Springly is the self-serve option for volunteer-run nonprofits: memberships, donations, events, email, a website builder and, on its top tier, built-in accounting.
MemberClicks is an association management system for staffed groups, with dues automation, committee management, organizational and chapter memberships, and forms and review panels, sold with an implementation team. Pick Springly if volunteers run everything; pick MemberClicks if you have staff and complex member structures. Neither books facilities or schedules volunteer shifts.
Nonprofit membership tool with events, email and built-in accounting.
Association management system for staffed professional and trade associations.
Communal is listed as a third column because organizations comparing these two usually need the same things it was built for: memberships, programs and facilities in one database.
| Feature | Springly | MemberClicks | Communal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Membership management | Included | Included | IncludedTiers, custom fields, segments |
| Automated renewals | Included | Included | IncludedReminders and auto-renew |
| Digital membership cards (Apple / Google Wallet) | Not offered | Not listed | IncludedIncluded in every plan |
| Event registration & ticketing | Included | Included | Add-onPrograms & events add-on |
| Program & class registration | Not listed | Not listed | Add-onWaitlists, capacity, attendance, rosters |
| Facility booking & rentals | Not offered | Not offered | Add-onApprovals, invoices, agreements, iCal |
| Volunteer shifts & hour tracking | Partial | Not offered | IncludedShifts, hours, auto volunteer discounts |
| Donations & fundraising | Included | Included | IncludedIncluded; donor covers fees option |
| Automatic tax receipts | Included | Not listed | IncludedAutomatic |
| Member self-service portal | Included | Included | Included |
| Email campaigns | Included | Included | IncludedCampaigns and segments |
| Website builder | Included | Included | Not offeredWorks beside your site |
| Public API | Partial | Included | IncludedREST API, Zapier webhooks, MCP server |
Pick Springly if you are a small nonprofit, club or association run mostly by volunteers and you want memberships, events, email, a basic site and possibly the books with no contract. Pick MemberClicks if you are a staffed professional association, trade association or chamber with committees and organizational members, and you want an implementation team to set it up. Pick neither if your operations include room rentals, recurring programs or volunteer shifts: both stop at memberships, events and email.
| If you are... | Lean towards |
|---|---|
| A volunteer-run nonprofit or club | Springly |
| A group whose treasurer wants accounting in the membership tool | Springly |
| A staffed professional association with committees and dues tiers | MemberClicks (MC Professional) |
| A chamber or trade association with company members | MemberClicks (MC Trade) |
| A community league, rec center or club that rents space or runs programs | Neither; see the third option below |
If you are comparing these two because your current setup no longer fits, check what your organization actually does week to week. Communal was built for groups that run memberships alongside programs, facility rentals, donations and volunteers: volunteers, donors and POS included, programs and facility booking as add-ons, no contract, no implementation fee and free migration from either tool. It does not include a website builder, accounting or committee management, which is the honest trade.
Short answers.
For a staffed professional or trade association, often yes. MemberClicks handles committee management, dues automation, organizational memberships with multiple contacts, review panels for grants and awards, and multi-chapter structures, and it comes with an implementation team. Springly offers memberships, events, email and a site builder, but its multi-chapter option is quote only and it has no committee tooling. If you do not have staff to run an AMS, the extra capability sits unused.
Springly does: a free trial of paid features, plus a permanently free plan. MemberClicks does not advertise a trial; you book a demo with sales and sign a contract, typically annual.
Springly's top tier includes double-entry nonprofit accounting with budgets and statements. MemberClicks does not have a ledger; it syncs to accounting software through integrations. For a treasurer who wants one system, that tilts toward Springly; for a finance team with its own accounting package, MemberClicks' integrations are fine.
Neither Springly nor MemberClicks has facility booking, volunteer shift scheduling or program registration with waitlists beyond event registration. Communal covers memberships, program registration, facility booking with approvals and invoices, donations with tax receipts and volunteer shifts in one database with no contract.