Lock blog posts behind an email signup. Let readers preview the first few paragraphs, then ask for their email to continue. Per-post control, soft or hard gating, and direct email integration — completely free.
Free forever · no credits needed · no subscription · no limits
The Market
Membership plugins charge $179–$400 per year for what is fundamentally a simple feature: show some content, hide the rest, collect an email. You don't need a full membership platform to gate a blog post.
PostGate does one thing well — per-post content gating with email capture — and it costs nothing.
Gating Modes
Show the first N paragraphs with a gradient fade. Readers see enough to get hooked, then sign up to read the rest. Great for long-form content and guides.
Enter your email to continue reading
Unlock Full ArticleShow only the title and a custom teaser message. No content preview at all — readers must sign up first. Best for exclusive reports, templates, or premium guides.
This content is for subscribers only
Sign up free to access this exclusive guide.
Sign Up to ReadFeatures
Gate individual posts, not your entire site. Choose which posts are gated and which stay open. A simple checkbox in the editor controls everything.
Set how many paragraphs to show before the gate. Different posts can have different preview lengths. Show just enough to hook the reader.
Collected emails are stored in WordPress and can be exported as CSV. Connect to Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or any email provider via webhook or Zapier.
Full content is still visible to search engine crawlers. Your posts get indexed completely while human visitors see the gate. No SEO penalty.
Customize the gate CTA text, button label, and success message per post. "Sign up to read" or "Enter your email for the free checklist" — whatever fits.
View all captured emails in the WordPress admin. See which posts converted them, when they signed up, and export the full list at any time.
Use Cases
Show the intro and table of contents. Gate the full guide behind a signup. Readers see the value before committing.
Hard-gate a downloadable resource. The post describes what they'll get; the gate delivers it. Classic lead magnet flow.
Share key findings publicly for SEO. Gate the full data, methodology, and analysis behind signup. High-value leads only.
Getting Started
Upload the zip and activate. PostGate adds a panel to the post editor sidebar — no settings page needed.
Check "Enable PostGate" in the sidebar. Choose soft preview or hard gate. Set the preview length for soft mode.
Write your gate CTA: what readers get by signing up, the button text, and the thank-you message. Defaults work fine if you want to skip this.
Readers see the preview, enter their email, and unlock the full post. View captured leads in the PostGate admin panel and export anytime.
Every blog post is a lead magnet waiting to happen. PostGate is free, takes 30 seconds to set up, and doesn't require a $200/yr membership plugin.
Works with any WordPress blog
