Alternatives
Membership Toolkit alternatives: PTO platforms compared on published pricing
Membership Toolkit is the polished incumbent: a real public website, a strong membership and directory engine, and a price to match. Boards usually look elsewhere when the annual subscription comes up for renewal, when parents complain about accounts and passwords, or when the treasurer wants the books in the same place as the money.
The short answer
The main alternatives to Membership Toolkit are PTBoard (the cheapest full platform), Givebacks (closest feature for feature, with PTA dues remittance), Konstella (communication first), Cheddar Up and SignUpGenius (single-purpose tools), and PTO Homeroom (no subscription, no parent logins, bookkeeping included, a 3% checkout fee covered by the payer).
Rates below are each vendor's own published figures, last checked 9 September 2026. Anything unpublished is marked as such rather than estimated.
Every option, side by side
| Platform | Best for | Subscription | Fee on payments | Fee on fundraisers | Card processing | Fee can be passed to payer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Membership Toolkitthe one you have | Larger PTAs that want a polished public website, deep membership tooling and are willing to pay a subscription of several hundred dollars a year. | $550 – $1,150 / year | 0% on dues and store payments | 3% of each donation, up to $50,000 | LumaPay 2.89% + 30¢ (as published Aug 2026; the PaySimple partner card now lists interchange-plus pricing) | Not published |
| PTBoard | Boards that want the most features for the least subscription and are comfortable with a 5% fee on fundraising campaigns. | $64.99 – $399.99 / year | 0.7% + 20¢ | 5% | Your own PayPal or Stripe | Yes — three documented options, including purchaser-covers-all |
| Givebacks | State-PTA-affiliated units that need PTA dues remittance built in, and boards that want a store, website and fundraising in one paid platform. | $499 – $599 / year | 1.05% + 65¢ | 7.5% | Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | Yes — absorb, pass on to the donor, or split |
| PTO Homeroomthis site | Boards that want the roster, dues, fundraisers, signups, announcements and the treasurer's books in one place, free, with no parent logins. | $0 | 3% | 3% | Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | Yes — shown at checkout and covered by the payer by default |
| Konstella | Schools where parent-to-parent communication and classroom groups matter more than payments or the treasurer's books. | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Cheddar Up | Groups that mainly need to collect money — dues, spirit wear, tickets — with no parent accounts, and are happy to keep communication elsewhere. | $0 – $420 / year | Blended into the card rate | Blended into the card rate | 3.95% + 95¢ free · 3.59% + 59¢ paid | Yes — and it is the default |
| SignUpGenius | Anyone whose real need is a volunteer slot sheet; it is the easiest signup tool there is and free for organizers on its basic plan. | $0 – $539.89 / year | 5% + 50¢ on collected payments | 5% + 50¢ (no fundraiser product; payments on sign-ups) | Included in the 5% + 50¢ | Yes — the organizer chooses whether the buyer or the seller pays the fee |
| RunPTO | Boards that want a low-cost, PTO-specific website and membership tool and can live with unpublished payment rates. | $299 / year | None — RunPTO never touches the money | None | Your own Stripe or PayPal | N/A — there is no platform fee to pass on |
Each vendor name links to the head-to-head page with sources. Homeroom's own row is on the same terms as everyone else's.
What you give up leaving Membership Toolkit
The public website builder is the best in the category, the directory and membership tooling are deep, and support is staffed. If your PTA's website is the front door for the whole school community, weigh that before moving.
What most boards are actually paying for
A subscription of several hundred dollars a year plus payment fees, for a product where parents must create and remember an account. If your families mostly interact through one link in an email, a platform built without logins removes the biggest source of support requests.
Where Homeroom is the wrong choice
If you need silent auctions today, text messaging, or a phone-support contract, Membership Toolkit, PTBoard and Givebacks are ahead. Homeroom launched in 2026 and says so.
Questions boards ask
Does Membership Toolkit publish its prices?
Pricing is quoted per organization; see the comparison page for what is published and what is not, with the date it was checked.
Which alternative keeps a public website?
PTBoard, Givebacks, RunPTO and Homeroom all give the PTO a public page. Membership Toolkit's remains the most customizable.
See Homeroom in two minutes, or set it up in about the same
Free, no card, no call. If it isn't the right fit, the comparison pages above will say so.
- Free for the PTO, no subscription
- 3% at checkout, paid by the payer
- No parent logins, ever
Membership Toolkit sources: Pricing Donations & sales (0% claim) Peer-to-peer fundraising — the 3% fee PaySimple partner rate card