Restrict WooCommerce content and products by membership
One free rule engine gates pages, custom post types, URLs, downloads, discounts, and the shop itself — with conditions that combine in nested AND/OR groups, so real membership tiers fit without duplicated rules.
No credit card required · Free core on WordPress.org
Most membership plugins charge for the rule engine; ArraySubs ships it in the free core. Build rules from eight condition types — subscriptions, purchases, lifetime spend, WordPress roles — and combine them in nested AND/OR groups that mirror how your tiers actually work. The same conditions drive every surface: page and CPT gating, URL rules, gated downloads, member discounts, shop restrictions, and role mapping. Pro adds a single condition on top — per-plan feature entitlements — so access can follow exactly what each plan includes.
Capabilities
What Member Access Control gives you
Every capability listed here reflects the current plugin build — free means free.
Free
Nested AND/OR condition builder
Combine eight condition types — subscription state, purchases, lifetime spend, roles — in nested groups that model real membership tiers.
Free
Page, post & CPT gating
Gate pages, posts, any custom post type, and taxonomy terms, with redirect, message, login-prompt, or 404 behavior on denial.
Free
URL rules with regex
Protect any path with exact, prefix, contains, or regex matching — priorities and exclusions resolve overlapping rules.
Free
Partial, in-page restriction
Gate sections with shortcodes, native Elementor Container controls, or Gutenberg blocks while teasers keep the page public.
Free
Content dripping
Unlock content by days-since-join or a fixed date across posts, pages, CPTs, downloads, and partial sections.
Free
Gated downloads
Deliver member-only files through My Account → Downloads on verified links, with optional drip schedules.
Free
Shop & purchase restrictions
Restrict the shop, products, or categories — enforced across product pages, add-to-cart, cart, checkout, and the Store API.
Free
Member discounts & role mapping
Give members automatic pricing on products and categories, and assign or remove WordPress roles from subscription state.
Pro
Feature entitlement conditions
Gate access by the per-plan features customers actually bought, straight from Feature Manager.
How does content restriction work in WooCommerce?
WooCommerce has no built-in content restriction, so a membership plugin has to supply the rule layer — in ArraySubs, that layer is free. You create an access rule, pick who qualifies with conditions like an active subscription or a purchased product, choose the surface it protects — pages, custom post types, URLs, downloads, discounts, or the shop — and decide what everyone else sees. The rule engine ships in the free core, so gating is a configuration task, not a Pro upsell.
Denial behavior is set per rule: redirect visitors to login or any page, show a message or teaser in place of the content, or return a 404 as if the content does not exist. A built-in conflict detection UI flags rules that overlap or contradict each other, which keeps large rule sets debuggable as your membership grows.
What conditions can control who sees content?
Eight condition types ship free, covering subscription state, purchase history, spending, and WordPress roles. Every rule surface — content, URLs, downloads, discounts, shop — reads from the same shared condition builder, so you learn the model once and reuse it everywhere.
Conditions combine in nested AND/OR groups, which is what separates real membership logic from one-dimensional toggles. “Active subscription to Gold OR (purchased the annual course AND lifetime spend above your threshold)” is one readable rule, not three duplicated ones. Pro adds a ninth condition type — feature entitlements from Feature Manager — so access can follow the exact features inside each plan.
Active subscription — the customer holds a live subscription to selected plans
Subscription status — match specific lifecycle states, not just active
Subscription variation — target one plan tier inside a variable product
Purchased product / purchased variation — one-time purchase history counts too
Purchased from product group — qualify customers by category-level buying
Lifetime spend — unlock perks once a spend threshold is crossed
WordPress user role — reuse roles from your LMS, forum, or staff setup
Feature entitlement (Pro) — gate by per-plan features from Feature Manager
Can I hide products or the whole shop from non-members?
Yes — Ecommerce Rules restrict the entire shop, individual products, or whole categories to the members you define. Denied visitors can be redirected, shown a login prompt or message, or served a 404 — or you can keep a product visible but not purchasable, the members-only catalog pattern that still markets the product to everyone.
Enforcement is not cosmetic. Rules are checked on product pages, add-to-cart actions, the cart, checkout, and the WooCommerce Store API, so a direct URL or a block-theme cart call meets the same access check as the shop page.
Can I restrict just part of a page?
Yes — partial restriction gates sections inside a public page instead of the whole URL. Wrap any section in the restriction or visibility shortcodes and show a teaser to non-members, so the intro, SEO copy, and upgrade pitch stay public while the premium part stays locked.
Builder users skip shortcodes entirely: ArraySubs adds native restriction controls to the Elementor Container Advanced tab (Flexbox or Grid) and ships Gutenberg block restriction, both reading the same conditions as every other rule. One page can mix public sections, member sections, and per-tier sections.
How does content dripping work for memberships?
Content dripping delays access until a member has been subscribed long enough — unlock content by days since joining or on a fixed calendar date. New members start at lesson one instead of binge-downloading the whole library on day one.
Drip schedules attach anywhere the rule engine reaches: posts, pages, custom post types, gated downloads, and partial in-page sections. And because dripping is free, staged onboarding and cohort-style pacing do not require a Pro license.
Can members get automatic discounts and gated downloads?
Yes — the same rule engine that restricts content also grants benefits. Discount Rules apply member-only pricing on products and categories automatically for qualifying customers — no coupon codes to distribute or police — while Download Rules deliver files through My Account → Downloads over verified links, with optional drip schedules.
Role Mapping closes the loop with the rest of WordPress: assign or remove WordPress roles as subscription state changes, so role-aware plugins — LMS, forums, communities — follow membership automatically. Access, pricing, files, and roles all answer to one set of conditions.
Set up
Set it up in 4 steps
From install to live — no developer required.
01
Install ArraySubs free
Install the free core from WordPress.org — the entire access rule engine is included without a license key.
02
Create your first access rule
Open Member Access, add a rule, and pick the surface to protect: content, CPTs, URLs, downloads, discounts, or the shop.
03
Set the conditions
Choose who qualifies — subscriptions, purchases, spend, or roles — and nest AND/OR groups if the tier needs them.
04
Choose the denial behavior
Pick what non-members see — redirect, login prompt, message, teaser, or 404 — then test the page logged out.
Free vs Pro
Member Access Control: what's free, what's Pro
The free core is a real product, not a demo. Pro adds the automation and revenue layer.
In the free core
Free
Access rule engine with 8 condition types and nested AND/OR groups
Page, post, custom post type, and taxonomy restriction
URL rules with exact, prefix, contains, and regex matching
Partial in-page restriction via shortcodes, Elementor, and Gutenberg
Content dripping by days-since-join or fixed date
Gated downloads, member discounts, and shop/purchase restrictions
Role mapping and access-rule conflict detection
Pro adds
Pro
Feature entitlement conditions from the Pro Feature Manager
Numeric allowance checks with sum, max, or any-plan aggregation
Feature checks inside shortcodes, Elementor Containers, and Gutenberg blocks
Login Limit rules — concurrent-session limits with plan-level overrides
Yes. All eight condition types, nested AND/OR groups, and every rule surface — content, CPTs, URLs, downloads, discounts, shop, and role mapping — ship in the free core. Pro adds feature entitlement conditions and concurrent-login limits.
Yes. WordPress user role is one of the eight free condition types, and Role Mapping works in the other direction too — assigning or removing roles based on subscription state so role-aware plugins stay in sync.
Yes. Ecommerce Rules can block purchasing while leaving the product visible, which keeps members-only products marketing themselves to non-members. Enforcement covers product pages, add-to-cart, cart, checkout, and the Store API.
You choose per rule: redirect to login or any page, show a message or teaser, or return a 404 as if the content does not exist. Partial restriction can tease the locked section while the rest of the page stays public.
Yes, natively. Elementor Containers get an ArraySubs restriction section on the Advanced tab (Flexbox or Grid), and Gutenberg gets block-level restriction — no shortcode wrapping in either builder.
Yes. Content dripping unlocks posts, pages, CPTs, downloads, and partial sections by days-since-join or on a fixed date, and it is part of the free core.
URL Rules match exact URLs, path prefixes, contains patterns, or regular expressions, with priorities and exclusions to resolve overlaps. They are the right tool when the protected area is not a single post or product — like pages generated by another plugin.
Try it on your store
Put member access control to work
Install the free core from WordPress.org today, then start a Pro trial when you want the automation and revenue features.
