This comparison is written by Clerestory, so it is worth saying how we tried to keep it honest: every claim about Wild Apricot below links to Wild Apricot's own website, read on 30 September 2026, and the things Wild Apricot does better are listed as plainly as the things it does not do.
What Wild Apricot is, and what Clerestory is
Wild Apricot is membership software with a website attached. Its pricing page says "All packages offer the same WildApricot features and benefits", and those features include a "drag-and-drop website builder" where you can "Add blogs or news articles directly to your website" and "Set up online discussion forums" (website builder page), an online store, event registration and two mobile apps, "the mobile app for admins and the mobile app for members" (mobile app page).
Clerestory is a CRM and payments platform. It does not build your website. It runs every way a non-profit takes money, from dues and memberships to donations, admission, events, auctions, raffles, classes and the gift shop, on one donor record and on your own Stripe account.
So the two overlap on memberships and events, and differ almost everywhere else. The right choice depends mostly on which half of the job hurts.
How much does Wild Apricot cost?
Wild Apricot publishes its price, which deserves credit. For 100 contacts it lists $66.00 a month on monthly billing, $59.40 a month prepaid for a year ("Save 10%") and $56.10 a month prepaid for two ("Save 15%"), with a 60-day free trial and "no credit card required" (pricing page). The price rises with your contact count, in tiers up to 50,000 contacts.
Card processing is on top. Wild Apricot's own processor, Personify Payments, charges "2.99% + $.30 per transaction for Visa, MasterCard, and Discover and 3.5% + $.30 with AMEX" (Personify Payments page).
If you would rather keep your own Stripe account, there is a surcharge. Wild Apricot's billing policy says "A Payment System Servicing Fee (PSSF) will apply to accounts who use PayPal, Stripe, or Authorize.net", that it does not apply outside the United States and Canada, and that "The PSSF is equivalent to 20% of the current billing plan" (billing and refund policy, effective 1 January 2025).
The same policy is clear on refunds of the subscription itself: "There are no refunds for a period for which payment has already been made."
What does Clerestory cost?
3% per successful transaction, on your own Stripe account, plus Stripe's processing. There is no subscription, no contact tier, no seats and no contract. Stripe's standard rate is 2.9% + $0.30, and organizations that qualify for Stripe's non-profit rate pay 2.2% + $0.30. Members and donors can choose to cover the fees at checkout, and if you refund a payment, our 3% comes back with it. Across every payment we processed through August 2026, our customers' all-in cost, software and card processing together, was 3.148%.
A worked example
Take a club with 100 contacts that collects $20,000 a year in 200 payments of $100, paying monthly on Wild Apricot and at Stripe's standard rate on Clerestory, and nobody covering fees. Stripe's non-profit rate is for organizations whose volume is mostly tax-deductible donations, which club dues are not.
| $20,000 a year, 200 payments | Wild Apricot, 100 contacts | Clerestory |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | $792 ($66 × 12) | $0 |
| Platform fee | $0 | $600 (3%) |
| Card processing | $658 (2.99% + $0.30) | $640 (2.9% + $0.30) |
| Total | $1,450 (7.25%) | $1,240 (6.2%) |
Now the honest part. A subscription is a fixed cost and a percentage is not, so the answer flips as volume grows. On these assumptions Clerestory costs 2.91 percentage points more per dollar than Wild Apricot's processing (5.9% against 2.99%, with the same $0.30), so above roughly $27,000 a year Wild Apricot's 100-contact plan costs less on fees alone. For a 501(c)(3) that qualifies for Stripe's non-profit rate, the line moves up to about $36,000. Prepaying Wild Apricot for a year moves it lower; more contacts on Wild Apricot move it higher. When members cover the fees on Clerestory, the organization pays no fees on those payments, which is how our customers' all-in figure came to 3.148%.
Work it out for your own numbers: your subscription tier, your payment count and your average payment. The fee calculator does the Clerestory side to the cent.
Clerestory vs Wild Apricot, feature by feature
"Not documented" does not mean Wild Apricot cannot do it. It means we looked on Wild Apricot's own site on 30 September 2026 and did not find it. If something here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
| Capability | Clerestory | Wild Apricot |
|---|---|---|
| Website builder, blogs and discussion forums | No | Yes (website builder page) |
| Mobile apps for members and for admins | No | Yes (mobile app page) |
| Event check-in by scanning a QR code | No—check-in is by searching the list | Yes—"scanning their unique QR code" (mobile app page) |
| Membership levels with automatic renewal | Yes | Yes |
| Proration for mid-period joiners | Yes, switched on per tier | Yes—a help article titled "Proration and extensions" (help center) |
| Dues billed by tier on a fixed schedule, with billed against collected | Yes | Invoicing, yes; billed against collected not documented |
| Honorary and emeritus members waived automatically | Yes | Not documented |
| Use your own Stripe account | Yes, at no extra charge | Yes, with a 20% subscription surcharge in the US and Canada (billing policy) |
| Separate payment accounts for a club and its foundation | Yes, each with its own bank account, EIN and tax classification | Not documented; "No immediate plans here", Wild Apricot product owner, July 2020 (Wild Apricot forum) |
| Receipt wording set by which entity was paid | Yes | Not documented |
| Online store | Yes | Yes—"an unlimited number of products" (online store page) |
| In-person card payments | Yes—Stripe card readers and a tablet kiosk | Yes—"a card reader that integrates with the app" (mobile app page) |
| Silent and live auctions, paddle raise | Yes | Not documented |
| Raffles with a recorded drawing | Yes | Not documented |
| Walk-up admission by price tier | Yes | Not documented |
| Free trial | No subscription to trial; you pay only when a payment succeeds | 60 days, no card (pricing page) |
Wild Apricot wins four of these rows outright: the website builder, the member and admin apps, QR check-in and a free trial. At higher volume its all-in card cost is also lower: 2.99% + $0.30, against our 3% plus Stripe's processing. We have left them in because a comparison that finds the competitor lacking everywhere is not one anybody should trust.
Which is the better fit?
If you want one system to host your website, your member portal and your newsletters, and your payments are modest, Wild Apricot is built for that and does it well.
If your pain is the money, Clerestory is the better fit: dues the treasurer can see at a glance, honorary members waived automatically, a club and its foundation kept apart with the right receipt for each, auctions and raffles in the same account, and every payment on your own Stripe account without a surcharge. For more on dues, see how to collect club dues online, or book a demo and bring last year's numbers.
How we checked
On 30 September 2026 we read Wild Apricot's pricing page, its Personify Payments page, its billing and refund policy, its mobile app, website builder and online store feature pages, and its public wishlist forum. Prices for tiers above 100 contacts are shown in Wild Apricot's interactive calculator, so we have quoted only the 100-contact price. We did not use review sites or comparison sites. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good Wild Apricot alternative for a club or small non-profit?
It depends on what you use Wild Apricot for. If you rely on its website builder and member apps, those are Wild Apricot's strengths and Clerestory does not replace them. If your pain is money, Clerestory runs dues, donations, events, auctions, raffles and the gift shop on your own Stripe account for 3% per transaction, with separate payment accounts and receipts for a club and its foundation.
How much does Wild Apricot cost?
As of 30 September 2026, Wild Apricot's pricing page listed $66 a month for 100 contacts on monthly billing, 10% off for a one-year prepay and 15% off for two years, with the price rising by contact count. Card processing through Personify Payments was 2.99% + $0.30 for Visa, Mastercard and Discover and 3.5% + $0.30 for American Express.
Can you use your own Stripe account with Wild Apricot?
Yes, but in the United States and Canada Wild Apricot's billing policy adds a Payment System Servicing Fee equal to 20% of your subscription if you process through PayPal, Stripe or Authorize.net rather than its own processor, as of 30 September 2026. Clerestory runs every payment on your own Stripe account at no extra charge.
Can Wild Apricot keep a club's and a foundation's money in separate bank accounts?
We found no documentation that it can. The most recent public statement we found is from a Wild Apricot product owner on its own forum in July 2020: "No immediate plans here." Clerestory gives each entity its own payment account, bank account, EIN and receipt wording.
Is Clerestory cheaper than Wild Apricot?
It depends on how much money moves through it. Wild Apricot is a subscription plus processing; Clerestory is 3% plus Stripe's processing, with no subscription. At Wild Apricot's 100-contact price, a club processing $20,000 a year pays less on Clerestory, and a club processing more than about $27,000 a year on that tier would pay less on Wild Apricot's fees alone. The worked example on this page shows both.
