ClubExpress Or Member Jungle? Which Is Best For My Club?

If you've been looking into membership management systems for a while now, you've probably heard of ClubExpress and Member Jungle. If you haven't, they are both membership management systems designed to help clubs and associations. They are both high-quality systems that would be massively helpful to your club or association. 

The question is, which one is best for your club or association? That is precisely the question I won't be answering today. No, that's not a typo. You see, I work for Member Jungle, so any answer I give here will be inherently biassed. So, instead of telling you which is best, I have collected all the vital stats on both systems and listed them below. 

So, I won't be answering this question, but I will give you all the tools you need to answer it for yourself, just like that famous old proverb about teaching a man to fish. 
 

 

That's the right saying, yeah? 

Alright, down to business.

ClubExpress & Member Jungle Overview 

ClubExpress 

Club express Capterra Rating: 4.3

Free Trial: Yes
ClubExpress is a United States-based all-in-one membership management system designed for everyone, from small clubs with fewer than 100 members to medium-sized associations with tens of thousands of members. 

Member Jungle 

Member Jungle Capterra Rating: 4.7

Free Trial: Yes

Member Jungle is an Australian-based all-in-one membership management system that, like ClubExpress, is designed for everyone, from small clubs with less than 100 members to medium-sized associations with tens of thousands of members. 

ClubExpress & Member Jungle Features

Both ClubExpress and Member Jungle are two similar systems that aim to help the same audience. If you are trying to choose between the two, you will need to delve into the details to determine which one is the best fit for your club.

Both systems are designed to be the only tool you need to manage your club or association. They are meant to replace outdated systems such as Excel spreadsheets, email campaign tools, and clunky websites that you may currently use to manage your club.

Both systems include all of the following features: 

• A Custom Website
• Event Management Systems
• Automatic Membership Renewal Systems
• The Ability To Accept Online Payments
• A Digital Store
• Digital Membership Cards
• An Integrated Mobile App
• Communication Tools

Of course, these are just a few of the key features that each system has. For a more detailed breakdown of each system's features, please see the links below. 

For a full list of ClubExpress’s features, see ClubExpress Features.

For a full list of Member Jungle’s features, see Member Jungle Features.

ClubExpress & Member Jungle Pricing  

We need to talk about how ClubExpress and Member Jungle manage their product pricing. 

Member Jungle's pricing is pretty simple. We offer four packages, each with certain features and a number of included members. The more expensive the package, the more advanced the features are, and the more members are included. If you go over the number of included members, you can choose to upgrade to the next package or just pay a little extra per extra member.  

Member Jungle's pricing starts at $39 USD per month and goes up to $239 USD per month. 

ClubExpress's pricing is a bit different from most other membership management systems. This is not a bad thing; it just needs a bit of explaining. 

ClubExpress only has one "package," which starts at $30 USD per month, and the price increases based on the number of members you have. It's worth noting that the more members you have, the less they charge per member. For example, if you have less than 200 members, each member costs 42c a month; over 500, each member will cost 30c a month, and so on. So, a club with 500 members would cost about $170 USD a month.

If you are struggling to figure out exactly what I mean, just look at the ClubExpress Pricing Calculator.

So, unlike Member Jungle, where the amount of membership features available increases based on which package you sign up for, ClubExpress has all of its standard features available no matter what your monthly payment is. 

In practice, this means that while at Member Jungle, you will need to sign up for our standard package at $129 USD a month to get access to our online store system; at ClubExpress, you will get their online store system even if you are on their lowest possible price. 

Okay, so I know that that was complicated, but the good news is… that we're not done yet. Deep breath, we got this. 

So, both Member Jungle and ClubExpress offer optional extra features that require an additional one-time and/or continued payment to use. ClubExpress uses this a lot; several features that are free parts of the Member Jungle system, like digital membership cards and the mobile app, are paid extras at ClubExpress. 

In a way, this balances out with ClubExpress, which includes more features in its base package than Member Jungle does. 

I know these different pricing models make it slightly more complicated to compare prices. However, the way I see it, both systems have clear pros and cons over the other system. I'd recommend looking through both companies' pricing pages (linked above) and paid extra pages (linked here), ClubExpress Extra Cost Features, and  Member Jungle Optional Add-Ons. 

With a little investigation, you'll be able to work out exactly how much each company will cost for your club. 

ClubExpress Vs Member Jungle: Transaction Fees

One often overlooked factor of pricing is transaction fees, which are the amount you and your members will pay per transaction made via your membership management system. Please note that these fees are all subject to change based on the country where you are located.

ClubExpress only charges a gateway fee per transaction made on your site. Unlike Member Jungle and many other membership management systems, ClubExpress does not charge an additional transaction fee; its gateway fee is the only one. ClubExpress also supports the use of PayPal on their hosted sites. 

If you want to find out more about ClubExpress’s fees and how they are structured, please see ClubExpress Payment Processing.   

Member Jungle uses Stripe payment gateways for all of its transactions; Stripe charges its own gateway fee per transaction. Member Jungle charges a transaction fee on top of this. Transaction fees vary depending on the package, but at their lowest are 0.5% + 55c. It would depend on your country as to which of these fees structures worked out the cheapest for you.

These fees, plus Stripe payment gateway fees, can be passed on to members or absorbed in your profits. For more on these fees at Member Jungle, please see What Are The "Hidden" Fees At Member Jungle?

ClubExpress Vs Member Jungle: Mobile Apps

One of the big differences between ClubExpress and Member Jungle is how their mobile apps work. 

Both apps are integrated with your website and membership management system; both apps make communication between you and your members easier and more effective. In fact, both apps provide all of the below features: 

• Allowing automated membership renewals via the app
• Being able to communicate with your members more effectively via the app
• Allow members to view and edit their profiles and information via the app
• The ability to take digital payments via the app
• Being able to sign up for events from the app

The difference is that with Member Jungle, you can use the Member Jungle app, a completely free mobile app integrated with your custom Member Jungle-made website and management system. Visually the Member Jungle app is able to be customised with your club logo, background image and highlight colour of choice, but generally speaking, it will always look roughly like the example below.  

The ClubExpress app, on the other hand, is built custom from the ground up for your club. The app is built on ClubExpress's existing software but tailored to suit your needs. This allows for a lot more customisation than the Member Jungle app. 

The app costs $2 for every download, but if you are in the United States, you can charge your members this price and receive 70 cents for every app purchase. Alternatively, you can make the app free for your members by paying 70 cents per download to ClubExpress. However, if you are outside the US, you must pay for the app yourself.

It's essential to note that if you want to make any changes to the app page, such as altering the app name, download method, or images, a new version of the app must be created and submitted to Apple and Google for approval. This will incur an additional $100 USD setup fee.

Moreover, there's a one-time setup fee of $200 USD for getting ClubExpress's app made for your club.

As ClubExpress’s app is custom made each time, it's very hard to find an example photo of it. The below is the only one I could find. 

For more information on the ClubExpress app, please see the ClubExpress Mobile App.

ClubExpress Vs Member Jungle: How To Decide 

ClubExpress and Member Jungle provide very similar products aimed at the same market. If one of these systems can work for your club, both of them will. However, due to differences in pricing and feature allocation, the exact requirements of your club will determine which is the most cost-effective option for you.

I suggest taking a closer look at both products and signing up for a free trial of each. This way, you can thoroughly examine each system and determine which one you prefer. 

So, you really have only two things you need to check out for each system now: 

1. How the price works out for your specific needs 
2. How each system works in their free trial  

Where To From Here?

Well, you now have a great starting point for looking much deeper into ClubExpress and Member Jungle. The good news is that both systems are good, so you will be in safe hands whichever way you go.

To find out more about ClubExpress, check out their ClubExpress website. 

To learn more about Member Jungle, look at What Is Membership Management Software For Nonprofits? - All Your Questions Answered.