrates with Easy Digital Downloads |
| Content/news membership | Restrict Content Pro | Simpler, lower cost, no WC needed |
| Online courses + membership | MemberPress | Built-in course creation |
| Mixed store + subscription | WooCommerce Subscriptions | Single cart and checkout |
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Migration Between Systems
Switching between these platforms after accumulating active subscribers is difficult. WooCommerce Subscriptions stores subscription data in WooCommerce order tables. MemberPress and Restrict Content Pro store memberships in their own tables. There is no automated migration between any pair of these systems for active subscriptions with stored payment tokens. The practical advice: choose based on where your business is heading in two to three years, not just what you need today. A business that starts with RCP and grows to needing course delivery will eventually need to migrate to MemberPress, which is a significant operational project.
Reporting and Revenue Analytics
WooCommerce Subscriptions reporting lives inside WooCommerce’s standard reports – subscription revenue appears alongside regular product revenue, which is convenient for unified reporting but less useful for subscription-specific metrics like MRR and churn. MemberPress has dedicated membership reports showing active member counts, cancellations, and revenue by membership level. Restrict Content Pro has basic subscription reporting. For subscription businesses where MRR tracking is important, MemberPress’s dedicated reports are more useful than WooCommerce Subscriptions’ integration with general order reports.