How Much Does Membership Management Software Cost? (2026)

The four ways membership software is priced

Almost every platform for small organizations uses one of four pricing models. Knowing which one you are looking at tells you more than the headline number, because each model gets more or less expensive in a different direction as you grow.

1. Tiers by contact or account count. You pay for a band, such as up to 250 or up to 500 contacts. Wild Apricot, MembershipWorks, Raklet and Veldun all work this way. The catch is what counts as a contact: some platforms count everyone in your database, including newsletter subscribers and lapsed members, so a large mailing list can push you up a band even though your membership has not grown.

2. A rate per active member. ClubExpress charges a few cents per active member per month, from 42 cents up to 200 members down to 30 cents between 501 and 1,000. Expired members and a mailing list of up to 5 times your active members cost nothing.

3. A low price plus a share of your payments. Join It starts at $29 a month and takes 3% of online payments on that plan. Raklet is free up to 100 contacts and takes between 1% and 4% plus 60 cents a payment, depending on plan. These look cheapest on the pricing page and get more expensive the more dues you collect.

4. An annual quote. Association management systems built for staffed organizations, such as MemberClicks and Glue Up, publish starting figures and then quote. MemberClicks lists "Starting at $4,500 annually" for individual-member organizations. Glue Up lists its Professional plan from $3,000 to $6,500 a year, billed annually.

What it costs at 100, 250 and 500 members

Here is what each platform with a published rate card charges at three common sizes, assuming your member count and your contact count are the same. That assumption matters, and the next section explains why.

Two things stand out. First, the bands step at different places, so the cheapest platform changes as you grow: ClubExpress is $95 a month at 250 members against Veldun's $99, and $170 at 500 against Veldun's $149. Second, the platforms that look cheapest often take something from each payment, which this table cannot show. For that you need a year.

A year of cost, with the payment fees counted

A subscription is a fixed cost. A share of payments grows with every member who renews. To compare the two honestly, add them up over a year. The example below assumes each member pays $60 in dues online, once a year.

At 250 members, Join It's Starter plan comes to $798 for the year once its 3% fee on $15,000 of dues ($450) is added. That is still less than Veldun's $1,188, and it is worth saying so. The point of the exercise is not that one model always wins. It is that you cannot tell which is cheaper for your organization without your own dues total in the sum.

The costs that are not on the pricing page

These are the line items that most often turn a reasonable quote into a surprising invoice.

A fee for using your own payment processor. Wild Apricot adds 20% to your subscription price if you collect through Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.Net, for accounts in the US and Canada. On the 500-contact plan that is about $370 a year. It is charged on the subscription rather than on what you collect, and their help center notes it applies even if you have not taken a payment yet.

A share of every payment. Separate from the card fee your processor charges, some platforms take their own percentage. Join It's runs from 3% on Starter to 1.5% on its $199 Extra plan. Raklet's runs from 4% to 1%, plus 60 cents a payment. Springly's free tier takes no percentage and is funded instead by optional tips your members are invited to add at checkout. MembershipWorks and Veldun take nothing.

Setup fees. ClubExpress charges a one-time setup fee, from $150 for its basic package, where you build the site yourself. Its own pricing page lists a $24 monthly minimum while its calculator applies $35, so a very small club should ask which applies.

How contacts are counted. A platform that counts every address in your database will charge a bar association with 300 members and a 700-person mailing list for 1,000 contacts. Veldun bills members (a household membership counts once, however many people it covers) plus anyone who registered for an event in the last twelve months, and newsletter-only subscribers are free up to 3 times your member count. ClubExpress is more generous still, at 5 times active members. Always price a platform at the number it will actually bill you for.

Annual commitments. Many vendors show a lower monthly figure that is only available if you pay a year up front. That is a fair discount, but compare like with like. Every figure in this guide is month-to-month unless it says otherwise.

The time it takes. A platform where you build and maintain the website yourself is cheaper than one where it is done for you, and the difference is paid in volunteer hours. That is a fine trade if someone on your board enjoys the work. It is an expensive one if nobody does.

What the price includes

Prices only compare fairly once you know what each one buys. The biggest difference between platforms at this size is the website. Some sell membership software that plugs into a website you already run, some give you a builder to design one yourself, and a few design and maintain it for you. Email newsletters, event registration and a member directory are included in most all-in-one platforms, but check each one at the plan you would actually buy, because some features sit on higher tiers.

Veldun includes the website as a service: we design it, build it and make changes when you ask, alongside the member directory, dues, events and newsletters, with no feature held back for a higher tier. Migration from your current system is included and handled within five business days, and you pay nothing until your new site goes live.

When a cheaper option is the better choice

There is no single right price, and several of the platforms above are the better buy for some organizations.

• You have no budget at all. Springly's free tier takes no percentage of your payments. It is a real option, as long as your members do not mind being invited to tip at checkout.
• You already have a website someone looks after. MembershipWorks is $35 a month at 250 accounts and $59 at 500, and takes nothing from your payments. If you only need membership software added to a site you run, it is hard to beat.
• You only need a member list and dues, and collect modestly. Join It at $29 a month is simple and well liked. Check its percentage against your dues total before assuming it is the cheapest.
• Your mailing list dwarfs your membership. ClubExpress bills active members only and includes a large mailing list, which suits clubs with a big audience and a small paying core.
• You have staff and complex needs. If you have full-time staff, chapters to administer from one head office, or certifications and committees to run, an annual-quote system like MemberClicks or Glue Up is built for that, and Veldun is not.

Veldun is the right price when nobody on your board wants to be the website person, when you want newsletters, events and dues in one place, and when you would rather none of your dues went to the software company.

How to work out your own cost

1. Count what each platform bills for. Members, contacts, active members or accounts. Use the number that platform will actually count, not your membership figure.
2. Find the band. Read the vendor's own pricing page, month-to-month, at that number.
3. Add what it takes from payments. Multiply your yearly dues and event income by any platform percentage, and add any per-payment charge.
4. Add the one-off and conditional fees. Setup, migration, and any fee for using your own payment processor.
5. Compare twelve months, not one. A year is the only period in which a subscription and a share of payments can be compared fairly.

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