28Oct 2026

Joyn AMS Alternatives: 8 Platforms Compared for 2026

Association lead compares membership software proposals

The best alternative to Joyn AMS depends on how much of your organisation you want in one system. Some associations need a lightweight tool for dues and events. Others need a full platform that joins membership, events, CRM, email, e-commerce and reporting. Below, we compare eight options on the criteria that decide a switch, explain what to check before you move, and show where Colossus fits.

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Colossus brings member management, events, CRM, email marketing and e-commerce together in one customizable platform for membership organizations.
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TL;DR

  • Joyn is a configurable, cloud-based, all-in-one AMS, so a credible alternative needs the same breadth: member database, billing, portal, events, email and reporting.
  • The main contenders are Colossus, Wild Apricot, Novi AMS, GrowthZone, iMIS, MemberClicks, Glue Up and Raklet. They differ most in size of organisation served, pricing transparency and how much setup they demand.
  • Colossus publishes four plans at £349, £699, £1,299 and from £2,500 per month, which makes budgeting simple before you speak to anyone.
  • The biggest cost of switching is rarely the licence. It is data migration, role design and cleaning historic records.

Table of Contents

What Joyn AMS does, and why people look elsewhere

Joyn describes itself as a configurable, customisable, cloud-based all-in-one platform with integrated modules and built-in AI for member engagement. It also supports association management companies (AMCs), with single sign-on across the associations they manage, on-site, virtual and hybrid conferences, and task management.

That is a strong brief, and for many organisations Joyn is a sensible choice. People still search for alternatives for ordinary reasons:

  • Fit. An AMC-oriented product can be more than a 600-member professional body needs, or less than a large federation needs.
  • Budget clarity. Finance committees want published tiers they can compare, not a quote request.
  • Specific workflows. Some organisations are built around learning and certification, others around chapters, others around large annual conferences.
  • Ecosystem. Your accounting package, payment gateway and email habits may favour a different platform.

None of these means Joyn is a poor product. They mean the shortlist should be built from your requirements, not from a ranking.

What to require from any alternative

An association management system (AMS) is, in the words of one buyer’s guide, a single system where every function shares the same member database. The same guide lists the core scope you should expect: a member database, dues and billing automation, a self-service portal, event management, email communication, reporting and analytics, and governance tools.

Use that as a pass/fail filter, then add the questions that separate products:

  1. One record or several? Does an event registration, a payment and an email click all land on the same member profile?
  2. Self-service. Can members renew, update details, download receipts and register for events without emailing your team?
  3. Events and virtual training. Are in-person, virtual and hybrid events native, or bolted on through a third-party tool?
  4. Payments. Which gateways are supported, and are dues, event fees and shop purchases reconciled in one place?
  5. Reporting. Can a trustee get retention, revenue and engagement figures without an export to a spreadsheet?
  6. Configurability. Can you shape workflows and sales pipelines, or must you adapt to the software?
  7. Pricing model. Is the price per member, per feature module or per tier, and what happens when you grow?

The alternatives at a glance

The table summarises where each platform tends to sit. It describes positioning, not a verdict, and you should confirm current plans and prices on each vendor’s own site before shortlisting.

Platform Typically suited to Worth knowing
Colossus Membership bodies, associations, nonprofits and educational institutions wanting one platform for members, events, CRM, email and e-commerce Four published plans from £349 per month
Wild Apricot Small associations and clubs run largely by volunteers Widely used entry-level option; scale can become a constraint
Novi AMS Small and mid-sized associations that want a polished all-in-one system Strong review scores on aggregators
GrowthZone Chambers of commerce and associations with larger membership bases Large review base; some reviewers cite setup effort
iMIS Larger, complex associations with deep data needs Powerful, usually a heavier implementation
MemberClicks Mid-sized associations and professional societies Long-established AMS with website and email tools
Glue Up Chambers and associations focused on events and networking Combines membership, events and marketing
Raklet Small organisations and communities on a tight budget Known for an accessible entry point

Colossus

Colossus Systems is a SaaS platform built for membership organisations, associations, nonprofits and educational institutions. Membership management, event and virtual training hosting, CRM, email marketing, e-commerce, member and learner portals, online payment integration and analytics sit in one platform, so every interaction updates one member record.

The platform is customisable: you shape your sales pipelines, event registration steps and communication channels around how your organisation actually works. If you are comparing it against Joyn, the practical differences to test in a demo are the depth of event and virtual training tools, the CRM pipeline configuration and the published pricing. You can see everything in the feature overview.

Wild Apricot

Wild Apricot is one of the best-known names for small associations and clubs, and it appears in most roundups. It suits organisations with a volunteer administrator and modest needs. If you outgrow it, the usual pressure points are complex workflows, deeper CRM and reporting, and larger event programmes.

Novi AMS

Novi AMS is aimed at small and mid-sized associations that want membership, events, accounting and web presence connected. On the aggregator RFP.wiki, it scores 4.9 out of 5 from 380 reviews, with reviewers praising support and core workflows.

GrowthZone

GrowthZone is strong in the chamber of commerce world and also serves associations. The same RFP.wiki comparison gives it 4.1 out of 5 from 636 reviews, and notes that some reviewers report setup effort or navigation difficulties. A larger review count tells you more about breadth of adoption than about quality, so read the individual comments.

iMIS

iMIS is generally positioned for larger and more complex associations that need extensive data modelling and integrations. That depth usually comes with a longer implementation and the need for an administrator or partner who knows the system well. It is worth a place on the list if you manage many membership types, chapters and revenue streams.

MemberClicks

MemberClicks is a long-established AMS used by professional societies and mid-sized associations. It bundles member management with website and email tools. Ask how its reporting and event features compare with the other platforms in your demo scripts.

Glue Up

Glue Up leans towards events, networking and marketing alongside membership. It is a natural candidate for chambers and business associations whose value proposition is connecting members in person.

Raklet

Raklet is often shortlisted by small communities and organisations with limited budgets. Check that the features you need on day one, such as automated renewals and reporting, are included at the tier you plan to buy.

How the platforms differ where it matters

Size and complexity of your organisation

Be honest about where you are in three years, not only today. A 400-member society with one annual conference and a part-time administrator has different needs from a 15,000-member body with chapters, accreditation and a learning programme. Entry-level tools save money early and can force a second migration later. Enterprise systems can swamp a small team.

Events and virtual training

If events or training drive revenue, test them with a real example. Build a two-day hybrid event with member and non-member pricing, an early-bird rate, a workshop with limited seats and a certificate on completion. Whatever the vendor says, the time it takes you to build that event is the honest measure.

Pricing transparency

Some vendors publish plans, others quote on request. Neither is wrong, but quote-only pricing makes comparison harder and early budgeting guesswork. Ask every vendor for the same four figures: annual licence, onboarding or implementation fee, payment processing charges, and the renewal terms including any annual uplift.

What Colossus costs

We publish our pricing so you can plan before you book a call. Plans are billed monthly:

Plan Price
Core £349 per month
Growth £699 per month
Scale £1,299 per month
Enterprise from £2,500 per month
Contributor licence from £29 per month

The contributor licence covers the extra people who contribute content or manage parts of your programme. The full breakdown of what each plan includes is on our pricing page.

Perspective: why one platform beats a stack of tools

We talk to membership teams that arrive with the same problem. Their members live in one tool, their events in another, their emails in a third, and their finance team reconciles all of it by hand. Each tool is fine on its own. The trouble is that nobody can answer a simple question, such as which members who attended two events this year have not renewed.

Disconnected member, event and finance records converge

That is why we built Colossus around a single member record. Membership, CRM, events, virtual training, email and e-commerce share the same data, so reporting is a by-product of doing the work and not a separate project. Managing memberships manually is a task of the past.

Our advice when you compare any alternative to Joyn, including ours, is to judge the platform on your hardest process, not on its demo. Pick the renewal campaign, the event or the reporting pack that costs your team the most hours, and ask each vendor to build it live. The platform that does it with the least workaround is usually the right one.

— Rob

Before you switch from Joyn: a migration checklist

Moving platform is a project, and the licence fee is the smaller part of it. One comparison of AMS platforms notes that data migration, role design and historical data cleanup can significantly increase effort for established nonprofits. Plan for it.

  1. Export everything first. Members, contacts, membership types, payment history, event registrations, committee roles, documents and email lists. Confirm your contract lets you take your data and in what format.
  2. Check your notice period. Look at your Joyn renewal date and notice terms so you do not pay for an overlap you did not need.
  3. Clean before you import. Merge duplicates, fix lapsed statuses and agree one naming convention for membership categories. It is far cheaper to do this once than to import mess into a new system.
  4. Map roles and permissions. Decide who sees finance, who runs events and who edits content. Our guide to database management for associations covers how to structure this.
  5. Decide what history to bring. You rarely need every record from every year. Agree a cut-off with your finance lead.
  6. Handle recurring payments carefully. Ask how existing direct debit or card subscriptions move, and whether members must re-authorise.
  7. Schedule around your calendar. Avoid cut-over during renewals or a major conference.
  8. Pilot with a small group. Run one membership category or one event through the new system before moving everyone.
  9. Tell members early. A short note explaining the new portal login and what improves for them prevents a flood of support emails.

If reporting is your reason for moving, our reporting checklist shows what a single source of truth should let you answer.

How to run the comparison in two weeks

A short, structured process beats months of browsing.

  • Days 1 to 2: write your must-haves in order of pain. Limit the list to ten.
  • Days 3 to 4: shortlist three platforms. Use the table above, plus one outside recommendation from a peer organisation.
  • Days 5 to 9: book demos with the same script. Ask each vendor to show the same renewal, event and report.
  • Days 10 to 12: request written pricing, including onboarding and any usage fees, and talk to a reference customer of your size.
  • Days 13 to 14: score each platform against your list with two colleagues, then decide.

For a deeper look at what to score, read our guides to core membership management features and association management software.

See Colossus in action

If Joyn no longer fits your size, budget or workflows, we would like to show you how Colossus handles your renewal, event and reporting scenarios on one member record. Start with the published plans, or explore the platform overview and bring your toughest process to the demo.

FAQ

What is the best alternative to Joyn AMS?

There is no single best option. Wild Apricot and Raklet suit small volunteer-run groups, Novi AMS and MemberClicks suit small to mid-sized associations, and iMIS suits large, complex ones. Colossus is a strong choice if you want membership, events, virtual training, CRM, email and e-commerce in one customisable platform with published pricing.

Are there free alternatives to Joyn?

Some platforms advertise free tiers or trials, but free plans are normally limited in members, features or payment options. Check what is included before you rely on one, and compare the real cost once you add payment processing and the features you actually need.

How long does it take to migrate from Joyn to another AMS?

It depends mainly on the state of your data and how many processes you rebuild. A clean database with simple membership types can move far faster than one with years of duplicates, custom fields and chapter structures. Allow time for a pilot and avoid your busiest renewal or event period.

What features should I not compromise on?

A single member database, automated dues and billing, a self-service portal, event management, email and reporting are the core scope of an AMS. Add virtual training, CRM pipelines or e-commerce if they drive your revenue.

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