A crucial aspect of buying software is the after-sale support. WordPress membership plugin vendors usually provide multiple channels of support: forums, emails, help desk with ticketing system, etc. But, naturally, some vendors are better at providing support than others.
Some vendors provide support for one year only. After which, you’ll have to pay to renew. Other vendors don’t impose such limitations.
Another important aspect is the quality and comprehensiveness of documentation.
Here you’ll find out which plugins provide the best documentation and support.
You can click on the name of the plugin below to view its full review.
s2Member
s2Member is very well documented. It has plenty of video tutorials, it has a full FAQs / Support page, and a detailed readme file. There is no traditional user manual PDF. Instead, s2Member relies heavily on in-plugin documentation. Within the plugin there is a special "Quick Start" menu that explains the steps that need to be taken in order to get started.
For developers who buy the Pro module, there's a downloadable zip folder, which is like an SDK. It includes code samples and instructions for doing various things programmatically. There's also the s2Member Codex, which is an extensive source code documentation that's available for free.
Strangely, support for s2Member is not reserved to paying members only. Any s2Member user, whether using the free framework or the paid Pro module, can post questions and participate in the community forums on PrimoThemes. There is no other channel for technical support, but if you needed private attention after posting in the public forum, you'll be asked to use the private Contact Us form, which I guess is reserved for paying members only.
WishList Member
WishList Member includes several PDF guides for basic settings, payment processor integration, autoresponders, and more. There are also plenty of instructional videos that cover everything that can be done with the plugin. An FAQ page is available as well. All of these resources are reserved for paying customers. They are not viewable publicly.
As for technical support, you can submit a ticket or email support@wishlistproducts.com. It's plain and simple. There is no live chat or forum support, though.
Digital Access Pass
The documentation of DAP is outstanding. It more than makes up for DAP's complex UI. It covers all aspects of operation. It includes videos, how-to instructions, comparisons, implementations of various use cases, and more.
As for support, you can get it for free for one year. If you happen to need technical support after that year, you'll have to renew your support agreement for a fee. As long as you're within the support period, you can submit a ticket or ask questions in the forum.
Take a look at the public forums to see if you like the community.
eMember
eMember has great documentation. It includes video tutorials, how-to instructions, and FAQs. All of this material is posted on pages with open comments. You can see questions from previous users and answers from the developers.
That's what I like about eMember's support—it's transparent. You can ask a question on the website or in the forums publicly. Unlike some other software providers, eMember comes with unlimited and a life-time support policy. You won't have to pay a yearly fee for support or upgrades.
Magic Members
The documentation of Magic Members features and settings consists of two things: in-plugin descriptions and tooltips as well as high quality training videos. These two are so comprehensive that a separate PDF user-manual will definitely not be missed.
Support for Magic Members is provided through a help desk where you can submit tickets. There's no community forum. Support is offered for one year only after purchase. After that, it has to be renewed. There's also a pre-sale FAQs page. Support options and policies are explained on the website of Magic Members.
Paid Memberships Pro
While the documentation of PMPro doesn't include any videos or extended how-to tutorials, it is very sensibly ordered and so easy to follow.
Priority support to paying members is provided in the members forum. Support is also available through the public community WordPress.org forum.
Documentation and members support are only offered to paying subscribers.
WPMU DEV Membership
The documentation of Membership consists of only one page. This page gives you an overview of the plugin and its various features. It goes into details on some aspects of operation, but it is far from being a comprehensive user manual. There are many features that aren't covered.
While there is a free version of Membership, technical support is only provided to WPMU DEV paying subscribers through the forums. Parts of the support forums are publicly viewable, so you can visit them and check out the quality level of support yourself.
MemberWing
MemberWing has a single PDF user-manual. I found it a little difficult to follow and doesn't give sufficient demos and examples. It is mostly dedicated to explaining content protection methods, and doesn't explain in details the various registration scenarios that MemberWing supports or various payment gateway setups.
But the plugin has detailed inline documentation, which helps in understanding the numerous option fields.
As for support, it is provided through two channels: support forum and direct contact with developer.
Your Members
Your Members documentation includes videos, complete tutorials, and even scripting and API documentation. Many pages of the documentation are a little out of date, but they're still useful—however, there are still so many features and settings that aren't covered in the documentation.
Unlike some other membership plugins, Your Members comes with life-time free support through the publicly open forums. In addition to this, Your Members offers 3 premium support options: Basic, Developer, and Platinum. Each one of those has its own perks and benefits, check them out.
wp-Member
wp-Member is a basic membership plugin. Therefore, it doesn't need a lot of documentation. Regardless, every single admin page of the plugin is documented.
Support of the plugin is provided through a ticketing system only. And it expires after one year. You'll have to renew for $19.99 every year if you want to continue to receive technical support and software updates.
