Events · head to head
ACTIVE Network vs Wild Apricot
ACTIVE Network
Events
Registration and payment software for parks departments, races and camps, owned by Global Payments
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Wild Apricot
Nonprofits
Membership management for small associations and clubs
- From
- $60/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: ACTIVE Network revenue comes from registration processing rather than licence fees, so the vendor is aligned with transaction volume and not with the quality of the administrative experience.; Wild Apricot the website builder is dated and constrained, and organisations that care about their public site usually end up running a separate site alongside it
- They diverge on capability: ACTIVE Network covers ACTIVENet, Wild Apricot covers Member database.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which ACTIVE Network and Wild Apricot actually diverge.
| Attribute | ACTIVE Network | Wild Apricot |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | $60/month |
| Pricing model | quote | Per month by contact count |
| Category | Events | Nonprofits |
Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in ACTIVE Network
- ACTIVENet
- ACTIVEWorks Endurance
- Camp and Class Manager
- Participant-paid fees
- Facility and league scheduling
- ACTIVE.com listing
Only in Wild Apricot
- Member database
- Automated renewals
- Event registration
- Website builder
- Online payments
- Email and newsletters
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
ACTIVE Network
- A city parks department taking swim lesson, camp and league registrations online with fees passed to residentsnot Wild Apricot
- A race director who wants registration, bib assignment and a consumer listing from one vendornot Wild Apricot
- A YMCA needing membership, childcare billing and facility booking in one systemnot Wild Apricot
- An agency with no software budget that can fund registration through participant-paid processing feesnot Wild Apricot
Wild Apricot
- Small associations and clubs replacing a spreadsheet and a separate websitenot ACTIVE Network
- Volunteer-run organisations needing unlimited administrators without per-seat costnot ACTIVE Network
- Professional bodies handling dues renewals and a member directorynot ACTIVE Network
- Groups running paid events for members alongside membership subscriptionsnot ACTIVE Network
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
ACTIVE Network
- Revenue comes from registration processing rather than licence fees, so the vendor is aligned with transaction volume and not with the quality of the administrative experience.
- Passing the processing fee to participants is normal practice, which makes the cost invisible on the agency budget and visible to residents as a service charge at checkout.
- The ACTIVENet codebase is long-lived and parts of the administrative interface remain dated, with upgrade cycles driven by the parent rather than by agency requests.
- Support responsiveness is a persistent complaint among municipal customers, and escalation paths are slower than in a standalone software vendor.
- Because Global Payments owns the merchant relationship, moving off ACTIVE means changing processor as well as software, which usually requires a procurement process rather than a simple switch.
Wild Apricot
- The website builder is dated and constrained, and organisations that care about their public site usually end up running a separate site alongside it
- Pricing by contact count means lapsed members and non-member contacts push you into a higher tier unless the database is actively pruned
- Every module is adequate rather than good, so any organisation with a serious need in one area will outgrow that part first
- Reporting is basic, and detailed membership analysis generally means exporting to a spreadsheet
- Migration away is painful once the website, database and event history all live inside it
Pricing, plan by plan
ACTIVE Network
On request- ACTIVENet$undefined/year
- Registration, facility and membership modules
- Revenue derived primarily from registration processing fees
- Fee can be absorbed by the agency or passed to the participant
- Camp and Class Manager$undefined/year
- Flat rate or per registration fee model
- Rates quoted per account, not published
- ACTIVEWorks Endurance$undefined/year
- Race registration priced on a per registration fee
- ACTIVE.com listing included
Wild Apricot
$60/month- Group$60/month
- Up to 100 contacts
- Member database
- Website
- Community$150/month
- Up to 500 contacts
- All Group features
- More storage
- Association$290/month
- Up to 2,000 contacts
- All Community features
- Priority support
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- 5,000 contacts and above
- Dedicated support
- Custom arrangements
Which should you pick?
Choose ACTIVE Network if
- You need activenet.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want activeworks endurance.
Choose Wild Apricot if
- You need member database.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want automated renewals.
Questions people ask
- Is ACTIVE Network or Wild Apricot better?
- Neither clearly leads. ACTIVE Network starts at On request and Wild Apricot at $60/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, ACTIVE Network or Wild Apricot?
- ACTIVE Network starts at On request and Wild Apricot at $60/month.
- Does ACTIVE Network or Wild Apricot run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- What is ACTIVE Network best used for?
- ACTIVE Network is most often used for a city parks department taking swim lesson, camp and league registrations online with fees passed to residents, a race director who wants registration, bib assignment and a consumer listing from one vendor, a ymca needing membership, childcare billing and facility booking in one system, an agency with no software budget that can fund registration through participant-paid processing fees. Of those, a city parks department taking swim lesson, camp and league registrations online with fees passed to residents and a race director who wants registration, bib assignment and a consumer listing from one vendor are not what Wild Apricot is typically brought in for.
- What can ACTIVE Network do that Wild Apricot cannot?
- ACTIVE Network covers ACTIVENet, ACTIVEWorks Endurance, Camp and Class Manager, Participant-paid fees. Wild Apricot covers Member database, Automated renewals, Event registration, Website builder.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
ACTIVE Network: Who owns ACTIVE Network?
Global Payments, which acquired it in 2017 for around 1.2 billion US dollars. It sits in the merchant solutions business.
Wild Apricot: How is Wild Apricot priced?
By contact count, not by staff seat, starting at 60 USD a month for up to 100 contacts. Unlimited administrators is the practical benefit for volunteer-run organisations.
ACTIVE Network: How does ACTIVE make money?
Primarily from registration processing fees, charged as a percentage plus a fixed amount per registration.
Wild Apricot: Do lapsed members count toward the limit?
Contacts count, which includes records beyond current paying members. Pruning the database matters, because tier boundaries are the main cause of unexpected cost increases.
ACTIVE Network: Can we absorb the fee instead of charging residents?
Yes, the agency chooses. Most pass it to the participant, which is why registrants see a service fee.
Wild Apricot: Is the website builder any good?
It is functional and dated. Organisations that care about their public web presence commonly run a separate site and use Wild Apricot for the member-only area.
ACTIVE Network: Is pricing published?
No. Both licence and processing rates are quoted per account.
Wild Apricot: Can it handle fundraising?
Basic donation collection, yes. Organisations whose main activity is fundraising rather than membership are better served by a donor management platform.
Wild Apricot: When do organisations outgrow it?
Usually at a few thousand members, or earlier if one area — events, fundraising or the website — becomes central to the organisation rather than incidental.
Related pages
More on ACTIVE Network
More on Wild Apricot
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