Membership management software helps organizations create efficiencies related to member billing, communication, and engagement. It’s a mission-critical part of many member-based organizations like associations, nonprofits, clubs, chambers of commerce, trade groups, and more. Our updated 2024 guide and detailed comparison chart of the top 10 membership software aims to simplify the process of choosing the right system.
Every organization has different priorities, whether it’s budget concerns or the need for a specific feature. Whether you end up choosing our software or a competitor, this guide aims to help you find the best fit for your needs.
In this Guide:
- What is the best membership management software? (with Comparison Chart)
- What is membership management software?
- What is membership management software best for?
- The Top 10 membership management software
- FAQ
What is the best membership management software for 2024?
| MembershipWorks | WildApricot | YourMembership | MemberClicks | JoinIt | Growth Zone/ Chambermaster | Kindful / Bloomerang | MemberNova | ClubExpress | Springly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per month starts at | $0; paid plans start at $35 | $0; paid plans start at $60 | starts at $292 | starts at $375 | starts at $29 | starts at $325 | starts at $125 + $54 extra for phone support | requires quote | starts at $21 for 50 members plus feature fees**** | $0; paid plans start at $45 |
| Setup Fee | $0 | $0 | varies | starts at $3000 | $0 | $1500 for supported onboarding; $3500 for website build | $0 | varies | $150 onboarding plus $600-$2400 and up for website build | $0 |
| Additional per-transaction charges (beyond payment gateway fees) | $0 | Must use their affiliated payment gateway which has higher fees for nonprofits than other choices ** | 3% * | Higher monthly fees unless you use their payment gateway. | 1% fee on all transactions | $0 | $0 | |||
| Member Only Content | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Higher plans only *** | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Directory | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Higher plans only *** | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Event Calendar / Registration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Via Eventbrite | Yes | Simple event registration; no calendars | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Classifieds | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Job Board | Yes | Yes, but with revenue sharing | Yes | Yes, but with revenue sharing | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Announcement Board or Forum | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Donations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shopping Cart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| CMS compatibility | WordPress, Weebly, Squarespace, Wix, Duda, WithoutCode, Drupal, Joomla, Spacecraft, HTML5 sites | Custom CMS. Uses iframes to embed widgets on other platforms ***** | Requires their custom CMS | Requires their custom CMS or developer help to integrate (+ associated fees) | WordPress, Squarespace, Wix and others *** | WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Concrete5, LiveEdit, LiveCMS | WordPress, Squarespace, Weebly, Wix | Requires their custom CMS | Requires their custom CMS | Requires their custom CMS |
| Key Integrations | MailChimp, Quickbooks Online and Desktop, Xero | Quickbooks Desktop, Make (connects WA to other apps) | Quickbooks online, LMS | Higher Logic, Hubspot, Salesforce, Learning Management System | Eventbrite, Emma, MailChimp, Hubspot, Quickbooks | MailChimp, Quickbooks, LMS, Zoom, Go To Webinar | Quickbooks, MailChimp, Qgiv, Donorsearch, Truegivers, Zapier | Zoom | Sakai LMS, Quickbooks | Quickbooks |
| Payment Gateways | Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal | Affinipay (Paypal and Authorize.net at an additional cost) | Affinipay, BluePay | Authorize.net, Bambora, CardPointe, PayPal | Stripe | Affinipay, Authorize.net, GrowthZone Pay | Bloomerang Payments, Stripe, Authorize.net, or Moolah | Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal | Springly’s in house solution | |
| Support | Phone, email, live screen share training | Forum, chat, email | Phone, email | Email, phone, forum | Chat, email | Phone, chat, email | Email, chat, phone (phone is extra $35/mo) | Email, phone, paid training | Email, paid training ($120/hr) | Chat, email, training at $120 per hour |
| Admin seats on paid plans | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 2; additional admins are $15/mo each | 1 admin seat at their lowest price | 3 admin seats at lowest price | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
* The additional per-transaction fee (beyond what payment gateway charges) is 3% with the lowest priced plan on JoinIt.
** Wild Apricot adds 20% to its monthly/annual fees if you don’t use their affiliated payment gateway. Nonprofits can often find lower transaction fees with other payment gateways like Stripe, but the 20% fee increase comes into play if you go that route.
*** CMS integration is only available at higher price levels on JoinIt. Other features such as the member directory and the ability to have member only content are not available on lower-priced plans.
**** Many Club Express features require paying an extra fee on a one-time or ongoing basis.
***** Iframes offer limited compatibility for Wild Apricot with WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace.
What is membership management software?
Membership management software brings efficiencies to businesses and organizations through process automations and . Membership software automates the member billing process. These systems also offer integrated features such as event payments, donations, carts, and forms. Members’ activities and membership status are tracked across the system.
What is membership management software best for?
Some membership software focuses more on regulating access to website content while membership management software often serves organizations that exist both online and offline.
Membership management software is best for organizations that need to bill members on an ongoing basis and track member activity. Membership software like MembershipWorks is built into your website and:
- Sends automated membership renewal reminders and enables automatic recurring billing
- Allows your organization to provide special access to content like member-only event ticket purchases
- Provides a member directory that can be public or private
- Enables admins to pull reports on member activity
Some membership software focuses more on regulating access to website content while membership management software often serves organizations that exist both online and offline and require more features such as a member directory and event registration. It’s important to know the difference as you research options.
Top 10 Membership Management Software
1. MembershipWorks
MembershipWorks enables both new and established membership-based organizations to start accepting payments quickly. As the membership software is easily embedded into a variety of website platforms (WordPress, Weebly, Wix, Squarespace, Duda, WithoutCode, and others), organizations can often keep their existing membership website. Known for excellent customer service.
Cost: Pricing starts at free; first paid level is $35/mo.
Setup Fee: $0
Per-Seat charges: $0; admin seats are unlimited on all paid plans
Additional Transaction-Related Charges: None other than payment gateway charges
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Event calendar and registration, online directory, member only content, donations, forms, job bank, shopping carts, classified ads, announcement boards
Key Integrations: MailChimp, Quickbooks, Xero, Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal Pro, PayPal Checkout
Support: Free phone, email, and one-on-one screen share training with no seat restrictions on support.
Buy if you:
- Want to keep your existing website* or plan to change website platforms soon and need an easy transition with your membership database system
- Have regular staff or volunteer turnover and need free one-on-one training to help with onboarding
- Want readily available phone and email support
- Want to access to all features at all payment plan levels
Don’t buy if you:
- Are looking for online scheduling or resource booking
- Require an app for conference attendees
- Need your membership management software to have Point of Sale system (POS) integration
See how MembershipWorks compares to other systems
2. WildApricot
WildApricot has a long track record and has a large installation base. They offer multi-chapter organizations the ability to create a template website and clone that site for multiple chapters to use.
Cost: Pricing starts at free; first paid level is $60/mo.
Setup Fee: $0
Additional Transaction-Related Charges: Wild Apricot adds 20% to its monthly/annual fees if you don’t use their affiliated payment gateway. Nonprofits can often find lower transaction fees with other payment gateways like Stripe, but the 20% fee increase comes into play if you go that route.
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Website builder, event calendar and registration, directory, member only content, forum, online store, mobile app
Key Integrations: Make, Affinipay, Website Widgets
Support: Chat, email, forums
Buy if you:
- Are looking for an all-in-one solution; it includes the website, communications platform, and membership database
- Want a built-in member forum
- Need a mobile app for members or a mobile app for admins
Don’t buy if you:
- Need more flexibility with your website beyond the templates that they provide
- Hope to keep a WordPress website; their integration with WordPress is limited and challenging
- Want phone support
- Want to use a payment gateway of your choice and not be charged extra fees to do so
3. YourMembership
YourMembership integrates many aspects of association management into one tool. For organizations that want someone to design their site for them, they offer this service.
Cost: starts at $292/month
Setup Fee: varies
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Online community, job board, event calendar and registration, directory, member only content, online store, mobile event app
Key Integrations: Career center, Learning Management System (LMS)
Support: Email, phone
Buy if you:
- Want a mobile app for your conference attendees
- Want them to design your member website
- Are looking for the ability to add on an integrated LMS
Don’t buy if you:
- Want to keep your existing website
- Need a trial version to test the member management system
- Want up-front pricing information before watching a demo
See a YourMembership comparison
4. MemberClicks
MemberClicks is designed for associations as well as association management companies. Organizations can pay them to build their website. Available add on services include an online community, job board and LMS.
Cost: Starts at $375/month
Setup Fee: Starts at $3,000
Per-Seat charges: $15/month beyond the first two designated admins (ASAs) for their MC Professional product
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Online community, event calendar and registration, directory, member only content, online store, email marketing
Key Integrations: Higher Logic, Hubspot, Salesforce, Learning Management System
Support: Email, phone, online forum
Buy if you:
- Are a larger nonprofit and need API integration with other systems such as CRMs
- Want to track member engagement metrics with custom scoring
- Need to track member referrals
Don’t buy if you:
- Are a smaller nonprofit. Their parent company also offers WildApricot, which is more geared toward smaller membership groups.
- Want more than two admins who can contact support without having to pay extra for additional admins
- Want to be able to change your website design yourself
5. Join It
Rather than offering an all-in-one membership management solution, Join It instead integrates with a list of outside providers for features such as events and email marketing. Certain features such as the directory and embedded membership forms are only included with the higher priced plans.
Cost: Starts at $29/month
Per-Seat charges: $10/month per seat if you need more admins than your selected plan allows.
Additional Transaction-Related Charges: Join It charges an additional 3% for online transactions in addition to what your payment gateway charges (at lowest level plan; lower rates available on more expensive plans).
Setup Fee: $0
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Directory (available with higher level plans)
Key Integrations: Eventbrite, Emma, MailChimp, Hubspot, Quickbooks
Support: Email, chat
Buy if you:
- Want a lower fixed monthly cost in exchange for higher transaction fees
- Want a digital membership card with QR code for check ins
- Prefer using integrations versus having features built in such as event registration
Don’t buy if you:
- Need phone support
- Want to avoid paying additional transaction fees on top of what your payment gateway charges
- Have a volunteer-run organization that needs many admin seats and doesn’t want to pay extra
6. GrowthZone (ChamberMaster)
An all-in-one association management system (AMS) focused on tracking and communicating with members. They offer integrations with Learning Management Systems.
Cost: Starts at $325/month
Per-Seat charges: 3 admins are included at the lowest level plan.
Additional Transaction-Related Charges: Higher monthly fees unless you use their payment gateway.
Setup Fee: $3,500 one-time design fee for website design
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Mobile staff app, events, forms, donations, job postings, directory, CE tracking
Key Integrations: Zoom, Elevate LMS, Blue Sky ELearn
Support: Email, phone
Buy if you:
- Are looking for apps for both members and your staff
- Need to track continuing education (CE/CEU) credits
- Need built-in project management tool with automated task creation
Don’t buy if you:
- Don’t want to pay extra for features you want to add
- Want to avoid a setup fee
- Want to use a different payment gateway than their solution to pay lower transaction fees
See a GrowthZone/ChamberMaster comparison
7. Kindful / Bloomerang
A fundraising platform focused on donor management and reporting more than membership management. Along those lines, it offers features such as peer-to-peer fundraising and crowdfunding. Bloomerang purchased Kindful in 2021.
Cost: Starts at $125/month plus $54/month extra for phone support
Per-Seat charges: none
Additional Transaction-Related Charges: 1% fundraising platform fee on all transactions through Bloomerang Payments
Setup Fee: $0
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Donations, donor management, peer-to-peer fundraising, volunteer management
Key Integrations: Quickbooks, MailChimp, Qgiv, Donorsearch, Truegivers, Zapier
Support: Email, chat, phone ($54/mo)
Buy if you:
- Are more focused on donations and fundraising than memberships
- Need a volunteer management feature with shift signup/scheduling capability and an app
- Are looking for engagement tracking and CRM features
Don’t buy if you:
- Don’t want to pay a 1% transaction fee on top of your payment gateway fees
- Don’t want to have to pay extra for phone support
- Don’t want to be charged for each individual member of a family or group membership
See a Bloomerang / Kindful comparison
8. MemberNova
A membership platform focused on social community, onboarding and member engagement.
Cost: Varies for each organization
Per-Seat charges: unknown
Additional Transaction-Related Charges: unknown
Setup Fee: varies
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Ecommerce, multi-chapter management, event management, directory
Key Integrations: MentorEase
Support: Email, phone
Buy if you:
- Want private member forums
- Need automated task creation
- Desire to have your email marketing feature within the membership system versus an integration
Don’t buy if you:
- Keep your existing website
- Want pricing information up-front without going through a demo
- Need a member or admin app
9. ClubExpress
This software is focused on providing a lot of features, often with an additional cost for functionality such as Quickbooks integration. They work with many types of organizations, including those who have a physical location and need a POS (Point of Sale) system integration.
Cost: Starts at $24/month
Per-Seat charges: unknown
Additional Transaction-Related Charges: $0
Setup Fee: Starts at $150, plus additional fee for creating your website in their CMS ($600 to $2400 and up)
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Volunteer signups and tracking, events calendar and registration, ecommerce, CEU tracking, elearning, multi-chapter features, mobile app
Key Integrations: POS system integration, LMS, virtual membership cards
Support: Email, phone; screenshare training incurs a fee ($120/hr)
Buy if you:
- Want to track CEUs for your members
- Want to pay to have them build your website or move your current website design to their platform
- Need to allow signups for volunteer slots and to keep track of volunteer hours
Don’t buy if you:
- Want a more streamlined, modern interface than what ClubExpress offers
- Want to keep your existing website
- Don’t want to be surprised when a feature you want has an additional cost
10. Springly
Springly provides a website along with its membership features. Springly offers a nonprofit management circle where customers can share ideas with each other.
Cost: Starts at $45/month
Per-Seat charges: unknown
Additional Transaction-Related Charges: $0
Setup Fee: $0
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Multi-chapter features, member only content, events management, online store, scannable tickets
Key Integrations: Quickbooks
Support: Email, online training (additional fees; $150 for a hour)
Buy if you:
- Need multi-chapter features (for example, if you are a national organization with affiliated chapters)
- Want to have a built-in accounting system within your membership software versus an integration. This is not a common feature in other systems at this price point.
- Want to share ideas with other nonprofit organizations in Springly’s Facebook group
Don’t buy if you:
- Need phone support
- Want to keep your existing website
- Want to be able to do a lot of customization using the website builder that Springly provides
Frequently Asked Questions
Note that pricing and features may change from the information we have gathered here. Providers regularly evolve their product offerings and price points.
Comments are closed.