Skip to main content

With so many different church management solutions available, figuring out which one is right for you is tough. You know you want to maintain up-to-date member records, efficiently plan and track events, and communicate effectively with the congregation to enhance overall church leadership and community engagement but need to figure out which tool is best. I've got you! In this post I'll help make your choice easy, using my experience in church management and leadership and experience using diverse tools, with my picks of the best church management software.

What is Church Management Software?

Church Management software (sometimes referred to as ChMS) is a suite of online tools that helps churches organize, automate and manage daily church operations. Church management software uses a database to consolidate the data and organization, which allows the automation of many common church administrative, management and reporting tasks.

Key features that make this possible include member database management, attendance tracking, event planning, communication tools, and contribution management. Overall, it provides a centralized platform for managing church activities, fostering community involvement, and ensuring effective communication between church administrators and its congregation.

The 10 Best Church Management Software Overviews

In this post, we’ve tried to cover a broad spectrum of software, considering the complexity, price points, and functionality.

Best for ease of use

  • Free demo
  • From $67/month/unlimited members
Visit Website
Rating: 4.8/5

Breeze is an easy-to-use web-based church management system designed with small churches to mid-sized churches in mind.

With Breeze, you can easily add new data, send mass emails and text messages, track attendance and check-in children securely, and process donations online and by text message. Breeze requires no contract or setup fee and offers a data migration service to get you started quickly.

Why I Picked Breeze: Breeze makes it easy to manage your church's database, communicate with your members via email or text message, offer online and text giving, safely check in children, manage events and volunteers, and run reports.

Breeze Standout Features & Integrations

Features include a membership database, email and text messaging, attendance tracking, donation processing, reporting, and event management.

Integrations can be built using the Breeze API.

Breeze Pricing & Plans

Breeze costs from $50/month and comes with a free demo.

PROS

Easy data transfer from other systems

Responsive customer support

CONS

Some features are quite basic

Best all-in-one church management software

Visit Website
Rating: 3.9/5

Subsplash is an all-in-one church management software that handles everything from website building, live streaming, social groups, messaging, events, volunteer management, and giving processes in one, centralized platform.

Why I Picked Subsplash: Subsplash is a smart, modern take on church management software that packs a punch for its price. They lean heavily on crafting great media and mobile experiences with branded apps, content curation, and audio/video content hosting. Subsplash enables media-savvy churches to reach their congregants where they are: on their phones and smart devices. You can upload blog posts, podcasts, videos, and even livestream your services.

Outside their stellar mobile media offerings, Subsplash is noteworthy because they quite literally 'do it all.' You'll find that this feature-packed ChMs can serve everyone—from new plants to mega- and multi-site churches—with their robust blend of facility and people management functions. You can plan events, build a drag-and-drop website, and set up recurring gifts within one church management solution.

Subsplash Standout Features & Integrations

Features include a branded app builder, in-app volunteer schedule management, native media player, Apple TV & Roku connection, mobile giving, group messaging, event scheduling, content management, drag-and-drop website builder, SEO tools, analytics, dashboards, donor management, recurring gift subscriptions, payment processing, donor-covered fees, media tagging & search, audio & video hosting, live streaming, child check-in, service planning, email & text messaging, member profiles, and small group organization.

Integrations include Church Community Builder (CCB), Breeze, Planning Center (PCO), and Rock RMS.

Subsplash Pricing & Plans

Subsplash One offers pricing upon request. Subsplash Giving doesn't require a monthly fee, but instead charges a percentage of donations collected (a fee that can be covered by donors, if they opt in).

Pros

Offers 'all-in-one' coverage of all basic church needs

User-friendly interface with modern UI

Great mobile app functionality

Cons

Limited integrations with other systems

Best value for price

  • Free version with limited features for up to 100 members
  • From $10/month/up to 250 members.
Visit Website
Rating: 5/5

CHmeetings is a powerful church management system designed for churches of all sizes and denominations. Easily manage church membership, groups, events, follow-up, and broadcasts.

CHmeetings transforms your workflow by doing it all online. You can create registration forms, see who already submitted theirs, and view attendance data for all events. Check-in is easy for leaders and members via the app. You can also offer your members an easy option to manage their online giving and event fees and easily generate up-to-date financial reports.

Why I Picked CHmeetings: Managing the legal, security, and privacy aspects of your data are easy, and with account restriction settings you have total control over which data individuals can access. CHmeetings include state-of-the-art security features and firewall technology. No matter what device you access data from, it will be secure. CHmeetings also makes daily backups of your data.

CHmeetings Standout Features & Integrations

Features include member profiles, small group management, to-do lists, events, forms, reports, users and roles, and contributions/payment management.

Integrations include Stripe, Twilio, MailChimp, PayPal, and more if you use their developers' API.

CHmeetings Pricing & Plan

CHmeetings is free for 100 members. Paid plans cost from $10/month for up to 250 members.

PROS

Very affordable, tiered pricing based on church size

Up-to-date security and firewall features

CONS

Mobile app could use some improvements

Best worship planning software

  • 30-day free trial
  • Pricing is available upon request

FellowshipOne's church management software suite of tools allows for easily accessible and automated management of member data. You can rapidly assimilate new visitors and reduce the workload of your staff. Members can access and update their own data and stay connected to the community through a central, online environment. FellowshipOne offers event management to plan events, manage resources, send invitations, and track registration.

FellowshipOne can help you create an SEO-friendly website to make it easier to find online. It has a wide variety of website templates you can use to have your website up and running quickly.

FellowshipOne also has a church accounting feature to help you manage your church’s expenses, payroll, and donations.

Why I Picked FellowshipOne: You can automate communication with mass email, using attractive newsletter templates and easily target specific demographics or groups, and maintain quality personal connections with all your members as your church grows in size.

FellowshipOne Standout Features & Integrations

Features include facility management, accounting & payroll, online giving, payment systems, mobile app, worship planning, website designs and hosting, and background checks.

Integrations can be facilitated through the FellowshipOne restAPI.

FellowshipOne Pricing & Plans

FellowshipOne costs from $19.60/month.

PROS

All-in-one solution

CONS

Not so user friendly

Outdated user interface

Best mobile app experience

  • Free trial available
  • From $39.60/user/month

TouchPoint is a substantial cloud-based church management software solution that equips church leaders and administrators of mid-sized churches to large churches looking for an off-the-shelf ChMS which is also highly customizable.

TouchPoint has a marketing feature for staying in touch with donors. Plus, Touchpoint’s customizable mobile app can help you manage your church better. It has a self-check-in feature so members can register their attendance during their events.

Church leaders can use the mobile app to create sermon notes to guide them during worship services. Touchpoint’s mobile app has an accounting feature that lets church members review their giving history and statements.

Why I Picked TouchPoint: A fully-integrated mobile app helps you share sermons, Bible verses, song lyrics, and other media directly to your congregations' smartphones.

TouchPoint Standout Features & Integrations

Features include membership management, volunteer management, child check-in, discipleship groups, ministry engagement, tithes, and event management.

Integrations include OnlineGiving, Twilio, and Sage.

TouchPoint Pricing & Plans

TouchPoint costs from $300/year (based on a 100-member church).

PROS

Responsive tech support

Best-in-class mobile app

CONS

Initial setup has a steep learning curve

Slow to implement updates

Best for people scheduling

ChurchTrac is a web-based church management software that offers features such as attendance tracking, membership management, volunteer scheduling, and donation tracking to help churches manage their operations more efficiently.

Why I Picked ChurchTrac: ChurchTrac is a comprehensive, easy-to-use web-based ChMs that offers a wide range of features to help churches manage their operations efficiently. It offers features such as attendance tracking, membership management, volunteer scheduling, and donation tracking, all in one place. It also allows churches to customize their profiles, reports, and services to meet their specific needs.

Additionally, it offers email and SMS communication tools that enable churches to stay connected with their members, and it is accessible on mobile devices, making it easy for pastors, staff, and volunteers to manage church activities on-the-go. Overall, ChurchTrac ChMs is a cost-effective solution that streamlines church operations, making it an excellent tool for churches of all sizes.

ChurchTrac Standout Features & Integrations

Features include attendance tracking, membership management, volunteer scheduling, donation tracking, accounting and budgeting tools, communication tools, customizable reports and services, online giving, child check-in, and mobile app accessibility.

Integrations include Mailchimp, Amazon SES, and Twilio.

ChurchTrac Pricing & Plans

Churchtrac is free to use. Paid plans with additional features start at $50/month.

PROS

Affordable pricing, even for small churches

User-friendly interface that is easy to navigate

Provides excellent customer support

Regular updates and new feature releases

Provides a mobile app

CONS

Limited integrations with other systems

Reporting and analytics features could be more robust

Limited functionality for multi-campus churches

Best for on-site local network installation

Excellerate Church Management Software is a comprehensive and flexible solution that is highly adaptable to your church needs, including membership management, visitor follow-up, small groups, fundraising, child check-In, volunteer scheduling, and more.

Excellerate church management software features like member tracking and attendance tracking can help you monitor the growth of your church and implement plans to sustain the said growth. You can use it to generate church directories to help you connect with members. You can also use it to monitor a pledge, donation, or contribution for record keeping and accounting purposes.

Why I Picked Excellerate Church Management Software: With the help of Excellerate, you can send follow-ups so you can schedule visits or invite prospects to church events. Excellerate also lets you gauge your success in converting new members so you can improve your methods and attract new members.

Excellerate Standout Features & Integrations

Features include membership management, visitor tracking and follow-up, tithes and offerings, small groups, class sign-ups and attendance, email/text messaging, reporting, and volunteer scheduling.

Integration with your church website is offered.

Excellerate Church Management Software Pricing & Plans

Excellerate Church Management is free for 50 members. Paid plans start at a one-time fee of $145/up to 100 members and offer scaled pricing according to the number of church members.

PROS

Choice between cloud-based or on-site installation

No monthly subscription for on-site installations

Scalable cost based on church size

CONS

Accessing technical support costs extra

Some knowledge of SQL is helpful.

Best for church finances

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $50/month/account

Elvanto is an all-in-one cloud-based solution with many innovative features. Child check-in, privacy, and safety are some of the key features integrated into Elvanto, vital for children and youth leaders to ensure all in their care are accounted for.

Elvanto has an all-inclusive range of tools with no add-on modules and no extra charges. Some of the main features include access control, customizable forms, custom reports, mobile apps, event management, group management, email and SMS messaging, volunteer scheduling, and attendance tracking.

Elvanto makes the planning of worship services and managing volunteers simple. Create run sheets, schedule your volunteers, and access your song database, lyrics, and chords. It has a simple drag-and-drop interface that makes quickly creating service plans for your team a breeze.

Why I Picked Elvanto: Elvanto has powerful features for accessing financial data, contribution management, and can connect with various online giving providers.

Elvanto Standout Features & Integrations

Features include access control, customizable forms, custom reports, mobile apps, event management, group management, email and SMS messaging, volunteer scheduling, and attendance tracking.

Integrations include SongSelect, Faithlife Proclaim!, SafeMinistryTraining, MailChimp, Stripe, PayPal, Continue to Give, Mogiv, and Pushpay.

Elvanto Pricing & Plans

Elvanto costs from $50/month and offers a free demo.

PROS

Great integration with 3rd party financial partners

CONS

Check-ins don't always work reliably

Best for managing people and payments

  • Pricing is available upon request

Blackbaud Church Management Software is a cloud-based tool that can effectively manage your people, gifts, communications, events, and volunteers all in one place.

Better understand how your congregation is engaging with your church through a single source of data. With connected Financial Management, Payments, and more, on one digital platform. Simplify tithes and online giving for your congregation with one-time and recurring giving options via a connected giving app.

Blackbaud is an excellent church software for planning and executing successful fundraisers. You can use Blackbaud to ensure that you can communicate with team members to make planning events easier. Blackbaud also lets you monitor how team members are doing on their assigned tasks so you can offer assistance if needed. You can also use Blackbaud to create reports about your fundraisers to assess their effectiveness.

Why I Picked Blackbaud: With Faith Journey tracking you can get a better understanding of your members using comprehensive member and family profiles. Monitor attendance, anniversaries, donations, and engagement.

Blackbaud Standout Features & Integrations

Features include analytics, fundraising, relationship management, financial management, marketing and engagement, payment services, and church accounting.

Integrations include Bonfire, CallHub, CampBrain, ClickBid, GivBee, Gratavid, and Promp.io.

Blackbaud Church Management Software Pricing & Plans

Contact Blackbaud for a quote.

The 10 Best Church Management Software Summary

Tools Price
Breeze ChMS From $67/month/unlimited members
Subsplash No price details
ChMeetings From $10/month/up to 250 members.
Fellowship One Pricing is available upon request
Touchpoint From $39.60/user/month
ChurchTrac No price details
Excellerate No price details
Elvanto From $50/month/account
Blackbaud Pricing is available upon request
Raklet No price details
Preview Image - 
<h2  class="c-block__title b-summary-table__title c-listicle__title h3" >
	Compare Software Specs Side by Side</h2>

Compare Software Specs Side by Side

Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.

Compare Software

Other Church Management Software

Do none of the above work for you? Check out the list below for additional church management software tools:

  1. Church Windows

    Best shared calendar & event scheduling

  2. Churchteams

    Best for people data

  3. Elexio

    Best for church marketing

  4. CCIS

    Best technical support & training

  5. SeekerWorks

    Best new guest onboarding

  6. Text In Church

    Best SMS/messaging service for churches

  7. Ministry Tracker

    Best for automated administration workflows

  8. ACS Realm

    Best for small churches

  9. Wild Apricot

    Best NGO membership management tool

  10. CFS Live

    Best feature-based subscription model

  11. Kyrios

    Best church reporting dashboard

  12. Planning Center

    Best for growing churches

  13. ShelbySystems

    Best denominational headquarters solution

  14. CDM+

    Best charity/NGO fundraising app

  15. Parishsoft

    Best for Catholic parishes

  16. PowerChurch

    Best assortment of add-ons

  17. FaithLife

    Best church website builder

Other Church Management Software Reviews

Looking for something else? Here are some other types of church management software and technology you should also consider including in your toolkit.

How I Selected the Best Church Management Software

After careful consideration, I've determined that these are the most important criteria when selecting the best church management software. Here's a brief list outlining the criteria for my selection.

Comparison Criteria

Here are the things I consider when selecting church management software for review.

Core Functionality: 

Each church management software will have a range of functions and features. However, to be included on this list they must cover the following in regards to core functionality.

  • Ability to manage people and places, including things like membership lists, event planning, room bookings, small group organization, and child check-in
  • Ability to manage the day-to-day necessities of a church, like worship planning, finances, and communications

Key Features:

Although not an exhaustive list, church management software features typically include some or all of the following features.

  • Calendar & Events management – easily organize events for social activities and outreach opportunities.
  • Membership management – maintain an up-to-date member directory including family and contact information for your congregation.
  • Volunteer management – Scheduling tools to manage large groups of volunteers to make running your church services and ministries as smooth as possible.
  • Check-in and child security management – a vital tool to ensure the safety of all minors placed in the care of church leaders during Sunday School or other activities.
  • Attendance tracking – Keep track of your congregation’s involvement and facilitate Covid-19 contact tracing.
  • Donor & Giving management – provides a secure channel of collection, management and reporting of tithes, donations, online giving, and other contributions from church members.
  • Financial accounting – assists in the management of resources, tracking of expenses, and reporting.
  • Communication tools – Send mass emails and/or text messages to all members.
  • Groups – Connect your congregation through community for small groups or life groups, groups can help you facilitate community within the church.
  • Website builder – Tools to allow you to publish content, podcasts, sermons and livestreams create and deploy your church website.
  • Metrics tracking – Easily track the ups and downs of memberships numbers, tithes, and outreach programs.
  • Mobile app – A mobile app for your congregation to access content, and connect with the life of the church.

Usability:  

Usability is an important factor to consider when selecting church management software as it can impact how easily and effectively the software can be used to manage church operations. A software with good usability would have an intuitive interface, simple navigation, and require minimal training. This will save time and effort spent on learning and using the software, which can improve productivity and overall effectiveness. Moreover, an easily usable software can reduce the likelihood of errors and increase the adoption rate among staff and volunteers.

Software Integrations: 

Integrations are an important factor to consider when selecting church management software because they allow the software to connect with other tools and services that the church may already be using. This can include integrations with accounting software, online giving platforms, communication tools, and more. By integrating with these tools, the church can streamline its operations and improve efficiency. Moreover, integrations can reduce the need for duplicate data entry and increase the accuracy and consistency of information across multiple systems.

Value for Price: 

Pricing and value for money is an important factor to consider when selecting church management software because it can impact the budget of the church. Different software options may have different pricing structures, such as monthly or annual subscriptions, or one-time fees. It is important to consider the specific features and functionality that the church needs and compare the pricing of different options to determine the best fit for the budget. However, it is important to also consider the value of the software and the potential return on investment in terms of increased efficiency and effectiveness in managing church operations.

People Also Ask

Here are a few questions I get every so often about church apps—answered for your convenience.

What are the benefits of church management software?

Church management software offers a variety of benefits for churches and religious organizations. Some key advantages include:

  1. Streamlined Administration: Church management software automates various administrative tasks such as membership management, attendance tracking, event scheduling, and financial management. This saves time and reduces manual effort, allowing church staff to focus on more meaningful aspects of their work.
  2. Enhanced Communication: These software solutions often include communication tools like email or text messaging systems, enabling efficient communication with members, volunteers, and staff. They can also facilitate targeted messaging, group announcements, and event reminders, fostering better engagement and connectivity within the church community.
  3. Centralized Database: Church management software typically offers a centralized database to store and manage member information, volunteer profiles, giving records, and more. This ensures data integrity, easy access, and the ability to generate comprehensive reports and analytics, enabling informed decision-making.
  4. Volunteer Management: Managing volunteers can be a complex task for churches. With management software, it becomes easier to recruit, schedule, and track volunteers for various church activities and events. This simplifies volunteer coordination, ensures adequate coverage, and improves overall volunteer engagement and satisfaction.
  5. Financial Management: Many church management software solutions include financial management tools such as donation tracking, budgeting, and accounting features. These tools streamline financial processes, enable online giving options, provide transparency for donors, and simplify the generation of financial reports for church leadership and tax purposes.
  6. Online Engagement and Giving: In an increasingly digital world, church management software often integrates with online platforms and tools, allowing churches to create websites, manage online registrations for events, offer online giving options, and even stream services or sermons. This enhances the church’s online presence, expands its reach, and provides convenient options for members to engage and contribute.

Church management software offers significant benefits by reducing administrative burdens, improving communication, centralizing data, optimizing volunteer management, streamlining financial processes, and facilitating online engagement, ultimately helping churches operate more efficiently and effectively.

How much does ChMS cost?

Church management software pricing varies with the functionality included in the ChMS and also tends to follow one of the pricing models below:

  • Based on weekly attendance – A subscription fee based on weekly service attendees.
  • Based on number of member records – A subscription fee based on number of member records stored in the database; this is similar to pricing for CRM software.
  • Based on a percentage of on-line giving – Some church management software pricing is charged through taking a percentage of giving, on top of an annual subscription.
  • Perpetual license fee – This is rare, but some ChMS solutions offer a one-time per user, or per computer fee. Some licenses allow multiple users one a single license, while others require an additional license for each user.

What church management software is easiest to use?

There are several church management software options available that are known for their user-friendly interfaces and ease of use. One such software is Planning Center, which offers a range of intuitive features including attendance tracking, volunteer management, event scheduling, and communication tools. Its clean and simple design, along with comprehensive support resources, make it a popular choice for churches seeking user-friendly software to efficiently manage their operations.

Manage, Lead, and Inspire

In conclusion, church management software can help churches and faith groups and organizations manage their operations in a more efficient way. With the right church management software, churches can better track donations, manage members, and communicate with their congregation. The best church management software applications highlighted here provide great features to help churches increase efficiency and productivity. As you evaluate the different tools, be sure to explore what best suits the needs of your church or organization.

Here's a bonus for you looking to improve your church technology as well as management skills: The Best Church Technology Conferences.

By Ashley Vaughan

Since she began leading worship at the age of 15, Ashley has always been passionate about supporting the local church and leading others into worship. For the past 10 years she has been leading worship teams and finds much joy and fulfillment in empowering and raising up other leaders. Ashley is a song writer with Worship Central Canada and has had the incredible opportunity to travel and lead worship, while collaborating with other worship leaders.