Can a recurring membership be given as a gift?

A recurring MemberPress membership can be purchased as a gift, but the gifted access lasts only through the first billing cycle and then expires rather than renewing for the recipient. Use a fixed-term or one-time membership when you want the duration to be clear. Tell buyers this before checkout so they do not expect the recipient’s card to be charged later.

Does the recipient get access immediately after the gift is bought?

No. The recipient must open the gift link, complete the normal membership registration form and submit it before the gifted subscription starts. The buyer’s payment creates the gift, but it does not by itself create the recipient’s login or activate their access. Test the redemption email and registration flow before promoting gift memberships.

Can I sell gift memberships without an add-on?

You can fulfil occasional gifts manually by creating the recipient as a member and adding a completed transaction with an expiry date. This gives the recipient access, but it does not give customers a gift checkbox, redemption link, recipient email, resend option or gift-status tracking. For regular self-service sales, a gifting add-on is the practical choice.

What happens if the recipient does not receive the gift email?

The gift giver can copy the gift URL or resend the gift email from the Gifts area of their MemberPress account. You should also check WordPress email delivery, the sender address and spam filtering. Do not manually create a second gift before checking the original status, because that can leave the buyer with duplicate redemption links.

Can I gift a free membership?

No. The MemberPress gifting workflow does not allow a free membership to be gifted. If you need to give free access, use the manual member route: create the user, associate the membership, mark the transaction complete and set the correct expiry date. That is an administrative grant, not a customer-facing gift purchase.

How to sell gift memberships on a membership site

Membership & LMS Time About 30 minutes 6 steps Updated 9 Sep 2026

The short answer

You can handle occasional gift memberships manually by creating the recipient’s account and a completed, dated transaction. For customer self-service, use a gifting add-on that adds a gift option to eligible memberships, emails the recipient and tracks redemption.

The route

01Choose the gift membership terms
02Use the manual route for occasional gifts
03Install the gifting add-on
04Allow a membership to be gifted
05Test the buyer and recipient flow
06Add reminders and monitor redemptions

What you need

A WordPress membership site with MemberPress configured
At least one paid, time-limited membership
Administrator access to WordPress
A working email delivery setup

Choose the gift membership terms

Decide which memberships can be gifted and whether the gift should last for a fixed period. A one-time membership is the clearest option. With the MemberPress gifting system, a recurring membership gift is valid for the first billing cycle only and then expires, while free memberships cannot be gifted. Trial periods are also overridden for gifted subscriptions.

Write the expiry and redemption rules on the sales page so the buyer knows exactly what the recipient receives.

Use the manual route for occasional gifts

For a small number of gifts, create the recipient as a WordPress user and associate them with the membership from MemberPress > Members > Add New. Set the transaction to Complete, use the membership’s default or a specific expiry date, and send the login details or password-reset instructions securely.

This route is fine for staff gifts, customer-service adjustments or a few annual presents. It does not provide a buyer-facing gift checkout, recipient email, redemption link or automatic gift tracking. Manual transactions also do not charge a payment gateway or create recurring billing.

Install the gifting add-on

For self-service gifting, install and activate the gifting add-on from MemberPress > Add-ons. The add-on adds the gift flow to your existing MemberPress memberships rather than replacing your membership rules or payment setup.

If the add-on is not available in your dashboard, check that your MemberPress licence includes it before planning the customer-facing workflow.

Allow a membership to be gifted

Edit the membership under MemberPress > Memberships, open Membership Options, and enable Allow this membership to be gifted. Save the membership, then repeat this for each level you want to offer as a gift.

Do not assume that enabling the add-on makes every membership giftable. The option must be enabled on each eligible membership.

Test the buyer and recipient flow

Open the membership registration page as a customer, select the gift option, complete the purchase, and check that the sender can enter the recipient’s name, email address and note. The recipient should receive a message containing a redemption link and complete the normal registration form before access begins.

Test with an address outside your site’s admin account. Check spam folders and confirm that the recipient receives the correct membership and expiry date. A broken mail configuration is the problem most likely to appear after launch.

Add reminders and monitor redemptions

Create a reminder under MemberPress > Reminders using the After Gifted Membership Expires event. Explain that the recipient must register again if they want continued access.

Gift givers can use the Gifts area of their account to copy a gift URL, resend the gift email and see whether the gift was claimed. Administrators can review gift purchases and claims in MemberPress transactions.

Fast way: install Memberpress Gifting Addon, enable gifting on the membership levels you want to sell, then test one purchase and redemption. Choose this route when customers should buy subscriptions for other people without staff creating accounts manually.

The fast route

Let Memberpress Gifting Addon do it

Adds gifting to MemberPress memberships with recipient emails and duration controls; choose it when members should buy subscriptions for others.

Get Memberpress Gifting Addon

Sources

memberpress.com /docs/memberpress-gifting-add-on/?utm_source=openai
memberpress.com /docs/manually-adding-members/?utm_source=openai
memberpress.com /docs/manual-transactions/?utm_source=openai

Questions

Can a recurring membership be given as a gift?: A recurring MemberPress membership can be purchased as a gift, but the gifted access lasts only through the first billing cycle and then expires rather than renewing for the recipient. Use a fixed-term or one-time membership when you want the duration to be clear. Tell buyers this before checkout so they do not expect the recipient’s card to be charged later.
Does the recipient get access immediately after the gift is bought?: No. The recipient must open the gift link, complete the normal membership registration form and submit it before the gifted subscription starts. The buyer’s payment creates the gift, but it does not by itself create the recipient’s login or activate their access. Test the redemption email and registration flow before promoting gift memberships.
Can I sell gift memberships without an add-on?: You can fulfil occasional gifts manually by creating the recipient as a member and adding a completed transaction with an expiry date. This gives the recipient access, but it does not give customers a gift checkbox, redemption link, recipient email, resend option or gift-status tracking. For regular self-service sales, a gifting add-on is the practical choice.
What happens if the recipient does not receive the gift email?: The gift giver can copy the gift URL or resend the gift email from the Gifts area of their MemberPress account. You should also check WordPress email delivery, the sender address and spam filtering. Do not manually create a second gift before checking the original status, because that can leave the buyer with duplicate redemption links.
Can I gift a free membership?: No. The MemberPress gifting workflow does not allow a free membership to be gifted. If you need to give free access, use the manual member route: create the user, associate the membership, mark the transaction complete and set the correct expiry date. That is an administrative grant, not a customer-facing gift purchase.