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 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?
| MembershipWorks | WildApricot | YourMembership | MemberClicks | JoinIt | Growth Zone/ Chambermaster | Kindful | MemberNova | ClubExpress | Springly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per month starts at | $0; paid plans start at $35 | $0; paid plans start at $48 | starts at $292 | starts at $238 | starts at $29 | starts at $259 | starts at $100 | requires quote | starts at $24 plus feature fees**** | $0; paid plans start at $25 |
| Setup Fee | $0 | $0 | varies | $1500 or $3000 | $0 | $1500 for supported onboarding; $3500 for website build | $199 | 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. | $0 | $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 | Yes | 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 | via Shopify | Yes | 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, Spacecraft | 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 | MailChimp, Shopify, Constant Contact, Classy, Emma | MentorEase | 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 | Stripe, Authorize.net, GrowthZone Pay | Stripe, PayPal, Square, Authorize.Net | Stripe | 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 | Email, phone, paid training | Email, phone, paid training ($120/hr) | $150 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?
Organizations and businesses with members use membership management software to bring efficiencies to their operations. 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 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.
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 $48/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
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
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 $238/month
Setup Fee: $1,500 or $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
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 $21/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
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 $259/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, GrowthZone Pay.
Setup Fee: $3,500 one-time design fee for website if you want them to build your site
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
See a GrowthZone/ChamberMaster comparison
7. Kindful
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.
Cost: Starts at $100/month
Per-Seat charges: none
Additional Transaction-Related Charges: $0
Setup Fee: $199
Key Features Beyond Membership Management: Donations, donor management, peer-to-peer fundraising, crowdfunding, events and registration
Key Integrations: Shopify, Constant Contact, Classy, Emma
Support: Email, chat
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
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)
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 $25/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)
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.
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