Welcome to MemberMode — what we’re building

MemberMode is a free-first membership plugin for WordPress. We’re building it for site owners who want a real member area — profiles, directories, content gating, two-factor login, paid memberships — without stitching together fifteen plugins or paying $300 before they’ve shipped a single member.

Why a new membership plugin in 2026?

The membership plugin space hasn’t moved much in years. Most of the popular ones treat the free version as a teaser, lock the basics behind paywalls, and pile on so many add-ons that even a simple member directory needs three plugins. They also tend to ignore the parts of WordPress that have evolved — block themes, FSE, the modern admin design system — and ship UIs that look like 2014.

We wanted something different: a single plugin that does the basics well in the free tier, looks at home on any modern theme, and lets you upgrade to one Pro addon when (and if) you need the advanced stuff.

What’s in the free version

• Member profiles with cover photo, avatar, bio, custom fields, and an editable about section
• Member directory with search, filters, and per-user privacy
• Custom registration + login + password reset, theme-native and shortcode-driven
• Two-factor authentication (TOTP) — works on both wp-login.php and the frontend
• Content restriction — sitewide, per-post, per-CPT, per-role, or via shortcode
• Email branding, GDPR exports, audit-ready login lockout, and a built-in help center

Where we’re going next

The Pro addon adds the things that turn a member directory into a community: paid memberships and recurring billing, drip content, advanced 2FA (passkeys, WebAuthn), an audit log, direct messages between members, reactions and comments on member posts, and a managed email service so transactional sends don’t end up in spam. All of it is opt-in — every Pro feature is a module you can toggle off.

This blog is where we’ll write about the build — release notes, design decisions, tutorials, and the occasional honest look at how we compare to other membership plugins. If that sounds useful, the help center is already populated with setup guides, and you can grab the free plugin from WordPress.org any time.

Thanks for being here early. — The MemberMode team