SorrelSites vs StarChapter
SorrelSites vs StarChapter
Both can run your membership. Only one keeps running when your board does, moving you in for free and updating your website for you. StarChapter is built around chapters and local associations and publishes its prices openly — but every plan starts with a setup fee between $1,169 and $3,041.
Chapter-focused association management, indie
Is SorrelSites a better fit than StarChapter for a small organization?
SorrelSites is the better fit for a chapter that would rather put its money into the year than into a setup project, and StarChapter is the better fit for a chapter that wants a vendor to stand up the site for it and has budget for that up front. StarChapter publishes its prices, which many association vendors do not: $86 a month under 50 members, $130 at 150 members, $175 at 300, $245 at 600 and $305 at 1,200, with a setup fee of $1,169 to $2,635 on top and larger chapters starting at $385 a month plus $3,041. SorrelSites is $99 a month for up to 100 active members with no setup fee at all, and Sprout reimagines your website and maps your member list as part of signing up, accounting for every page at the end — kept, merged, left behind, or needs a photo. SorrelSites is also the only side of this comparison that runs the board and keeps the event plan — which is the recurring work a chapter with rotating officers feels most.
Who the AI actually serves
- SorrelSites
- Sprout, SorrelSites' AI, does the org's real work — it drafts board minutes, event pages, and website updates for you to approve, and it welcomes people curious about joining in your org's voice. Behind the scenes it also moves you in and reimagines your website — it asks four short questions about what the site should do and builds the new design from your answers; afterward you change your site just by describing it, preview first, then publish.
- StarChapter
- StarChapter's site markets no AI of its own — welcoming people curious about joining, moving you in, and rebuilding a page from a sentence all stay on your plate.
Running the board
- SorrelSites
- Your board runs here too. Sprout drafts the minutes — motions, votes, and action items on the record — from your notes, a transcript, or the recap email you forward to your organization's own Sprout address. Approved minutes lock, follow-ups chase their owners, and every new director gets a briefing built from the last year of minutes.
- StarChapter
- Board and committee pages are there, but the minutes themselves are documents — nothing drafts them, locks the approved record, or chases the follow-ups.
Planning & running events
- SorrelSites
- Paste last year's planning spreadsheet and Sprout turns it into a live checklist with owners and due dates. On the day, check people in by QR from your phone — per session, on a conference day — and push announcements, run live polls, and take floor questions from one screen, with no second app. The thank-you sends itself afterward, and the plan stays with your organization, not on a volunteer's laptop.
- StarChapter
- Event registration is a core strength for chapter meetings — but there is no planning checklist for the run-up.
What it costs to start
- SorrelSites
- No setup fee. Moving in is free, and Sprout does the moving.
- StarChapter
- A setup fee of $1,169 to $3,041, depending on plan, before the first monthly bill.
How your plan size is counted
- SorrelSites
- One number: active memberships. Lapsed members and captured contacts don't push you up a plan.
- StarChapter
- Two numbers: members and additional contacts, counted separately — 150 members and 1,000 contacts at the entry plan.
Moving in
- SorrelSites
- At no charge, Sprout turns your website into three new designs built from your own writing and pictures, and maps your member list for you to approve. And if something didn't come across the way you wanted, a real person here fixes it with you.
- StarChapter
- Setup is a paid project, and it's what the four-figure setup fee buys.
Changing your website
- SorrelSites
- Type the change you want, see a preview, and publish when you're ready.
- StarChapter
- Website and content management is included on every plan, and your volunteers make the edits.
Reaching your members
- SorrelSites
- Reach members by email and a notification on their phone — each member picks the channels they want.
- StarChapter
- Email marketing is included on every plan.
What it costs
- SorrelSites
- $99 a month for up to 100 active members, $199 for up to 300, $399 for up to 750, $699 for up to 2,000.
- StarChapter
- $86 a month under 50 members, $130 at 150, $175 at 300, $245 at 600, $305 at 1,200 — plus the setup fee. Paying annually saves about 8–10%.
SorrelSites points Sprout, its AI, at the organization's own work — drafting board minutes, event pages and website updates for a person to approve, and welcoming people curious about joining — while at StarChapter that work stays with your volunteer board.
SorrelSites runs the board itself — Sprout drafts minutes with motions, votes and action items on the record, approved minutes lock, and every new director gets a briefing built from the last year of minutes — while StarChapter can host board and committee pages but leaves the minutes as documents nobody drafts, locks or chases.
SorrelSites turns last year's event-planning spreadsheet into a live checklist with owners and due dates and runs the event day from one screen, while StarChapter handles chapter-meeting registration well and leaves the run-up to a spreadsheet.
StarChapter charges a setup fee between $1,169 and $3,041 depending on the plan, on top of the monthly subscription, while SorrelSites charges no setup fee at all and Sprout does the moving as part of signing up.
StarChapter sizes a plan on two separate counts — members and additional contacts, 150 and 1,000 respectively at its entry plan — while SorrelSites counts only memberships that are currently active, so lapsed members and captured contacts do not move you up a tier.
SorrelSites reimagines your website as three new designs built from your own writing and pictures and maps your member list for you to approve at no charge, whereas at StarChapter the equivalent work is a paid setup project costing between $1,169 and $3,041.
SorrelSites lets you type the change you want, see a preview and publish when you're ready, while StarChapter includes website and content management on every plan and leaves the editing to your volunteers.
SorrelSites reaches members by email and by a notification on their phone with each member choosing the channels they want, while StarChapter includes email marketing on every plan.
StarChapter is $86 a month under 50 members, $130 at 150 members, $175 at 300, $245 at 600 and $305 at 1,200, plus a one-time setup fee of $1,169 to $2,635, while SorrelSites is $99 a month for up to 100 active members, $199 for up to 300 and $399 for up to 750 with no setup fee. StarChapter is cheaper month to month at the smallest sizes and more expensive in the first year once its setup fee is counted.
When is StarChapter the better choice?
Sometimes it is, and we'd rather you land in the right place than the wrong one. StarChapter can be the better choice if:
- You're a local chapter of a national association and want a vendor that has built for exactly that shape of organization for years.
- You want someone to stand up your site and your data for you as a paid project, and the four-figure setup fee is budgeted.
- Your chapter is under 50 members and the lowest possible monthly subscription decides it — StarChapter's $86 a month is below our entry plan.
Looking at other options too? See our pricing or the move-in story.
How the move from StarChapter works
Moving in is included — no moving fee, no setup fee — and Sprout does the carrying, so you're checking the work, not re-typing it.
Export your membership roster from StarChapter
Open the Member Roster, use the Flexible View to pick the columns you want, and click the Spreadsheet button to download it. That's what Sprout brings across for you.
Start your free trial
Fourteen days, no card. Confirm your email and your site is live right away at yourname.sorrelsites.com — nothing to install.
Let Sprout do the moving
Hand Sprout your member file and point it at your old site. It lists every page it finds so you tick what comes with you, brings that across, and reimagines it — then shows you a preview. You're checking the work, not re-typing it.
Review and go live
Look it over and change anything you like. If something didn't come across the way you wanted, say so — a real person here will fix it with you. Publish when you're happy, and add your own web address whenever you're ready.
And you're not doing it alone.
If something didn't come across the way you wanted, tell us while you're settling in and a real person here will get in and fix it with you — no charge, no ticket to file. Email support@joinsorrel.com.
Leaving something else, or not sure yet? The move-in story covers what carries over whoever you're coming from.
SorrelSites and StarChapter — common questions
- How do we get our data out of StarChapter?
- Export your membership roster from StarChapter. Open the Member Roster, use the Flexible View to pick the columns you want, and click the Spreadsheet button to download it. That's what Sprout brings across for you.
See it next to StarChapter, with your own numbers
Half an hour with the person who builds SorrelSites — your members, your dues, your events. You'll get an honest answer about fit, including when staying put is the right call.