Is AccessAlly the best choice for your membership site?
Are you looking to increase revenue in your business? Creating a Membership site to sell your courses and products is a great way to do this.
If you are reading this then you likely already know that. Which means you have also discovered that there are a plethora of tools, plugins and platforms to choose from.
So how do you choose which one is “the right” one for you? Digging through all the options can lead to analysis paralysis. For fear of making the “wrong” choice many people never get started. So how DO you choose which option is right for you?
It starts with your goals
If you haven’t done so already it’s time to make a list of what features are important to you before getting caught up in all the shiny bells and whistles that each LMS has to offer.
So grab some pencil and paper and answer these questions to help you get started.
- What look and feel do I want? (dashboard, checkout, course pages, directories, community?)
AccessAlly vs your other options
Now that you have a baseline for what is important you can start to compare your options. Not every platform offers the same features so it is a bit like comparing apples to pomegranates. The comparison process is not always easy. To make this process a little easier I curated a table that compares the top features of AccessAlly vs the other popular platforms and plugins. While it is impossible to include all the features I have included the top ones that AccessAlly offers.
If you are a bit foggy about the differences between AccessAlly (plugin) or Thinkific et al. (platform) I have provided more information below. Otherwise you can skip ahead to the feature comparison tables
Platforms, Plugins & LMS
AccessAlly is an LMS, known as a Learning Management System. An LMS is a tool that many large businesses use as a way to onboard, share company information and provide skill training with their employees. Basically it is a learning portal.
These robust systems are expensive and generally inaccessible for smaller businesses. Not so very long ago some smart people saw a niche in the market and created an LMS targeted at smaller businesses and creatives. With these platforms the startup costs are much lower; they provide the infrastructure (hosting), you provide the content. They even offer very simple course layout options to get you started fairly quickly. Some of the more popular platforms include Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi.
You might have also stumbled upon membership options called plugins and themes. AccessAlly falls into the Plugin category. Plugins are a way to add a layer of functionality to your WordPress website without needing to know how to code or hiring a developer. A WordPress Website is required to use the AccessAlly plugin. Themes provide Website Structure, Page layout & formatting to your Website.
While I won’t be comparing membership Themes as there are far too many. What you need to know is that you often still need some type of membership plugin. The theme just provides nicely formatted course pages ready for you to input your content.
Platform or a Plugin?
It can be difficult to compare your options as each have a different set of features that overlap. This is where being prepared with that list you prepared will help stay focused on your key needs and what is most important.
How you answered the questions about infrastructure, website and features will allow you to start narrowing down the list of options. The feature comparisons are broken out into AccessAlly up against popular Platforms and AccessAlly against other membership Plugins.
*If you are curious to know what LMS a website uses there is a little trick that lets you take a sneak a peek at the tech that they used. Visit the Built With website and enter in the website URL you want to snoop to see what Plugins and other tech is being used.
AccessAlly Plugin Comparison
| Plugin Feature | AccessAlly | LearnDash | MemberPress | Memberium |
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Installation Wizard |
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Easy to use course builder |
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Add-on required |
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Protected video and course content |
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Customizable dashboards |
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Content |
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Cross-selling & 1-click upsells |
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1-step checkout |
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Supports multiple currencies |
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Supports recurring payments (PayPal & Stripe) |
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EU Compliance; GDPR & handling EU VAT tax |
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Bulk selling ability |
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Built-in affiliate tracking; multiple tiers, links, reporting |
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Infusionsoft only |
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CRM Integrations; Infusionsoft, Ontraport, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, Drip, Keap |
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ConvertKit |
Ontraport, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, Drip, Keap |
Infusionsoft, ActiveCampaign |
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Automated cart abandonment emails. expiring coupons & order bumps |
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Media player, video bookmarks & quiz options* |
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Progress tracking - Content release* |
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Built-in gamification* |
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Course licensing with Teams/Umbrella account |
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Add-on required |
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Directories; searchable & editable custom fields |
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Community forum |
CommunityAlly add-on required |
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Mobile app |
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AccessAlly Software Comparison
| Plugin Features | AccessAlly | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Installation Wizard |
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Easy to use course builder |
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Protected video and course content |
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Customizable dashboards |
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Content |
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Cross-selling & 1-click upsells |
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1-step checkout |
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Supports multiple currencies |
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Supports recurring payments (PayPal & Stripe) |
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No recurring with PayPal |
No recurring with PayPal |
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EU Compliance; GDPR & handling EU VAT tax |
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Bulk selling ability |
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Built-in affiliate tracking; multiple tiers, links, reporting |
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Limited features |
Limited features |
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CRM Integrations; Infusionsoft, Ontraport, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, Drip, Keap |
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ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, Keap |
ActiveCampaign, Drip, ConvertKit |
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Automated cart abandonment emails. expiring coupons & order bumps |
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Media player, video bookmarks & quiz options* |
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Progress tracking - Content release* |
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Built-in gamification* |
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Course licensing with Teams/Umbrella account |
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Directories; searchable & editable custom fields |
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Community forum |
CommunityAlly add-on required |
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Mobile app |
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*denotes additional plugin required
You can read more about each of AccessAlly’s features by visiting their Website and extensive knowledge base.
If you want to learn how I can assist you in creating your custom AccessAlly Membership website feel free to contact me.