What is a good platform to sell online subscriptions?

[Lael]

I have a client that is a non-profit organization that responds to international humanitarian crisis.  They have numerous projects going at one time.  They need a website to allow people to donate to specific programs.  The donors need to be able to do one time donations as well as reoccurring donations (till canceled by the donor).  It needs to be a shopping cart type experience so that a person does not need to check out for each program they want to donate to.  Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of platforms that can do this?  They will also be using the site as platform for sharing information (blog-type) with the public.  What is a couple good platforms to consider?

[Bob_van_Biezen]

Hi Lael,

Depending on your clients budget and needs I would go for a self-build website / CMS or a Wordpress website with a highly customized WooCommerce section.

Pros of Wordpress + WooCommerce

1. Fairly cheap compared to a self-build website.
2. Lots of extra functions that probably won’t get developed with a self-build website.
3. Easy to manage CMS system.
4. Very low design costs since you can buy a theme.

Cons of Wordpress + WooCommerce

1. Much harder to customize then a self-build website
2. You’re working from a basis (the template) and your adding more functionalities. You won’t get every tiny thing the way you like it.
3. The more plugins and customization you use the bigger the changes on conflicting plugins and security issues.
4. You are depending on updates from third party theme and plugins authors.

Pros of self-build

1. All the possibilities to customize the website just the way you like.

Cons of self-build

1. It will cost you client a lot since (almost) every CMS function, SEO tweak, color or margin will need to be programmed.
2. Locked in to the current provider since they are the one that knows how the website works. It’s a lot easier to switch provider with a Worpress website.

This list isn’t all there is to know. I recommend you take these steps to make a final decision:

1. Read some more about the pros and cons of Wordpress, WooCommerce and a self-build website (and other CMS systems).
2. Map out all the functionalities that are required for your client (including any SEO needs).
3. Check what functions you can find in Wordpress templates and plugins and divide your list in  functions that are offered by the Wordpress community and functions that aren’t.
4. Determine the investment in development with Wordpress and with a self-build website.
5. Compare costs with the earlier found pros and cons of both options and you should be able to make a decision.

Last quick tip: when you work with a subscription you will need a integration with your bank or any way to upload all the automatic payments of that week / month. Make sure you understand this process before you make an price offer to your client. In case this research takes a lot of time, try to explain your client your time investment and try to let them pay for it so you can give an accurate offer. If the job goes through you can give them any discount based on your research costs.

I hope this helps!