ReadyMembership vs customised platforms: how to choose your AMS

When associations evaluate AMS options today, the shortlist usually comes down to two approaches: 

• One: a purpose-built membership platform designed specifically for associations.
• Two: a general CRM platform (typically Dynamics 365 or Salesforce) with membership functionality added by a specialist partner.

Both promise to deliver what you need. But they're fundamentally different in how they're built, how they evolve, and what you'll pay over time. Understanding those differences matters more than any feature comparison.

What does a Dynamics 365 or Salesforce membership solution look like?

To be fair, partners proposing Dynamics or Salesforce aren't suggesting you build from scratch. They've invested in developing membership modules, pre-built configurations, and sector expertise on top of these platforms.

When they propose an association management system, you're typically getting:

• The underlying platform (Dynamics 365 or Salesforce)
• Their membership-specific apps and configurations
• A separate CMS for your website
• Member portal customisations
• Integrations connecting these systems together
• Ongoing support and development

These can be credible solutions. Many associations run on them.

So why would you choose differently?

The hidden complexity of customised platforms

Here's what the partner model means in practice:

You're running multiple systems, not one. A typical Dynamics or Salesforce implementation for associations includes: the CRM platform, the partner's membership modules, a separate content management system for your website, portal customisations, and integrations to connect them all. That's multiple systems to license, maintain, and keep working together.

You're licensing multiple things. You pay Microsoft or Salesforce for the underlying platform. You pay the partner for their membership layer. You pay for your CMS. Each has its own licensing model, renewal cycle, and cost trajectory.

Only the core platform upgrades automatically. When Microsoft releases Dynamics updates, the CRM improves. But the membership modules your partner built? They only improve when your partner invests in them. The portal customisations? They stay exactly as they were built unless you pay for changes. The integrations? They need maintaining every time something updates.

Your customisations don't evolve. This is the critical point. With the partner model, you're buying a thinner core system plus customisations. Those customisations are static. They don't get better over time. They don't benefit from innovations elsewhere. They just sit there, doing what they did on day one, until you pay to change them.

Platform updates can break the rest. When Microsoft releases major Dynamics updates, your partner needs to ensure their membership modules, your portal, and your integrations still work correctly. Sometimes they do. Sometimes there's remediation work. You're dependent on your partner keeping pace with a platform they don't control.

Website platforms have their own upgrade cycles. Your separate CMS doesn't stand still either. Major version upgrades can require significant rewrites - many organisations have experienced this moving between versions of popular CMS platforms. That's another variable outside your control, another cost you didn't plan for.

Do I need Dynamics 365 if I use Microsoft 365?

One thing I hear often: "We use Microsoft 365 for everything else, so shouldn't our AMS be on Dynamics?"

Not necessarily.

Your AMS doesn't need to be built on Dynamics just because you use Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint. ReadyMembership integrates with Microsoft 365. Your staff can work in the tools they know while your membership data lives in a system designed for membership.

What matters is whether data flows where it needs to go - and that's about integration, not shared platforms.

The same logic applies if your sales or customer services team has invested in Salesforce, HubSpot, or Dynamics. Those teams can continue using the platforms they know, integrated through ReadyMembership connectors. It doesn't mean you need to build your entire membership operation on that platform too.

What does purpose-built membership software actually mean?

ReadyMembership wasn't built on top of something else. It was designed from the ground up for membership organisations - and that includes everything: CRM, website, member portal, events, CPD, all of it.

One system, not many. Your membership data, your public website, your member portal, your event management, your CPD tracking - it's all one integrated platform. No separate CMS to license. No portal bolted on the side. No integrations holding different systems together.

The whole product upgrades. When we release improvements, they're not just to the "core" - they're to everything. Better CPD tracking benefits everyone. Portal improvements reach all clients. Event management enhancements are shared. The entire stack evolves together, because it's one stack.

Your customisations sit on an evolving foundation. This is the key difference. With ReadyMembership, you start with a fatter, more complete system. Your customisations add to something that's already comprehensive. And as the underlying platform improves, your customisations benefit from that better foundation.

Compare that to the partner model, where you start with a thinner system and build more customisation on top. Those customisations don't improve when Microsoft updates Dynamics. They just sit there.

One licensing relationship. You deal with us. No separate platform fees, no CMS licensing, no navigating Microsoft or Salesforce complexity, no surprise per-user costs from multiple vendors.

We control the roadmap. When we release updates, they're designed for membership organisations. Features are built because associations need them, not because an enterprise sales use case drove the requirement.

Total cost of ownership: ReadyMembership vs customised platforms

Partners often position their solutions as cost-effective because Dynamics or Salesforce platform licensing appears modest.

Look at the full picture:

Customised platform costs:

• Underlying CRM platform licensing
• Partner licensing for membership modules
• CMS licensing for your website
• Implementation fees across multiple systems
• Portal customisation
• Integration development and maintenance
• Ongoing support retainers for each component
• Development time when platform updates require adjustment
• Additional costs for functionality outside standard scope
• Customisations that never improve unless you pay again

ReadyMembership costs:

• Annual licensing for the modules you choose (including website and portal)
• Implementation fee
• Annual upgrade fee covering continuous feature releases across the whole product
• Customisation only for genuinely unique requirements

The first model has more systems, more vendors, more variables. The second is one integrated platform with predictable costs.

Over five years, I consistently see the multi-system approach costing more than initial proposals suggested. Not because anyone misled anyone, but because the variables compound: CMS updates, integration maintenance, portal changes, customisations that need rework when the underlying platform shifts.

Why we can offer fixed-cost projects

Here's something that matters when you're planning budgets: ReadyMembership projects are fixed cost, not time-and-materials based on an estimate.

That's unusual in this market. Most implementation partners quote an estimate, then bill for actuals. You're trusting that the estimate is realistic rather than the best hope of a sales team who knows that once you've started a project, it's very difficult to change direction.

We can offer fixed costs because we've delivered hundreds of membership platforms. We know what implementations actually take. We're not guessing.

That certainty works both ways. It protects your budget, and it means we've priced the work properly from the start. We're not hoping to make margin on change requests. We're not incentivised to find additional scope. We succeed when you go live on time and on budget.

Membership organisations don't have endless contingency budgets. Every pound is accounted for, often months in advance. When we say fixed cost, we mean it - because going back to the board to ask for more isn't what success looks like.

Questions to ask when comparing association management systems

If you're evaluating a Dynamics or Salesforce-based solution:

1. "How many separate systems are involved - CRM, CMS, portal, integrations?"
2. "When you improve your membership modules, do all your clients benefit automatically?"
3. "What happens to our portal customisations when Microsoft updates Dynamics?"
4. "Who maintains the integrations between systems, and what does that cost?"
5. "What are the total licensing costs across all components?"

If you're evaluating ReadyMembership:

1. "Is the website and member portal included, or separate?"
2. "When you release new features, do they cover the whole platform?"
3. "How do you integrate with Microsoft 365 / our existing systems?"
4. "Can we see implementations similar to ours?"
5. "What does customisation cost if we need something outside standard functionality?"

The answers will tell you more than any feature matrix.

ReadyMembership vs Dynamics 365 vs Salesforce: the decision

This isn't about which solution has more features on a checklist.

It's about what you're signing up for:

With customised platforms, you're assembling multiple systems, dependent on multiple vendors, managing integrations between them, and building customisations on a foundation that doesn't evolve. The core platform updates, but everything built on top of it stays static unless you keep paying.

With ReadyMembership, you're working with one integrated system designed for exactly what you do. The whole product improves over time - CRM, website, portal, everything. Your customisations sit on an evolving foundation, not a static one.

Every partner will tell you their solution fits. That's their job. The question is whether you want multiple systems adapted for membership, or one system built for it.

I know which I'd choose.

Frequently asked questions about membership management software

Cheryl Quin is Head of Business Development, EMEA for ReadyMembership. She works with associations and membership organisations evaluating technology options.