What AMS tier is WishList Member?

WishList Member is classified as **Tier IV: Micro-Membership Software** by SmartThoughts, suitable for micro-associations focusing on digital content and having limited budgets (under $1M).

Is WishList Member a full AMS?

No, it is a **WordPress membership plugin** for content protection and sales. It requires integration with multiple third-party tools for full AMS functions like events, CRM, and detailed accounting.

What is WishList Member's best feature for associations?

Its core strength is its **flexibility and content control**, allowing easy creation of tiered, protected content and courses directly within a WordPress site, giving the association full data ownership.

What are the investment costs for WishList Member?

It uses an annual subscription model starting at $149.50/year. Note that additional costs for third-party plugins, hosting, and external systems must be included in the total budget.

WishList Member AMS Software Review

Q: Does a plugin solution like this require technical staff?

Yes. A 'best-of-need' strategy, using multiple integrated plugins, demands a higher level of **technical expertise from staff or a dedicated outside partner** to maintain integrations and troubleshoot issues.

WishList membership software review by SmartThoughts

WishList Member AMS Software Review for Association Executives: A WordPress Plugin for Digital Membership

Setting off on a quest for the perfect AMS Software is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, except the needle is your organization's future and the haystack is full of confusing tech jargon. It's one of those monumental decisions that can make an Executive Director or senior leader feel like they've just been handed the One Ring. But fear not, brave Association Executive! This summary is your trusty sidekick, offering an objective, expert-level analysis of WishList Member to guide you through the labyrinth of technology procurement and help you avoid any digital dragons lurking in the shadows.

Summary of the WishList AMS Software

WishList Member is not a traditional, all-in-one Association Management System (AMS). Instead, it is a powerful, easy-to-use membership plugin for WordPress that transforms any WordPress site into a full-blown membership site with protected, members-only content. It is built for online business owners, content creators, and those looking to generate recurring revenue by selling digital products, online courses, and monthly memberships.

The company behind WishList Member has been in business for over 16 years (as of 10/2025), with a team of over 12 developers and support staff, positioning them as an established player in the WordPress plugin space. One of their stated goals is to be "the most flexible membership plugin on the market, with a robust feature set and plentiful integration options".

The Purpose Statement of the WishList Software

The vendor's core mission is to make running a dynamic online business as straightforward as possible. WishList Member is primarily designed for anyone looking to make recurring revenue through their WordPress website. This includes creating full membership platforms, selling subscription services, paywalling content, monetizing expertise with online courses, or running coaching programs.

For the non-profit and association community, the plugin is leveraged as a tool to streamline the setup and management of recurring donations and to enrich the donor experience by providing exclusive content, ultimately fostering a deeper sense of community and trust.

What Makes WishList Member a Fit for the Association Market and Unique?

WishList Member's distinguishing characteristics for the association market revolve around its deep integration with the widely used WordPress platform and its content-centric focus.

Content Protection and Tiers: Associations can create multiple membership tiers (or donation levels), each granting different access to exclusive content, pages, posts, or resources. This is key for incentivizing higher levels of support and keeping supporters engaged.
Full Control and Ownership: Unlike third-party platforms that impose their own branding and constraints, WishList Member, as a plugin, offers nonprofits full control over their membership site, branding, and—critically—data ownership.
Flexibility and Integrations: It is built to integrate seamlessly with a vast ecosystem of other tools. This allows an association to build a "best-of-need" solution by integrating with payment gateways (PayPal, Stripe, etc.), email marketing providers (MailChimp, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign), and Learning Management Systems (LMS) like LearnDash or LifterLMS. This flexibility is essential when the core AMS doesn't offer the depth required in specialized areas.

What are the Functional Goals of the WishList Member?

WishList Member’s functional goals are heavily focused on digital content, access, and basic membership revenue, rather than the comprehensive operational functions found in a traditional AMS.

Content Management Capabilities: It is a WordPress plugin, so its Content Management is provided by WordPress itself. WishList Member adds the layer of content protection to lock specific pages, posts, and Custom Post Types (CPTs), as well as supporting Drip Content to release material over time.
Financial Management: It focuses on payment processing and e-commerce for membership and course sales, with seamless integration with numerous payment gateways. It supports the setup of recurring donations/dues. However, it lacks native, in-depth financial management capabilities such as full accounts receivable tracking or direct integration to a general ledger beyond a summary level, which are common limitations in the micro-membership software space.
Membership Management: It allows for the creation of unlimited membership levels and the ability to manage member accounts, track subscriptions, and handle member status. Member data is created and stored using the WordPress user database.
Events Registration and/or Event Management: It does not offer robust, native event management beyond what is achievable through a connected e-commerce or ticketing plugin integration.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): The core function is membership record-keeping; it does not contain the advanced CRM capabilities for relationship tracking or advocacy without integration with an external CRM system.
Chapter Management: There is no native chapter management functionality.
Marketing Automation and/or Email Marketing Automation: It is designed to integrate with numerous email providers for communication and automation via third-party tools.
Member Portal: The member dashboard is self-serve and customizable, integrated directly into the WordPress site. A member directory would require an additional WordPress plugin.
Advanced Reporting: Reporting is likely basic, focused on membership and sales data. Advanced analytics for data mining would need external reporting tools due to its foundational nature as a plugin.
Artificial Intelligence & Dashboards: These advanced features are not core to the product and would require external platform integration.

Where Does WishList Member Fit in the Market?

WishList Member's positioning as a flexible, content-focused WordPress plugin that supports basic membership and digital revenue generation places it firmly in the Tier IV: Micro-Membership Software category, according to the SmartThoughts Tier Classification Framework. To clarify, this isn't a conventional Association Management Software (AMS). Instead, it's a tool for managing memberships.

Ideal Client Profile: Micro-associations or small organizations with an operating budget of startup to less than one million dollars. It is best suited for organizations whose primary function is to monetize exclusive digital content and courses or those who value the ability to run their entire operation on their existing WordPress CMS.
Comparison to Similar Systems in the Same Tier:
- WordPress with other membership plugins (e.g., MemberPress, MemberSpace, MemberStack, etc.): WishList Member is often cited as a direct competitor within the same micro-membership space, with users noting its robust features and flexibility.
- Tier III systems (e.g., Membes, YourMembership, Memberclicks): These offer a more "Swiss Army knife" all-in-one approach and greater native functional depth in areas like event management and more comprehensive accounting than a pure plugin solution. Tier III systems generally target slightly larger associations with budgets up to $3 million.

The core value proposition of WishList Member is that the software lives inside a Content Management System (CMS), such as WordPress, offering basic features with limited depth in specialized functions. This is characteristic of a Tier IV solution.

What is the Price of WishList Member?

WishList Member operates on an annual subscription model with no transaction or monthly fees. Pricing is tiered based on the number of sites supported and the level of support provided.

Plan	Annual Price	Sites	Support Level
Basic	$149.50/year	1	Standard
Plus	$249.50/year	2	Priority
Pro	$349.50/year	5	Premium

All plans include unlimited members, unlimited memberships, content protection, course features, and a wide range of integrations.

Crucially, this pricing only covers the plugin itself. Association Executives must budget for associated costs: the core WordPress hosting and domain, the cost of any additional WordPress plugins needed for functions like event registration or a member directory, and potentially an external email marketing or CRM system.

In the end, it is recommended to contact the software vendor directly for the latest pricing information.

WishList Member Peer Reviews and Unique Feature Insights

Peer reviews for WishList Member are generally positive, often highlighting its longevity and flexibility in the WordPress ecosystem.

The Good: Users praise it as the "BEST WordPress Membership Management Plugin," valuing its overall quality, ease of use, features, and functionality. Its extensive range of integrations and customizable options is frequently cited as the reason it allows users complete control over their course and membership website, often comparing it favorably to other standalone platforms. Its capability for content dripping and managing multiple membership levels is a standout feature for associations focused on delivering educational content.
The Bad: As is common with any highly customizable plugin, some users have noted a steep learning curve and a potentially complex setup for non-technical users. While the company has been around for many years, the nature of building an AMS on a CMS like WordPress requires relying on third-party plugins for core AMS functions (like event registration or a member directory), which can introduce complexity and potential integration headaches.
Employee Health (Inferred Correlation): While no specific Glassdoor reviews for the company were immediately available, the company cites a stable team of developers and support staff with over 16 years in business. Low employee turnover can correlate with better, more stable support, which is a major factor in software selection. It is always important to check for current reviews to ensure the support culture remains strong, as the quality of support is often more critical than the software's features. Remember that peer reviews should be used only as part of your overall evaluation process, and not as the ultimate "fact" of a situation, and you must check the dates to ensure relevance.

What Does SmartThoughts Expert Analysis State?

WishList Member is a technically sound product for its intended purpose: managing access to content and basic member accounts within the WordPress framework. It presents a viable and cost-effective Tier IV solution for associations whose primary value proposition to members is digital content, online courses, and a protected member community.

However, Executive Directors must recognize that choosing this path means committing to a "best-of-need" software strategy rather than an integrated "all-in-one" solution. The core challenge for an association is that a comprehensive AMS must manage more than just content—it needs sophisticated finance, events, and CRM functionality. With WishList Member, these functions rely on multiple third-party plugins and external systems, which inherently increases integration risk and total cost of ownership (TCO).

The high degree of flexibility is a double-edged sword: it offers unprecedented customization but requires a higher level of technical expertise from staff or a dedicated outside partner to maintain and troubleshoot. This is a crucial self-inspection point for non-technical association executives—you must assess your team's technical skills and resources before opting for a DIY, integrated plugin solution. If your organizational size or complexity grows beyond basic membership and content, you will quickly outgrow this Tier IV solution and face the inevitable cost and risk of an AMS replacement project.

Our Final Thoughts on WishList Member

WishList Member offers a strong, flexible, and cost-effective foundation for the smallest associations or those prioritizing digital content monetization on a WordPress site. It is a powerful tool, but it is the central cog in a self-assembled system, not a complete AMS solution. Before you commit to this path, you must be confident that you can manage the complexity of integrating and maintaining the other critical business systems you will need.

Failure is not an option when making this critical technology decision. If you are a verified Association Executive (not working with a consultant) and need objective verification that your needs align with a WishList Member-based solution, or you are struggling to narrow down your shortlist, schedule a complimentary, no-obligation conversation today to discuss a free evaluation or our full, detailed Smart Report. We are here to serve as your trusted, objective advisor, helping you save time and eliminate risk in your software search.

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