Directory software comparison
A WildApricot Alternative for Member Directories
JReviews is the all-in-one, first-party directory and reviews suite for WordPress and Joomla. Pick it over WildApricot when what you actually need is a public directory or review site on a CMS foundation you control, whether you already run that site or set it up for this — rich custom fields, real search, reviews, claims, inquiries, media, maps, and paid submissions — without a membership SaaS bill that climbs as your contact list grows. Professional bundles every JReviews add-on with one-click installation, and each directory page sits on your own WordPress or Joomla site, so you write it, lay it out, connect it to your content pages, and handle SEO the way you'd handle the rest of the site.
WildApricot does a different job. It's hosted software for associations, nonprofits, clubs, and chambers that need to run dues, renewals, online payments, event registration, member email, and a basic association website in one account. That moves the member directory into a separate hosted product with its own login, stack, and data model. JReviews does not replace dues or renewal workflows. If managing members is the real problem to solve, WildApricot might be a better fit. If the public-facing directory needs to live on a WordPress or Joomla site you control, JReviews is the one designed for it.
Side-by-side comparison
How JReviews and WildApricot stack up for directory owners.
| Category | JReviews | WildApricot |
|---|---|---|
| Product model | Self-hosted, first-party directory and reviews suite for WordPress and Joomla. Runs on a CMS site you control and focuses on the public listing, review, search, media, maps, and payment side, using the same site workflow for pages, templates, users, hosting, analytics, backups, and the database. Professional bundles every add-on with one-click installation. | Hosted membership software for member-based organisations. Combines a member database, an association website, payments, events, emails, and a member directory in one account, separate from your WordPress or Joomla workflow. |
| Pricing | ✓ Annual software licensing starts at $179/year. Professional is $427/year and includes every paid add-on. Hosting and CMS maintenance remain your responsibility. | Monthly pricing that scales with your contact count. Public pricing lists plans starting at $64/month (Personal, up to 100 contacts) and going up from there with Group, Community, and Professional tiers (current pricing at wildapricot.com/pricing). |
| Best fit | Public professional directories, industry directories, review directories, searchable association directories, and content-rich listing sites that should run on an open WordPress or Joomla foundation, existing or newly built. | Associations, nonprofits, clubs, and chambers that need dues, renewals, event registration, payments, email communication, and hosted member administration. |
| Membership operations | Can power a public-facing directory of an association's members or chapters — search, profiles, reviews, claims, inquiries — but it does not run dues, renewals, member emails, or event registration. Pair JReviews with whatever you use for member admin. | ✓ Designed for the full member-admin job: member database, levels, renewals, invoices, event registration, payments, emails, and a member-facing portal. |
| Directory depth | ✓ Multiple directories, listing types, custom fields, advanced filters, reviews, media, claims, inquiries, related listings, comparison pages, structured data for Google, and full control of how each listing page looks. | Member-directory features are part of the membership package, and work best when the directory is mostly a public view of your member database. |
| Reviews and trust signals | ✓ Built-in reviews: user and editor reviews, multi-criteria scores (e.g. quality / value / service), histograms, smarter top-list ranking, reviewer ranks, review discussions, owner replies, and moderation. | WildApricot is not primarily a review-directory product. Its strength is member management, not public review workflows. |
| Media depth | ✓ Rich media on every listing or member profile — photos, video (uploaded or embedded), audio, and file attachments such as credentials, brochures, or portfolios — and on reviews too, where visitors can add their own. It's a media-rich public directory, not just names and contact fields. | Member profiles support a photo or avatar and an account-level files feature, but the directory is a view of the member database rather than a media-rich public directory, and there is no public review system to carry media. |
| Maps and monetization | MapsPro and PaidListings are bundled on Professional and paid extras on Standard — for distance-from-here search, map views, trail/route files (GPX, KML, GeoJSON), paid submissions, listing upgrades, featured placement, coupons, taxes, and subscriptions. | Better for dues, renewals, payments, event fees, and member transactions inside a hosted membership platform. |
| CMS ecosystem fit | ✓ Your public directory lives in a WordPress or Joomla site you control, whether it is existing or set up for this: theme or template layer, CMS pages, SEO workflow, users, hosting, analytics, forms, backups, database, and agency or developer process stay together. | WildApricot keeps membership operations and the member directory inside one hosted account. That reduces setup and maintenance work for teams that do not want a CMS, but the directory is operated beside or outside WordPress or Joomla, and your bill goes up as your contact list grows. |
When JReviews is the better pick
Choose JReviews when the public directory is the main thing — and worth investing in. A bar association directory, a medical-specialist directory, an aviation-vendor directory, a cybersecurity-training directory, an architecture-and-construction directory, or any niche professional directory usually needs custom fields, real categories, map filters, reviews, claims, media, owner replies, and pages that actually rank in search. That's where JReviews beats a membership system with a "member directory" feature bolted on. Each profile can carry real media too — photos, video, audio, and documents like credentials or portfolios — so the public directory looks like a destination, not a contact export.
JReviews also makes more sense when you want WordPress or Joomla to be the site's foundation, not the membership vendor's hosted website builder. That can be a site your organisation already runs or a new CMS site built for the directory. Either way, the listing pages, CMS content, theme or template work, SEO workflow, user accounts, analytics, forms, backups, hosting, database, and visitor experience stay in one operating rhythm instead of moving the public directory into a hosted membership platform.
Pick JReviews when collecting dues, processing renewals, running events, and sending member emails are not at the centre of what you're trying to do. JReviews has an annual licence (you still need hosting and CMS maintenance), but it doesn't charge a monthly fee that climbs as your contact list grows.
When WildApricot is the better pick
Choose WildApricot when managing your members is the real problem. If staff or volunteers have to track member records, levels, renewals, invoices, event registrations, payments, member emails, and a basic association website — all in one hosted account — WildApricot is the more honest fit.
WildApricot is also better when you don't want to set up or maintain a WordPress or Joomla site at all. It runs as a hosted service, so hosting, setup, updates, and member-management workflows are handled in one account. For a small nonprofit, chamber, or club without a technical person, that can matter more than how customisable the directory is.
If you say "I want a directory without monthly fees" but what you really need is dues collection, renewal reminders, member emails, and event registration — JReviews won't replace that. If you need a serious public directory or review site and you either handle members another way or are ready to build on WordPress or Joomla, JReviews is the better pick.
Frequently asked questions
Is JReviews a WildApricot alternative or a membership-management replacement?
JReviews replaces the public-directory and review-site side of WildApricot — not the membership management. Pick JReviews when you want the directory on a WordPress or Joomla site you control; pick WildApricot when dues, renewals, events, member emails, and a member database are the real job.
What is the best WildApricot alternative?
It depends on which half of WildApricot's job you actually need. For the membership-management half — dues, renewals, events, payments, emails, member database — the strongest WildApricot competitors are other member-management suites (ClubExpress, MemberClicks, Raklet, MembershipWorks). For the public-directory half — a searchable directory of members, chapters, or industry contacts on a CMS site you control — JReviews is a stronger fit because it runs inside WordPress or Joomla with custom fields, advanced search, reviews, claims, inquiries, maps, and paid submissions. A lot of organisations end up pairing one of each rather than choosing one product to do both.
Can JReviews build an association directory without monthly fees?
Yes — meaning no membership SaaS bill that grows with your contact count. JReviews charges an annual licence fee and runs on your own WordPress or Joomla site. You still need hosting, normal CMS maintenance, and any other tools you use for dues or events.
How does WildApricot pricing compare with JReviews for a public directory?
The pricing models are not directly comparable. WildApricot is hosted SaaS priced by contact count, so the bill grows as your member or contact list grows. JReviews is annual software licensing for the directory itself — Standard at $179/year, Professional at $427/year with every paid add-on bundled — paid once per year regardless of how many listings or visitors you have. JReviews requires your own hosting and WordPress or Joomla maintenance; WildApricot bundles hosting into its monthly fee. For a directory-led use case, the JReviews model usually costs less as the directory scales; for the full membership-suite use case, factoring in what you'd otherwise pay for separate dues, events, and email tooling matters.
Which is better for member renewals and event registration?
WildApricot is better for member renewals, dues, event registration, payments, and email communication because those are core membership-management workflows. JReviews is better when the public directory, reviews, custom fields, maps, and SEO pages matter more.
Which is better for a public professional directory?
JReviews is usually the stronger fit for a public professional directory with rich profiles, custom fields, advanced search, reviews, claims, inquiries, media, rich-result markup for Google, and monetization options. WildApricot is stronger when that directory is only one output of a broader member-management database.
Can I see JReviews running before buying?
Yes. You can use the hosted Joomla demo at demo.jreviews.com and the hosted WordPress demo at wp-demo.jreviews.com, then compare current plans on the JReviews pricing page. Current plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Can WordPress replace WildApricot for an association directory?
WordPress can replace the public directory and the website part, but it doesn't automatically replace WildApricot's member-management side. JReviews can power a serious WordPress directory on a site you already run or set up for this, with the same CMS workflow as your pages, SEO, users, hosting, analytics, forms, backups, and database — plus custom fields, search, reviews, maps, claims, inquiries, structured data for Google, and ways to charge for listings — while dues, renewals, event sign-ups, and member emails may still need separate tools.
Does WildApricot's acquisition by Personify affect member data?
With any hosted membership platform, including WildApricot under Personify ownership, your member and directory data lives in the vendor's account, and pricing or product changes are theirs to make. That's a normal tradeoff for hosted convenience. JReviews is the opposite tradeoff: the directory and member-profile data sits in your own WordPress or Joomla database, on your hosting, with whatever lifecycle and pricing you put in place.