Subscription Plugin Compatibility
Benecaster integrates with subscription and membership plugins through a bridge system. Each bridge is a tested, maintained integration that maps your membership plugin’s tiers and subscriber events to Benecaster’s access control system.
Supported Bridges — Phase 1
| Plugin | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MemberPress | ✅ Supported | |
| WooCommerce Subscriptions | ✅ Supported | Requires WooCommerce core |
| Paid Memberships Pro | ✅ Supported | |
| Restrict Content Pro | ✅ Supported |
All Phase 1 bridges are included with any paid Benecaster license. No additional purchase is required to use any of the four supported plugins.
For version-specific compatibility notes and any known issues with particular releases, see the changelog.
Choosing a Subscription Plugin
If you don’t already have a membership plugin and are setting up from scratch, any of the four supported plugins will work. A few considerations:
MemberPress is the most widely used WordPress membership plugin and has the most extensive documentation ecosystem. It handles both simple and complex membership structures well.
WooCommerce Subscriptions is the right choice if you’re already using WooCommerce for other products — subscriptions and podcast access live in the same shop.
Paid Memberships Pro is free at its core tier and works well for straightforward subscription setups. It’s a lower-cost entry point if budget is a factor.
Restrict Content Pro is lightweight and straightforward — a good fit if you want a simple membership plugin without WooCommerce complexity.
See the individual setup guides for each plugin for step-by-step configuration instructions.
Unsupported Plugins
Membership and subscription plugins not listed above are not tested or officially supported. Attempting to connect an unsupported plugin will result in Benecaster’s bridge operating in a neutral state — no subscriber tokens are generated and no feed gating is applied.
Additional bridge integrations are planned as add-ons for Phase 1 and may be bundled in Phase 2. If you rely on a specific membership plugin not listed here, check the add-ons page for availability or contact support.
Phase 2: Built-in Membership System
Phase 2 (planned 3–6 months after launch) adds a built-in membership system with Stripe payment processing, removing the requirement for an external subscription plugin entirely. All five existing bridges remain available as add-ons for Phase 2 users who prefer to keep their existing membership setup.
Feature Compatibility Notes
Some membership plugin features operate at the WordPress content layer and do not interact with Benecaster’s feed system. Understanding this avoids configuring the wrong tool for podcast-specific needs.
Content Drip / Access Scheduling
| Plugin | Feature name | Applies to Benecaster feeds? |
|---|---|---|
| MemberPress | Drip | No |
| Restrict Content Pro | Content Drip module | No |
| Paid Memberships Pro | Drip add-on | No |
| WooCommerce Subscriptions | No drip feature | — |
Membership plugin drip features restrict access to WordPress posts and pages based on how long someone has been a member. They have no effect on Benecaster’s RSS feeds. To schedule when episodes appear in subscriber feeds, use Benecaster’s availability dates — that is the correct tool for this.
See Content Drip and Access Scheduling in the bridge overview for the full explanation.
Running Multiple Subscription Plugins
Benecaster supports one active bridge at a time. If multiple supported subscription plugins are installed, Benecaster prompts you to select which one to use during setup. You can change the active bridge at any time from Benecaster → Settings → Subscription, but doing so requires remapping your tiers.
Running two subscription plugins simultaneously for different purposes (e.g. WooCommerce for physical products and MemberPress for memberships) is supported — just select the plugin that manages your podcast subscriptions as the active bridge.
WordPress and WooCommerce Versions
WooCommerce Subscriptions requires WooCommerce core. Benecaster tests against current and recent WooCommerce versions. If you encounter issues after a WooCommerce update, check the changelog for compatibility notes.
