Do you feel that you need to engage your organization’s members more? Are you tired of all the spreadsheets and emails you have to deal with? If that is the case, membership management software is the solution to all your problems. 57% of associations that use this product claim their membership engagement and satisfaction rates went up. Other reported improvements include membership growth, higher member retention, and larger donation size. Read on to find the best platforms for membership management, the essential features of this type of software, and a comprehensive buying guide.
Before you can decide which product is the best for you, you should first understand how it ended up on our list. We have a strict ranking system that follows specific steps to evaluate software solutions. In addition to the classification of products, we also focus on critical features that enable smooth membership management. We also make sure to check the integration possibilities and the pricing policy.
Industry focus, organization size, and deployment are the cornerstones of software categorization.
It’s a must to shop for solutions that align with your organization's needs and size. So, if your company has hundreds of members, then stick to online membership management software powerful enough to handle them. Then, if you can find a system specialized in your field, that’s great too. After all, church organizations, nonprofits, and sports clubs all need different industry-specific functionalities.
Finally, deployment refers to how you access the software. Here, we have cloud-based, on-premise, and SaaS solutions. Cloud-based options are usually cheaper, while on-premise software tends to be more robust. Note that this helps towards classification only and doesn’t affect product ranking.
New member sign-up, member database, and email communication are among the most used features of systems for managing members. There are also additional functionalities that make a product the right solution for managing your community. Our best-ranked platforms have as many of these features as possible.
A perfect product must empower you to create and store member records in a comprehensive database. Being able to find all details in one place, as well as search for information is a highly desired functionality. Member data editing and sharing alongside a multi-user interface and real-time updates also make for great membership software.
Here, we must mention the self-service portal, which always leads to a better ranking. This portal enables members to securely sign up, log in, update personal information, register for events, and more.
This tool lets organizations manage different types of subscriptions, for example, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. They can also separate them into individual or group subscriptions. Automated renewals, recurring payments, and auto-reminders on due payments are also useful functionalities of this feature.
A more straightforward payment process leads to more donations. Naturally, you want your software for membership management to support various payment methods, including credit cards and e-wallets. It’s a plus if you can integrate these payments with your accounting software and automatically sync them. With this simple option, your software removes the need for manual entry and lowers the possibility of errors.
Events are a great way to connect with your members and collect donations. Therefore, event management is a basic functionality of high-ranked products on our list. You need the option to plan and manage events, social meetings, fundraisers, and conferences. A shared event calendar, member registration, and automatic invitations also add value to this type of software.
Communication is another highly-rated feature in our membership management software reviews. A useful communication tool enables organizations to create lists, customize messages, and send automated emails. You want to have newsletter templates if you're going to save time. Tracking open emails and mass texting are two other functionalities we haven’t overlooked either while ranking the software.
Useful insights help associations and organizations understand member behavior, which leads to better results in the future. Being able to export community data, fundraising reports, event summaries, etc., helps you find and understand patterns. The best membership management software can analyze the data, generate custom reports, and enable you to share these with your team.
We always appreciate integration-friendly platforms more than solutions that don’t integrate smoothly. Taking this into account, software that works with as many other apps as possible ranks better. Systems that manage members must integrate seamlessly with customer relationship management software, payment gateways, and accounting systems.
Software solutions with good rankings are flexible, user-friendly and customizable. These are critical features of any top membership management software. In addition, you don’t want specialized training or expensive certification to learn how to use your investment. Instead, you should focus on products with an easy setup process and intuitive UI.
The last evaluation criterion is the pricing. Affordable or expensive, however, doesn’t mean anything if the product doesn’t give good value. So, our rating experts handpick solutions with pricing that aligns with industry standards. Products with a money-back guarantee and a free trial get a further boost in rankings.
Newly established organizations, as well as global names with 50000 members, can handle their membership with Wild Apricot. Users report impressive results after purchasing the software, with some of them claiming their membership jumped by 30%. Desktop and mobile-ready, the platform smoothly automates member application, communication, and storage.
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Easy to learn and simple to use, Wild Apricot is a membership database software for everyone. Membership applications are easily handled with an automated application process, customizable processing rules, and group memberships. With the platform, you can send automatic confirmation emails and accept online payments. The system also covers renewals with its automatic reminders and invoices.
Member-only content lets you customize what members see, such as pricing options, renewal policies and rules. Wild Apricot further gives your members a self-service portal, which guarantees up-to-date membership data. Another feature worth mentioning is the community directory, where all crucial data is stored and easily found.
Anyone can try Wild Apricot for free for 30 days by subscribing for a free trial. You sign up with email only. No credit card needed.
As a free and open-source membership management software, Wild Apricot allows associations with up to 50 contacts to use the platform free of charge. This package comes with a single admin and storage limit of 100 MB. It, however, doesn’t offer crucial functionalities such as online payments, scheduled emails, and mobile apps, meaning it’s appropriate for small communities that don’t need many features.
Check out all Wild Apricot premium plans when billed annually (you save 10%):
All premium plans of the membership platform come with an unlimited number of admins and a storage limit of 2GB. If you pre-pay for two years, you can save 15%.
Flexible, simple, and customizable – that is what makes Join It a leading solution for managing your community. The platform can handle up to 50000 members, meaning it’s great for both small and large associations. Its general, yet rich selection of functionalities works for any type of organization, including non-profits, sports clubs, and student associations.
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Join It has everything any best membership management software has in terms of features. The platform is customizable and enables users to design beautiful landing pages for members. It also offers flexible membership tiers, trial periods, and integration options, so you always have control over your community. With Join It, associations can easily collect payments, sort their unique members' table, and send automated renewal reminders. This platform comes equipped with a simple member portal as well as multi-user access.
A 30-day free trial is the best way to decide if Join It is the best solution for your organization. Small communities with no more than 100 subscribers can use Join It as a free membership management software. Otherwise, you can choose from three basic packages and one premium plan.
The Starter Package costs $29 per month and limits your membership base to 1000. It also comes with a 3.0% service fee on online payments processed by Stripe. The Join It Growth Package comes in at $49 per month and covers up to 2,500 members, multiple admins, and offline payments. The service fee for online transactions stands at a lower 2.5%.
The last package is the Total, which costs $99 per month. Its service fee on online payments is 2.0% and supports up to 10000 members. Alternatively, those with 10000-50000 members can upgrade the Total Package, and get a 500000-member limit for $250 per month.
You can get the Join It online membership software with a 20% discount if you decide to pay for the software annually. The company further offers a Non-profit Discount of 20%.
Scalable software for small and large fitness brands, that’s PerfectGym for you. Enabling users to handle CRM, club management, payments, and analytics with a single platform, PerfectGym is powerful software to own. The platform’s open API further guarantees easy integration with tons of other apps, making the product a leading club membership management software.
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There’s little PerfectGym can’t do. Its membership management functionalities include real-time data about members, such as visits, bookings, transactions, and interactions. Supported by an active UX profile and analytical tools, the platform gives valuable insights about clients’ behavior. The features list doesn’t stop here. It also includes a robust dashboard, payments, revenue tracking, employee oversight, reporting, configuration, and bookings management.
The cherry on top is the full club automation center that enables you to run special offers, class schedules, email confirmations, and much more. Just set the action once, and the membership management system will elegantly handle the rest.
Interested clubs and organizations can schedule a free demo of the PerfectGym software. You need to fill out a simple form on their website and wait for a brand representative to contact you.
In terms of pricing, PerfectGym no longer publishes its plans. Until recently, they had three premium packages – Studio, Club, and Business. These used to be priced at $135, $395, and $508 per month, respectively. So, the new pricing is probably around these numbers as well.
EventBank is a web-based membership management software for organizations of any size. The company serves all kinds of associations, including nonprofits, start-ups, and chambers of commerce. The brand’s platform for handling the community covers all crucial processes, such as applications, renewals, and database management.
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Application workflow, payments, renewals, team operations, insights, and member accounts are the six essentials of EventBank’s membership platform. The software has a separate set of functionalities for dealing with every aspect. For example, custom application forms, document uploads, custom membership types, and membership sales pipeline are features that lead to a smooth application workflow.
Member QR codes, newsletter management, profile editing, and member-only access are part of the member accounts segment of the solution. You will always have all the necessary details alongside useful analysis too. Tools that help towards this are membership analytics, timeline, directory, and smart lists.
You can test this cloud-based membership management software by scheduling a demo. After that, you can select one of the five premium plans. Pricing isn’t available for any of those, so you need to get a quote.
Before asking for an offer, however, it’s smart to see which plan suits your needs the most. Here is what each package includes:
Working equally well as nonprofit and church membership management software, Aplos is a valuable platform. Its solution for handling your members guarantees smooth and automated event registration, member engagement, and community management.
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Member management is extremely easy with Aplos. The software comes with an accessible member directory, customizable database, and lists that enable better communication and higher engagement rates. Your donors also have their own dynamic and an easy-to-use online portal. Secure and reliable, this portal makes volunteer management and event coordination incredibly simple. Despite being just a church and nonprofit membership management software, the solution also helps with administrative tasks such as financial reporting and billing.Event registration, ticket sales, and success tracking are other segments of Aplos that improve operations.
Nonprofits, churches, and organizations can use Aplos for 15 days for free with a no-obligation trial.
Most functionalities of Aplos come with the base package that costs $59 per month. This plan includes budgeting reports, membership directory software, fundraising tools, and more. Those who want the Advanced Accounting Upgrades can ask for customized solutions. These start at $159 per month.
Organizations with annual revenue under $50000 or founded in the past six months are eligible for special discounts.
Transaction fees on credit and debit cards are 3% + $0.30 per transaction. American Express rates are 1.1% higher, while the charges may vary for international cards as well. AHC transactions come with fees of 2% + $0.30.
Reliable, powerful, and robust. This is how satisfied users describe Little Green Light, a leading association management and membership tracking software. Easily integrated with more than 10 apps such as MailChimp, QuickBooks, and PayPal, the platform is just what you need for your organization or membership business. Little Green Light works for basic and advanced users, individuals and teams, and tech-savvy users and technophobes.
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Profiles with contact info, history, relationship, etc. help you know your donors. With Little Green Light, you can easily organize your tasks, set reminders, and manage your calendar. This membership management platform gives so much more as it enables contacts, alumni, and volunteer management. Little Green Light boosts your productivity as well, enabling you to send single-click personalized emails, reminders, and acknowledgments.
Among the most useful features is the online donations functionality. This tool lets you receive donations via the internet, automatically update member profiles, and send donation confirmations. Gift, goal, and pledge tracking also come with this software, alongside powerful reporting tools. Event and grant monitoring are two other crucial features of the Little Green Light association membership management software.
Little Green Light has transparent pricing and plans suited for organizations with any number of members. As the vendor says, regardless of whether you manage 1000 or 100000 constituents, they are ready for you. Users can subscribe for a 30-day free trial, with no setup and cancellation fees, and no contracts.
LGL has four basic premium tiers that cost $39/month, $49/month, $59/month, and $69/month. The respective number of members you can manage with these is up to 2,500, 5,000, 10000, and 20,000. Those with more than 20,000 members can pay an additional $10/month for every extra 10000 records. Annual billing will save you 10%.
Little Green Light’s membership management solution comes with a pay-as-you-go feature for online donation processing. Its charges start at 2.2% + $0.30 per transaction and an additional 1% LGL fee (no more than $50/month).
Omnify has it all for selling and managing your services online. Their all-in-one software solution covers the essentials of running any kind of business or association. This product doesn’t limit the number of clients you can serve and helps you grow, in addition to being designed for day-to-day operations. Omnify is the perfect tennis club membership management software but also works for gyms, fitness centers, nonprofits, and more.
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This all-in-one platform lets you schedule, manage, and sell your services, as well as stay in touch with your members and clients. Focusing on your community management, Omnify allows you to store data in the cloud and sync it across multiple platforms. A unique option here is the functionality that pulls in member social links for you so you can quickly contact anyone. The client profile meanwhile lets you create notes, add family members, check upcoming schedules, etc.
As a membership software, Omnify is all about automation too. Automated invoices, reminders, notifications, payment demands, and waitlists will clear your schedule for other activities. The platform makes it possible to receive online payments as well as send automated personalized emails and discounts. All this comes on top of other functionalities such as booking and scheduling, front desk, and operations.
If Omnify sounds like a useful tool for your organization, you can try it out for 14 days – free of charge. You don't need a credit card either.
After that, you can choose one of three premium packages. The membership management tool comes in all plans, with the cheapest set at $79 per month (billed annually). This Essential Plan comes with five team members, unlimited clients, client login, lead capture forms, and auto emails.
Omnify Plus costs $199 per month, while Omnify Pro is $499 per month. While these packages may seem pricey, they offer an all-in-one solution rather than a standalone membership database. So, in addition to unlimited clients, you get team access management, free SSL certificate, advanced analytics, retention emails, and more.
Nonprofits meanwhile can get an additional 20% discount on all plans. Organizations with 2-20 locations can go for the Multi-Location Plan, starting from $99 per month per location (billed annually).
Smart Trakker aims to handle two crucial aspects of running an association of any kind – events and members. This solution lets small and mid-sized organizations choose the specific modules they need and get a customized product that meets their expectations. As a membership management software, it helps you grow your community, automate workflows, get useful insights, and diversify revenue sources.
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Smart Trakker has two solutions – Event Trakker and Member Trakker. Each comes with a long list of useful features you can combine as you wish. With the Member Trakker, organizations can grow their member database through email marketing, which enables mass emailing, customized emails, member auditing, and reports. The membership software handles applications and renewals as well, and supports various recurring billing tools and online payments via Stripe.
When combined with Event Trakker, Smart Trakker lets you create and track events. It also supports multiple and flexible registrations, VIP codes, and ticketing. We also want to point out that Smart Trakker constantly upgrades its platforms with new features inspired by famous scientists and experts. So, don’t be surprised by the Hawking, Ride, and Banneker system upgrades.
Associations can request a demo to check what Smart Trakker features they need the most. Plus, small organizations and clubs with up to 25 members can use the online membership software entirely for free.
The remaining premium plans for Member Trakker are Excursion, Safari, and Expedition. Users get all the functionalities, and it's just the member limit that varies. The Excursion Plan is for up to 100 people and costs $200 per year. Safari comes in at $500 per year and handles up to 250 members. Those with up to 800 people can get the Expedition package for $800 per year.
The Event Trakker Bronze, Silver, and Gold plans have annual subscription fees of $80, $550, and $1,300, respectively.
Brilliant Directories is so much more than a software for membership management. Trusted by over 20,000 successful associations, the system handles thousands of online membership communities with ease. The platform aims not only to help you manage your community but also to boost your income via robust content publishing and monetization tools.
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Dynamic member profile pages give power to the people so they can contact other members, leave reviews, and edit their data. The Brilliant Directories membership database also comes with a self-service member dashboard for tracking leads, content uploading, and subscriptions. You can create membership packages with the tool, so they suit different categories, such as paid membership, freemium plans, etc. All this comes in an intuitive management system that supports customization and data import.
Here are other crucial functionalities that the all-in-one Brilliant Directories platform covers:
Small associations that need basic membership management solutions will find Brilliant Directories expensive. Mid-sized and large organizations, however, will get an incredibly powerful tool for a reasonable fee.
The basic Monthly Plan costs $145/month and includes premium hosting, up to 100000 members, more than 1000 features, and unlimited software updates. You can save 45% if you subscribe to the Yearly Plan that costs $950/year. Finally, the lowest price for Brilliant Directories’ membership tracking software is a single payment of $1,450 for the Lifetime Deal plan. This package comes with lifetime hosting and email support.
Users of the Brilliant Directories platform can purchase more than 60 supercharged add-ons for the platform. By joining the VIP Add-Ons Club for $95 per month, customers get instant access to the full suite of add-ons, including AdBlock Detector, Automatic Lead Matching, and Multi-Member Manager.
Both reliable and robust, Amilia is not a product to overlook. This platform has the highest uptime compared to competitors and comes with a long list of functionalities. Amilia’s membership card management software is only one of the areas handled by this all-in-one association operation system. That makes it perfect for organizations of any type, as well as for multi-location clubs.
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Amilia streamlines your entire organization or business with its plethora of user-friendly tools. The platform comes equipped with membership sales, online billing, custom forms, flexible scheduling, and web marketing tools. Reporting is another strong side of this membership management system as it provides cost recovery insights, automatic reconciliation reports, and standardized report templates.
Amilia also includes an intuitive user portal with activity calendars and global user accounts. This means your members have the flexibility to add and edit data, while you have the power to access and find all member information. Add attendance tracking, the Amilia Mobile App, and online registration to get an incredibly valuable companion from day one of your operations.
In addition to the 30-day free trial, there are two basic Amilia premium plans. Both come with membership directory software.
The Essential Plan costs $99 per month per location and targets associations with up to four locations. The Enterprise Plan is for businesses with five and more sites. This package costs $799 per month.
Both plans have a 1% fee on transactions and include more or less the same features such as merchandise, online store, discounts, fundraising, auto-billing, etc. Enterprise is additionally boosted with API, head office dashboard, and multi-location reporting.
In the end, our table and expert software reviews are just tools to help you choose. To find the best option for your organization, you must put in the work by following the guide below. In three simple steps, we will assist you in discovering the software that has all the features your organization needs.
The first step is a thorough membership management software comparison. We mentioned that the association size and industry focus are the cornerstones of product classification. With that in mind, find options that serve organizations like yours. If you run a sports club, it wouldn’t make sense to purchase a solution targeting churches.
Once all unsuitable options are gone, you can make a list of all your needs and expectations. Add functionalities such as reporting tools, event management, etc. Compare this list with the remaining platforms to narrow down possible winners.
The final step is to define your budget for this investment. Once you know how much you can spend on a membership management software, pick any of the appropriate systems shortlisted before.
By following these steps, you ensure that your chosen platform meets all your criteria regarding features as well as price.