WordPress Paywall Plugin
The paywall that does it all and grows with you, fairly.
Every feature. One fair price. Grows with your site.
Start today for just €9 a month and pay more only once your site has grown substantially. Full feature set from day one. The market leader starts at $299 per month – regardless of your actual subscriber count – plus a per-user revenue share. We at WallCentive think that’s unfair. So we start small and stay that way. Our costs are far lower and fully transparent – always with the complete feature set. See for yourself:
Why a paywall – and why now?
Text can be copied. Your brand can’t.
AI systems like Google’s AI Overviews and large language models summarize content before readers ever reach your site. Every text you publish can be extracted, reworded and served elsewhere – including by your competitors.
What can’t be copied: your voice, your stance, the trust you’ve built with your audience. The brand becomes the real product – and people who trust your brand pay for it. Not because they have to, but because they want to.
Reach is shrinking. Loyalty wins.
Algorithms distribute content on their own terms. Search volume is shifting from articles to summaries. Ad revenue per impression keeps falling as overall ad inventory grows. The future belongs to publishers with a direct relationship to their audience – no matter whether Google, Meta or an LLM grants or withdraws reach.
A paywall isn’t a step backward – it’s the answer to a business model in structural upheaval.
Monetize both fly-by visitors and loyal readers.
WallCentive treats advertising and subscriptions as one: non-subscribers see regular ads, entry-level subscribers see fewer, and annual subscribers can read ad-free depending on your paywall settings. That gives you an ad-free subscription tier at the push of a button – no manual opt-out forms, no GDPR grey zone. The publisher decides which tier carries which ad load.
Your content has a value – WallCentive makes it visible. Get started in a few clicks →
Three paywall modes, one plugin
No two publishers are alike. WallCentive adapts – from a fully open free model to a hard access lock.
Reading on trial
Readers get a freely configurable allowance – e.g. 3 articles per week. Anyone who wants more is sent to the paywall. The rolling window prevents cookie tricks, and server-side counting beats ad blockers too. The most popular entry point into monetization.
Open and lock selectively
Some articles stay free forever, others stay behind the paywall. Ideal for publishers who want to steer reach and revenue deliberately – news open, analysis exclusive. Assignment happens per post meta, category or post type.
Everything behind the paywall
No free access, no free articles. To read, you subscribe. For trade publications, newsletter publishers and brands strong enough to convince readers directly. WallCentive locks server-side – JavaScript tricks don’t work.
What WallCentive offers
Other paywall solutions are expensive, bloated – or both. Many charge high monthly fees plus a percentage of every subscription on top. We at WallCentive believe we should be paid for good software. Your readers belong to you.
| WallCentive | Other vendors | |
|---|---|---|
| Metered paywall (rolling window) | Yes | Yes |
| Freemium mode | Yes | Yes |
| Premium-only (hard paywall) | Yes – server-side, JS-proof | Yes |
| Stripe Checkout & webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Cloudflare full-page cache | Yes – hybrid mode | Not without content jumping |
| Keep reading after purchase (auto-login) | Yes – logged in automatically | Not without a detour |
| Magic login (passwordless) | Yes | Often unavailable |
| Protection against cookie manipulation | Yes – IP fallback | A pricey add-on, or unavailable |
| Newsletter integration | Yes – Mailster | Separate plugin or unavailable |
| A/B tests with revenue measurement (RPM) | Yes, with auto-winner | Pricey add-on |
| Stripe customer portal | Yes | Often unavailable |
| Time-based article release | Yes | Unavailable |
| Per-subscriber revenue share | No – your growth is yours | Yes – a cut of every subscription |
| Fixed monthly cost | from €9/month | from $299/month plus revenue share |
Paywall automation
Publish. Capture reach. Then monetize.
WallCentive automatically opens new articles for Google and social – and closes them on your schedule. No manual work, no missed traffic.
A new post goes live and stays free for a window you choose – long enough to gain traction in Google Discover, for example. After that it belongs to your subscribers. You set it once. WallCentive does the rest.
WordPress dashboard
All your KPIs at a glance
Native dashboard widgets right inside your WordPress backend. No external tool needed.
Engineered with care
Built for publishers and self-publishers who take performance seriously – not for demo videos.
Freemium done right: the mix that converts
Collecting credits instead of just blocking: readers are drawn in through gamification and pulled step by step into the sales funnel. Even anonymous guests earn credits by genuinely reading, shown in a growing counter. By registering they secure their balance and redeem it as a discount on their first year – granted only for real dwell time, never for click-throughs. An expiry reminder gives the final nudge at just the right moment. Unique: no other paywall provider offers this mechanic.
The cache stays clean
Many paywall plugins force a cache bypass for every visitor. WallCentive serves the full article straight from cache. JavaScript hides the locked part after load, and on the next visit an httponly cookie takes over – no cache miss, no performance hit, full Cloudflare compatibility.
A/B testing that optimizes for revenue
Find out which paywall earns the most – built-in A/B testing compares variants and optimizes for real revenue, not just clicks. What’s an expensive extra tool elsewhere, or missing entirely, is included with WallCentive from day one. We’ve done the thinking so you don’t have to.
Billing via Stripe – the industry leader
WallCentive bills through Stripe, the world’s leading payment platform. Credit card, SEPA direct debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and more – secure and PCI-compliant, without sensitive payment data ever touching your server. Recurring subscriptions, cancellations and invoices run reliably on infrastructure already trusted by millions of businesses.
Keep reading – no password, no detour
After purchase the reader is logged in instantly and can finish the article – no email confirmation, no password to set, no page reload. WallCentive signs the user in on the checkout return via an auth cookie. A confirmation email goes out in parallel, explaining how future logins work.
Magic login – most support requests solve themselves
By far the most common reason subscribers contact support: they can’t get in. Wrong password, forgotten account, wrong email. WallCentive solves this structurally – after purchase readers get a link, click once and they’re in. No password, no form, no support ticket. The token expires after a single use and is rate-limited.
A paywall that can’t be bypassed
Clear the cookie and reload – the classic trick. WallCentive detects it via IP fallback and locks automatically. Crawlers never receive a cookie because the counter responds to bot detection. Google always sees the full content.
Migration without data loss
Switching from another solution? Migrate existing subscribers with the import plugin – including a dry-run mode and targeted per-email migration. No subscriber is lost, no manual effort.
Scheduled release – embargo without effort
Articles can be released to all readers automatically after a configurable delay. Exclusive to subscribers today, open to everyone tomorrow – fully automatic, with no editor ticking a box.
Show readers how much is still free
Optionally, WallCentive shows a hint like “2 free articles left this month.” That creates urgency without pressure – and lifts conversion, because readers see the limit before they hit it.
Ad tiering – every plan carries its share
Non-subscribers see full advertising. Entry-level subscribers see reduced ads or no in-content advertising. The annual plan is completely ad-free – WallCentive controls this per plan via capabilities. No manual branching in your theme: meter_pro_can('no_ads') is all you need.
Ad-free subscription at the push of a button
The classic consent-banner problem: readers click through opt-outs, forget them, or re-enter them on every device. With WallCentive’s ad-free model, the plan decides whether tracking and ads appear – not the consent tool. Subscribers buy their way out of ads; fly-by readers are fully monetized. Clean, scalable, GDPR-compliant.
Buy single articles – no subscription hurdle
Not every reader wants a subscription right away. WallCentive lets readers buy single articles via Stripe – a one-time payment with a full year of access. The buyer gets an automatic WP account and a magic-login link by email. Buy two articles and a hint appears that a subscription would be cheaper. A seamless on-ramp to loyalty.
Premium-only: a hard paywall at the push of a button
If you don’t need a free offering, switch to premium-only mode with one click. No free article, no rolling window, no freemium patchwork – every piece of content is exclusive to subscribers. The lock runs server-side; disabling JavaScript and cookie tricks don’t help. Ideal for trade publications with a strong brand.
Up and running in about 30 minutes
Set up, connect, earn
No agency, no developer, no weeks-long project. WallCentive is a WordPress plugin you install yourself and configure through a clear settings panel – no code required. Here’s the realistic timeline.
Install the plugin
approx. 2 minUpload the ZIP in your WordPress backend, activate it, paste your license key. Exactly like any other plugin. That’s the groundwork done.
Configure the paywall
approx. 15 minPick a mode – metered, freemium or premium-only – set the free allowance and adjust the paywall text. All through a clear settings panel. The defaults are battle-tested, so you don’t start from scratch.
Connect Stripe
approx. 10 minCreate a free Stripe account or use an existing one, paste the API keys, copy the webhook URL and define your subscription prices. An illustrated guide walks you through every step – even with no prior Stripe experience.
Go live and earn
from now onSwitch the paywall on – done. From your very first subscriber, revenue flows straight to your Stripe account and is paid out to your bank. No revenue share, no middleman, no money getting stuck somewhere else.
Fine-tuning
ongoingOver time you’ll discover all our thoughtfully designed features. At first it’s about getting started. Once your first subscribers arrive, you develop a knack for rolling out our extra features step by step – at no additional cost, of course.
From installation to your first possible subscription: around 30 minutes.
Fair pricing. Always.
WallCentive charges only for what you actually use. Small teams start cheap – and pay more as their site grows. Every plan includes all features.
Already have subscribers? Pick the matching plan below. Otherwise simply start with our most affordable plan, „Starter“. WallCentive is the paywall that scales fairly with you – minimizing cost and risk.
Starter
9 €/month
€108/year, billed annually
Up to 50 active subscribers
- 1 WordPress domain
- All features, no limits
- Updates included
- Email support
Growth
19 €/month
€228/year, billed annually
51 to 1,000 active subscribers
- 1 WordPress domain
- All features, no limits
- Updates included
- Email support
Publisher
99 €/month
€1,188/year, billed annually
From 1,001 active subscribers
- 1 WordPress domain
- All features, no limits
- Updates included
- Priority support
Growth and Publisher are billed annually. Starter is available monthly (€15) or yearly (€9/month · €108/year). When your site reaches the subscriber limit, you have 7 days to upgrade – during which existing and new subscribers can keep signing up. From day 8, everything keeps working for existing subscribers while new subscriptions pause until you upgrade.
Freemium: the mix makes it work
Not every article needs to disappear behind the paywall – and not every one should stay free forever. WallCentive gives you full control, per post, right in the WordPress editor.
Build reach
News items, service pieces, short reports – content that brings readers to your site and builds trust. No counter, no login, no hurdle.
Spark curiosity
Readers get an allowance of free articles per month. Regular readers eventually hit the paywall – right when they’re already convinced.
Monetize exclusively
In-depth investigations, exclusive reports, background analysis – this content is always locked. Only subscribers get access, regardless of the free allowance.
In production
WallCentive isn’t a concept – it runs on one of the most-read German-language news sites about the Canary Islands.
“We rely on WallCentive because no available solution met our requirements: full Cloudflare compatibility, magic login for subscribers, A/B testing, a credit system to activate future readers, a clean Stripe integration without an expensive SaaS subscription, and much more. Today WallCentive runs in production on teneriffa-news.com, letting us keep monetizing our community in the age of AI instead of worrying about declining traffic and collapsing ad revenue. For us it’s far more than a plugin – and we gladly recommend it, because other publishers, of every size, face similar challenges.”
Frequently asked questions
Does WallCentive work with any WordPress theme?
Yes. WallCentive hooks into output via the standard WordPress the_content filter – independent of the theme. In hybrid mode you can configure the content area’s CSS selector if your theme uses an unusual structure.
What happens when my license expires?
Your system keeps running normally and all existing subscribers can log in and read. Only the paywall itself is suspended after expiry: content becomes accessible to all visitors until the license is renewed. Starting 7 days before expiry, a notice with a renewal link appears in the WordPress backend.
Can I test WallCentive before buying?
Just get in touch – on request we’ll set up a test installation or give you access to a demo. No risk, no automatic subscription.
Does WallCentive work with Cloudflare and other CDNs?
Yes – the hybrid rendering mode was built specifically for this. Pages are cached and served in full; the paywall mechanism works via JavaScript and a cookie without bypassing the cache. A matching Cloudflare cache rule is described in the documentation.
Which payment providers are supported?
WallCentive supports Stripe and PayPal. Via Stripe, subscribers can pay by credit card, SEPA direct debit, Klarna, Apple Pay, Google Pay, iDEAL and more – depending on your Stripe configuration. PayPal is connected via IPN and suits existing subscribers who prefer PayPal.
How many domains are allowed per license?
One domain per license. For staging environments on the same domain (subdomain or separate server) we’re happy to agree on a pragmatic arrangement.
Is there support?
Yes – email support is included with the license. We reply within 24 hours. Because WallCentive was built inside a working publishing house, we understand real-world questions – and we’ve made sure most of them never come up in the first place.
Still have a question? Write to us →
How can we help?
Demo, custom requirements, questions – we reply within 24 hours. No call center, no automated replies.
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