Building a WordPress site for your membership business is actually really hard.

And I don’t think product companies like mine are as focused on making it easier (as we should be).

We preach “endless customization,” because it is the number one thing we hear in customer feedback. Why those chose us.

But for a great number of people, that just turns into: “Oooooo. I can fiddle with this forever and never launch.”

Closed platforms do the opposite. They give you guardrails, a limited set of design choices, and freely tell you “not possible.”

I could view this as restrictive, but it actually forces a creator to focus on the goal instead of getting lost in the journey. To focus on launching (or what people on the biz side call activation).

WordPress is different. We say “you can do anything you want.” But too much freedom can be paralyzing.

Hosting companies and AI “site builders” are trying to fix this with pre-filled templates.

But prebuilt sites (without YOUR content and messaging) make you think you need everything from day one: courses, newsletters, communities, videos, beautiful PDFs.

They encourage bloat instead of focus, and imply “best practices” when really they’re just filling in lorem ipsum with a guess. Even if you were interviewed by some AI overlord, I’d bet that 95% of the output is cookie cutter and 5% based on your replies.

I don’t have full answers, yet. But I don’t think this solved by themes/hosting companies/page builders. Definitely not WooCommerce (they’re chasing multimillion-dollar stores with dev teams, not small DIY creators).

I think it comes from platform plugins like mine. I’m close enough to real use cases to know what creators actually need.

So this is what’s on my mind this week as we head into Q4:

>> How do we help people launch faster without boxing them into something they’ll regret later? <<

>> How do we prevent unnecessary time spent getting it “perfectly complete” and more time spent launching, again and again, circling around the product market fit and then doubling down. <<

What do you think? Do membership creators need more freedom or more guardrails?

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I’m Kim Coleman, co-founder of Paid Memberships Pro. I write here about building open source software, membership businesses, and the messy, human side of being a founder.

Author: Kim Coleman

I'm Kim Coleman, Co-founder of Stranger Studios, where I’m deeply involved in every part of the business—from product development and team management to marketing, support, and strategy. I oversee frontend development for our flagship product, Paid Memberships Pro, including the core open-source plugin and more than 75 Add Ons, with a focus on quality, usability, and member experience.

I help shape and grow the products and services we offer, from new plugin development and hosting solutions to personalized support and strategic guidance. Stranger Studios is expanding beyond software—we're investing in community growth, thought leadership, and open content to support membership-focused businesses at every stage.

Today, our team supports creators and businesses across a range of industries, including associations and nonprofits, course and coaching platforms, online communities, blogs and publications, video and podcast producers, directories, and paid newsletters.