AlternativesApplication Password and REST
Doing it yourself with an Application Password and the REST API.
The do-it-yourself route: code you write signs in to your site and works with your memberships. WordPress and MemberPress both publish ways for your own code to reach your site. Here's what they give you, and where Membership MCP fits next to them.
What WordPress and MemberPress publish
- Application Passwords have been part of WordPress since version 5.6. Each one is a random 24-character password your code sends with its requests to the WordPress REST API, the web addresses code calls to read and change your site, and by default they work only over HTTPS (make.wordpress.org).
- The MemberPress REST API lives at
/wp-json/mp/v1/on your site. Your code signs in with an API key in a request header, and can work with members, memberships, subscriptions, transactions, coupons and access rules (MemberPress REST API docs). - It comes with the Developer Tools add-on, which needs a MemberPress Scale license. MemberPress says it's for custom code and services such as Zapier (Developer Tools add-on, read November 2, 2026).
- Webhooks send member, subscription, transaction, reminder, course and gifting events as JSON (MemberPress developer docs).
Side by side
The do-it-yourself column is from WordPress's and MemberPress's own pages, read on November 2, 2026.
| Membership MCP | Application Password and REST | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A hosted MCP server, meaning a connection your AI app reaches over the web with nothing to install on your computer, and a free WordPress plugin. Built only for MemberPress: 60+ tools | Passwords and addresses your own code can use to reach your site (Application Passwords guide, MemberPress REST API docs) |
| Membership work | Members, plans, subscriptions, payments, coupons and access rules, plus the MemberPress add-ons when they're active, and posts and pages | Routes for members, memberships, subscriptions (with cancel and expire), transactions (with refund), coupons, access rules and webhooks (MemberPress REST API docs) |
| Signing in | You approve the connection on your own site, and your WordPress password never leaves it. Only requests from Membership MCP can reach your site's tools. | WordPress: an Application Password, sent with each request, over HTTPS by default. MemberPress REST API: an API key in a request header (Application Passwords guide, MemberPress REST API docs) |
| What it needs | MemberPress (Lite or paid), WordPress 6.5 or newer, PHP 8.0 or newer, and a public https address | The MemberPress REST API comes with the Developer Tools add-on, which needs a MemberPress Scale license, as of November 2, 2026 (Developer Tools add-on) |
| Connecting it to your AI | No code: connect your site, paste its MCP URL into your AI, and ask | MemberPress describes the REST API and webhooks as being for custom code and services such as Zapier (Developer Tools add-on) |
Where each fits
- Writing your own integration? The REST API and webhooks are MemberPress's way for your code, or a service such as Zapier, to work with your memberships.
- Want your AI to do the membership work? Membership MCP connects it to your site directly. You choose Read only, Content or Full access when you connect. Nothing is picked for you. Riskier changes, such as refunds, cancellations, deletes and going live, show a preview and wait for your approval in your AI app. Posts and pages are saved as drafts. Every action through your site's MCP URL is written to the Activity log on your site.
Where these facts come from
- Application Passwords: Integration Guide (make.wordpress.org, November 2020): WordPress 5.6, the 24-character passwords, HTTPS. Read November 2, 2026.
- MemberPress Developer Tools actions: the
/mp/v1/address, the API key header and the routes. Read November 2, 2026. - MemberPress Developer Tools add-on: the Scale license, and what MemberPress says it's for. Read November 2, 2026.
- MemberPress developer docs: the webhook events. Read November 2, 2026.
- Membership MCP: Safety and approvals, Connect your site and Security.
Skip the integration code.
Free with MemberPress. Connect your site, then ask your AI.
Connect once, on your own site. Then just ask.