best "members area" plugin for wordpress?

Hi,

I am looking to create a "members only" area for wordpress users, and I'd prefer to have an easy to use plugin that i can incorporate into the blog, something that would support recurring payments via paypal.

Basically I want the following:

1. Person pays for membership and creates an account
2. Once created, he has access to the restricted area for X time.

Does such a plugin exist?

I read a lot about "memberwing" but people seem to complain about a lot of code being encrypted, which is kind of dodgy since it will be used to collect emails and process payments.

Anyone used / has any feedback on...
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/members/
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-members/
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/members-only/
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/membership-subscription-management/
?

Thanks a lot in advance and Merry Christmas!!
Liza

PS - and yes, i did check the paid plugins, but they are all hell overpriced, and since I can't be sure that this whole idea will kick off, I don't feel confident paying 300$ for one plugin, yet..

 

Hi Liza,

I create Wordpress based membership sites for my clients and have found WishlistMember plugin to be easy to use and set up.

I actually wrote a blog post about the Wishlist Member plugin. You may want to check it out to see if this plugin will meet your needs. If you have any questions about it, just let me know.

Here's link to the post:
Build a Wordpress Membership Site with Wishlist Member – Review

~ Bina

 

I use s2Member. It's FREE which is the main thing I got this plugin.
Now leaving the FREE factor aside, this plugin is easy to configure (just need some familiarity and time)
It allows 4 levels of membership (bronze through platinum and you can change the level)
It's integrated with paypal which paypal tracks the lifespan of the membership. It will expire the member when subscription is up.
It allows you to create paypal button according to your levels of membership.
My site uses s2member and i created a step-by-step guide to configure the s2member plugin in my website, Wordpress Handyman.
If you need help you can pop by the URL or just take a look at my site and see if it satisfy your need

 

DAP!

Sorry to yell, but I started out with Wishlist Member, and quickly discovered that I'd have to setup a new "product" for every level and module of every level on my site. So, if I wanted to have Gold and Platinum members, and I wanted them to have different content for each month for a year, I'd have to setup 24 modules/products!

So I am now using DAP. It truly drips content for each of your products, without you having to setup a module for each time period. You can read more about what I'm talking about on their site.

Not to mention, I like DAP's support better. While video's have their place, sometimes having the instructions written out in great detail helps speed the setup process along.

 

I agree with Michelle