// springly vs wild apricot
Springly vs Wild Apricot, honestly - then the third option.
Both are good membership platforms and both will serve a small, standard organisation well. They differ on one thing that the comparison sites keep missing: Springly gates features by tier, Wild Apricot charges you only for contact volume. Below is what each actually publishes, read from their own pricing pages on 12 September 2026. Then the option that is on neither list: owning the platform.
// what each one publishes
The published prices, dated
Read from each vendor's own pricing page on 12 September 2026. Software pricing moves, so check before you budget. Note the tiers are quoted at different contact counts, so the headline numbers are not like for like.
Springly
| Plan | Price | Basis | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | $0 | Payment collection and forms only | Online payments, membership/donation/event forms |
| Serenity | $45/month | Up to 250 contacts | Contact database, member and donor tracking, email, website builder |
| Professional | $119/month | Up to 250 contacts | Everything in Serenity plus accounting and an API |
| Network Management | Quote only | Not published | Everything in Professional plus chapter setup and account management |
Wild Apricot
| Billing | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly billing | $66.00/month | At the 100-contact tier |
| Prepay 1 year | $59.40/month | Saves $79.20/year |
| Prepay 2 years | $56.10/month | Saves $118.80/year |
Wild Apricot prices by contact tier - 100, 250, 500, 2,000, 5,000, 15,000 and 50,000 - and states that all plans include identical features, so the tier only changes how many contacts you may hold. The figures above are its 100-contact tier, the only one it publishes on the page without a sales conversation.
// the axis that matters
Price the tier you need, not the headline
| Springly | Wild Apricot | |
|---|---|---|
| What the price scales with | Contacts AND capability. Accounting and the API sit behind the $119 tier. | Contacts only. Wild Apricot states that all plans include identical features. |
| If you need an API | Professional tier, $119/month at 250 contacts. | Included at every tier. |
| If you run chapters | Network Management tier. Price is not published - you request a quote. | Multi-chapter volume discounts and customized pricing. Also not published - you book a call. |
| Try before you buy | Free trial, and a genuinely free $0 tier for payments and forms. | 60-day free trial, no credit card. |
| Extra fees | Advertised as no hidden fees. | States no setup, customization, training, per-transaction or cancellation fees. |
If you want the same comparison against the other platforms in this category, I keep honest pages on leaving Wild Apricot and on MemberClicks, Rhythm and YourMembership.
// rent vs own
The third option
Both platforms above are rentals. That is not a criticism - renting is the right call for plenty of organisations. But it is a different thing from owning, and the trade is worth seeing plainly before you commit to years of it.
| Renting a platform | Owning one | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup speed | Fast - configure and go | Slower - it's built for you, over weeks |
| Upfront cost | Low | Higher - it's a real build |
| Cost over time | Recurring, and it steps up as your contact count grows | You own the asset; hosting + care, not per-contact rent |
| Capability ceiling | Whatever the tier you're paying for includes | Whatever you need built, when you need it |
| Chapters & committees | Modelled inside their structure, or a higher tier | Modelled on how your org is actually organised |
| Your data & content | Lives inside their platform | Yours - export it, move it, own it |
| Integrations | Their ecosystem, and the tier that unlocks the API | Anything with an API - Stripe, your CRM, email, events |
| If you outgrow or leave | Migration and lock-in to untangle | You already own it - nothing to escape |
| Who maintains it | They do - you're a tenant | I do, on a Care Plan - or your team. Either way it's yours |
// own it if
- You've priced both, and the tier that actually covers what you need costs more than the headline.
- Your chapters, committees or programs keep needing the next tier up.
- You want the member experience and brand to be yours, not a template inside someone's platform.
- You want to own the member database, the content, and the platform itself.
// stay on a subscription if
- You're small and standard. Either of these will serve you well, and I'll say so.
- You need something running this week, not in six weeks.
- Nobody (me included) is lined up to maintain a custom platform long term.
// platforms I've shipped
HAULYP
A Houston chapter moved off Wild Apricot onto Circle for community management, then run on systems built to keep working when volunteers, deadlines, and live members depend on them. This is what leaving actually looks like, not a theory about it.
Read the case study
Urban League of Greater Atlanta YP
A chapter site rebuilt around the membership platform it already ran on, with events pulled in automatically and the member portal still authenticating against it. Every existing member credential carried across intact - nobody had to re-register or reset a password to keep access.
Read the case study
AAMA
A live membership platform for a marketing association: member portal, admin dashboard, payments, events, and automated communications - owned by the org, not rented.
Read the case study
Pulse Awards
A full platform from zero: submissions, Stripe payments, judge scoring, and a multi-section admin dashboard. Proof that custom association tooling ships.
Read the case study// common questions
Springly or Wild Apricot - which one should we pick?
Price the tier that covers what you actually need, not the headline tier. If you need an API or accounting, Springly puts those on its Professional plan; Wild Apricot includes the same feature set at every tier and charges you only for contact volume. If you run chapters, neither one lets you price it from the website: Springly routes you to a quote-only Network Management plan and Wild Apricot to a call about multi-chapter volume discounts. For a single-entity organisation Wild Apricot is the more predictable number, because every tier carries the same features and only the contact count moves; Springly can be cheaper at the low end and has a genuinely free tier for payments and forms. For a small, standard organisation either is a reasonable call and I will tell you so rather than pitch you a build.
Where does a custom platform fit in this comparison?
It is not a third subscription. It is the option where you stop paying per contact and own the platform instead, modelled on your chapters, committees, dues and programs. That is worth it when the software has started shaping how your organisation runs rather than the other way round, or when the tier you need keeps climbing. Below that, an off-the-shelf tool is the right answer.
We're already on Wild Apricot. What does moving off actually involve?
A tiered migration: members, committees, content and history mapped and moved, with a redirect plan so you do not lose data, donors or search rankings in the switch. It is a Migration Strategy engagement, and it has been done - a Houston Urban League chapter moved off Wild Apricot onto Circle, and on a separate rebuild every existing member credential carried across intact so nobody had to reset a password.
Are these prices current?
Every figure on this page was read from Springly's and Wild Apricot's own pricing pages on 12 September 2026, and both are linked so you can check them. Software pricing moves, so verify before you budget. Note also that the two are quoted at different contact counts - Springly publishes at 250 contacts, Wild Apricot at 100 - so the headline numbers are not a like-for-like comparison.
Isn't owning a platform more expensive?
Upfront, yes. Over time you stop paying per-contact rent forever and you own the asset. For small organisations a subscription is usually the right call; for ones that have outgrown it, owning usually wins - and I'll be honest about which you are.
// start the conversation
Still deciding between them?
Tell me what you run and how many members you have, and I'll tell you which of the two fits - or that neither does. You'll hear back within one business day, and I have no reason to talk you out of a subscription that works. Prefer to talk? book a call instead.