eWomenNetwork Alternatives: What It Actually Costs, and Who It's Right For
If you've been researching women's business networking groups, you've probably run into eWomenNetwork. It's one of the oldest and largest in the space, and it comes up constantly in "best communities for female founders" searches. Its size and history say a lot about what it does well, and it's worth understanding clearly what it costs and who it fits best, alongside a few alternatives worth putting next to it, including Athena Collective, where we'll admit to a bit of bias.
What eWomenNetwork Actually Is
Founded in 1999 by Sandra Yancey, eWomenNetwork is a global women's business network with more than 500,000 members across chapters in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. It's built around local chapter meetings, a searchable member directory, and its flagship annual event, the ICON conference.
What It Actually Costs
Currently, eWomenNetwork's own join page lists two membership tiers.
CEO+ membership runs $97 a month or $997 a year. It includes chapter access, the member directory, event access, two coaching sessions, weekly live sessions with founder Sandra Yancey, and an on-demand video library.
Platinum membership sits at $8,500 for new members (or $8,000 to upgrade), plus a $597 annual renewal, and adds an annual invite-only summit alongside everything in CEO+.
Both are listed on eWomenNetwork's own membership page as of this writing. If you've seen a lower monthly figure referenced elsewhere, that likely reflects an older pricing structure the organization has since moved away from, so it's worth confirming current tiers directly with eWomenNetwork before treating any older number as current.
Where It's a Great Fit, and Where You Might Want Options
eWomenNetwork's real strength is scale. If you want the widest possible in-person chapter network and a long-running annual conference, there's genuinely nothing else in this category that matches it geographically, and weekly access to a founder who's built a multi-decade organization is a real, tangible perk at the CEO+ level.
If you're earlier in your journey and looking for a more intimate, peer-level community rather than a larger content-and-mentorship structure, or if you're building outside the US and want roots closer to home, it's worth knowing what else exists before you decide.
A Few Alternatives Worth Comparing
Athena Collective is built for women founders at every stage, from pre-revenue through post-exit. Membership centers on a personalized roadmap built from a founder skills assessment, a private community, a searchable member directory, monthly expert-led workshops, and a resource library. It runs $24.99 a month billed monthly, or $250 a year billed annually, which works out to roughly $20.83 a month. Athena Collective is headquartered in Vancouver and building toward a global community, with members currently concentrated across the US and Canada.
See what the membership includes →
Pionyr is a curated, application-based network for women founders, organized around small core-group pods, expert access, and warm introductions. There's no published pricing on their site, membership is by application and interview, and cost isn't shared until you're through that process. It's a strong option if a tightly vetted, smaller cohort appeals to you, though the lack of visible pricing makes it harder to compare upfront.
Female Founder Collective, through The 10th House, is a membership community for women actively building and scaling product businesses. Current plans run Growth at $599 a year, Scale at $850 a year (currently waitlisted), and Lifetime at $1,500 one-time, each with a $139 initiation fee on top of the listed price. It also asks for a product already in market, so it's a better fit for founders a little further along than the earliest stage.
Founding Females runs about $119 a month, with no revenue minimum. The two stated requirements are that you run an original business under your own brand and show up ready to support fellow members, which makes it genuinely open to founders in their first year.
The Honest Bottom Line
There isn't a single "best" community here, there's a best fit for where you are and what you need. If you want the biggest network and a long-running annual conference, eWomenNetwork earns its reputation. If you want a more personal, accessible community built around where your business actually is right now, that's exactly what Athena Collective was built to be.
Curious whether Athena Collective is the right room for you?
See what's included →
Pricing and membership details reflect publicly listed information on each organization's website as of the publication date and may have changed since. Confirm current figures directly with each community before joining.