Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction vs Simple Membership
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
Simple Membership leads the WordPress.org popular list today at #872, ahead of Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction at #1,466. Over the last 7 days Simple Membership slipped 4 places and Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction climbed 4 places. Simple Membership has the largest install base, roughly 4× the next: 40K+ active installs against 10K+ for Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction. Downloads this week: Simple Membership 19,875 and Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 2,458. Ratings: Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 4.7★ from 266 and Simple Membership 4.6★ from 475 reviews.
| Metric | Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction | Simple Membership |
|---|---|---|
| Popular rank today | #1,466 ▲ 4 | #872 ▼ 4 |
| Active installs | 10K+ | 40K+ |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 2,458 | 19,875 |
| Rating | 4.7★ (266) | 4.6★ (475) |
| Last updated | Aug 19, 2026 | Sep 12, 2026 |
| Current version | 3.0.9 | 4.8.3 |
| Best rank on record | #1,460 | #861 |
| Days in the top 50 | 0 | 0 |
| On WordPress.org since | Nov 2015 | May 2014 |
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
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Frequently asked questions
Which is more popular, Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction or Simple Membership?
By active installs, Simple Membership: 40K+ sites run it against 10K+ for Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction, according to WordPress.org figures captured on September 15, 2026.
Which ranks higher on WordPress.org, Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction or Simple Membership?
Simple Membership, at #872 on the WordPress.org popular plugins list today, with Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction at #1,466. The ranking reflects recent installs and moves daily, which is why this page shows the history rather than one snapshot.
Are Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction or Simple Membership 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.