Join It (from $29/mo plus a 3% service fee, up to 250 members) wins for small clubs and alumni groups that need dues collection, a member list and wallet cards at the lowest monthly price.
Communal ($75/mo flat to 250 members, no service fee, volunteers, donations and POS included) wins once you process real volume, pass 250 members, or need programs, facility booking, built-in events or email in the same system. Communal is the author's product.
Membership, programs, facility rentals, donations, volunteers and point of sale in one member database, priced flat by member count.
Simple dues collection, member database and wallet cards for small clubs.
| Feature | Communal | Join It |
|---|---|---|
| Membership management | IncludedTiers, custom fields, segments | Included |
| Automated renewals | IncludedReminders and auto-renew | Included |
| Digital membership cards (Apple / Google Wallet) | IncludedIncluded in every plan | Add-onTotal tier and up |
| Event registration & ticketing | Add-onPrograms & events, +$50/mo | PartialEventbrite sync |
| Program & class registration | Add-onWaitlists, capacity, attendance, rosters | Not listed |
| Facility booking & rentals | Add-onFrom +$50/mo; approvals, invoices, agreements, iCal | Not offered |
| Volunteer shifts & hour tracking | IncludedShifts, hours, auto volunteer discounts | Not offered |
| Donations & fundraising | IncludedIncluded; donor covers fees option | Included |
| Automatic tax receipts | IncludedAutomatic | Not listed |
| Member self-service portal | Included | Included |
| Email campaigns | IncludedCampaigns and segments | Not offeredMailchimp / Constant Contact |
| Website builder | Not offeredWorks beside your site | Partial |
| Public API | IncludedREST API, Zapier webhooks, MCP server | Partial |
| Detail | Communal | Join It |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $75/mo | From $29/mo |
| Pricing model | Flat, by member band (to 250 members at the floor) | Flat tiers to 250 members + 1.5% to 3% service fee |
| Contract | No contracts, prorated billing, cancel any module any time | Monthly or annual (10% off);Detailscancel any time; no multi-year commitment |
| Payment fees | Card-processing application fee set in your agreement, often 2%; no monthly minimums | Join It service fee of 3.0% / 2.0% / 1.5% by tier on online transactions, plus Stripe processing fees charged separately;Detailsdonations carry a fixed 5% fee per the support center. Stripe is the only supported processor. |
| Free trial | Free trial, no credit card | Free trial, no credit card required; no permanently free plan |
Join It does one thing cleanly: collect dues through Stripe, keep the member list, hand out wallet cards. For a 120-member alumni chapter or a hobby club, $29/mo plus a percentage is a fair trade for something you can set up in an afternoon. Communal starts at $75/mo and charges no service fee, and the extra $46 buys programs, facility booking, volunteers, donations, email and POS in the same member record. The more money and activity flows through the system, the faster Communal's flat price catches up and passes Join It.
Add the subscription and the fees together on your real numbers. A 200-member club collecting $150 in annual dues processes $30,000. On Join It Starter that is $348/yr plus 3% ($900) plus Stripe, about $1,250 before Stripe. On Total it is $1,188 plus 2% ($600), about $1,790. On Communal it is $900/yr plus a card fee often about 2% ($600), about $1,500, with volunteers, donations, email, POS and wallet cards included and no higher tier needed for cards. At $10,000 in annual dues the order flips: Join It Starter is about $650 and Communal about $1,100. Small collections favor Join It; larger ones and any need for programs or bookings favor Communal. Both are month-to-month with no setup fees; Communal also bills prorated and lets you cancel a module any time.
| If you are... | Lean towards |
|---|---|
| A small club, alumni group or hobby society under 250 members with modest dues | Join It ($29/mo) |
| A group that wants the lowest monthly line and accepts a percentage | Join It |
| A club whose newsletter is in Mailchimp or Constant Contact | Join It |
| A club or association collecting $20,000 a year or more in dues and fees | Communal (no service fee) |
| A community league, center or club running programs or renting space | Communal |
| An organization with volunteers, donations and a front desk | Communal (included at $75/mo) |
| A chapter-based association on a standard plan | Communal |
Migration is free and scoped with you, there is no contract, and the 30-day trial needs no credit card, so you can import your Join It export and compare fee totals before moving money.
Short answers, with the numbers where they exist.
At the subscription line, yes: Join It Starter is $29/mo against Communal's $75/mo. Join It then adds a service fee on every online transaction, 3.0% on Starter, 2.0% on Total ($99/mo) and 1.5% on Extra ($199/mo), plus Stripe fees, and 5% on donations. Communal has no service fee, only a card-processing application fee often about 2% with no monthly minimums. A club collecting $30,000 a year in dues pays Join It Starter about $348 plus $900 in fees; Communal about $900 plus roughly $600.
Yes. All self-serve tiers (Starter, Total, Extra) cap at 250 members; above that you need an Enterprise plan with custom pricing. Communal's $75/mo band also covers up to 250 members, then published bands continue at 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000, quoted above 20,000.
Both do them well. Join It's Apple and Google Wallet cards with QR check-in are a core strength, available from the $99/mo Total tier. Communal includes a card designer, PDF cards, Apple and Google Wallet passes that push-update on renewal, and scan in/out check-in on every plan, including the $75/mo base.
Not natively. Events rely on an Eventbrite sync and email marketing on Mailchimp or Constant Contact integrations. Communal includes email campaigns to saved audiences with delivery, open and click stats and event-triggered automations, and its programs and events add-on (+$50/mo) handles registration with waitlists, capacity and member pricing. Communal has no Mailchimp connector, so if your newsletter lives there, that is a point for Join It's approach.
Yes, on standard plans: each chapter is its own tenant with its own Stripe account under a parent organization, with federation fees and cross-chapter address routing. The EFCL federation of 163 community leagues runs on it. Join It offers multi-chapter on its Enterprise plan at custom pricing.
Join It is the cheapest start for dues and cards. Wild Apricot (from $66/mo for 100 contacts) adds a website builder, built-in events and email, priced by total contacts. Communal (from $75/mo to 250 members) adds programs, facility booking, volunteers, donations and POS, priced by members with no service fee. Pick by what you run, not by the entry price alone.