In this AccessAlly review, I share with you why you need to consider AccessAlly for your membership site.

It includes:

  • A Detailed set of features that I think are important for membership sites
  • Screenshots from my membership as well as clients when permitted (because images speak a thousand words)
  • A video demo of AccessAlly that highlights some of my fave features
  • A link to opt-in to the demo so you can experience it from the inside

And if you still have questions, you can leave a comment below and we’ll be happy to help!

So let’s get started!

WHAT I’LL BE COVERING

If you know me I’m a straight shooter, so full disclosure: I got invited by the AccessAlly team to be one of the first certified partners and affiliates when AccessAlly first came out in 2015.

I have built over 100 sites using it including my own membership site (which I will share with you in a minute).

So you can say that I know a thing or 2 about this plugin :). That also means that as an affiliate I do get a compensation if you buy using one of my links with no additional cost to you.

In this AccessAlly Review I am going to cover:

  • What I was looking for in terms of functionalities and features
  • How I found out about AccessAlly
  • What AccessAlly is and is not
  • What I love about AccessAlly
  • AccessAlly’s drawbacks (no tool is perfect but this one is getting pretty darn close 😉 ).

WHO THIS REVIEW IS FOR

This AccessAlly is for you if:

  • You’re thinking of building an online course or membership site and you’re looking for a solid robust tool
  • You have any existing membership site or online course and you’re looking to take it to the next level with a more professional look and better experience for your members
  • You have a membership site but it’s clunky it’s not automated just not performing to your or your members standards
  • Or maybe you just love to be resourceful to your clients and/or peers so when a good tool shows up you want to find out more about it so you can share it 🙂

WHY YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO ME AS A REVIEWER

I have built over 100 AccessAlly sites and used a dozen of membership plugins since I started building websites in 1998, so I know what to look for in a plugin and I have experience to compare it to other tools.

I have helped entrepreneurs just getting started and more established clients who are doing 7 figures with their membership sites.

After years of using a variety of tools for my clients and myself (I have used 2 other membership plugins before settling with AccessAlly for mine), I have come to the conclusion that AccessAlly is the right solution for me and a lot of people, and hopefully it is for you as well 🙂

WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR

I was looking for a platform that would be able to grow as my business grows. I wanted my membership to be more than just an online course or a membership subscription. I wanted it to become the online Portal for all my offers so that my clients could see everything that I have to offer and the various ways that I can support them.

Things that were important to me:

  • A highly customisable look
  • The ability to drip content based on completion of a task or based on time
  • An integration with a payment system (I didn’t want to integrate with out outside shopping cart and the AccessAlly order forms rock, seriously…)
  • Support for Gamification: assessments, quizzes and progress tracking are key elements you need IMO to keep members engaged. Again, i didn’t want to have to install and extra plugin for it if I could avoid it
  • Being able to communicate with my members by email based on their behavior in the membership (if they complete a module, finish a quiz,…) to unlock content, congratulate them, in an automated way
My Membership Dashboard using AccessAlly + Divi (click on image to expand)

HOW I FOUND ACCESSALLY AND WHAT IT IS

I first found out about AccessAlly as a user. I was part of Nathalie Lussier’s mastermind group and I had bought a few courses from her. The platform she was delivering on was using AccessAlly (which wasn’t called that at the time and was just for internal use). They started to get questions about it because it was so great and different than anything out there and that gave them the idea to turn it into a product, and I am so glad they did!

When it launched Nathalie asked me if I’d like to become one of the certified partners for it and I didn’t think twice. I knew the quality of the platform from a user point of view and I knew the level of customer support that she and her team was delivering.

I couldn’t wait to get in as a partner!

That’s how AccessAlly became my #1 recommended membership plugin.

What is AccessAlly?

AccessAlly is a WordPress solution designed to help you sell, teach, and engage with your audience.

It starts with high-conversion order forms, a built-in Learning Management System with progress tracking and assessments, member directories, and gamification — that deeply integrate with your email system.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT ACCESSALLY

I can’t possibly list everything that I like about it but let me give you the highlights:

  • Ability to integrate free content (freebie, challenges, free videos series, free mini courses) to get members 1 foot inside the platform and offer teasers on your paid offerings
  • Host your paid offers : online courses, recurring subscription, coaching program, VIP day offers, retreats and have it integrated seamlessly in a non-overwhelming way
  • Progress tracking: the ability for members to track their progress but also for you to know who does what (and call out the people who haven’t logged in a while 🙂 )
  • Assessments to help your members assess where they are and provide them with relevant content based on that (bye bye content overwhelm)
  • Love love love the order forms and the abandon cart feature (no more leaving money on the table! ) with support for coupons, free and paid trials, upsells, downsells,..
  • 2 way synchronisation between AccessAlly and your Email System: so you know inside your email system what people do inside AccessAlly. You can drip content either from AccessAlly or from your email system (like unlocking modules or surprise bonuses!)
  • User directory so your members can get to know each other
  • Team feature so you can sell licenses in bulk (includes a really cool license manager)
  • Brand New: Setup your own affiliate program!: register affiliates that can earn commissions when they share your amazing programs and services
  • SUPPORT: Probably the most important feature of all, because without proper support you won’t get anywhere. I have yet to see another product/service offering that level of support to their clients.

Because a video speaks a 1000 words here is a video tour of AccessAlly and my top 5 favorite things about it!

ACCESSALLY DRAWBACKS

There are a few things that I’d like to see in AccessAlly. As a developer myself I can appreciate that they take the time to do things right and not rush into things, that’s how you create high quality products!

I really don’t have anything major because it just plain works but I do have a wishlist!

On my bucket list:

  • I’d love to see an integration with a community/forum solution other than BBPress,  I mean it works but I also know that people are asking me for something up to par with AccessAlly where people can see people’s badges of accomplishment they can hop on chat with each other. This is one of the features that I am asked a lot and I still don’t have a great solution for it.
  • More customization of the look of the order form : internationalisation and more flexibility in the design

    • : Update: this is a feature for the next release in June 2019! I have testing the Beta and it looks awesome!

  • Styling : I love that they provide different color palettes but honestly, I haven’t had a single client use them, I use the Custom option most of the time so being able to enter 2 colors as my 2 primary brand colors and that they be used through the site as a starting point would we awesome
  • Easier customisation of objectives list :just picking a color would be awesome !
  • User directory: more options when setup the profiles in the user directory, we currently have to go into developer mode to get this customised fully sometimes,  maybe even a User Directory Wizard? (there I said it 😉 )

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A MEMBERSHIP PLUGIN, HERE IS WHY YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT ACCESSALLY

  • You want a reliable and robust solution that’s capable of showcasing all your offers and services in 1 central portal so that you can tease, up-sell and down-sell
  • You see your membership as a strong asset for your business and you’re ready to invest to make it the best it can be
  • Providing a great member experience  and helping your members consume your content and get results is a priority for you
  • You’re a listener and you want to know who does what in your membership site so that you can build more content and offers based on what they want and need (and honestly that’s how the best products and service come to life!)
  • Your goal with this membership is to make a bigger impact and reach a wider audience so you want a platform that scales
  • You want total control on the look of your membership (that’s why WordPress is awesome!) : I love to use Divi as the theme, the best theme out there for membership IMO, so flexible (when you know what you’re doing 🙂 ), you can check out my portfolio for tons of memberships built with AccessAlly + Divi

In fact we love it so much that we have built in custom AcccessAlly features only available to our clients: facebook opt-in, facebook login, refresh of progress tracking, Button “Resume where you left off”, all from listening to what our clients ask 🙂

So there you have it : my complete unbiased AccessAlly Review, the best membership site plugin out there IMO. You can click here to find out more and I do recommend you go with AccessAlly PRO that includes the gamification!