With User Registration & Membership v4.3.0 and higher, you can now allow existing members to upgrade their current membership plans to higher-tier options. This powerful feature helps you increase revenue through upselling while providing members with seamless access to premium features and content.

Prerequisites:
✅ User Registration & Membership plugin v4.3.0 or higher.
✅ At least two active membership plans (basic and premium tiers).
✅ Configured payment gateways (PayPal, Stripe, Bank Transfer,Mollie, or Authroize.net).

Understanding Membership Upgrade Types #

The plugin supports two upgrade pricing models:

Full Amount Upgrade #

• Members pay the complete price of the new membership plan.
• Ideal for significantly different plan structures.
• Simple pricing that’s easy for members to understand.
• Previous membership is immediately replaced.

Proration Upgrade Pro #

Prerequisites: 
✅ User Registration & Membership Pro v5.3.0 or higher.

• Members pay only the difference between plans.
• Accounts for the remaining time on the current membership.
• Fair pricing for members who recently paid.
• Calculated based on the remaining subscription period.

Proration Calculation Formula

When proration is enabled, the system calculates:

1. Days Used: Current date minus subscription start date
2. Daily Rate: Original paid amount ÷ subscription length in days
3. Remaining Credit: Original amount – (daily rate × days used)
4. Final Price: New plan price – remaining credit

Example: If a member has 20 days left on a $10/month Basic plan and wants to upgrade to a $25/month Premium plan, with proration, they would pay approximately $18 (the difference for the remaining period).

Setting Up Upgrade Paths for Membership #

Follow these steps to set membership upgrades:

Step 1: Access Membership Settings #

1. Navigate to User Registration & Membership > Memberships.
2. You’ll see your existing membership plans listed.
3. Click Edit on the membership plan you want to make upgradeable.

Step 2: Enable Upgrade Action #

1. In the Membership Editing screen, scroll down to the “Membership Type & Price” section.
2. Locate the Upgrade Action toggle switch.
3. Toggle to enable Upgrade.

This enables the upgrade functionality for this membership plan.

Step 3: Configure Upgrade Path #

1. After enabling Upgrade Action, the Upgrade Path field becomes active.
2. Click in the Upgrade Path field to see available membership plans.
3. Select which membership plans this current plan can be upgraded to.

You can select multiple upgrade options to give members a choice.

Step 4: Set Upgrade Type #

Choose your preferred upgrade pricing model:

Full Amount Upgrade:

• Select this option for a straightforward, complete plan replacement.
• Members pay the full price of the new membership.
• Best for plans with different billing cycles or structures.

Proration Upgrade:

• Select this for fair, time-based pricing.
• The plugin calculates the difference based on the remaining membership time.
• Ideal for similar plans with different feature levels.

Step 5: Save Upgrade Configuration #

1. Review your upgrade settings.
2. Click on the Save button to save changes.
3. Repeat this process for other membership plans that should be upgradeable.

Ensure Payment Gateways are Active #

Before members can upgrade, verify that your payment gateways are properly configured:

1. Go to User Registration & Membership > Settings > Payments.
2. Confirm your preferred payment methods are enabled:
   • Stripe Settings: Publishable and secret keys.
   • PayPal Settings: Client ID and secret key with account details.
   • Bank Transfer: Account information for manual payments.

Similarly, you can add other payment gateways: Mollie and Authorize.net, through addons.

Test Upgrade for Payments #

1. Use sandbox/test mode for initial testing.
2. Create a test member account with a basic plan.
3. Attempt an upgrade to verify that payment processing works correctly.
4. Check that member access updates after successful payment.

Here’s the workflow for testing:

Frontend User Experience for Upgrading Membership #

When you enable upgrades, members will see upgrade options on their dashboard:

Member Dashboard:

• Current plan information.
• Available upgrade options with pricing.
• Clear “Change Plan” buttons.

Upgrade Process for Members #

1. The member logs in to their account.
2. Click on the “Membership” tab to view the details.
3. View available upgrades on their dashboard.
4. Click on the Change Plan button.

A pop-up with available upgrades will appear, from which the user will select the desired upgrade option.

After the user places an order for the upgrade, they can select the payment gateway based on the payment gateways enabled for your membership.

For PayPal, the user will be redirected to the PayPal payment service.

For Stripe, the user needs to enter their credit card number. Similarly, other payment gateways, such as Mollie and Authorize.net, will exhibit similar behavior to PayPal and Stripe.

If the user selects ‘Bank’ as their payment gateway, they must click the ‘Pay now‘ button to complete the payment.

Users will receive the payment details in a pop-up, allowing them to transfer the amount to the specified account number.

Upgrade Confirmation and Access #

Admins can track and manage payments through the Payment History tab on their dashboard.

For bank payments, the admin needs to approve the payment manually.

After a successful upgrade:

• Account access updates immediately.
• Previous plan restrictions are removed.
• New plan benefits become available.
• Payment history shows an upgrade transaction.

Managing Upgrade Workflows #

The plugin follows a clear set of rules based on the payment structure of the current and target plans:

Proration Logic #

The proration logic of the plugin is as follows:

$days_passed = $current_date→diff( $start_date )→format( '%a' );
$price_per_day = $initial_paid_price / $plan_length_in_days;
$prorate_discount = $initial_paid_price - ( $price_per_day * $days_passed )
$final_price = $upgrade_price - $prorate_discount

Membership Upgrade Logic (Moving to Higher-Priced Plans) #

If the upfront cost of the plan that the user is willing to change is higher than the current planʼs price, then:

1. Upgrade from Free to Other Plans

• Full Amount Upgrade.
• Proration Upgrade (Not Applicable).

2. One-Time Payment Upgrades

• To One-Time Payment:
  • Full Amount: Pay the complete new plan price.
  • Proration: Pay only the price difference between plans.
• To Subscription:
  • Full Amount: Pay the complete subscription price, and the billing cycle starts fresh.
  • Proration: Pay the difference if the subscription cost is greater than the one-time payment.

3. Subscription Upgrades

• To One-Time Payment:
  • Full Amount: Pay the complete one-time price.
  • Proration: Pay the upgrade amount minus the remaining subscription credit.
• To Subscription:
  • Full Amount: Pay the complete new subscription price.
  • Proration: Pay the upgrade amount minus the remaining subscription credit.

Membership Downgrade Process (Moving to Lower-Priced Plans) #

If the upfront cost of the plan that the user is willing to change is lower than the current planʼs price, then:

• Subscription to subscription: Downgrade will be delayed until the current subscriptionʼs expiry.
• Subscription to One-Time Payment: Downgrade will be delayed until the current subscription’s expiration.
• One-Time Payment to Subscription: Downgrade will be immediately implemented, and the billing cycle will be set to the subscriptionʼs expiry.
• Subscription to Free: Downgrade will be delayed until the current subscriptionʼs expiry.
• One-Time Payment to Free: Downgrade will be immediately implemented

Creating Logical Upgrade Paths #

Design your upgrade paths to make sense for your members:

Linear Progression:

• Basic → Premium → Professional
• Each tier builds upon the previous with additional features

Flexible Options:

• Basic → Premium OR Professional
• Allow members to choose the upgrade that best fits their needs

Setting Member Expectations #

Clearly communicate:

• What features do they gain with each upgrade?
• Pricing structure (full amount vs. proration).
• When access to new features begins.
• What happens to their current membership?

With this comprehensive guide, you’re ready to implement and manage membership upgrades that will help grow your membership site revenue while providing excellent value to your members. Remember to test thoroughly and start with simple upgrade paths before implementing more complex scenarios.