Would you like to find the payment or membership integration that fits your Thrive Apprentice courses best?
In this article, we’ll walk you through the options. Whether you need a simple checkout, a full membership system, free access from a form, or a combination of these, you’ll be able to make a confident choice.
Do You Even Need an External Integration?
Thrive Apprentice has a built-in feature to handle membership and course access on your website. With the native Stripe, PayPal, or Square integration, you can accept payments, manage subscriptions, and control course access—all without installing a single extra plugin.
Before exploring external tools, ask yourself these questions:
- Do you need to sell physical products alongside courses?
- Do you already use a membership plugin for other parts of your site?
- Do you require advanced checkout features like order bumps or one-click upsells?
- Do you need to manage multiple membership tiers beyond course access?
If you answered “no” to all of the above, a built-in processor (Stripe, PayPal, or Square) is likely all you need. If you answered “yes” to any of them, read on to find the right fit.
Checkout Tools vs. Membership Plugins vs. Both
There are two broad categories of integrations you can use with Thrive Apprentice:
Checkout tools (Stripe, PayPal, Square, WooCommerce, ThriveCart) handle the payment transaction itself. They process credit cards, manage subscriptions, and confirm that a purchase was made. Thrive Apprentice then grants access based on that purchase.
Membership plugins (WishList Member, MemberPress, MemberMouse) manage user roles and membership levels on your WordPress site. They assign users to tiers, and Thrive Apprentice uses those tiers to determine who can access which courses.
Free access needs no checkout at all. For a free course or a lead magnet, a form on your site can give someone access as soon as they submit it. See Option 9 below.
Using both makes sense when you want a checkout tool to handle payments and a membership plugin to manage access levels across your entire site—not just courses. For most course creators, however, a single checkout tool paired with Thrive Apprentice’s built-in access system is more than enough.
Option 1: Stripe (Built-In)
Stripe is the simplest path to selling courses. It connects directly inside Thrive Apprentice—no extra plugins or external accounts beyond Stripe itself.
Best for you if:
- You want the fastest, most streamlined setup
- You sell digital courses only (no physical products)
- You want to manage everything from one dashboard
- You need subscriptions, one-time payments, or free trials
Tip: Stripe also includes a Customer Portal so your students can manage their own subscriptions and update payment methods.
Option 1b: PayPal (Built-In)
PayPal is a native payment option in Thrive Apprentice (Thrive Suite 10.9.3+). Like Stripe, it connects inside Apprentice — no extra checkout plugin required.
Best for you if:
- Your audience prefers paying with PayPal balance or PayPal checkout
- You want embedded checkout on your course page (buyers stay on your site)
- You need one-time payments, subscriptions, or free trials
- You sell digital courses only
Setup: See How to Set Up PayPal in Thrive Apprentice.
Note: PayPal subscriptions do not use the Stripe Customer Portal. Members cancel from your site using a Cancel subscription dynamic link in Thrive Architect.
Option 2: WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that turns your site into a full e-commerce store. It handles payments, taxes, shipping, and product management.
Best for you if:
- You sell physical products alongside digital courses
- You need advanced tax calculation or shipping options
- You want a familiar shopping cart experience for your customers
- You already use WooCommerce for other products on your site
Note: WooCommerce adds complexity to your WordPress setup. If you only sell courses, Stripe is a lighter-weight option.
Option 3: ThriveCart
ThriveCart is an external checkout platform with high-converting cart pages, order bumps, one-click upsells, and built-in affiliate management. It connects to Thrive Apprentice via API in under 10 minutes.
Best for you if:
- You want advanced sales funnel features (upsells, bumps, A/B testing)
- You prefer an off-site or embeddable checkout experience
- You need automatic digital VAT collection
- You want to manage billing, refunds, and cancellations in ThriveCart
Important: ThriveCart is an independent company—it is not affiliated with Thrive Themes despite the similar name. A paid ThriveCart account is required.
Option 4: Square
Square is a well-known payment processor that now connects directly to Thrive Apprentice. It’s a solid choice if you already use Square for other business transactions.
Best for you if:
- You already use Square for in-person or online payments
- You want a familiar payment ecosystem
- You need webhook-based purchase verification
Option 5: SendOwl (Legacy)
Important: The SendOwl integration is deprecated and no longer recommended for new setups. If you currently use SendOwl, the integration will continue to work, but you should plan to migrate to Stripe, WooCommerce, or ThriveCart. For existing users, legacy documentation remains available.
Option 6: WishList Member
WishList Member is a WordPress membership plugin that provides access control, multiple membership levels, and its own payment processing.
Best for you if:
- You already run a membership site with WishList Member
- You need multiple membership tiers that control access to different courses
- You want WishList Member to handle both payments and user management
Option 7: MemberPress
MemberPress is a premium membership plugin with advanced features like coupons, access rules, reminders, and complex drip content setups.
Best for you if:
- You need robust member management with advanced promotional tools
- You want coupon support, custom access rules, and drip schedules
- You’re willing to invest in a premium plugin for powerful membership features
Note: MemberPress carries a higher price tag and more complexity. If you only need basic course access control, the built-in Stripe integration is simpler.
Option 8: Incoming Webhooks (Any Tool That Can Send a Webhook)
Incoming webhooks are built into Thrive Apprentice (version 11.1 and later). They let any checkout, cart, CRM, or automation tool that can send a webhook grant or remove course access automatically, with no code and no extra plugin. You paste one link into your tool, send a test, and Thrive Apprentice matches the fields for you.
Best for you if:
- Your checkout or CRM isn’t listed above, but it can send webhooks
- You use Zapier or Make to connect tools together
- You want refunds to remove access while keeping the student’s progress
- You’re replacing a Thrive Automator recipe that grants course access
Setup: See How to Use Incoming Webhooks in Thrive Apprentice.
Option 9: Thrive Actions on a Form (Free Access)
Thrive Actions are built into Thrive Architect and Thrive Leads forms (Thrive Suite 11.2 and later). They let a form grant or revoke Thrive Apprentice access the moment someone submits it. There’s no payment involved. You don’t need Thrive Automator or any other extra plugin.
Thrive Actions work best for free courses and lead magnets. For paid courses, use one of the checkout options above instead.
Best for you if:
- You offer a free course or a lead magnet and want access to open as soon as someone signs up
- You already collect sign-ups with a Thrive Architect or Thrive Leads form
- You want to start access after a delay, or only when a form field matches a value you choose
- You’re replacing a Thrive Automator recipe that grants course access
Good to know:
- If the email isn’t on your site yet, Thrive Apprentice creates a new user with your site’s default role
- Each form supports a single Apprentice access action
- The window offers an optional time delay and an optional condition
- Because anyone can submit the form, the window recommends turning on spam protection
Setup: See How to Use Thrive Actions to Grant Apprentice Access and Start Ultimatum Campaigns From a Form.
Quick Comparison Table
Use this table to compare your options at a glance:
| Integration | Type | Cost | Best For | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe (built-in) | Checkout | Free to connect | Course-only businesses | Low |
| WooCommerce | Checkout | Free plugin | Physical + digital products | Medium |
| ThriveCart | Checkout | Paid (one-time) | Sales funnels, upsells | Medium |
| Square | Checkout | Free to connect | Existing Square users | Medium |
| SendOwl | Checkout | Paid (legacy) | Existing users only | Low |
| WishList Member | Membership | Paid | Multi-tier membership sites | Medium |
| MemberPress | Membership | Paid (premium) | Advanced membership management | High |
| Incoming Webhooks (built-in) | Checkout or CRM | Free | Any tool that can send a webhook | Low to Medium |
| Thrive Actions (built-in) | Free access from a form | Free | Free courses and lead magnets | Low |
Making Your Decision
Here’s the simplest way to decide:
- Selling courses only? Use Stripe. It’s built in, fast to set up, and handles subscriptions.
- Selling courses + physical products? Use WooCommerce.
- Need advanced sales funnels? Use ThriveCart.
- Already on Square? Use Square.
- Running a multi-tier membership site? Use WishList Member or MemberPress.
- Need both checkout and membership management? Pair a checkout tool (Stripe, WooCommerce, or ThriveCart) with a membership plugin (WishList Member or MemberPress).
- Using another checkout, CRM, or automation tool? Use Incoming Webhooks.
- Giving away a free course or lead magnet? Use Thrive Actions on a Thrive Architect or Thrive Leads form.
That’s it! You’ve successfully reviewed all the integration options available for Thrive Apprentice. Choose the one that best matches your business model and you’ll be up and running in no time.
Related Resources
- Setting up Stripe: How to Set Up Stripe in Thrive Apprentice
- WooCommerce setup: How to Get Started with WooCommerce and Thrive Apprentice
- ThriveCart connection: How to Connect ThriveCart to Thrive Apprentice
- Square connection: How to Connect Square to Thrive Apprentice
- Membership plugins: How to Integrate Membership Plugins with Thrive Apprentice
- Any tool that sends webhooks: How to Use Incoming Webhooks in Thrive Apprentice
- Free access from a form: How to Use Thrive Actions to Grant Apprentice Access and Start Ultimatum Campaigns From a Form