LifterLMS has everything you need to easily create, launch, and scale courses from your own WordPress LMS website.
- Free version
- Yes
- Price
- From $199/year
- Category
- Membership & LMS
Not announcedBlack Friday deal for LifterLMS
LifterLMS vs Paid Memberships Pro
Evenly matched on the points we can measure. Here's how they compare on price, features, ratings and deals.
At a glance
| Feature | LifterLMS | Paid Memberships Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 8/10 (better) | 7.2/10 |
| Starts at | $199/year | $49/month |
| Free version | Yes | Yes |
| Refund window | 30 days | 100 days (better) |
| Billing | Subscription | Free + paid plans |
| Active installs | 10K+ | – |
| Last Black Friday | – | – |
| Category | Membership & LMS | Membership & LMS |
| Vendor | Lifterlms | Paid Memberships Pro |
| Black Friday 2026 | Not announced | Not announced |
Which should you choose?
Choose LifterLMS if…
- Course creators on WordPress
- Membership sites that need a free starting point
Choose Paid Memberships Pro if…
- Site owners selling memberships who want a free open-source core
- Developers building custom membership sites
Features
LifterLMS
- Course builder
- Memberships and access plans
- Payment gateways
- Cart abandonment recovery
- Email and form integrations
- Quizzes and assignments
- Private groups and cohorts
Paid Memberships Pro
- Core membership plugin
- Free add-ons
- Payment gateways
- Managed hosting
- Daily backups and CDN
- Do It For Me service
Pros and cons
LifterLMS
- Core LMS plugin is free with unlimited courses and students
- Paid bundles include ecommerce and marketing add-ons
- 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans
- Ecommerce and advanced features need a paid bundle
- Paid bundles renew at full price after the first year
Paid Memberships Pro
- Open-source core plugin is free on WordPress.org
- Free add-ons are included with the free plan
- 100-day money-back guarantee
- Managed hosting is available for owners who do not want to host themselves
- The free plan is self-hosted, so you need your own WordPress host
- Some features need add-ons to match rival plugins, according to a BlogVault comparison
- Standard support covers one self-hosted site only
Pricing plans
LifterLMS
LifterLMS Core Plugin
Free
Unlimited sites
- Unlimited courses
- Unlimited memberships
- Unlimited students and teachers
EarthStarts here
$199/year
1 site
- Unlimited support for 1 user
- Ecommerce add-ons for Stripe, PayPal, and WooCommerce
- Cart abandonment recovery add-on
Universe
$299/year
5 sites
- Unlimited support for 2 users
- Sky Pilot theme
- Email marketing and CRM add-ons
Paid Memberships Pro
StandardStarts here
$49/month
1 site
- All premium add-ons
- Support for one self-hosted site
- Self-hosted installation
Max
$99/month
- Managed WordPress hosting
- Free migration
- 25 dev credits every month
Max 2x
$299/month
- Twice the server resources
- 50 credits a month
- Managed hosting
What Reddit says
LifterLMS
Reddit mentions of LifterLMS are thin: a 2019 sysadmin thread lists it as one WordPress LMS option for a 500-user organisation, and a 2026 post reports that Elementor editing did not work on course pages until course and lesson options were enabled in Elementor settings.
Paid Memberships Pro
Not enough Reddit discussion yet.
LifterLMS vs Paid Memberships Pro questions
Is LifterLMS better than Paid Memberships Pro?
They're evenly matched on the points we can measure. Pick by features and budget.
Which is cheaper, LifterLMS or Paid Memberships Pro?
LifterLMS starts at $199/year and Paid Memberships Pro starts at $49/month.
Can I get LifterLMS or Paid Memberships Pro cheaper on Black Friday?
Both are on our Black Friday tracker. We'll add each discount the moment it goes live.
Both products
Paid Memberships Pro: Membership & Subscriptions for WordPress
- Free version
- Yes
- Price
- From $49/month
- Category
- Membership & LMS
Not announcedBlack Friday deal for Paid Memberships Pro