The Thousand Solutions Blog

Should You Use with a Membership Plugin? -

Apr 4, 2022

When creating an online course using WordPress it is likely that you'll discover numerous routes to reach the goal.

WordPress is the best instrument for selling and creating online courses because it is flexible and it you own the platform. However, there are so many plugins available which can get a little too overwhelming.

You may be experiencing this issue to create your own online course and you don't know how to proceed. Assuming you are going to host your own WordPress website, you'll ultimately face the following decision regarding your course:

  1. Use only for your courses
  2. Only use a membership plugin
  3. Utilize both

The answer to this question is dependent on the particulars of your work, therefore unfortunately I cannot give you a hard-set guidelines on when you should apply every. Let's take a look at the most common situations.

1. Use the only

If this is something you're thinking about, you really do not need a plugin for membership for content protection. Our LMS can protect your content, without the use of a membership plugin using the Access Settings.

For example, let's say that you want to sell three different course. The content of the courses (lessons and quizzes, for instance.) are not accessible to those who have not yet registered. Only people who are registered to take the course have access to the content. If someone purchases one course, they won't have access to other courses. They are only able to access only the course they purchased.

If your class isn't completely free, then you're probably looking for a way to include the option of paying for your course. It is compatible with these top shopping carts

  • Simple Digital Downloads
  • SamCart
  • ThriveCart (beta)

It is important to note that the WordPress shopping carts (1 and 2 above) connect to hundreds of payment gateways. comes with the following three payment options if you want to not use a shopping cart

  • PayPal
  • Stripe
  • 2Checkout

You can very easily use one of these methods to take payments. This will safeguard your course's information without the requirement of a membership plugin. The people who opt for this method benefit from the speedier process when creating their course offering since it reduces the need for learning a new solution.

2. Use a Membership plugin (Only)

It's crucial to keep in mind that there are some circumstances where an LMS plugin isn't required.

If your work only requires protection of a few posts, pages or even assets that are in your WordPress site, then a membership plugin is all you require. The use of a learning management software is in this instance excessive.

One example would be if you have a site that includes a community forum and perhaps some valuable downloads for the members. In this case there is no need for a plugin like because it doesn't require course enrollments, quizzing, certificates, badges, points, and learner reporting.

3. Using Both and a Membership Plugin

While a membership plugin isn't necessary however, there are advantages to using with a membership plugin depending on your requirements.

For instance, if you're looking to add more metrics about your members then using a membership plugin will be an excellent value-added feature. Many membership platforms come with reports built-in to them. Utilizing this in conjunction provides you with more insights into your users.

Another scenario where you can use both is if you have already a membership-based website, and just want to add some course capabilities in a more formal, structured manner. The addition of a plugin makes it simple to add value to your membership site by creating classes that your members can take. There is no need to change the way you manage your members either since it's the same with your membership plugin.

can be directly connected to the following membership solutions:

A word of warning Avoid locking in vendors!

Programs for learning can be different in requirements and sometimes those needs are changed. Start your course using any of the options above and freely switch as needed.

The thing I've learned from over a decade within the world of online learning is that learning programs as well as online courses aren't the same for everyone. Learners change and the same goes for requirements.

If you do or don't, whether you use or not highly recommend you avoid any product that promotes an e-commerce site that is a singular solution for protecting content. In the same vein Be wary of solutions that are advertised by the name of "all-in-one". This is rarely the case, but assuming it is then that means you're locked-in too. Don't be taking this risk. I've seen this cause many people major problems throughout the years.

Still confused? Take a look at this webinar!

This webinar will cover typical scenarios in which employing a membership-based plugin together may make sense.