Overview
When looking for a CRM, many of our clients have considered Wild Apricot, as it is one of the main players in the market. Both SwiftFox and Wild Apricot are cloud-based SaaS CRM Membership platforms that enable you to undertake a range of actions with the data stored in them. As a newer player in the market, SwiftFox comes with a different philosophy to Wild Apricot, which is the start of where differences emerge.
This page can help you understand both platforms and help educate your choice.
Comparing Features
Setup & training
With SwiftFox when you get started you won't need a third party ‘Implementation Partner' to get you set up – the SwiftFox team handle everything.
As part of our commitment to ensuring your success with SwiftFox, we recognise the importance of a hands-on onboarding process. We work closely with our clients during the initial stages of onboarding, collaborating with new clients to import data, configure customisations, and establish new user accounts and appropriate permissions.
Once the platform environment has been set-up and configured, our team will work closely with you to provide a comprehensive overview of the system & train your team. Any webinars or training sessions can be recorded and made available to your team for future reference.
Wild Apricot set-up process has been described by some users as difficult. There is a set-up checklist available to use, however some users found it contained limited information to help them conduct their initial set up.
Data security
SwiftFox hosts client data in Australian data centres on Microsoft Azure, so your data stays onshore. The SwiftFox team operates under Australia's only industry-legislated privacy code and is a member of the Australian Data and Insights Association.
Wild Apricot runs on AWS in a single region that it does not name, with no Australian or European hosting option, and its payment systems are hosted in Texas and Arizona. It states GDPR and PCI DSS compliance but does not claim SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification. For an association with data sovereignty obligations, that is a question to resolve early.
Usability
SwiftFox features a beautifully simple user experience. Uncomplicated design is powerful. You, your boss, your intern, the new hire - everyone in your organisation should know how to use, and love using SwiftFox. And you should be able to work out how to use a feature with a few clicks. SwiftFox was built from the ground up in the social media age and our future focussed design principles make it simple to navigate. As a universal CRM, once you understand how to navigate one feature – you can navigate them all!
Wild Apricot has a relatively easy interface when compared to that of other CRMs on the market. However, some users have described some of its membership features as not as advanced as users may require. Wild Apricot also has a storage limit of 2GB which is applicable to all plans.
Universal CRM
SwiftFox has everything you need in one platform. This is what makes it so powerful. So marvellously simple to use. You can send emails, newsletters, coordinate events, create forms, manage your pipeline, send text messages, have phone calls, tick off your tasks, talk to your team - all from one place, and with one subscription.
Following initial set-up, organisations license SwiftFox on a subscription basis and our central development team take care of ensuring your platform is always updated and at the cutting edge of innovation.
Wild Apricot’s platform has a range of different tools all in one place, from sending emails to managing events. Users have reported limited customisability and flexibility when it comes to certain aspects of the platform, with some more complex customisation options not particularly user friendly, requiring the assistance of their support team to set up.
Users must monitor the number of contacts that they have as Wild Apricot will not automatically upgrade or downgrade a user’s plan if it no longer supports their organisation’s needs.
AI & data innovation
SwiftFox is built by The Red Fox Group, an Australian data analytics company, so AI and analytics are not a bolt-on here. Our AI is deliberately simple: draft an email and send it when your people actually open things, see who is likely to renew or lapse, spot who will donate or buy before you ask.
It is included. There are no credits to buy, no consumption meter running in the background, and no separate AI licence.
Wild Apricot has no clearly documented AI feature set. Its new parent, Momentive Software, markets an AI platform called MomentiveIQ, but there is nothing public confirming it has reached Wild Apricot.
If AI matters to your shortlist, ask them directly — we would rather say we don't know than guess on their behalf.
New features roadmap
SwiftFox takes care of everything. As a SaaS platform, our team has a long-term development pipeline where we are continuously rolling out new features accessed by all our users. Clients can always submit suggestions for the product roadmap.
Wild Apricot does have regular bug fixes and updates where new features can be introduced and added to their current capabilities. These are available on their website, and users must visit their support website to see the additions that have been made in recent updates.
Ongoing support
SwiftFox has the help you would expect — guides, in-platform training, videos, live webinars, the SwiftFox Academy. But we are also local, and we have a phone. Get stuck and you can talk to someone who can jump on a video call and sort it out. Support is included, not a percentage of your licence.
Wild Apricot includes support on every plan with no upsell, and runs a 60-day trial with coaching. For a small organisation that is a well-judged offer.
What it does not include is a local phone number in your timezone.
SwiftFox: What does it do?
SwiftFox is campaign and membership software for organisations that talk to their people at scale. Store contacts, send emails and texts, make calls, run events, build forms, manage memberships, accreditations and awards, track cases and visits, run projects and pipelines, take payments and reconcile them to Xero, publish a member portal — and see every interaction against the one profile.
SwiftFox AI reads that history and tells you what to do with it: who is likely to renew, who is drifting, who will donate, who will show up. Automations then handle the follow-up so your team doesn't have to.
One subscription. Everyone in your organisation gets an account. No per-user fees.
Wild Apricot
: What does it do?
Wild Apricot is a cloud-based software which specialises in member management.
It has, but is not limited to, the following features:
- Manage events
- Build a website
- Send emails
- Manage financial data and transactions
Wild Apricot offers a diverse range of features, addressing most of the potential needs of membership based software. However, the support they offer, if an issue is encountered, can be limited.
An Overview of SwiftFox Users
SwiftFox is campaign and membership software for organisations that talk to their people at scale. Store contacts, send emails and texts, make calls, run events, build forms, manage memberships, accreditations and awards, track cases and visits, run projects and pipelines, take payments and reconcile them to Xero, publish a member portal — and see every interaction against the one profile.
SwiftFox AI reads that history and tells you what to do with it: who is likely to renew, who is drifting, who will donate, who will show up. Automations then handle the follow-up so your team doesn't have to.
One subscription. Everyone in your organisation gets an account. No per-user fees.
An Overview of
Wild Apricot
Users
Wild Apricot is a cloud-based software which specialises in member management.
It has, but is not limited to, the following features:
- Manage events
- Build a website
- Send emails
- Manage financial data and transactions
Wild Apricot offers a diverse range of features, addressing most of the potential needs of membership based software. However, the support they offer, if an issue is encountered, can be limited.
Pricing
SwiftFox charges one subscription for your whole organisation. Everyone gets an account — the ops manager, the intern, the board member who logs in twice a year.
Wild Apricot charges by contact, not by user. Your staff seats cost nothing, which for a small team is a genuinely good deal — and there are no setup, customisation or training fees either.
The thing to watch is what counts as a contact, and how steeply the curve climbs. On annual prepay it runs US$59.40 a month at 100 contacts, US$138.60 at 500, US$238.50 at 2,000, US$436.50 at 5,000 and US$892.80 at 50,000. Lapsed members, past event attendees and newsletter subscribers all sit in that number, so the bill grows with your mailing list rather than with your paying membership.
At 5,000 contacts that is about US$5,238 a year, before the exchange rate — Wild Apricot bills in USD, so an Australian or UK organisation carries that risk too.
For a small club with a few hundred contacts, Wild Apricot is hard to beat on value. The question is what happens as you grow.
Time to join SwiftFox? Making the jump is easy!
Get in touch and learn how easy it is to switch to SwiftFox, our team is available to help you every step of the way.
We don’t just tell you to export your data from your old system and figure it out yourself, we sit down and plan with you the most efficient migration process with minimal disruption.
And then a dedicated SwiftFox team member will take care of the transition, including help with set up and data importing if required. No third-party implementation provider required, just us!
