ClubExpress vs Paid Memberships Pro
ClubExpress
clubexpress.comPaid Memberships Pro
paidmembershipspro.comSide by side
| Figure | ClubExpress | Paid Memberships Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.30/mo | $41.58/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 10 | 7 |
| Spec score · Membership Site Platforms | 9.1 (#7) | 9.1 (#5) |
| Spec score · Membership Billing Software | 9.1 (#4) | 8.4 (#12) |
| Content gating | page | post |
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Integrations | The Zapier integration can send membership, donation, renewal, and event data to services such as HubSpot, Google Calendar, and Mailchimp; it is designed for incremental synchronization rather than historical migration. | Official integrations include WooCommerce, BuddyPress, BuddyBoss, bbPress, Mailchimp, MailerLite, MailPoet, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier, LearnDash, and LifterLMS. |
| Purpose | ClubExpress provides clubs and associations with a website, member login and database, renewals, discussion forums, and other organization management features. | Paid Memberships Pro lets WordPress site owners restrict content, accept payments, and manage subscriptions from their website. |
| Security | ClubExpress says it uses nightly offsite backups, real-time database backups, salted and hashed passwords, and HTTPS with a minimum of TLS 1.2. | The setup wizard includes checkout spam protection that blocks repeated attempts from the same IP address and recommends reCAPTCHA or Akismet. |
| Subscription billing | both | both |
| Support | The vendor advertises U.S.-based phone and email Customer Success support plus context-sensitive online help, webinars and tutorials. | The company provides support forums and says Max plans include hands-on help customizing membership sites and implementing new features. |
Plans
ClubExpress
- 501–1000 members$0.30 a month
- 301–500 members$0.34 a month
- 201–300 members$0.38 a month
- Up to 200 members$0.42 a month
- 501-1000 Members$30 a month
- 301-500 Members$34 a month
- 201-300 Members$38 a month
- Up to 200 Members$42 a month
- Basic Setup$150, paid once
- Organizations larger than 1000 membersPriced on request
Paid Memberships Pro
- FreeFree
- Standard$49 a month
- Max$99 a month
- Max 2x$299 a month
- Standard$499 a year
- Max$999 a year
- Max 2x$2,999 a year
In their own words
ClubExpress
ClubExpress gives clubs and associations a website, member login and database, and tools for managing membership and organization activity. Members can sign up online, select configurable membership types, and handle renewals and expirations. The platform includes more than 22 purpose-built modules, such as committees, forums, documents, photo albums, surveys, blogs, event calendars, and volunteering. Its member-focused mobile app runs on Apple iOS and Google Android, alongside web and API support. A Zapier integration can send membership, donation, renewal, and event data to services such as HubSpot, Google Calendar, and Mailchimp; it is intended for incremental synchronization rather than historical migration. Optional QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop integrations export transactions, payments, credits, fees, and customer records. ClubExpress says its servers are hosted on AWS behind a firewall, and lists nightly offsite and real-time database backups, salted and hashed passwords, and HTTPS with a minimum of TLS 1.2. It states that it is a PCI Level 2 merchant. The paid service offers a 60-day trial, limited to 10 manually entered members; credit card processing and non-member database imports are disabled during the trial.
Paid Memberships Pro
Paid Memberships Pro is a WordPress plugin and open-source platform for restricting content, taking payments, and managing subscriptions on a website. Site owners can protect 28 types of content and create unlimited membership levels, with free or paid access, one-time charges, or recurring billing from hourly to annual intervals. Pricing tools include trials, coupons, proration, donations, gift codes, invite codes, and variable pricing. Stripe and PayPal are included without a platform transaction fee, although gateway charges still apply. The free plan provides the self-hosted platform and 25 free add-ons; Standard, Max, and Max 2x include 54 premium add-ons. Paid plans start at $49/mo. Standard is $49 a month, Max is $99 a month, and Max 2x is $299 a month, all billed monthly. The platform includes member administration, customizable dashboards and forms, reporting, and integrations such as WooCommerce, Mailchimp, and LearnDash. It supports WordPress installations running version 5.2 or higher, while technical support covers only the three most recent minor releases. Premium purchases have a 100-day money-back guarantee covering one payment.