Best WordPress plugins for a membership site… any tips

I’m starting to build my first WordPress website for a membership-based platform and could use some advice on which plugins are worth using. I’m looking for recommendations on SEO tools, page builders, contact forms, security, email management, backups, and anything else I might need.

I’ve never worked with WordPress before, but I’m pretty good with tech—I even built my own PC. Any suggestions would be a big help!

I’d suggest WP Activity Log to track what users are doing on your site—it can be really useful to have that history. Also, check out WP 2FA for two-factor authentication. It’ll make your site much more secure. Hope that helps!

Here’s what I recommend:

  • SEO: Rank Math
  • Page builder: Elementor or whichever one you like
  • Contact form: WPForms
  • Security: Wordfence and Sucuri
  • Backup: UpdraftPlus
  • Spam protection: Antispam Bee
  • Email: WP Mail SMTP
  • Membership: MemberPress

For your needs, here’s something to consider. I’ve been building a WordPress toolkit for years, and if it helps you, I’ll be glad. Just make sure the plugins and themes you pick work well together and fit your budget if you’re going for premium ones.

Here’s a good resource for membership plugins: 14 Best WordPress Membership Plugins Compared (2025)

If your memberships involve payments and you’re using WooCommerce, check out their Memberships extension. It’s worth a look:

https://woocommerce.com/products/woocommerce-memberships/

You mentioned building your own PC—nice! Anyway, for WordPress beginners, this might be useful: Start Here - Your Guide to WordPress by WPBeginner

Here are my suggestions for plugins:

  1. Rank Math for SEO: https://rankmath.com/
  2. Page builders: Elementor [https://elementor.com/] or Beaver Builder [https://www.wpbeaverbuilder.com/]
  3. Contact forms: ARForms [https://www.arformsplugin.com/]
  4. Security: Wordfence [Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security – WordPress plugin | WordPress.org]
  5. Email management: SendinBlue (now called Brevo)
  6. Backups: BackWPup [BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin – WordPress plugin | WordPress.org]
  7. Memberships: ARMember [https://www.armemberplugin.com/]