Simple Membership VS eMember WP Plugins

Simple Membership VS eMember WP Plugins talks about the differences between both membership plugins. A table is included for comparison.

Last Updated: June 11, 2023

Latest News: Updated the documentation.

Many keep asking the following question. What is the difference between Simple Membership Plugin and eMember plugin?

Simple Membership plugin is like the child version of eMember, but slowly growing in popularity and functionality as well. When it was first released it had minimum functionality but was a very reliable and stable membership plugin. As time went by, it started growing with more free and paid addons. Simple Membership is now considered to be a rival with other great WordPress membership plugins including eMember.

On the other hand eMember plugin has so much potential for the small price you pay. The list of features are too many to mention here. Only a small fraction of the number of features available are listed in the table below.

The idea behind this check list is to point out the potential of each plugin and the difference between each plugin. When developing a membership site you require certain functionality from a membership plugin. In some cases you might only require the minimum basic membership features to set up a site, which is also great. But for some of you, you might require more functionality for your members as well as the administrators. These extra functionalities might be having more payment gateways available, a contact form with more fields, integration with many wp plugins and more.

I decided to publish this comparison check list to help you choose between these two plugins. Both plugins work really well and are up to date with the latest WordPress version. Both plugins are constantly supported by the staff in their respective forum. You can’t go wrong with either one.

Note: This check list only shows some of the most common features one looks for in a membership plugin. To learn more about each plugin, click on each plugins documentation link located at the end of this post.

Simple Membership VS eMember WP Plugins

This list will change from time to time as improvements, changes and implementations are added to either plugin by the developers.

Features and Integration Both Plugins Can Do

In some of these features and integrations eMember has more control and flexibility than Simple Membership. But both do a great job.

1. Works with any WordPress theme. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
2. Ease of Design and Usage. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
3. Easy Installation & Setup = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
4. Content Protection = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
5. Unlimited Membership Levels = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
6. Easy member management = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
7. Manually Approve Members = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
8. Partial Content Display = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
9. Ability to protect photo galleries. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
10. Ability to protect attachment pages. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
11. Show teaser content to convert visitors into members. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
12. Comments on your protected posts will also be protected automatically. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
13. Enable debug logging to troubleshoot membership payment related issues easily (if any). = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
14. Ability to use merge vars in the membership email notification. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
15. Membership management side is handled by the plugin. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
16. Filter members list by account status. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
17. Can be translated to any language. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
18. Allow your members to delete their membership accounts. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
19. Send quick notification email to your members. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
20. Customize the password reset email for members. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
21. The login and registration widgets will be responsive if you are using a responsive theme. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
22. Ability to restrict the commenting feature on your site to your members only. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
23. Works with HTTPS Pages. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
24. WordPress Affiliate Software Integration. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
25. Fully Automated Membership System = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes

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Front End Admin

1. Front-end member registration page. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
2. Front-end member profiles. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
3. Front-end member login page. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes
4. Hide the admin toolbar from the frontend of your site. = Simple Membership Yes = eMember Yes

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Simple Membership Requires Free Addons / Plugins

1. MailChimp Integration = Simple Membership (requires MailChimp Addon) = eMember Yes (MailChimp, GetResponse, MailPoet)
2. Ability to customize the content protection message that gets shown to non-members. = Simple Membership (requires Custom Message Addon) = eMember Yes
3. Login Redirection = Simple Membership (requires Login Redirect Addon) = eMember Yes
4. Use Google reCAPTCHA on your member registration form. = Simple Membership (requires Google reCAPTCHA Addon) = eMember Yes
5. Ability to import WordPress users as members. = Simple Membership (requires Import WordPress Users Plugin) = eMember Yes

Simple Membership Requires Paid Addons

1. Export Member Data to CSV File = Simple Membership (Requires Member Data Exporter Addon) = eMember Yes
2. bbPress Forum Integration. = Simple Membership (Requires bbPress Forum Intergration Addon) = eMember Yes
3. Custom Registration Fields = Simple Membership (Requires Form Builder Addon) = eMember Yes (You can also purchase the Form Builder Addon to have more flexibility with the registration and profile forms)
4. AWeber Integration = Simple Membership (requires AWeber Addon) = eMember Yes
   
5. Membership Payment via WooCommerce = Simple Membership (requires WooCommerce Addon) = eMember Yes

Simple Membership / eMember Paid Addons

1. Two Factor Authentication Addon 2FA = Simple Membership (Requires two-factor-authentication-addon) = eMember (Requires two-factor-authentication-addon)
2. ConvertKit integration addon = Simple Membership (Requires convertkit-integration-addon) = eMember (Requires convertkit-integration-wp-emember-plugin)

Applicable only to eMember

1. Free Future Upgrades
2. Multi Site License 

Available Only In eMember

1. GetResponse, MailPoet Integration
2. WP eStore Integration
3. Easy PayPal Integration
4. Download Folder Protection
5. Bookmarking Feature
6. Secure RSS Feeds
7. ClickBank Payment Integration

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I hope the above helps you make the correct decision when choosing between both plugins. To learn more about each plugin please read their extensive documentation from the URLs below.

• eMember Documentation you might like to read my tutorials WP eMember Membership Plugin.
• Simple Membership Documentation you might like to read my tutorials WordPress Simple Membership Plugin.

If you have any questions please let me know. Remember that I will be updating this comparison report from time to time.

Enjoy.