Free vs Pro Comparison
Updated
WPMediaVerse Free is a full-featured media platform. WPMediaVerse Pro unlocks advanced tools for professional communities, monetization, and engagement.
Free and Pro release in lockstep and share the same version number. See the changelog for what shipped in each release, or Pro feature overview for the current Pro feature set.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Media Upload & Management | ||
| Drag & drop upload (photo, video, audio) | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk upload | Yes | Yes |
| Title, description, tags, categories | Yes | Yes |
| EXIF stripping & duplicate detection | Yes | Yes |
| Thumbnail generation (3 sizes) | Yes | Yes |
| Custom storage path | Yes | Yes |
| Amazon S3 cloud storage | -- | Yes |
| BunnyCDN cloud storage | -- | Yes |
| Feed Layouts | ||
| Default grid layout | Yes | Yes |
| Instagram layout (square grid + stories) | -- | Yes |
| Pinterest layout (masonry cards) | -- | Yes |
| Flickr layout (justified gallery) | -- | Yes |
| Dribbble layout (portfolio shots) | -- | Yes |
| Social Features | ||
| Follow / unfollow users | Yes | Yes |
| Emoji reactions on media | Yes | Yes |
| Threaded comments | Yes | Yes |
| Favorites (save for later) | Yes | Yes |
| @Mentions in comments | Yes | Yes |
| Share to social media | Yes | Yes |
| Direct messages (1-on-1 chat) | Yes | Yes |
| Voice messages in DMs | Yes | Yes |
| Media sharing in DMs | Yes | Yes |
| Message requests & privacy controls | Yes | Yes |
| Content Organization | ||
| Albums with cover photos | Yes | Yes |
| Collections (curated boards) | Yes | Yes |
| Stories (24-hour ephemeral posts, seen-by receipts) | -- | Yes |
| Gallery groups (multi-photo posts) | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy & Moderation | ||
| Public / Members Only / Private | Yes | Yes |
| Friends Only privacy level | Yes (needs BuddyPress Friends) | Yes |
| Group Members Only privacy level | Yes (enforced) | Yes (picker UI) |
| Custom privacy (specific users) | Yes (enforced) | Yes (picker UI) |
| Album-level privacy inheritance | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy presets | -- | Yes |
| Bulk privacy updates | -- | Yes |
| AI content moderation (OpenAI) | Yes | Yes |
| Google Cloud Vision moderation | -- | Yes |
| AWS Rekognition moderation | -- | Yes |
| Claude (Anthropic) moderation | -- | Yes |
| User reporting | Yes | Yes |
| User blocking | Yes | Yes |
| GDPR data export & erasure | Yes | Yes |
| Video | ||
| Video upload & playback | Yes | Yes |
| Video chapter markers | -- | Yes |
| Resume playback (pick up where you left off) | -- | Yes |
| Auto-captions via OpenAI Whisper | -- | Yes |
| Video analytics & heatmaps | -- | Yes |
| Image Processing | ||
| Basic text watermarking | Yes | Yes |
| Logo watermarking with positioning | -- | Yes |
| Watermark opacity & font control | -- | Yes |
| Gamification | ||
| Photo Challenges (themed competitions) | -- | Yes |
| 1v1 Photo Battles | -- | Yes |
| Single-elimination Tournaments | -- | Yes |
| Media Boosts (spend points for visibility) | -- | Yes |
| Upload Streaks with milestones | -- | Yes |
| Weekly Autopilot (auto-create challenges) | -- | Yes |
| XP integration with wb-gamification | -- | Yes |
| Quotas & Monetization | ||
| Per-user upload quotas (count + storage) | -- | Yes |
| Quota packages (Free, Premium, etc.) | -- | Yes |
| MemberPress integration | -- | Yes |
| Paid Memberships Pro integration | -- | Yes |
| WooCommerce integration | -- | Yes |
| Credit transaction log | -- | Yes |
| User Profiles | ||
| Public profile page (/media/@username/) | Yes | Yes |
| Follow / Message buttons | Yes | Yes |
| Custom avatar upload | Yes | Yes |
| Inline profile editing | -- | Yes |
| Admin Tools | ||
| Media overview dashboard | Yes | Yes |
| Media list with bulk actions | Yes | Yes |
| Settings (general, display, social, AI) | Yes | Yes |
| Competitions dashboard | -- | Yes |
| Challenge manager with theme library | -- | Yes |
| Tournament bracket manager | -- | Yes |
| Battle monitor | -- | Yes |
| Video analytics dashboard | -- | Yes |
| Quota & credits management | -- | Yes |
| Media stats & insights | -- | Yes |
| BuddyPress Integration | ||
| Profile media tab | Yes | Yes |
| Group media tab | Yes | Yes |
| Activity stream media | Yes | Yes |
| Notifications (likes, comments, follows) | Yes | Yes |
| Gutenberg Blocks | ||
| Core blocks (Media Grid, Player, Album, Upload, Stats, Explore Feed, Lock Overlay, Member Photos, PDF Viewer) | Yes (9) | Yes (inherited) |
| Pro feature blocks (Tournament, Challenge, Battle, Leaderboard, Compete Hub) | -- | Yes (5) |
| Pro feed-layout blocks (Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest, Dribbble) | -- | Yes (4) |
| Pro list blocks (Tournaments List, Challenges List, Battles Active) | -- | Yes (3) |
| Mix layouts per-page | -- | Yes |
| Developer | ||
REST API (100+ endpoints, mvs/v1 namespace) |
Yes | Yes |
Pro REST API (37 additional endpoints, mvs-pro/v1 namespace) |
-- | Yes |
| Lightbox download + share REST endpoints | Yes | Yes |
| 150+ action and filter hooks | Yes | Yes |
| Template override system | Yes | Yes |
| Custom storage driver API | Yes | Yes |
WP-CLI commands (wp mvs namespace) |
Yes | Yes |
| Migration tools (rtMedia, MediaPress, BuddyBoss) | -- | Yes |
| MigrationPage admin (per-platform cards) | -- | Yes |
| Accessibility | ||
| WCAG 2.1 AA pass on customer-facing UI | Yes | Yes |
aria-label on icon buttons + aria-pressed on toggles |
Yes | Yes |
:focus-visible outlines + keyboard navigation |
Yes | Yes |
| Theme dark-mode support (BuddyX Pro / generic class-based) | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | ||
| BuddyPress 12+ | Yes | Yes |
| wb-gamification | -- | Yes |
| MemberPress | -- | Yes |
| Paid Memberships Pro | -- | Yes |
| WooCommerce | -- | Yes |
| OpenAI (moderation + captions) | Yes | Yes |
| Google Cloud Vision | -- | Yes |
| AWS Rekognition | -- | Yes |
| Amazon S3 | -- | Yes |
| BunnyCDN | -- | Yes |
A note on the privacy rows
Privacy is the one area where "Free vs Pro" is not a clean on/off split, so it is worth stating precisely:
- Free enforces every privacy level.
PrivacyService::supported_levels()is the one accepted vocabulary -public,members,loggedin,friends,group,space,private,dmandcustomas of 2.4.0, filterable throughmvs_privacy_levels- andPrivacyServicegates viewing for all of them. If a media item carries one of those levels - set by an import, the REST API, an album inheriting its privacy, or Pro before a licence lapsed - Free honours it. Your members' private media does not become visible because Pro is inactive. - Free's upload form exposes three of them, plus Friends Only when the BuddyPress Friends component is active: Public, Members, Friends (conditional) and Only Me. The rest are enforced but have no picker in the stock Free upload form.
- Pro adds the interface, not the enforcement: a picker with plain-language descriptions, saved presets, and bulk privacy updates across many items at once.
- Album-level privacy inheritance is Free. When media is added to an album,
AlbumServiceclamps each item to the more restrictive of the two, filterable viamvs_album_inherit_privacy.
There is no "Followers Only" media privacy level in either plugin. followers appears only as a direct-message access setting (mvs_dm_access), which controls who may open a conversation with you - not who can see your media.
What You Get Free
WPMediaVerse Free is not a stripped-down trial. It is a complete media platform with:
- Full upload system with drag & drop, bulk upload, and duplicate detection
- Albums, collections, and gallery groups
- Complete social layer: follows, reactions, comments, favorites, mentions, sharing
- Built-in direct messaging with voice messages, file sharing, and read receipts
- User profiles with follow/message buttons and media grids
- AI content moderation via OpenAI
- BuddyPress integration (profiles, groups, activity, notifications)
- Full REST API with 100+ endpoints
- GDPR compliance (data export + erasure)
- User blocking and reporting
What Pro Adds
WPMediaVerse Pro is for sites that need professional-grade features:
- Visual identity - Choose from Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr, or Dribbble layouts to match your community's style
- Scale - Offload media to S3 or BunnyCDN for global CDN delivery and unlimited storage
- Video intelligence - Chapters, auto-captions, and engagement analytics
- Engagement - Gamification system with challenges, battles, tournaments, boosts, and streaks that keep users coming back
- Monetization - Quota packages with MemberPress/WooCommerce integration let you sell tiered upload plans
- Privacy - A picker UI for all six privacy levels, plus saved presets and bulk privacy management
- AI - Google Vision, AWS Rekognition, and Claude (Anthropic) for auto-tagging and advanced content moderation
- Migration - Import from rtMedia, MediaPress, or BuddyBoss with one WP-CLI command
Upgrading
- Purchase a Pro license at wbcomdesigns.com
- Upload and activate the
wpmediaverse-pro.zipplugin - Enter your license key at Media > License
- Pro features activate immediately - no data migration needed, no settings lost