UPDATED July 23, 2009 – See update below.

I have a subscription tutorial site at MerchantTutorials.com. Miva Merchant users can subscribe to two levels of tutorials, Intermediate or Advanced (Basic tutorials are free at MivaMerchant.com). I created the membership system a couple of years ago using aMember Pro software ($199 per domain). It works very well for what I’m using it for.

At TutorialsUnlimited.com, I’m looking at another membership-type system that will allow people to sign up for a small recurring monthly fee that gives access to tons of tutorials on social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and more. This set me off into a new search for membership software. The requirements are:

• Allows immediate access to restricted area upon first payment.
• Allows automatic monthly subscription payments.
• Allows immediate cancellation so no manual effort is needed and user is not charged after cancellation.
• Ties in with PayPal Pro.
• Allows multiple levels of access.
• Has some form of affiliate referral tracking.

Being a Wordpress fan, I discovered two Wordpress plugins:

• Membership-Plugin – not a creative name, but it looks powerful. It meets most of my criteria, and is affordable. It has a one-site license at $99 and a multi-site license at $199 (up to 5 sites). By tying into Wordpress, site design and maintenance would be simple.
• MemberWing – a more interesting name, and also very powerful. It has multiple levels of Free, Webmaster One ($79.95), Professional One ($99.95), and Professional Unlimited ($195). So, in comparison to Membership-Plugin, the price is about the same for one and for multiple sites (although MemberWing’s $195 deal is for unlimited domains). Features are very close. A tough call, until I see one deal killer. Membership-Plugin has no affiliate capability, while MemberWing allows a tie-in to PayDotCom.com.

I don’t really like the tie-in to PayDotCom.com, as it requires ongoing fees. aMember Pro has a built in affiliate system. This put me back to the beginning.

Frustrated, I finally resorted to the miserable job of Googling for membership software. It was through this process that I found the best option so far, the one I’ve chosen that meets all of my criteria at an incredible price. EasyMemberPro membership/subscription software has all that I need, including an affiliate system I can manage myself with no ongoing fees. And the base price of $97 includes unlimited domains! Take that, aMember!

I’m glad I decided to spend some time investigating my options instead of taking the easy route of using what I’ve used before. I got what I needed for half the price, and I can use it on multiple domains. Keep an eye out at TutorialsUnlimited.com for the new Social Media Tutorials subscription option!

UPDATE July 23, 2009: I decided to ditch EasyMemberPro because I needed a more configurable affiliate system. I ended up with something I hadn’t written about – Rapid Action Profits combined with the Membership Plus addon that comes with a PayPal subscription plugin. I chose this combination of software for ease-of-use, the way it pays affiliate commissions on two tiers instantly via PayPal when a purchase is made (no monthly checks needed), and the template-based system that let me be up and running quickly. I bought another add-on named Cookie Jar that puts affiliate tracking code into non-RAP pages so affiliates can send people to my blog, etc., and still get credit. Assessment – awesome.

Click here for an installment option!