Jon12345

Why is Wishlist more popular than aMember? It seems that aMember has better integration with forums - for example - something that puts me off Wishlist. I know it integrates with Simplepress but its not that great a forum script.

aMember has also updated very recently and I am trying to find somewhere to see the difference between the previous version and the new version, but can't find any list of the changes. Anyone know the main changes? I've heard they are considerable.

If these changes are considerable, does this now put aMember similar to Wishlist in ease-of-use and feature set?

It would be great to hear from those who have used recent version of both Wishlist and aMember.

Thanks,

Jon

Paul Gram

I can't speak to the most recent version of Amember but we do have and use both Wishlist and Amember and I can say that Amember was much more difficult to customize, setup, and make look how you want it to look.

Maybe the new version changes that and if it does, they need to do some serious marketing to overcome how hard their previous version was to customize.

Both are excellent.

Jon12345

Do you know if Wishlist have plans to integrate it with vBulletin?

David-JP

Wishlist has much better marketing and licensing terms than amember, and it is billed as a simpler solution to a complex problem. Although their is still a learning curve with it- it is lesser or at least perceived lesser than amember.

Ken Gary and I did a discussion on the differences several months back:
aMember vs. Wishlist Member Membership Systems | Membership Academy Blog

The newer versions of amember and wishlist though fixed many of their former failings.

David

Jon12345

Thanks for audio interview link. Someone also mentioned to me Digital Access Pass and that seems very good. I was initially reluctant to look at it since it was slightly less popular, having looked at each sites Alexa Rank.

However, what I liked about DAP is that there are plenty of screenshots, good online documentation and a vbulletin forum.

Any thoughts on it?

ChristineCobb

I use DAP on several sites and it also just keeps getting better with the updates. I also use the Optimize Press theme with it to make the user experience better.

Jon12345

From what I have read, DAP is in the lead, although I've also read good things about the new version of amember. Anyone know if there is a special offer for DAP on the Warrior forum? I am looking at the unlimited license.

Jesus Perez

From what I've read, DAP offers the most functionality and control in the WP Membership plugin game. The owners of that solution are -for a lack of better words- insanely focused on support, updating their product and making it the official WP membership site plugin for marketers. Ravi is everywhere and updating that plugin like a mad man. I initially tested it a few years ago and it was pretty good...but I decided to move to Nanacast instead. Still, I have to give Ravi proper credit for updating the hell out of that plugin.

Wishlist Member was abandoned by many well-known marketers because of the infamous "temp" signup problems that were never resolved (to my knowledge). I personally abandoned it because it ran like molasses on all my sites. I mean it was slooooow. Sales, signups, optins and traffic increased substantially after deactivating that plugin.

I used Amember in the past. it was one of the most technical and difficult installations I've worked with. I'll never go near it again. Amember's compatibility with VBulletin, WordPress and other 3rd party scripts relies on extra plugins (you must purchase separately) that are always breaking when new releases are rolled out.

Jon12345

Thanks for that detailed post - you just shifted me even further towards DAP.

As an important sidenote, someone told me recently that there are major issues with the IPN with PayPal, where people find their recurring payments cancelled for no reason.

Do you know about this? Is it just a DAP problem or a PayPal problem?

ChristineCobb

I've not experienced that but I meticulously follow the DAP instructions on setting up the PP IPN from the start. I know that if PP requests info from you and you ignore them they will suspend your acct with no warning.

Due to new US tax laws they needed tax ID numbers recently. I know of one acct that was temporarily suspended until the info was supplied.

Jesus Perez

They aren't canceled without reason. I just recently learned about this problem thanks to an email from Mark Austin at Resell Rights Weekly. Here is his email that enlightened me (edited a bit):

I never knew the info above. I do know, however, that you cannot transfer Paypal subscriptions from one account to another. If you're creating a subscription business, make sure the Paypal account is brand new and only associated with the business name (not your name). That way, you can sell the entire business and Paypal account along with it. I know several entrepreneurs that create brand new businesses and Paypal accounts for each major subscription website they launch. This way they can easily flip it in the future.

Jon12345

Great information thanks. Its a lot to take in!

slinky

Amember just released their new version 4 and it is fantastic. It is so much easier to use than version 3 which, it's true that it is built by programmers and you know it.

It is a different tool than DAP and is also half the price. They have a lot of plugins that allow integration with various scripts (I have written some myself). I don't get commission, lol, but I think Amember at the price is superb and the support is fantastic.

What is the problem with Simplepress as a forum script? vBulletin was great but no longer worth the money, IMHO. It's no wonder why this site runs on a version that hasn't been sold for many years.

ravijayagopal

Hi Slinky,

From what I see on Amember's site, they charge $179.95 for a 1-site license. DAP is $167 for a 1-site license. DAP costs less.

They don't have an Unlimited-site license. So for use on, say, just 3 web sites (we won't even go into "Unlimited Sites") Amember would cost you $539.85.

DAP is just $297 for an Unlimited-site license. DAP costs less.

(If you wish to use Amember on more sites, it will cost you even more. But not so with DAP).

Amember gives you "6 Months" of free support. With DAP, it's "One Year" of free support.

DAP gives you twice the duration of support for less.

And from what I've heard (please correct me if I'm wrong) about Amember, you have to pay extra for some of the plugins - like vBulletin integration, payment processor integration, content dripping, Upsells, etc. Not sure if that's true. Not sure if they even do 1-Click Upsells. But if it is, then make sure you add those into your costs for Amember.

So, just can't imagine why you're saying Amember is "half the price" of DAP.

Am I missing something here? Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about anything I've said above.

<SIDEBAR>Please note that with DAP, everything is in-house, and we are responsible when our plugin breaks, we support you directly (like crazy!) and we won't tell you to "go ask the developer and figure it out yourself", as we have developed everything ourselves.</SIDEBAR>

Thanks,

- Ravi Jayagopal

Jesus Perez

Ravi, they're still using addon plugins in V4. Last I checked, it was $40 per plugin per platform. So WP is $40, VB is $40, etc. I don't know if they are unlimited site licenses or per site.

Note:The WordPress plugin still isn't for sale on their site (screenshot) as of this post's date. So I guess it hasn't been ported to version 4 yet.

Amember doesn't have upsells. Apparently that functionality was built by a customer and is being sold separately via -you guessed it- another plugin. That plugin costs $49 for 1 site, $99 for 5 sites and $199 for unlimited sites and only works with Authorize.net. BUT...that member, Kencinnus, has the following banner on his site: