Does MemberPlanet have a website builder like Wild Apricot?

MemberPlanet includes a site builder, but Wild Apricot's is the more developed: drag-and-drop editing, themes, member-only pages, widgets and WordPress embeds, included at every tier. If the public website is the reason you are buying, Wild Apricot is the safer choice.

Which offers digital membership cards?

Both, partially. MemberPlanet issues membership cards in its member app and as PDFs. Wild Apricot shows cards through its member app, with Apple and Google Wallet passes only via a third-party PassKit integration. Neither issues native Wallet passes out of the box.

Is MemberPlanet's free plan really free?

The Basic plan has no monthly cost and allows unlimited members and admins. The platform fee on the free plan is not published on the public pricing page, so check it before you rely on it; on paid plans it is 2% (Essentials) or 1% (Pro and Premium) on every payment, plus 3% + $0.30 processing. Wild Apricot has no permanently free plan but offers a 60-day free trial.

Which is better for a PTA or booster club?

MemberPlanet was built for that segment: free to start, US group texting, surveys, donation pages and a multi-chapter Enterprise option for fraternal and PTA structures. Wild Apricot suits a PTA too, but its contact-based pricing and website focus make it a better fit for clubs and associations with a public site and steady dues.

What if we also book rooms or run programs?

Neither Wild Apricot nor MemberPlanet has facility booking, volunteer shift scheduling or program registration beyond events. Communal covers memberships, program registration with waitlists and attendance, facility booking with approvals and invoices, donations with tax receipts and volunteer shifts in one member database at a flat price by member count, starting at $75/mo to 250 members.

Head to head · 2026

Wild Apricot vs MemberPlanet: contact-tier pricing against a free plan with platform fees

MemberPlanet is a free-to-start toolkit for dues, donation pages, surveys and group texting, built for PTAs and booster clubs, though its platform fee stacks on top of card processing.

Wild Apricot pairs a member database with a website builder, event registration and email in every tier, which suits a club that wants its public site and member records together. Neither books facilities or schedules volunteer shifts, so groups that do need a third option.

Wild Apricot

Membership database, events, email and a website builder, priced by total contacts.

Memberships
Events
Donations
Website

Best for: Small to mid-size clubs, associations and nonprofits that want website, member database and events from one vendor and are comfortable using the in-house payment processor
Watch out for: Pricing is by total contacts (lapsed members, prospects, newsletter subscribers all count), so database growth pushes you into higher tiers; 20% subscription surcharge for using your own payment gateway instead of Personify Payments

MemberPlanet

Free-to-start membership, dues and texting tool for PTAs, booster clubs and small chapters.

Memberships
Events
Donations
Website
Chapters

Best for: Small US clubs, PTAs, booster clubs, fraternal chapters and associations that want a free or low-cost single tool with texting and fundraising
Watch out for: Platform fee (1-2%) stacks on top of 3% + $0.30 processing, so effective cost on payments is 4-5% + $0.30; Tiers are metered by email/text credits (1k/5k/10k per month), which penalizes communication-heavy groups

Side by side

Wild Apricot vs MemberPlanet, plus the option most comparisons skip.

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 at a flat price.

Feature	Wild Apricot	MemberPlanet	Communal
Membership management	Included	Included	IncludedTiers, custom fields, segments
Automated renewals	Included	Included	IncludedReminders and auto-renew
Digital membership cards (Apple / Google Wallet)	Partial	PartialIn-app / PDF	IncludedIncluded in every plan
Event registration & ticketing	Included	Included	Add-onPrograms & events, +$50/mo
Program & class registration	Not listed	Not listed	Add-onWaitlists, capacity, attendance, rosters
Facility booking & rentals	Not offered	Not offered	Add-onFrom +$50/mo; approvals, invoices, agreements, iCal
Volunteer shifts & hour tracking	Not offered	Not offered	IncludedShifts, hours, auto volunteer discounts
Donations & fundraising	Included	Included	IncludedIncluded; donor covers fees option
Automatic tax receipts	PartialDonation receipts	Not listed	IncludedAutomatic
Member self-service portal	IncludedMember app	IncludedMember app	Included
Email campaigns	Included	IncludedMetered credits	IncludedCampaigns and segments
Website builder	Included	Included	Not offeredWorks beside your site
Public API	Included	Partial	IncludedREST API, Zapier webhooks, MCP server

Pricing and terms Show

Detail	Wild Apricot	MemberPlanet	Communal
Starting price	From $66/mo	Free; paid from $50/mo	$75/mo
Pricing model	Per contact, tiered	Flat tiers + 1% to 2% platform fee	Flat, by member band (to 250 members at the floor)
Contract	Month-to-month available; Details optional 1-year and 2-year prepay discounts; no cancellation fees	Monthly; annual option offered (discount not published)	No contracts, prorated billing, cancel any module any time
Payment fees	No per-transaction fee from WildApricot itself when using the integrated Personify Payments processor (processor rates not published on the pricing page). Details Using a third-party gateway (Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.Net) triggers a Payment System Servicing Fee described in the help center as 20% of the subscription plan price, applied to US/Canada accounts; vendor pricing page calls this 'an additional fee'.	Processing fee 3% + $0.30 per payment (or use your existing PayPal account) PLUS MemberPlanet platform fee of 2% (Essentials) or 1% (Pro/Premium); Details vendor example: Pro total cost 4% + $0.30 per transaction	Card-processing application fee set in your agreement, often 2%; no monthly minimums
Free trial	60-day free trial, no credit card required; no permanently free plan	Free Basic plan (no monthly cost); 'Try It Free' signup	Free trial, no credit card

The detail

The short version

Pick MemberPlanet if you are a US PTA, booster club, fraternal chapter or small association that wants a free or very cheap tool with dues, events, texting and donation pages, and your annual payment volume is small enough that a 1% to 2% platform fee does not sting. Pick Wild Apricot if you are a club or association that wants a real website, member-only pages, events with waitlists and a large integration ecosystem, and your contact list is modest. Pick neither if your week includes hall rentals, kids programs or volunteer shifts: both stop at memberships, events and email.

Where Wild Apricot wins

Website builder and member-only pages. Mature drag-and-drop builder, themes, widgets and WordPress embeds. MemberPlanet's site builder is simpler.
No platform fee on payments. Using Personify Payments adds no per-transaction fee from Wild Apricot. MemberPlanet adds 1% to 2% on every payment on top of processing.
Unmetered email. Email is included at every tier. MemberPlanet meters campaign emails at 1,000 / 5,000 / 10,000 per month by plan.
Integrations. Public API, Zapier and Make, QuickBooks sync and WordPress widgets. MemberPlanet positions API integrations as Enterprise-only customizations.
Trial length. 60 days with no card, against MemberPlanet's free Basic plan as the try-before-you-buy path.

Where MemberPlanet wins

Free to start, flat paid tiers. Basic is free with unlimited members and admins; Essentials $50/mo, Pro $100/mo, Premium $175/mo. Wild Apricot starts at $66/mo and climbs with contacts.
No contact counting. MemberPlanet does not price by database size, so lapsed members and subscribers cost nothing. Wild Apricot counts every contact.
Texting and surveys. US group texting and surveys are built in. Wild Apricot has no native texting.
Chapter structures. An Enterprise multi-chapter option (quote-based, startup fee plus monthly) for fraternal, PTA and booster networks. Wild Apricot does not support chapters.
Bring your own PayPal. MemberPlanet lets you process through an existing PayPal account; Wild Apricot charges 20% of your subscription if you use an outside gateway.

Pricing in practice

The two price on different axes, so do the arithmetic on your own numbers. Wild Apricot is a subscription by total contacts: $66/mo at 100 ($59.40/mo with 1-year prepay), and third-party listings show about $78 (250), $147 (500), $252 (2,000) and $462 (5,000), with no platform fee on its own processor but a 20% subscription surcharge for Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.Net. MemberPlanet is free or $50 to $175/mo regardless of list size, plus 3% + $0.30 processing plus a 2% (Essentials) or 1% (Pro/Premium) platform fee; the vendor's own example puts Pro at 4% + $0.30 per transaction. A 300-contact group collecting $20,000/yr pays roughly $78/mo on Wild Apricot with no platform fee, or $50/mo on MemberPlanet Essentials plus about $400/yr in platform fees. As dues volume rises, MemberPlanet's advantage shrinks and can reverse.

Who should pick which

If you are...	Lean towards
A PTA, booster club or fraternal chapter with low payment volume	MemberPlanet (free or $50/mo)
A multi-chapter network that wants one vendor for all chapters	MemberPlanet Enterprise
A club or association that needs a website and membership from one vendor	Wild Apricot
A group collecting significant dues that wants no platform fee	Wild Apricot on Personify Payments
A community league, rec center or club that rents space or runs programs	Neither; see the third option below

The third option

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, and prices by paying members rather than contacts, with no platform fee stacked on card processing: $75/mo to 250 members with volunteers, donors and POS included, programs +$50/mo, facilities from +$50/mo, no contract and free migration from either tool. It does not include a website builder or texting, which is the honest trade.

Questions people ask about Wild Apricot vs MemberPlanet

Short answers, with the numbers where they exist.

On subscription alone, MemberPlanet: the Basic plan is free and paid tiers are flat at $50/mo (Essentials), $100/mo (Pro) and $175/mo (Premium), while Wild Apricot starts at $66/mo for 100 contacts and rises by contact tier. On payments, Wild Apricot: MemberPlanet adds a 2% (Essentials) or 1% (Pro/Premium) platform fee on top of 3% + $0.30 processing, so a group collecting $50,000/yr in dues pays $500 to $1,000 extra. Wild Apricot charges no platform fee when you use Personify Payments.