Groups – Memberships and Access Control vs Ultimate Member
Two WordPress plugins head to head: ranking, active installs, downloads and ratings, from our daily tracking of the WordPress.org directory.
These aren’t all alternatives to each other — they do different jobs — so this page compares popularity only, not features.
At a glance
Ultimate Member leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #274, ahead of Groups – Memberships and Access Control at #1,737. Over the last 7 days Ultimate Member slipped 2 places and Groups – Memberships and Access Control slipped 1 place. Ultimate Member has the largest install base, roughly 20× the next: 200K+ active installs against 10K+ for Groups – Memberships and Access Control. Downloads this week: Ultimate Member 50,386 and Groups – Memberships and Access Control 1,233. Ratings: Groups – Memberships and Access Control 4.8★ from 382 and Ultimate Member 4.4★ from 1,445 reviews.
| Metric | Groups – Memberships and Access Control | Ultimate Member |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #1,737 ▼ 1 | #274 ▼ 2 |
| Active installs | 10K+ | 200K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 1,233 | 50,386 |
| Rating | 4.8★ (382) | 4.4★ (1,445) |
| Last updated | Sep 24, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
| Current version | 4.8.0 | 2.14.1 |
| Best rank on record | #1,733 | #264 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Jan 2012 | Jan 2015 |
| Sites detected by our detector | 0 | 7 |
Highlighted cells mark the strongest figure in each row. Rank and installs are from the latest WordPress.org capture; downloads are the last seven captured days.
Ranking history Lower is better
Active installs
Downloads per day
More comparisons
- Groups – Memberships and Access Control vs Ultimate Member – reCAPTCHA
- Groups – Memberships and Access Control vs Content Control
- Groups – Memberships and Access Control vs Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection
- Groups – Memberships and Access Control vs Simple Membership
- Ultimate Member vs Members
- Ultimate Member vs Membership Plugin – Kadence Memberships
- Ultimate Member vs Simple Membership
- Ultimate Member vs BuddyPress
Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Groups – Memberships and Access Control or Ultimate Member?
By active installs, Ultimate Member: 200K+ sites run it against 10K+ for Groups – Memberships and Access Control, according to WordPress.org figures captured on October 31, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Groups – Memberships and Access Control or Ultimate Member?
Ultimate Member, at #274 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with Groups – Memberships and Access Control at #1,737. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Are Groups – Memberships and Access Control or Ultimate Member alternatives to each other?
Not all of them. Some of these plugins do different jobs and many sites run more than one. This page compares their popularity, not their features.
Where do these numbers come from?
WordPress.org publishes each plugin’s active install count and its position on the popular list. This site records both every day, along with per-day downloads and ratings, so the charts above show how the plugins have moved over time rather than a single day.