Most organizations leave Springly because it counts every contact rather than paying members, and payments run only through the built-in Adyen processor. Stay if built-in accounting is the reason you bought it.
Ordered by how well each one fits the organizations that usually outgrow Springly.
Memberships, programs and facility booking on one member record
Communal keeps memberships, programs, facility rentals, donations with tax receipts, volunteer shifts and POS on one record, and counts members rather than contacts.
Check first: No built-in accounting or website builder; Communal exports GL-coded transactions and runs beside your existing site.
Dues, events and a directory embedded in your own website
MembershipWorks embeds membership, events and a directory into WordPress, Squarespace, Wix or Weebly, and counts only member accounts, not event registrants or donors.
Check first: No public API, no facility booking and basic volunteer tracking; email campaigns need the Mailchimp add-on.
Website builder, member app and a 60-day trial
Wild Apricot includes the website builder, events, email, store and the member and admin apps on every published tier, with no module upsells.
Check first: It counts every contact, and keeping your own payment gateway costs extra.
Pick this if donor retention matters more than member administration
Bloomerang CRM gives fundraising teams unlimited users, engagement scoring and stewardship tools built around donor retention.
Check first: Membership is a field on constituent records rather than a module, volunteers are a paid add-on, and contracts are annual.
Association management for staffed professional associations
MemberClicks adds committees, dues automation, review panels and an OAuth REST API, sold by quote with an implementation package.
Check first: Quote-only with annual contracts and paid add-ons for community, mobile app and LMS.
Free to start, with wallet cards on Pro
TidyHQ has a free Starter plan with unlimited contacts and membership levels, and Pro adds Apple and Google Wallet cards and committee roles.
Check first: A service fee on every payment sits on top of Stripe, and there is no facility booking.
Zero software cost for nonprofits that mainly need forms
Zeffy charges US and Canadian nonprofits nothing, funded by an optional donor tip at checkout.
Check first: No volunteer shifts, facility booking or website builder, and the tip ask appears at every checkout.
| Feature | Communal | Springly | MembershipWorks | Wild Apricot | Bloomerang |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Membership management | IncludedTiers, custom fields, segments | Included | Included | Included | Partial |
| Automated renewals | IncludedReminders and auto-renew | Included | Included | Included | Partial |
| Digital membership cards (Apple / Google Wallet) | IncludedIncluded in every plan | Not offered | Not offered | Partial | Not offered |
| Event registration & ticketing | Add-onPrograms & events add-on | Included | IncludedCapacity and check-in | Included | Included |
| Program & class registration | Add-onWaitlists, capacity, attendance, rosters | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Facility booking & rentals | Add-onApprovals, invoices, agreements, iCal | Not offered | Not offered | Not offered | Not offered |
| Volunteer shifts & hour tracking | IncludedShifts, hours, auto volunteer discounts | Partial | Partial | Not offered | Add-onSeparate Bloomerang Volunteer product |
| Donations & fundraising | IncludedIncluded; donor covers fees option | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Automatic tax receipts | IncludedAutomatic | Included | Not listed | PartialDonation receipts | Included |
| Built-in accounting | Not offeredCSV/XLSX exports with GL codes; no QuickBooks sync | Add-onProfessional tier | Not offeredQuickBooks/Xero export | Not offeredQuickBooks sync | Not offered |
| Member self-service portal | Included | Included | Included | IncludedMember app | PartialDonor portal |
| Email campaigns | IncludedCampaigns and segments | Included | PartialMailchimp add-on | Included | Included |
| Website builder | Not offeredWorks beside your site | Included | Partial | Included | Not offered |
| Public API | IncludedREST API, Zapier webhooks, MCP server | Partial | Not offered | Included | Included |
Springly counts every contact in the database toward your plan, so the bill climbs as the list grows and overage is charged per additional contact.
Payments run only through the built-in Adyen processor. Organizations with an existing Stripe, PayPal or merchant account cannot keep it.
The fund-accounting module and API access that make Springly distinctive sit on the Professional tier. Groups on Serenity get the member list and email but not the books.
Springly has no room or court booking and no Apple or Google Wallet membership cards. Community associations and clubs that rent space or check members in at the door need a second tool.
Third-party reviews cite a clunky interface, limited custom reporting and slow support. The free Liberty tier also depends on donor tipping, which some organizations prefer not to put in front of members.
Hall and court rentals, programs and events, and volunteer shifts with clock-in hour tracking all sit on the same profile, with member pricing applied automatically. Springly has no facility booking and only partial volunteer tooling.
Communal scales by member band, so lapsed contacts, newsletter subscribers and event guests never change your plan. Springly bills every contact and charges overage.
Payments deposit weekly into your own Stripe Connect account, with no monthly minimums and a donor-covers-fees option. Springly runs only through Adyen.
Apple and Google Wallet membership cards, resident vs non-resident pricing by map boundary, and automatic numbered tax receipts with separate Canadian and US templates are in the base plan. Springly issues donation receipts but has no wallet cards or address-based pricing.
Stay on Springly if accounting is the reason you chose it and your contact list is stable. A treasurer who closes the books in the same tool as the member list is getting real value. Move when contact growth, the missing facility and volunteer tools, or the locked-in processor start costing you time.
Communal. Resident vs non-resident pricing, facility rentals, kids programs and volunteer shifts sit on one member record, and the EFCL runs 163 Edmonton community leagues on it.
MembershipWorks is free for the smallest clubs and charges no vendor transaction fee, and TidyHQ is free to start with wallet cards on Pro. Zeffy is free outright if you are a US or Canadian nonprofit that mainly needs forms and ticketing.
Bloomerang for donor retention reporting and stewardship. Communal if you also run memberships, programs or volunteers and want numbered tax receipts, recurring giving and campaign pages in the base plan.
MemberClicks or Wild Apricot. MemberClicks for associations that need committees, review panels and an API with an implementation team; Wild Apricot for smaller associations that want a site and member database from one vendor.
Springly exports contacts, memberships, payments and accounting entries as CSV; the member side maps directly and the books stay in your accounting package.
Export contacts, membership plans, renewal dates, payment history and donation records from Springly; we map contacts to members, plans to membership types and receipts to donation history, then run a dry-run import you can check.
Set up membership types, renewal rules, programs, facilities and volunteer opportunities in Communal, and import members with their existing expiry dates so renewal reminders go out on schedule.
Point your website to the Communal portal for signup, renewals and donations, send members their wallet cards, and move accounting to exports with GL codes while the first renewal cycle runs.
The Big Apple Knitters Guild moved 400 members off PayPal and spreadsheets and cut 14 to 18 volunteer hours a month of reconciliation. Read the case study.
How the hall gets booked, how program pricing works, how you chase renewals. No canned tour. We walk Communal through your real process so you can see the fit before you decide.
No canned tour · No sales script
For community associations, clubs and recreation organizations that want memberships, programs, facilities and volunteers on one system, Communal. For a club that only needs dues, events and a directory on its own website, MembershipWorks. For fundraising-led nonprofits, Bloomerang. See Springly vs Wild Apricot if a website builder matters.
MembershipWorks embeds dues, events and a directory in the website you already have with no vendor payment fee. TidyHQ is free to start. Zeffy is free for US and Canadian nonprofits. Communal counts members rather than contacts, so a growing mailing list never changes your plan.
No. Communal is not a ledger. Every transaction carries GL code fields and exports to CSV or XLSX so your bookkeeper can import it into QuickBooks, Xero or any accounting package. If you want the books and the member list in one login, Springly Professional is the better choice.
Yes, and the scoped migration is free. We import contacts, membership plans, renewal dates, payment history and donations from your Springly exports, validate the mapping with you using a dry run, and keep existing expiry dates intact. Accounting history stays in your books; Communal takes over from go-live.
No. Springly has no digital wallet cards. Communal issues Apple and Google Wallet passes in every plan, pushes updates when a membership renews or lapses, and supports scan-in check-in at the door. TidyHQ and Join It also offer wallet cards on their paid tiers.
Yes. Springly is the US and English-language brand of AssoConnect, a Paris-based company. The product, plans and Adyen payment processing are shared, so a review of one applies to the other.