A useful free tier
Qualify people by account, role, purchase, or another access condition, then reserve paid value for the upgrade path.
Build WooCommerce memberships without stitching plugins together
Sell free, paid, recurring, fixed-term, or lifetime access. Protect content and products, release member value over time, and let customers manage their membership from WooCommerce My Account.
Membership vs subscription
Subscription
Controls billing, renewal dates, and lifecycle state.
Membership
Controls access, benefits, and what the customer can use.
ArraySubs connects both while still supporting one-time and lifetime access.
- 8Free access conditions
- 2Native builder controls
- 4URL match modes
- FreeCore rule engine
Membership models
Choose the membership that matches your promise
Start with the customer outcome, then choose the billing and access model that can sustain it.
Monthly or annual
Collect ongoing membership fees with simple or variable subscription products, trials, signup fees, and plan switching.
A defined term
Run a set number of daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly billing cycles, then let the membership end automatically.
Cohorts and seasons
End every membership on the same calendar date for annual clubs, school cohorts, licensing windows, or seasons.
Lifetime access
Sell a lifetime deal that still participates in member access rules without generating renewal invoices.
Access rules
Decide exactly who gets access
Build one readable policy from subscription state, selected products or variations, purchases, product groups, lifetime spend, and WordPress roles. Nested AND/OR groups model real tiers without duplicating rules across every protected surface.
- Eight condition types and nested rule groups ship in the free core.
- The same conditions drive content, URL, shop, discount, download, and role rules.
- Pro adds feature-entitlement checks, including numeric allowance comparisons.
Partial content
Protect a whole page—or only the premium part
Keep useful public context and the upgrade path visible, then place the membership boundary exactly where the premium value begins.
Gutenberg
Gate individual blocks with the WordPress editor
Apply subscription, purchase, role, spend, or Pro feature conditions to a block without wrapping the whole page. Choose ALL or ANY matching, write the denial message, and keep admin visibility available while the page is assembled.
- Protect nested block content without changing the public URL.
- Show a teaser or login message where the premium section would appear.
- Use the same membership policy as full-page and shop rules.
Elementor
Protect Elementor Containers without shortcode wrappers
Add the rule directly to a Flexbox or Grid Container in the Elementor Advanced tab. The container can require a qualifying plan or feature, combine multiple plan values, and show a custom message when access is denied.
- Works at the Container level, so design and access stay together.
- Supports on/off features and numeric feature allowances with Pro.
- Leaves the rest of the landing page public and indexable.
One access system
Give members more than locked pages
The same qualification rules can protect commerce, release resources, grant benefits, and keep WordPress permissions aligned.
Members-only shop
Restrict the whole shop, products, or categories—or keep products visible while reserving purchase for members.
Content dripping
Release pages, custom post types, partial sections, and files by days since joining or on a fixed date.
Protected downloads
Give qualifying members verified download links inside WooCommerce My Account, with optional release schedules.
Automatic member pricing
Apply member-only discounts to products or categories without distributing coupon codes.
Role mapping
Assign or remove WordPress roles as membership conditions change so permissions stay aligned with access.
Clear denial paths
Redirect to login or another page, show a message or teaser, or return a 404 when a visitor does not qualify.
Member self-service
Give members a real home inside WooCommerce My Account
Customers can see their membership terms, related orders, and invoices, then handle the lifecycle actions your policy allows. The membership record stays continuous through a pause, switch, cancellation undo, or renewal payment.
- 01Cancel with undo
- 02Reactivate
- 03Pause and resume
- 04Skip next renewal
- 05Switch plans
- 06Pay pending invoices
- 07Review terms and orders
- 08Update payment method · Pro
Membership operations
Manage every member relationship from WooCommerce
Search and filter subscriptions, create a membership record for an assisted sale or migration, open the lifecycle detail, and export the filtered data. Permanent notes keep automated events and staff context on the same timeline.
- Search and filter by customer, status, plan, and gateway.
- Create and edit supported subscription details from wp-admin.
- Export CSV or JSON, with Pro Member Insight for a unified customer view.
Retention
Keep the relationship when the current plan stops fitting
A cancellation can capture the real reason, show one relevant save path, and still let the customer leave clearly. Offer a temporary discount, pause, downgrade, or support conversation; then use grace handling when a payment problem—not product value—is the issue.
- Target retention offers to the cancellation reason instead of showing every option.
- Use pause or downgrade when the member needs a smaller commitment.
- Pro can retry supported automatic payments and downgrade after recovery fails.
Free vs Pro
Start with a real membership system, then automate the revenue layer
The free core is not a timed demo. Pro adds automatic collection, advanced entitlements, member insight, and deeper recovery controls.
In the free core
Free- Simple and variable subscription products with manual renewal invoices
- Eight access condition types with nested AND/OR rule groups
- Page, post, custom post type, URL, shop, download, and partial-content restriction
- Content dripping, automatic member discounts, and WordPress role mapping
- Customer portal actions for cancel, pause, resume, skip, switch, and invoice payment
- Retention flow, lifecycle emails, subscription administration, exports, and notes
Pro adds
Pro- Automatic off-session renewals through Stripe, PayPal, and Paddle
- Per-plan feature entitlements and numeric allowance checks
- Fixed-date membership periods and customer-chosen subscription duration
- Concurrent-login limits with plan-level overrides
- Portal payment-method, auto-renew, and shipping-address updates
- Member Insight, automatic payment retry, auto-downgrade, and deeper analytics
A strong fit when
WooCommerce owns the catalog, checkout, customer, and account experience, and membership access should follow products, subscriptions, purchases, roles, or plan features.
Use a specialist alongside it when
You need a full LMS gradebook, social-community layer, or association CRM. Let that specialist own its workflow while ArraySubs owns WooCommerce billing and membership access.
Use cases
What can you build with ArraySubs memberships?
Start from the business model, then follow the linked playbook into the right billing, access, portal, and retention setup.
Membership Sites
Run gated communities and premium libraries — tiered access, content dripping, role mapping, and self-service member management.
Online Courses
Sell courses with subscription access — drip modules, tiered lesson access, student portals, and recurring billing without a heavy LMS.
Content Publishers
Paywall articles and media by tier — hard or metered paywalls, URL-pattern gating, scheduled exclusives, and conversion analytics.
B2B & Wholesale Memberships
Run trade accounts and wholesale tiers with member pricing, gated catalogs, role mapping, login cleanup, and account-sharing controls.
Feature guides
Explore the system behind the membership
Go deeper on the product engine, access rules, member portal, retention, profiles, and day-to-day operations.
Free + Pro
Subscription Products
Turn any WooCommerce product into a recurring plan — simple or variable, with trials, signup fees, intro pricing, lifetime deals, and plan switching.
Free + Pro
Member Access Control
Gate pages, CPTs, URLs, downloads, and the shop with a free rule engine — 8 condition types in nested AND/OR groups, plus dripping, discounts, and role mapping.
Free + Pro
Customer Portal
Subscriber self-service inside My Account — view billing and invoices, cancel with undo, pause, skip, and switch plans; Pro adds payment-method updates.
Free + Pro
Retention Flow Builder
Intercept every cancel attempt with a free 3-step flow — capture the reason, present a targeted save offer, and measure the revenue you keep.
Free + Pro
Profile Builder
Custom profile fields, avatars, a My Account menu editor with custom endpoints, membership shortcodes, and Toolkit modules that hide wp-admin from customers.
Free + Pro
Manage Subscriptions
The central admin dashboard for every subscription — search, edit, create from wp-admin, export CSV or JSON, and keep a permanent notes timeline.
Membership strategy
Make the access policy before you configure the rule
These field guides cover the decisions that protect conversion, customer trust, and long-term maintainability.
Membership Strategy
How to Create a WooCommerce Membership Site: Architecture Before Configuration
Define the member promise, commerce model, access evidence, lifecycle, denied experience, and operating owner before configuring rules.
21 min read
Membership Strategy
WooCommerce Membership vs Subscription: What Is the Difference?
Separate recurring billing from access entitlement, then decide whether one model, both models, or an independent membership ledger fits.
17 min read
Membership Strategy
Partial Content Restriction: SEO, Conversion, and Reader Experience
Resolve and prove the public answer, bridge to a concrete premium outcome, then test the server-side boundary by reader segment.
14 min read
FAQ
WooCommerce membership questions, answered
Clear scope for billing, access, builders, products, downloads, self-service, recovery, and account sharing.
A WooCommerce membership plugin turns a customer record, purchase, subscription, role, or other qualifying fact into access and benefits. It decides who can reach protected content, products, downloads, discounts, or member areas, and it keeps those decisions aligned as the membership changes state.
WooCommerce supplies products, checkout, orders, customers, and account pages, but it does not provide a complete membership rule engine in its core plugin. ArraySubs adds membership plans, access conditions, content and shop restrictions, dripping, protected downloads, role mapping, and member self-service around that WooCommerce foundation.
Yes. ArraySubs creates simple and variable subscription products and connects their lifecycle directly to membership access. The free core supports renewal invoices that customers pay manually; ArraySubs Pro adds automatic off-session billing through Stripe, PayPal, and Paddle.
Yes. The free core includes eight access condition types, nested AND/OR groups, page and custom-post-type restriction, URL rules, partial-content gates, dripping, protected downloads, shop and product rules, member discounts, and role mapping. Pro adds feature-entitlement conditions and concurrent-login controls.
Yes. Use roles or other access conditions for free entry, subscription products for recurring or fixed-cycle access, and lifetime deals for one-payment access. ArraySubs Pro adds fixed-date plans for cohorts and annual membership windows, plus customer-chosen duration options.
Yes. Keep the public introduction and upgrade message visible, then gate only the premium section. ArraySubs supports partial restriction through its Gutenberg block, Elementor Container controls, and shortcodes, with a custom denial message or teaser for visitors who do not qualify.
Yes. Gutenberg has block-level ArraySubs restriction controls, and Elementor Containers get native access controls in the editor. Both use the same membership conditions as page, URL, download, discount, and shop rules, so the policy stays consistent across the site.
Yes. A product can remain public for discovery while its purchase action is restricted to qualifying members. ArraySubs applies the rule beyond the product page, including add-to-cart, cart, checkout, and WooCommerce Store API flows, so a direct request cannot skip the access decision.
Yes. Release pages, custom post types, partial sections, and downloads by days since joining or on a fixed date. Qualifying files can appear in WooCommerce My Account and use verified delivery links; sensitive source files still need an appropriately private origin or server configuration.
Yes. The free customer portal can expose cancel with undo, reactivate, pause, resume, skip next renewal, plan switching, and pending-invoice payment. Store settings control which actions appear. Pro adds payment-method updates, an auto-renew toggle, and shipping-address changes.
ArraySubs can keep access active through a configured grace period while the customer receives a renewal path. Pro can retry supported automatic payments and move a member to a fallback plan when recovery fails. Your access policy should define exactly when grace ends and restrictions resume.
ArraySubs Pro can limit concurrent sessions per account and apply plan-level overrides. Use the least restrictive policy that protects the offer, publish it before purchase, and provide a recovery path for legitimate households or customers who replace devices.
A subscription is a billing and lifecycle agreement; a membership is an access entitlement. You can have either one without the other. ArraySubs connects them when recurring payment status should control content, products, discounts, downloads, or services, while still supporting one-time and lifetime membership models.
Membership, billing, and retention
Build one member journey from checkout to renewal
Start with the free access engine and manual renewals, then add Pro automation when the membership needs automatic collection, entitlements, insight, and recovery.
No credit card required · Annual and lifetime Pro options available