We shared this advice with our clients last month about the Wild Apricot price increase.
“We’ve been asked by some customers about the recent Wild Apricot price increase. It seems best to share our thoughts with all of our “Wild Apricot” clients.
You should have received an email from Wild Apricot detailing another 20% price increase, across the board, to be implemented on your next renewal (whether monthly or annually) as of June 15, 2021. This is the third price increase by Wild Apricot in the past five years, and all of have with a pretty short runway before the price increase. For example, the price of a 500 member Group level subscription has gone from $50 per month (paid monthly) in 2014 to what will be $110 per month (paid monthly) in June 2021. Similar percentage increases hold true for all levels.
There are reasons for price increases, such as increased security needs, and increased software development costs. Wild Apricot under their ownership by Personify hasn’t really been a blazing success story during the past year of pandemic – customer support seems reduced, and technology improvements have not been that noteworthy. I would like to see a change in the trend of their company. But redesigning a web site to a different platform is an expensive proposition, usually more expensive than paying the 20% increase in the next year, particularly for the functionality available on the site. Wild Apricot is promising improvements. I’m recommending that clients give Wild Apricot a year to prove those improvements and stick with them for the time being. You can also lock in your current price for the following year if you renew your subscription for an additional year prior to June 15th.
But I’m also suggesting that clients identify by importance the features you use most and value most on Wild Apricot. Wild Apricot has undergone two ownership changes in the past 5 years, first with its sale of Wild Apricot to Personify, and then with Personify’s sale to Pamlico Capital. It is less easy to read the future of Wild Apricot with these changes in leadership teams, and you throw in a pandemic, and planning ahead seems to be a wise course of action. Prioritize the features you most use and benefit from, and if there is a time to look at a different web platform for your site in the future, we can use that as a roadmap to figure out the best path to take.”