5 Best Membership Apps to Grow and Manage Your Community

When it comes to creating a highly engaging community that you can monetize, choosing the right membership app is the key.

With the right platform, you can easily manage your members, communicate with them, and offer exclusive content and perks to keep them coming back for more.

This post will introduce you to the top five best membership apps that can help you grow and manage your community like a pro.

So whether you’re just starting or looking to take your existing community to the next level, these apps got you covered.

Let’s get started.

What is a Membership App?

A membership app is software that enables you to manage community members and offer exclusive content or services.

These apps can be used to create a membership-based website or be integrated into an existing website to add a membership component.

Membership apps typically offer a range of features to help businesses manage their members, including the ability to process payments, manage subscriptions, and track member activity.

They may also include tools for communication, such as email marketing integrations or in-app messaging.

In addition to managing members, many membership apps also offer features to help businesses deliver exclusive content or services to their members.

This may include the ability to drip content, release it to members on a schedule, or offer different levels of access or content to different types of members.

Features of a Great Membership App

 

When choosing a membership app, several key factors must be considered to ensure that it meets your organization’s and its members’ needs.

Here are some things to look for in a membership app:

• Payment processing: The ability to process payments is a crucial feature for any membership app. This includes the ability to handle recurring payments for subscriptions, as well as one-time payments for individual products or services.
• Subscription management: A good membership app should allow you to easily manage your subscriptions, including the ability to create different membership levels or tiers, set up recurring billing, and track member activity.
• Content dripping: If you want to offer exclusive content or services for your members, you’ll need an app to drip them on a schedule. This could be new posts, courses, or other types of content that you want to release to your members over time.
• Easy sign-up and log-in: The app should have a simple and intuitive process for users to sign up for a membership and log in to their accounts. This might include options for social media login or email/password authentication.
• Personalized dashboard: The membership app should provide a customized dashboard for each user, showing them their current membership status, any available benefits or discounts, and any upcoming events or activities.
• Communication tools: A great membership app should have tools that enable you to communicate with your members, such as a newsletter or push notification system. It should also have a way for members to communicate with each other, such as a discussion forum or messaging system.
• Event management: If you want to host events or activities, the app should have a tool for members to view and register for these events, as well as see any relevant details (such as location, time, cost, etc.).
• Membership management: The membership app should have tools that allow you to manage your membership base, including the ability to add or remove members, update member information, and track membership renewals.
• Customization options: A great membership app needs to enable you to customize various aspects of the app, such as the branding, layout, and available features allowing it to be tailored to the specific needs and goals of your business.

5 Best Membership Apps

Here is our top selection of the best membership apps that you can use to build an online community.

GroupApp

GroupApp is by far the best membership app if you want to build a highly engaging and profitable online community.

We’ve built the tool to help creators, businesses, and nonprofits build a community and manage it easily.

We’ve noticed that most membership platforms are not user-friendly for both admins and members. Others have outdated and clunky designs that can drive most users away.

That’s not the case for our membership app.

GroupApp has one of the most intuitive designs, allowing you to create your online community in minutes. Our design is modern and easy to navigate.

Just take a look at our admin panel.

The layout is clean and free from distractions. You also get all the tools you need to manage your online community in one place.

Members can quickly sign up or log in to your membership platform with just one click using single sign-on technology.

In a nutshell, here’s why GroupApp is the best membership app to take your community to the next level.

GroupApp is an All in One Membership App

We created GroupApp to solve a problem that online community builders like Kajabi have failed to address—bringing together all the tools you need to build a thriving and independent online community.

Here’s how:

Unlike Kajabi, GroupApp combines online course software, a community platform, and a membership website builder into a single platform.

Yes, you got it right. If you want to use either, you don’t need a separate tool or to integrate one.

Want to build an online course? We have a tool for that.

What about a membership site? You can create one as well with GroupApp.

Suppose you want to create an online community and an online course. We got you covered as well.

As we’d mentioned, if you want to create a thriving online community, GroupApp has all the tools you need to achieve that.

Payment Processing

It’s fair to guess you want to make an income from your membership site.

When monetizing your community via selling memberships, you need an effective and secure payment processing tool.

At GroupApp, we allow you to integrate your membership site with Stripe so that you can securely accept payments from members using credit cards.

We love Stripe for a few reasons:

• It’s highly secure
• Users don’t have to leave your site to make payments
• It’s cheaper than Paypal

At GroupApp, we also allow you to create membership plans with a flexible pricing strategy.

You can set your membership subscription as:

• Free
• A one-time fee
• A recurrent monthly renewal fee
• Or based on membership tiers

Either way, since you’re the one who understands your audience better, we allow you to choose a subscription model that best suits your business.

When you use any paid plans, we don’t receive a portion of what your subscribers pay for your membership. Your revenue is yours and yours alone.

Organize Your Community Resources In One Place

If you want your members to enjoy the perks you offer in your paid communities, you must ensure that your community resources are well organized.

The easier your community members can access them, the better.

GroupApp makes it easier with our “channels” and “content library” tools.

You can use “Channels” to group your community discussions and specific topics for easier access.

That way, members can quickly know where to go if they want to discuss a particular topic.

Let me show you what I mean.

Take a look at our community.

We have divided our community topics into two channels.

Can’t see that? Neither can I. Getting old sucks!

Anyway, let’s zoom out on the screenshot.

As you can see, we’ve used two channels to group our community topic:

The “#Discussions” and “#Ask-for-help.”

Our members use these channels to address specific topics. If they want assistance from our support team or want to address an issue with our tool, they can click on the #Ask-for-help channel, and from there, we’ll address their issue.

They can use the #Discussions for general topics, and from there, our team and other members can chip in to share our thoughts.

This is also advantageous for new members, as they can easily follow along and catch up on past conversations without sifting through endless and chaotic posts and comments.

Now let’s talk about the “Content Library.”

While channels allow you to group your community discussions in one place, the Content Library lets you bring all your community learning materials to one place.

This allows you to bring together the exclusive content of your membership site in one place so your members can access it easily.

 

What’s more interesting is that you can upload practically any content format to your library.

Be it a PDF, video, audio, or worksheet. Even better, if you have videos hosted on other platforms like Wistia or Vimeo, you can embed them into your library.

Unlock Detailed Analytics

Having robust tracking and analytics for your membership app is crucial. That’s because, with insightful data, you can analyze your membership site performance, identify bottlenecks and enable you to make a data-driven decision about program strategy.

At GroupApp, we allow you to track your community performance and engagement.

We give you a bird’s eye view of your member’s engagement. You can see the new members who have joined your memberships and active members.

You can also see the performance of posts in your community and the engagement they’re getting based on comments.

If you want to unlock more insightful analytics, GroupApp allows you to integrate with Google Analytics, which helps track customer journeys, track your events, and your member’s engagement.

Create a White-label Brand

Want to customize your membership to match your branding completely? Well, we got you covered.

GroupApp allows you to host your community in your domain. If, for example, you bought the domain from Namecheap, you can connect to your membership site through domain mapping.

Definitely, your domain will still be hosted by your DNS provider but will still point to your membership site.

GroupApp Pros and Cons

GroupApp is a fantastic membership app for easier community management and monetization. In this section, we will cover the pros and cons to expect when you choose GroupApp as your membership app.

Pros

• Intuitive online course builder that allows you to launch your course in minutes.
• Clean user interface across all devices.
• Create cohort-based courses enabling you to promote social learning, which increases course completion.
• You can drip schedule your course lessons to minimize cognitive overload among learners and boost information retention.
• Create unlimited courses with an unlimited number of students.
• Quality customer support.
• Superior analytics.
• Integration with third-party tools.
• No transaction fees on paid plans.

Cons

• As of yet, GroupApp doesn’t have a mobile app ( launching soon).
• You need to have a Stripe Merchant account to receive payments. Other payment gateways are not supported.

Wild Apricot

Wild Apricot is an all-in-one membership app and community builder platform that allows organizations to manage their members, events, and website.

With Wild Apricot, you can track and organize member information, automate renewals, and collect payments.

The platform also includes a built-in website builder that allows you to create a professional-looking website in minutes without any coding or design experience.

Wild Apricot also allows you to automate many tasks associated with managing a membership organization.

For example, the platform can automatically send renewal reminders, process payments, and update member information. This saves you time and makes keeping track of your members easier.

Wild Apricot Pros and Cons

Wild Apricot is a membership management software that helps organizations manage their member information, events, communications, and online payments. Here are the pros and cons of Wild Apricot membership apps.

Pros

• Easy to use: Wild Apricot’s user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it simple for staff members to manage member information and perform other tasks.
• Customizable: Wild Apricot allows users to create custom forms, email templates, and reports, as well as to customize the appearance of their online member portal.
• Automated tasks: Wild Apricot automates many tasks, such as sending renewal reminders and collecting online payments, which can save time and reduce errors.
• Accessible on any device: Wild Apricot is cloud-based and can be accessed from any device with an internet connection.
• Integrated with other software: Wild Apricot can be integrated with other software, such as Mailchimp, Google Calendar, and QuickBooks, to streamline workflow.

Cons

• Limited customization: While Wild Apricot offers some customization options, it may only be able to meet the specific needs of some organizations.
• Limited reporting: Wild Apricot’s reporting capabilities are limited and may not be sufficient for organizations with complex reporting needs.
• Limited customer support: Some users have reported that Wild Apricot’s customer support is not always helpful..
• The free version appears to be completely ineffective.

GrowthZone

GrowthZone is another membership app ideal for professional associations and nonprofits. The software comes with marketing automation and prospecting built in for greater functionality.

When it comes to managing members’ contacts, GrowthZone makes it easier. With a dedicated database, you can easily view, access, and manage members, persons, and organizations. The feature includes billing information, conversations, and much more.

GrowthZone has a membership app for mobile devices. The software has two different apps for staff and members that make it easy to monitor inputs.

The Staff App allows association managers to scan business cards, load contact details, display notes, register, and check-in event attendees, and process event payments. The MemberPlus App facilitates communication and collaboration for registered members.

GrowthZone Pros and Cons

GrowthZone is an excellent association manager for professional associations. With their assisted onboarding and quality customer support, it leaves a lot to be admired for the membership app.

Here are the benefits and drawbacks you can expect when using GrowthZone.

Pros

• Role-based software training
• Better customization
• Automate your billings
• Easy to use
• It has a mobile app

Cons

• The design could be better
• Doesn’t have a free plan

Might Networks

Mighty Networks is a powerful membership app that empowers creators, businesses, and organizations to build and grow their own thriving communities.

With Mighty Networks, you can easily create a custom-branded community website, mobile app, and email newsletter all in one place.

One of the key features of Mighty Networks is its ability to bring all of your community’s interactions into one central location. This includes things like membership communities, events, courses, and even e-commerce.

With all of these tools in one place, it’s easy to keep track of everything happening in your community and ensure that you’re providing value to your members at all times.

Mighty Networks also offers robust analytics and insights so you can track the growth of your community and see which content and activities are resonating with your members. This allows you to make data-driven decisions and optimize your community for maximum engagement and growth.

Mighty Networks Pros and Cons

Mighty Networks is a fantastic option for anyone looking to build and grow a community around their brand, business, or organization. Here are pros and cons of Mighty Networks.

Pros

• Allows you to create sub-groups.
• Right out of the box, the community area boasts a clean, modern appearance.
• There are native applications for both iOS and Android smartphones.
• Members can customize their notifications.

Cons

• There are few design possibilities for creating landing pages.
• PayPal is not supported.
• Doesn’t support SSO integration.
• All price tiers are subject to a transaction charge.

GlueUp

GlueUp is the ultimate membership app for organizations of all sizes. Whether you’re a small non-profit or a large professional association, GlueUp has everything you need to manage your members and engage with your community.

With GlueUp, you can easily manage member information, track membership dues, and communicate with your members through various channels.

One of the key features is the Event Management; GlueUp makes it easy to plan and promote events, manage registration, and even sell tickets right from the app. With GlueUp, you can create professional-looking event pages in minutes and easily track attendance and revenue.

The app also enables you to create webinars and virtual events and monetize them. GlueUp also provides a platform for members to engage with one another through member directories, groups, and discussions. This enhances the sense of community and helps build stronger relationships between members.

GlueApp Pros and Cons

GlueUp is a platform that offers a variety of features for event management, membership management, and community engagement. Here are the pros and cons of using GlueUp.

Pros

• All-in-one platform: GlueUp offers a wide range of features, such as event management, membership management, and community engagement, all in one platform. This can save time and resources compared to using multiple separate tools.
• Customizable: GlueUp allows users to customize their platform to match their organization’s branding and preferences.
• Automation: GlueUp includes automation features that can save time and improve efficiencies, such as automatic reminders and follow-up emails.
• Flexible pricing: you can get a pricing that best suits your needs.

Cons

• Learning curve: There may be a learning curve for users who need to become more familiar with the platform and its features.
• Limited integrations: GlueUp currently has limited integrations with other tools and platforms, which may be an issue for some organizations

Conclusion

Building a successful membership community requires time and effort. With the right membership app, you can create a platform that allows members to access exclusive content, participate in discussions, and receive updates and notifications about events or activities.

At GroupApp, we help you build a fully branded online community with our powerful membership app. The community software has an easy-to-use interface and all the tools you need to create and manage your membership community.

Get started with GroupApp today for free and build your first online community.