Now live
The free plugin is a complete community platform: a feed, spaces, profiles, messaging, notifications, and moderation. You can launch a real community on it on day one. BuddyNext Pro adds the things you reach for after the first few months: scheduling, broadcast and drip email, real-time updates, deeper moderation, analytics, AI, and ways to charge for access. Nothing you already use is taken away when you upgrade.
The full breakdown
Free covers everything a community needs to launch and run. Pro is additive on top of it.
The feed your members open every day. Everything they need to post and engage is free.
Communities within your community. Unlimited and open on free; gated, private, and curated on Pro.
Who your people are and how they find each other.
Private conversations. One-to-one is free; groups and instant delivery come with Pro.
Bring members back. Transactional email is free; marketing automation is Pro.
Free feeds refresh on a fast 5-second poll. Pro pushes updates the instant they happen.
Keep your community healthy. Reporting and a review queue are free; automation is Pro.
Charge for access when you are ready. Pro only. How membership plans work →
Free shows you the headline counts. Pro shows you the whole picture.
Connect the rest of your stack.
BuddyNext is API-first and fully restyleable from your theme on both plans.
Photo and file posts, plus all direct messaging, are powered by the free WPMediaVerse companion. Group messaging, read receipts, and real-time DM use WPMediaVerse Pro, a separate companion you add on top of BuddyNext Pro.
Which is right for you
Honest answers
A native mobile app is in development and is expected in the next couple of months, with a white-label option for agencies. It is a separate product rather than part of a Pro licence, and its pricing will be announced closer to release. Everything in the comparison above is available today.
No. BuddyNext Free is a complete community platform: feed, spaces, profiles, messaging, notifications, moderation, and search. You can launch a real community on it the day you activate it, with no key to enter and nothing that expires.
No. Pro is purely additive. Activating it never removes or alters a free feature you rely on - it only adds new capabilities and unlocks Pro settings on top of what you already have.
Your license controls plugin updates only. It never switches features on or off. The free plugin activates itself with no key; a paid Pro key simply keeps you on the latest version.
Only the number of sites you can run Pro on - Single, 5-site, or Unlimited. Every Pro feature is identical across all tiers; the tiers differ only by how many sites the license keeps updated.
Photo and file posts and all direct messaging are powered by the free WPMediaVerse companion plugin. The messaging tab only appears when it is active, and Messages are switched on or off in WPMediaVerse, under Settings, Social, Messages. A space's Files tab, with its folders and Trash, needs WPMediaVerse Pro. Group messaging, read receipts, and real-time delivery use WPMediaVerse Pro, a separate companion you add on top of BuddyNext Pro.
BuddyNext is live. Start free today and upgrade only when you grow, or try the live demo first.