LearnDash vs MemberPress: Which is the better LMS?

Looking for a WordPress plugin for your eLearning platform? You might have come across LearnDash and MemberPress.

These are two popular WordPress plugins for LMS platforms and membership site. But which one is for you? Let’s find out.

In this article, we will compare LearnDash against MemberPress, two popular WordPress LMS plugins, to help you decide the best option for you.

LearnDash vs MemberPress At a Glance

Before we begin, let’s quickly introduce the two WordPress plugins. 

LearnDash is the brainchild of Justin and Kloé Ferriman. It debuted in 2013 and became part of StellarWP in 2021.  

MemberPress came into existence in 2012. However, the team behind this member has previously built membership software solution for clients. MemberPress just made their solution scalable, extendable, and attainable.

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Plans and Pricing

LearnDash

LearnDash’s pricing is pretty rigid. There is no free tier or lifetime license, either. You will have to sign up for one of the three yearly subscriptions, which start at $199 per year.  

LearnDash doesn’t have many add-ons since most of the features are included in the plugin itself. However, you’ll have to pay an additional $49 per year for each premium add-on you use. 

LearnDash Plans	Pricing	Benefits
Basic	$199/year  No Lifetime Package	1-site license  Core LMS Features  Free integrations and add-ons  1 year of updates and support
Plus	$399/year  No Lifetime Package	10-site license Core LMS Features  Free integrations and add-ons  1 year of updates and support
Pro	$799/year  No Lifetime Package	Unlimited site licenses Core LMS Features Free integrations and add-ons 1 year of updates and support

MemberPress

MemberPress, too, doesn’t offer free and lifetime plans. It has four tiers of paid plans, each with different features, add-ons, and integrations.

MemberPress	Pricing	Benefits
Basic	$179.50/year	1-Site License Basic Add-Ons & Integrations ReadyLaunch Page Maker
Plus	$299.5/year	2-site License Advanced Add-Ons & Integrations Developer Tools
Pro	$399.50/year	3-site License Advanced Add-Ons & Integrations Developer Tools
Elite	$499.50/year	5-site License Advanced Add-Ons & Integrations Developer Tools

Unlike MemberPress, LearnDash offers all of its features in each plans.

That said, none of the two LMS plugins offer a lifetime license. So, if you don’t want to pay a subscription fee, you should look into other options. Masteriyo is one such plugin with a lifetime license for both individuals and agencies.  

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Features

Initial Setup

After installing the respective plugins, you are welcomed by the setup wizard, which lets you set the basic settings.

LearnDash configures basic course and payment settings. On the other hand, MemberPress also focuses on content security.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Setup Wizard	✅	✅
Native Theme	❌	❌
Demo Content Import	❌	❌
Migration	✅ (Tutor LMS, LearnPress, Sensei)	✅ (LearnDash)

MemberPress has a more comprehensive setup wizard that guides you through course creation, payment gateways, and security.

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Course Builder

For a membership plugin, MemberPress has a really good drop and drag course builder. However, it is no match for LearnDash which offers advanced course creation features.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Drag and Drop Builder	✅	✅
Front-end Builder	✅ (Premium Add-on)	❌
Unlimited Courses and Lessons	✅	✅
Course Dashboard	✅	✅
Course Attachments	✅	✅
Download Materials	✅	✅
Course Preview	✅ (Available as Sample Lessons)	❌

Here, LearnDash offers more advanced course creation features.

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Quiz Builder 

With the latest update, MemberPress has improved its quiz builder, adding newer question types and advanced settings. However, it is no match to LearnDash which offers a lot more quiz options.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Unlimited Quizzes	✅	✅
Drop and Drag Builder	✅	✅
Multiple Question Types	✅ (8, Includes Survey)	✅ (9, Includes Likert)
Quizzes Import and Export	✅	❌
Randomize Questions	✅	❌
Quiz Duration	✅	❌
Limit Quiz Attempts	✅	✅
Quiz Hints	✅	❌
Answer Explanation	✅	❌
Quiz Leaderboard	✅	❌
Email Notification	✅	❌

Both LMS plugins have drag and drop quiz builder. However, LearnDash has more advanced features than MemberPress.

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Built-in Order & Payment Support 

MemberPress has built-in support for Striple, PayPal and Authorize.net. On the other hand, LearnDash only has Stripe.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Built-in Order System	✅ (Stripe Connect)	✅ (Stripe, PayPal, Offline, Authorize.net)
Course Subscription	✅	✅
Revenue Sharing	✅	❌

MemberPress has more default payment gateways than LearnDash.

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Sales and Ecommerce 

Sales and ecommerce integration are similar across LearnDash and MemberPress. You can integrate WooCommerce and other popular platforms to these plugins. MemberPress doesn’t support third-party membership plugin as the feature is built right into it.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
WooCommerce	✅	✅
WooCommerce Subscriptions	✅	❌
Stripe	✅	✅
PayPal	✅	✅
Razorpay Integration	✅	✅ (via Zapier, Integrately)
Easy Digital Downloads	✅	✅ (via Uncanny Automator)
Membership Site	✅ (Paid Membership Pro, Restrict Content Pro)	✅ (Built-in)

Both plugins are compatible with third-party sales and eccomerce platforms.

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Certificate Builder

LearnDash features Gutenberg-based drag and drop certificate builder which gives you a lot of control over the design. On the other hand, the MemberPress offers premade templates and is less flexible when it comes to customization.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Certificate Blocks	✅ (4 Custom Blocks)	✅ (5+ Sections)
Pre-built Certificate Templates	❌	✅
Unlimited Certificates	✅	✅
Certificate Dashboard	✅	✅
Auto Attach Certificate to Email	❌	❌
QR Verification for Certificate	❌	❌

MemberPress has a beginner-friendly certificate builder whereas LearnDash is better for users with intermediate skills.

That said, there are WordPress LMS plugins that have more feature-rich certificate builders. Take Masteriyo, for instance. It offers QR verification and the ability to automate emails with certificates upon course completion. 

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Gradebook and Analytics 

LearnDash lets you structure custom grade to evaluate your students assignment. This feature is missing on MemberPress.

On the other hand, analytics is part of MemberPress’ core feature whereas you will have to pay additional fee to unlock it on LearnDash.

	LearnDash	MemeberPress
Gradebook	✅	❌
Course Analytics	✅ (Available as ProPanel)	✅

Still, LearnDash comes out on top as it has all the required options

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Live Sessions

MemeberPress is not just a membership and LMS plugin, it also has dedicated to the online coaching business. Thus, it comes with all the features required for live interactions.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Calendar	✅  (Event Calendar)	✅  (Calendly)
Live Interaction	✅ (Zoom, Google Meet, GoToWebinar)	✅ (Zoom, GoToWebinar, Crowdcast, Calendly, SSA)

Thus, MemberPress is better LMS plugins if live interaction is your priority.

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Course Protection and Security

LearnDash and MemberPress have measures in place to secure course material as well as user data.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Course Content/Video Protection	✅	✅  (Requires VideoPress)
Password Strength Checker	✅	✅
Google reCAPTCHA	✅	✅
Email Verification	✅	✅

It’s a tie.

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Student Engagement 

There is no feature in MemberPress that allows learners to rate and review courses which gives it a disadvantage over LearnDash.

	LearnDash	MembePress
Q&A Section	❌	❌
Review System	✅	❌
Course-wide Announcement	❌	❌
Notification System	✅	✅

LearnDash has more features to engage students into the LMS platform.

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Course Control and Access 

Access rules on MemberPress allows you to restrict and control the release of course content. However, LearnDash supports all of its features plus few more, making it the better choice between the two..

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Course Preview	✅ (Available as Sample Lessons)	❌
Course Content Access for Instructor/Admin	✅	✅
Course Prerequisites	✅	✅
Content Drip	✅	✅
Course Retake	✅	✅
Challenging Exams	✅	❌
Course Bundle	✅ (Available as Course Groups)	✅
Course Expiration	✅	✅

LearnDash ha a slight edge over MemberPress has it offer more access control features.

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User Roles and Membership 

LearnDash and MemberPress cover all the basic user roles and membership functions. However, in a broader sense, LearnDash aligns more to the LMS side whereas MemberPress is more about creating a membership site.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Unlimited Instructors and Students	✅	✅
User Import and Export	✅	✅
Course Content Access for Instructor/Admin	✅	✅
Bulk Course Enrollment	✅	✅
User Profile	✅	✅
Social Login	❌	❌
Multiple Instructor	✅	❌
Membership Site	✅	✅

Pick LearnDash for LMS platform and MemberPress for membership site.

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Design and Customization 

Being on the WordPress LearnDash and MemberPress offer similar design and customization options.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Bundled Theme	❌	❌
Page Builder	✅ (Elementor, Divi, Beaver)	✅ (Elementor, Divi, Beaver, WPBakery)
White Label	❌	❌
Webhooks	✅ (Zapier)	✅ (Zapier, Pabbly, Integrately)
Advanced Email Automation	✅	✅
Shortcodes	✅	✅

It’s a tie as well.

Still, the two plugins don’t allow you to white label your website with your logo and branding. If it is important to you, you should consider LMS with white labeling features like Masteriyo.

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Support and Documentation 

From documentation to video tutorials, you get plenty of resources with both LearnDash and MemberPress.

	LearnDash	MemberPress
Live Chat	❌	❌
Documentation	✅	✅
Video Tutorials	✅ (YouTube, Academy)	✅ (YouTube, Academy)
Live Walkthrough	✅	❌
Facebook Community	✅	✅ (Unofficial)

The support options are similar across the two plugins.

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LearnDash vs MemberPress: Which should you choose? 

Here’s a summary of everything discussed so far. To give you a broader sense of the competition, we’ve also included Masteriyo in the comparison chart. 

Feature	LearnDash	MemberPress	Masteriyo
Pricing	4 ⭐	3.5 ⭐	5⭐
Initial Setup	4.5⭐	5⭐	5⭐
Course Builder	5⭐	4.5⭐	5⭐
Quiz Builder	5⭐	3 ⭐	4.5 ⭐
Certificate Builder	4⭐	4⭐	5⭐
Live Sessions	5⭐	5 ⭐	5⭐
Course Protection and Security	5⭐	5⭐	5⭐
Student Engagement	4⭐	1.5⭐	5⭐
Built-in Order and Payment	4⭐	5⭐	5⭐
Sales and Ecommerce	5⭐	5⭐	5⭐
Gradebook and Analytics	4.5⭐	3⭐	5⭐
Course Control and Access	5⭐	4⭐	4.5⭐
User Roles and Membership	5⭐	5⭐	5⭐
Design and Customization	4.5 ⭐	4.5 ⭐	5⭐
Support and Documentation	5⭐	4⭐	5⭐

To conclude, LearnDash is a better LMS plugin whereas Membership is great for membership site with courses. Moreover, you can use the two plugins simultaneously.

Before you make the ultimate decision, we suggest looking into other alternatives, as there are a lot of new promising LMS in the market. One such plugin is Masteriyo, which has all LMS features and even more flexible pricing.