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New User Approve icon
Actively maintained Tested with WP 7.1 #4 in registration Freemium

New User Approve

WordPress user approval plugin to moderate registrations. Approve or deny real users and prevent fake signups to control who registers on site.

Active installs20K+10K+ tier
Downloads · 30d14.1K▲ +7.3% vs prev. 30d
Rating4.3/5131 reviews
Health score76/100Good
All-time downloads928.2KSince Oct 2008
Support resolved0 / 10% in last 2 months
RequiresWP 4.0PHP any
Downloads · 7d9.9K▲ 9.6× week over week
Our verdict

Solid choice

New User Approve is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 20K+ sites, is rated 4.3/5 and was last updated 5 days ago, and scores 76/100 on our health check.

  • Proven at scale on 20K+ active sites
  • Actively developed — last update 5 days ago
  • Tested with the latest WordPress (7.1)

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

Daily downloads

1.2K2.4K3.6KJun 28Aug 11Sep 25
Yesterday401
Daily average (1y)510
Peak day6,711Nov 21, 2025
Last 12 months185.8K

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where New User Approve stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
registration #73 5,496 Best registration plugins →
user approval #4 1,174 Best user approval plugins →
user management #11 7,854 Best user management plugins →
User Registration #15 4,407 Best User Registration plugins →
users #44 10,000 Best users plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 3.266.0%
  • 2.69.9%
  • 2.57.1%
  • Other17.1%

Rating breakdown

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 from 131 reviews

  • 5★76.3%
  • 4★3.1%
  • 3★4.6%
  • 2★5.3%
  • 1★10.7%

About New User Approve

From the official readme · v3.2.10

Description

🚀 Go Pro | 📘 Documentation | 📱 Mobile App | 💬 Contact Us

Running a WordPress site is exciting but it also means you’re constantly battling spam registrations, fake accounts, and unwanted users. New User Approve works as a default WordPress registration system that does not let anyone sign up and instantly gain access. Because its your responsibility as a site owner as exactly who’s allowed into your site before any user log in.

New User Approve comes is a powerful WordPress user approval plugin that puts you in full control of your community, membership site, online store, or private portal. With this manual user approval plugin, you can moderate user registration, protect your content, and keep your website free from unwanted registration requests.
Whether you want to restrict user access before approval, prevent fake user signups, or simply make sure every new member is legit, New User Approve makes it easy, professional, and efficient.

⭐ New User Approve Offers Mobile App for Faster User Approvals ⭐

New User Approve also includes a dedicated mobile app that lets you manage registrations without opening your WordPress dashboard. It gives you quick access to every pending user and keeps your site protected even when you are away from your computer.

With the mobile app, you can:
⚡ Review complete user profiles in a clean, mobile-friendly layout
⚡ Approve or deny registrations with single tap
⚡ Verify identities with clear, mobile-friendly user profiles
⚡ Keep full control of who joins your site without logging into WordPress
⚡ Stay updated with instant push notifications for every new signup

This feature ensures you never miss an approval request and keeps your site consistently secure, responsive, and easy to manage from anywhere.

⭐ Why You Need New User Approve ⭐

Imagine running a membership site, community forum, or private business portal where quality and security matter. The last thing you want is spam bots flooding your database or strangers sneaking into confidential areas.

New User Approve helps you:
⚡ Stop spam registrations and fake accounts before they ever log in
⚡ Verify user identities by reviewing each signup manually
⚡ Maintain complete control over who becomes part of your community
⚡ Create a safe, trusted space for your members or customers

Unlike generic WordPress plugins that simply hide login pages, New User Approve adds a true user verification before approval process. It gives you confidence to grow your site without worrying about who’s lurking behind those new user accounts.

🛠 How It Works

Here’s how New User Approve, your go-to member approval plugin, transforms your registration flow:

When someone registers on your WordPress site, you’ll receive an email alert. You can then decide to approve or deny their account. The plugin automatically emails the user to let them know the outcome.

👁If approved, the user receives their login details and can access your site immediately.
👁If denied, they’ll be kept out—and can’t even log in.
👁Pending users stay locked out until you make a decision.

This makes it simple to restrict user access before approval and ensure only the right people become part of your online community.

Already have users on your website? No problem.

Existing users stay approved automatically when you install New User Approve. You can also change someone’s approval status at any time, with easy search tools for managing pending, approved, or denied users.

⌛ Save Time with Zapier Automation

Want to work smarter? Connect New User Approve to Zapier to automate routine tasks.
For example:

  • Trigger a Slack message when a user is approved
  • Add approved users to a Google Sheet
  • Send emails through Gmail when someone’s denied

With Zapier, you can integrate the plugin with thousands of apps without writing a single line of code. It’s perfect for businesses looking to streamline their processes while maintaining strict user verification before approval.

🤝 Invite Trusted Users Instantly

Sometimes you want trusted people—like staff, VIPs, or clients—to skip the approval queue. With New User Approve’s invitation codes, you can:

  • 📜 Generate unique codes manually or automatically
  • 💳 Give those codes to users so they’re auto-approved upon registration
  • 💻 Manage, edit, or disable codes anytime
  • 🛒 Seamlessly integrate codes with WooCommerce registrations

This feature makes it easier than ever to onboard important members without sacrificing security.

☀ A Fresh New Interface

New User Approve has been redesigned with a crisp, modern look that’s clean and user-friendly. The updated interface is intuitive for admins and gives users confidence in your website’s professionalism.

Whether you’re a WordPress beginner or seasoned WordPress user, managing new user approvals has never been easier or looked this good.

⭐ Compatible with Top Plugins

New User Approve integrates beautifully with popular WordPress plugins, including:

  • WooCommerce
  • MemberPress
  • WP-Foro
  • LearnDash
  • Ultimate Member
  • BuddyPress

So, whether you’re running a store, a membership site, or a thriving online community, this user approval plugin fits right in.

🖍 Customize Everything

For those who want complete flexibility, New User Approve lets you customize nearly every step of the user approval process:

  • Tailor the welcome message above the login or registration form
  • Personalize messages for pending or denied users
  • Craft unique notification emails for users and admins
  • Suppress denial notifications if preferred
  • Use HTML formatting in emails for a branded, professional look

There’s even a commercial add-on available at New User Approve that unlocks additional powerful features for businesses and growing sites.

📌 Documentation

Need help getting started? View the detailed technical documentation here. It walks you through every step of installing and configuring New User Approve, plus troubleshooting tips if you get stuck.

🔥 New User Approve Pro Features

Upgrade to the premium version for advanced features like:

✔ Customizable Email Notifications
✔ Invite-Only Registration
✔ Bulk Invitation Code Generator
✔ Email Invitation Codes
✔ Import Invitation Codes
✔ Auto-Approve Trusted Email Domains
✔ Blacklist Generic or Suspicious Email Domains
✔ Registration Deadlines
✔ Auto-Approve Selected User Roles
✔ User Role Change Requests
✔ Extended Zapier Triggers

✨ Translations

New User Approve is already available in many languages thanks to an amazing community of translators. You can help expand translations further with tools like Poedit.

Current supported languages include:

Belarusian, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Persian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish.

New User Approve isn’t just a plugin. It’s your ultimate solution for user verification before approval, helping you moderate user registration, prevent fake user signups, and stop spam registrations for good.
If you need a reliable manual user approval plugin for WordPress, get it now!

Installation

  1. Upload new-user-approve to the wp-content/plugins directory or download from the WordPress backend (Plugins -> Add New -> search for ‘new user approve’)
  2. Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu in WordPress
  3. No configuration necessary.

Frequently asked questions

What does New User Approve Pro do?

It controls user registration on WordPress by requiring admin approval before login. Supports custom statuses, email notifications, invitation codes, and auto-approval rules.

How does auto-approval work?

Admins can auto-approve users based on email domain or selected role. Domains can be whitelisted or blacklisted. Roles can be pre-approved via backend settings.

How do invitation codes function?

Admins can manually add, auto-generate, import, and email invitation codes. Codes can have usage limits and expiry dates. Valid codes auto-approve the user.

Is Zapier supported?

Yes. Trigger events include user approved, denied, pending, or auto-approved (via role, domain, or code). Can connect with Gmail, Sheets, Slack, and more.

Can users request role changes?

Yes. Approved users can submit role change requests via shortcode or the account page. Admins manage these under a dedicated tab.

What is the registration deadline feature?

You can set a limit by date/time or total number of signups. After the limit, registration is blocked, unless the user has a valid invitation code.

Where do I report security bugs found in this plugin?

You can report security bugs through the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program. The Patchstack team help validate, triage and handle any security vulnerabilities. Report a security vulnerability

Changelog

Download version 1.5.3 immediately! Some bugs have been fixed that have been affecting how the plugin worked.

3.2.10

  • Fixed – Zapier API Key Validation fix.

3.2.9

  • Fixed – Code improvement.

3.2.8

  • Tweak – Compatible with WordPress Version 7.0

3.2.7

  • Fixed – Code improvement and fixes.

3.2.6

  • Added – Compatibility with Gravity Forms.
  • Fixed – Language support issues.
  • Fixed – DateTime::__construct() depricated issue in Mobile API file.

3.2.5

  • Added – Status value mismatch issue in user edit screen.

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

Screenshots

New & Improved Dashboard.
New & Improved Dashboard.
Real Time Dashboard Alerts.
Real Time Dashboard Alerts.
Manual User Approval.
Manual User Approval.
Invitation Codes.
Invitation Codes.
Add Invitation Code.
Add Invitation Code.
Integrations.
Integrations.
Settings.
Settings.

For developers

Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.

Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.

Active installs badge Rating badge Health score badge

Best New User Approve alternatives

All registration plugins →
Alternatives
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3 WP Events Manager WP Events Manager The all in one Events Manager for WordPress: create and manage events, sell event tickets… by ThimPress 30K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 2.7 (13) 1 month ago 62
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6 Login With Ajax – Fast Logins, 2FA, Redirects Login With Ajax – Fast Logins, 2FA, Redirects Add beautiful login forms with smooth AJAX login/registration effects, 2FA support, custom… by Marcus (aka @msykes) 10K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 (166) 4 months ago 62
7 Allow Multiple Accounts Allow Multiple Accounts Allow multiple user accounts to be created, registered, and updated having the same email… by Scott Reilly 9K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (22) 9 years ago 46
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9 Clean Login Clean Login Custom frontend login, registration, user profile and password reset forms via shortcodes —… by Alberto Hornero 6K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 (143) 2 weeks ago 80
10 AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form Easy to integrate modal with Login and Registration features. by Max K 3K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 (120) 11 months ago 59
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FAQ

New User Approve: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 26, 2026

Is New User Approve free?

Yes. New User Approve is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory. The developer also sells premium add-ons or a Pro version with extra features.

Is New User Approve safe to use in 2026?

New User Approve is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 20K+ sites, is rated 4.3/5 and was last updated 5 days ago, and scores 76/100 on our health check.

How many websites use New User Approve?

New User Approve is active on 20K+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 928,225 times since it launched in October 2008. It was downloaded 14,094 times in the last 30 days.

Does New User Approve work with WordPress 7.1?

Yes. The developer has tested New User Approve up to WordPress 7.1.2, the latest release. It requires WordPress 4.0 or newer.

When was New User Approve last updated?

The latest version, 3.2.10, was released on September 21, 2026 (5 days ago).

Who makes New User Approve?

New User Approve is developed and maintained by Saad Iqbal.

What are the best alternatives to New User Approve?

The most popular alternatives to New User Approve are WP-Members Membership Plugin (50K+ installs), User Profile Builder (40K+ installs) and WP Events Manager (30K+ installs).

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