Flying School vs Wild Apricot
Wild Apricot is membership software - dues, member directories, event registrations, and a simple website. Plenty of flying clubs run it for exactly that, and then discover it has no idea how to book VH-BQS.
Where Wild Apricot is the better choice
Clubs and associations whose main job is collecting membership dues and running events.
Side by side
Flying School and Wild Apricot
| Flying School | Wild Apricot | |
|---|---|---|
| Australian built and supported | Built in Sydney | ✗ |
| Data hosted in Australia | Sydney region | North America |
| AUD-native pricing | ✓ | Partial |
| GST and ABN on tax invoices | ✓ | Partial |
| Xero with account and tax-rate mapping | ✓ | Partial |
| Purpose-built for flight training | ✓ | ✗ |
| CASA syllabuses included | 10 programs | ✗ |
| Grade units of competency at checkout | ✓ | ✗ |
| CASA-format logbook hours | ✓ | ✗ |
| Maintenance-due Hobbs blocks bookings | ✓ | ✗ |
| Instructor ratings enforced on booking | ✓ | ✗ |
| AI reads CASA licences and medicals | ✓ | Partial |
| Document expiry reminders | ✓ | Partial |
| Prepaid hour packages with drawdown | ✓ | ✗ |
| Billing from Hobbs time flown | ✓ | ✗ |
| Student portal with online booking and payment | ✓ | Partial |
| Aircraft and instructor utilisation reporting | ✓ | Partial |
| AI assistant across the whole system | ✓ | ✗ |
Verified August 2026 from publicly available information. "Not advertised" means we could not confirm the capability, not that it is absent. Wild Apricot pricing model: Subscription tiered by contact count. Confirm the details with the vendor.
Scope
Membership admin is one corner of a flying club
Wild Apricot
Dues, a member directory, and event registration are handled. Aircraft scheduling with maintenance state, instructor ratings, flight logs, training progression, and hour packages are all outside the product.
- No aircraft scheduling
- No flight logs or Hobbs tracking
- No training records
- No instructor rating currency
Flying School
Flying School covers the operational side that Wild Apricot does not: the aircraft calendar, the flight log, the CASA logbook, competency scoring, document currency, prepaid hours, and GST invoicing. Membership plans with recurring billing are included too.
- Aircraft and instructor calendar
- Flight logs and CASA logbook hours
- Membership plans billed recurrently
Currency
Members whose paperwork lapses
Wild Apricot
A membership system tracks whether the dues are paid. It does not track whether the member's medical expired last Tuesday, or whether the instructor is still rated on the twin.
Flying School
Approved licences and medicals grant capabilities, count down to expiry with reminders at 60, 30, and 7 days, and raise capability alerts. Instructor ratings are then enforced when a booking is attempted.
Why schools move from Wild Apricot
Book the aircraft
The thing a flying club actually needs and a membership tool cannot do.
Track currency, not just dues
Medicals and ratings that expire loudly instead of quietly.
Australian tax invoices
GST and ABN on every invoice, coded into Xero.
Common questions
Can Flying School handle club memberships?
Yes - membership plans with recurring billing, member records, and reporting are included. It is not as deep on association-style directory and event management as a dedicated membership tool.
Other comparisons
See it with your own aircraft and syllabus
Start a free trial and your CASA training programs, lesson catalogue, and aircraft are ready to go. No card required.