Managing users is a crucial but often overlooked aspect of running a WordPress site. For membership sites, eCommerce stores and other sites with restricted access, having robust user management capabilities is especially important.
User management plugins allow you to flexibly control user roles, permissions, registration and more. With the right plugin, you can create tailored membership levels, protect sensitive content, and build online communities.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore the top 8 user management plugins for WordPress available today. For each plugin, you‘ll see key features, usage stats, ratings and examples of great use cases.
By the end, you‘ll have actionable recommendations on choosing the best user management solution for your WordPress site‘s needs and level of complexity. Let‘s dive in!
1. MemberPress – Best for Large Membership Sites
MemberPress is one of the most powerful and full-featured membership management plugins available. It works for sites of any size but truly shines for large or complex membership sites.
Some key features include:
- Flexible membership structures with multiple packages
- Robust access rules and permissions per membership level
- Singles and recurring payment options
- Bundles and modular course creation
- Gamification through achievement badges
- Membership PDF certificates
| Active Installations | 200,000+ |
| WordPress Rating | 4.8/5 (782 votes) |
In summary, MemberPress is the Swiss Army knife of plugins if you want to run a large, customized membership site on WordPress. The features are extremely robust, and with add-ons you can achieve just about any membership functionality imaginable. The main downside is the premium pricing that starts at $199 per year.
⇨ View MemberPress Details & Pricing
2. WP User Manager – User Management with Front-end Forms
WP User Manager prioritizes front-end management, with a drag & drop form builder for registration, login, account management and more.
Standout features include:
- Registration and login form builder
- Front-end user account management
- Custom user profile pages
- Social login integration
- Email customization
- Gamification through points and ranks
| Active Installations | 10,000+ |
| WordPress Rating | 4.7/5 (295 votes) |
In summary, WP User Manager is great for sites that need custom front-end forms and user account management functionality versus just backend admin management. The features are very polished and layouts are responsive out of the box. Pricing starts at a very affordable $39 per year.
⇨ View WP User Manager Details & Pricing
3. WP User Frontend Pro – Most Flexible Free Option
WP User Frontend Pro has an extremely flexible free version along with premium add-ons for more advanced capabilities.
Standout free features:
- Registration, login, account forms
- Guest posting
- Basic access rules
- Custom redirects
- reCAPTCHA protection
Paid add-ons ($39+ per year) provide:
- Memberships and subscriptions
- Group-based content restrictions
- Activity logs and front-end moderation
- Analytics and reports
| Active Installations | 30,000+ |
| WordPress Rating | 4.1/5 (414 votes) |
In summary, WP User Frontend Pro is the most flexible free user management plugin that still packs an impressive punch. It works for small to mid-sized sites that want custom forms and basic access rules without needing paid memberships or subscriptions.
⇨ View WP User Frontend Pro Details & Pricing
4. User Role Editor – Simplified Permission Management
As the name suggests, User Role Editor makes it easy to customize default WordPress user roles and permissions. Despite being a more lightweight plugin, it adds powerful user management functionality.
Key features:
- Edit built-in roles like author, editor, etc
- Change specific capabilities like publish posts, upload files, etc
- Selectively block admin menu, widgets, posts, etc per role
- Import/export user roles
- Multisite control
| Active Installations | 700,000+ |
| WordPress Rating | 4.5/5 (250 votes) |
In summary, User Role Editor is a great choice if you want to customize WordPress’ existing user roles and permissions but don‘t need the full power (and cost) of paid membership plugins. Configuration is very intuitive making it perfect for WordPress beginners.
⇨ View User Role Editor Details
5. Profile Builder Pro – Registration Management Focused
As the name hints, Profile Builder Pro is focused squarely on building custom registration forms, user profiles and related functionality.
Key registration and login features include:
- Multi-page registration forms
- Custom user profile fields
- Email confirmation and notifications
- Login widget and shortcode
- Social login integration
- Password strength rules
Extended paid features ($69+ per year) add:
- Memberships and subscriptions
- User moderation capabilities
- Analytics and reports
| Active Installations | 60,000+ |
| WordPress Rating | 4.7/5 (615 votes) |
In summary, Profile Builder Pro is a great choice if your main user management focus is frontend registration, login, profiles and related. It provides incredibly strong core features in those areas. Adaptive memberships and advanced management capabilities incur additional costs.
⇨ View Profile Builder Pro Details & Pricing
6. Remove Dashboard Access
If you have a simple site and only need to restrict admin dashboard access, Remove Dashboard Access is a perfect lightweight option.
As the name states, it simply removes/limits WordPress dashboard access with configurations like:
- Disable dashboard access fully for non-admins
- Allow user profile editing only
- Custom login page message
- Set custom redirect URL after login
| Active Installations | 50,000+ |
| WordPress Rating | 4.6/5 (72 votes) |
In summary, if you have simple user management needs and primarily want to limit admin access, Remove Dashboard Access delivers that crucial capability in a simple, lightweight package.
⇨ View Remove Dashboard Access Details
7. WPFront User Role Editor
WPFront User Role Editor allows you to customize default WordPress roles similar to the User Role Editor plugin. It also has a free version with premium add-ons.
Key features include:
- Create, edit, delete roles
- Content permissions down to post/page level
- Widget and menu restrictions per role
- File/media access settings
- Import/export roles
| Active Installations | 60,000+ |
| WordPress Rating | 4.5/5 (61 votes) |
In summary, WPFront User Role Editor offers slightly more advanced role management versus basic plugins like Remove Dashboard Access while still being free and lightweight. For granular user permissions without paid memberships, it‘s a great solution.
⇨ View WPFront User Role Editor Details
8. PublishPress Capabilities Pro
PublishPress Capabilities Pro plugin, part of the PublishPress suite, offers advanced user management and permissions for sites wanting more than basics but less than full membership functionality.
Some key capabilities include:
- Create/delete/copy roles
- Default role permissions editor
- Post-based permissions
- Menu and widget visibility settings
- WooCommerce catalog management
- File and media access restrictions
| Active Installations | 10,000+ |
| WordPress Rating | 4.1/5 (46 votes) |
In summary, PublishPress Capabilities Pro hits a nice middle ground between basic, free user management plugins and paid membership solutions. If you want advanced permissions without memberships/subscriptions, it‘s a great buy at $69 per year.
⇨ View PublishPress Capabilities Pro Details & Pricing
Choosing the Right WordPress User Management Plugin
The user management landscape has solutions for needs and budgets of all sizes. Here is a quick cheat sheet for choosing the right plugin:
Simple Sites
Need basic access restrictions? Choose Remove Dashboard Access or User Role Editor.
Custom Registration & Login Forms
Prioritize front-end forms and UI? Check out WP User Manager or Profile Builder.
Advanced Permissions
Want granular controls without subscriptions? Use PublishPress Capabilities Pro or WPFront User Role Editor.
Full-Fledged Memberships
Building a dedicated membership site? MemberPress is the gold standard.
Conclusion
Whether you run a simple blog or membership site empire, solid user management paves the way for security, customer trust and peace of mind.
Hopefully this guide has eliminated any confusion about the top WordPress user management plugins available and distilled the key decision points.
No site is too basic or advanced for the expanding landscape of user management solutions. Implement one of these plugins today and rest easy knowing your site and content is secure.
