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What the free plugin does, and what Pro adds

Attributes User Access is a complete authentication plugin on its own. Here is where the line falls.

  • Beginner
  • 5 min read
  • Applies to 2.0

The free plugin, on its own

Attributes User Access replaces WordPress's login screen with pages you control. Installed alone, it gives you:

  • Four authentication pages — login, registration, lost password, password reset — each created in one click and rendered by a shortcode
  • Your own URLs, with WordPress linking to them instead of wp-login.php
  • A redirect that sends visitors landing on wp-login.php to your login page
  • Per-role redirects after signing in

That is a working authentication system. Nothing below is needed to run a site on it.

The Login Page Manager without a licence: four Core rows active, four Pro rows shown locked.

What a licence adds

Pro is a second plugin that installs alongside and extends the first. It brings four groups of things:

More ways to sign in. Two-factor authentication, magic links by email, authenticator apps, QR code login, and social login through Google, Facebook, GitHub or Microsoft — one method active at a time.

Pages for signed-in members. Account, profile, settings, dashboard and onboarding, each with its own shortcode and each built field by field in the Form Builder.

Security and operations. Login throttling, IP rules, an audit trail, reCAPTCHA, a password policy, maintenance mode, and broadcasts to your members.

Email you control. SMTP with OAuth2 for Gmail and Microsoft 365, branded templates, and notifications you choose.

Pro needs the free plugin to be active — it extends it rather than replacing it. Both require PHP 7.4 and WordPress 5.8 or later.

How the line behaves in practice

It is all or nothing. With no active licence, Pro loads nothing: no two-factor, no audit log, no Form Builder. There is no reduced mode. The free plugin keeps working exactly as before, which is why a site can sit on it indefinitely.

Three of your four forms change hands when a licence is active — that is worth knowing before you wonder why a setting moved. See Which plugin renders your form.

Next steps

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