FAQ
Questions lodges ask about AshlarIQ.
Straight answers about the platform, privacy, getting started and pricing.
About AshlarIQ
- What is AshlarIQ?
- AshlarIQ is Masonic membership and lodge management software for Freemasons. It brings a lodge’s or other Masonic body’s member register, meetings, summonses, dues and visitor verification into one secure online platform that officers use from any computer or phone. It has two plans: Rough Ashlar, free for good, and Perfect Ashlar, which includes everything else.
- Is AshlarIQ only for Craft lodges?
- No. AshlarIQ works for any Masonic body that has members, officers, meetings and dues: Craft lodges, Royal Arch chapters, Mark lodges, Cryptic councils, Knights Templar preceptories, Rose Croix chapters, Order of the Secret Monitor, Allied Masonic Degrees, Scottish Rite bodies, Shrine temples, Eastern Star chapters and research lodges, as well as Provinces, Districts, Grand Lodges and Grand Chapters. Office titles are free text, so each order uses its own officer names. Degree tracking currently follows the three Craft degrees.
- Who is AshlarIQ for?
- Secretaries, Recorders, Treasurers and presiding officers who run the administration of a lodge, chapter, preceptory, council or other Masonic body, and Provinces, Districts, Grand Lodges and Grand Chapters that want their bodies on one consistent platform. Members use it for their digital ID card and the calendar.
- How is AshlarIQ different from spreadsheets or general membership software?
- AshlarIQ is built only for Masonic bodies. It understands degrees, offices, standing, summonses, installation and visitors, verifies visiting brethren across lodges without sharing personal data, keeps ritual off-platform, and charges per lodge or body rather than per user, with a free plan for good.
- Is there software for a Royal Arch chapter?
- Yes. AshlarIQ runs a Royal Arch chapter the same way as a Craft lodge: the register of companions, convocations and attendance, summonses, dues and receipts, with your own office titles such as Scribe E. and Treasurer. A chapter starts on the same free Rough Ashlar plan and gets Perfect Ashlar free for its first 7 days.
- Can AshlarIQ verify a visiting Freemason?
- Yes. Masonic visitor verification is live between lodges and bodies on AshlarIQ. The host scans or types the code on the visitor’s digital ID card and sees only his name, home lodge or body and whether he is in good standing. Contact details and dues are never shared, and every check is logged.
- Is AshlarIQ endorsed by a Grand Lodge?
- No. AshlarIQ is independent software and does not claim any official status with any Grand Lodge or order. Each lodge or body decides for itself, within the rules of its own constitution, and we work with any Grand body, Province or District that wants to adopt it.
- Which constitutions and countries does AshlarIQ support?
- AshlarIQ is not tied to one constitution. Each lodge or body sets its Grand body, currency and dues, and the platform supports any ISO currency. It is built in English first, with Thai language planned for lodges in Asia.
Ritual, privacy and security
- Does AshlarIQ store ritual?
- No. Ritual stays off-platform by design. There is no ritual feature, minutes are an administrative record only, and our terms forbid uploading ritual. Masonic Education carries non-esoteric lessons only, and every lesson a lodge writes is confirmed ritual-free.
- Who can see our data?
- Only your own officers, according to their roles. Every lodge’s or body’s records are separated from every other’s, and higher bodies see data only where the lodge or body grants explicit permission. AshlarIQ staff access an account only for support, and every action is recorded in an audit log.
- How does visitor verification protect privacy?
- When a visiting brother is scanned in, the host learns only his name, his home lodge or body and whether he is in good standing. His address, phone number and dues history are never shared, and each check is logged.
- Can members pay their dues online?
- Yes, with Pay in Perfect Ashlar. Members pay dues, joining fees and event bookings by card through your lodge’s own Stripe account, so the money goes straight to the lodge; or they pay by bank transfer or PromptPay and send a photo of the slip, which the Treasurer checks and approves. Either way the payment lands in the Treasurer’s records and the member gets a PDF receipt by email. Cash payments recorded by the Treasurer get the same receipt.
- Can we check guests in at the door of a dinner or ladies’ night?
- Yes. Every booking comes with a QR pass on the member’s phone that covers their guests. At the door, an officer scans it with their own phone’s camera (no app or special scanner), sees who has paid, and anyone who forgot their pass is ticked off a list. When an event is full, members join a waiting list and are booked automatically, in turn, when seats come free.
- Can we get our records out for the committee or the auditors?
- Yes. Reports turns the member register, attendance, the year’s dues, arrears, payments received and events into an Excel file (with the numbers kept as numbers), a print-ready PDF with your lodge’s name and logo, or CSV. Every download is recorded in the audit log.
- How is the platform secured?
- All traffic is encrypted (HTTPS with HSTS), passwords are hashed with scrypt, sign-in attempts are rate limited, anyone can turn on two-step sign-in with an authenticator app (with backup codes and “sign out everywhere”), sessions expire after eight hours, and a strict content security policy blocks injected scripts. The database is backed up before every release.
Getting started
- How do we get started?
- Fill in the short form at ashlariq.com/start with your lodge or body’s name, number and Grand body. We email you a link to choose your password. Rough Ashlar, with your member register, officers, ID cards and Masonic Education, is free for good, and Perfect Ashlar, with everything else, is yours free for the first 7 days. No card is needed. You can also subscribe straight away, and Perfect Ashlar starts at once.
- Do we need our own server or an IT person?
- No. AshlarIQ is fully hosted in the cloud by our team: there is nothing to install, no server to run and nothing to maintain. Updates, new features, security and backups are handled for you and included in your plan. Officers and members sign in from any phone, tablet or computer.
- Can you build custom features for our lodge or Grand body?
- Yes. Beyond the two plans, our team offers custom development: features, reports and integrations particular to your constitution or order, your own domain, a bespoke website, or a white-labelled platform for a Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter or Province. Everything we build is hosted and maintained with the rest of the platform. Each project is quoted separately; ask us from the Book a demo page.
- We keep everything in Excel. How hard is it to switch?
- Most lodges and chapters import their register in a few minutes. Upload your Excel or CSV export, check how each column matches a field, preview the result and confirm. Nothing is saved until you do.
- How do members get access?
- An admin opens a member’s record and chooses Invite. The member receives an email link, chooses a password and can then sign in to see their ID card and the calendar.
- What happens when officers change at installation?
- Officer Handover transfers the role to the incoming officer in one step. The new officer gets access, the outgoing officer’s elevated access is removed, and the records stay where they are.
For Grand Lodges and Provinces
- Can a Grand Lodge or Province bring all its lodges onto AshlarIQ?
- Yes. A single agreement can bring every lodge, chapter or preceptory in a jurisdiction onto one fully hosted platform, with pricing agreed with each Grand body. Every lodge keeps control of its own records. Annual returns and aggregated membership trends for the Grand body are on the roadmap, and the first jurisdictions to adopt AshlarIQ help shape them.
- Can AshlarIQ run under our Grand Lodge’s own name?
- Yes. We offer a white-labelled platform under your Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter or Province’s own name, branding and domain, and custom development for anything particular to your constitution. We build, host and maintain it with the rest of the platform. Each project is quoted separately.
- Does the Grand Lodge see every lodge’s member records?
- No. Being higher in the hierarchy grants no access by itself. A Grand body sees only what its agreements and each lodge’s permission grants allow, and every grant is recorded in the audit log.
Pricing
- How much does AshlarIQ cost?
- There are two plans. Rough Ashlar is free for every lodge and Masonic body, for good: member register, meetings and attendance, digital ID cards, visitor check-in, officer and member accounts, import, officer handover, Masonic Education, birthday greetings and two-step sign-in. Perfect Ashlar is $49 a month per lodge or body (introductory price) and includes everything else: Secretary (summonses), Announcements (notices by email and in the portal), Candidates (enquiry to initiation), Treasurer (dues by membership type, joining fees and PDF receipts), Reports (registers and accounts in Excel or PDF), Brand & Website (your logo and a public website with news, a gallery and an enquiry form), Events and Festive Board (bookings, guests, menus, caterer sheets, QR passes at the door and waiting lists), Knowledge (search your bylaws and policies), AI Secretary (drafts, reports and answers from your own records, built in) and Pay (members pay dues and bookings in cash, by bank transfer with a slip the Treasurer approves, or online through your own Stripe account). Vault and other features are coming soon and join the plan at no extra cost as they launch. Paying annually saves 20%. There is no charge per user, and nothing is sold separately.
- Will the prices go up?
- Our current prices are introductory prices for lodges and bodies that join during our launch. Prices for new sign-ups will rise as we add features, and we will always give notice before any change to their own plan.
- Is there a discount for early lodges?
- Yes. Founding Lodges, the first lodges and bodies to adopt AshlarIQ and give feedback, keep a lifetime discount. Apply at ashlariq.com/founding-lodges.
- Can we have our own logo, domain or website?
- Yes. Brand & Website, part of the Perfect Ashlar plan, puts your logo on the platform, ID cards and receipts and gives you a public website with an enquiry form. Custom domains, a white-labelled platform for Grand bodies and bespoke websites are built by our team on request.
- How do we pay for Perfect Ashlar?
- By card, on Stripe’s secure checkout: a lodge admin opens Plan in the portal and chooses $49 a month or $470.40 a year (20% off). A small card processing fee is added to cover Stripe’s charges, and the Plan page shows the full amount before you pay. Lodges billed in Thailand also pay Thai VAT where it applies; elsewhere no Thai VAT is added. If your free trial is still running, the first payment is taken when it ends. Admins change the card, download invoices or cancel under Manage billing.
- Can we cancel at any time?
- Yes. Cancel under Manage billing on the Plan page: Perfect Ashlar stays on until the end of the period you have paid for, then your lodge returns to Rough Ashlar with its records kept. You can export your members and dues to CSV at any time, and cancelling never deletes your data without notice.
Run your lodge, chapter or order on AshlarIQ.
Rough Ashlar is free for good, and every new lodge gets Perfect Ashlar free for 7 days. No card needed, and your register can be imported in minutes.