Church software is designed to assist churches in managing daily operations. You can use it for event planning, volunteer management, child check-in for Sunday school, and attendance tracking. Mid-week, you can use it for Sunday service follow-up, attendance tracking, and church administration. You can use church software for event management, small group meetings, or running background checks on volunteers.
Whether you're a small church or large church, as a church leader, you know you need a reliable and efficient system that's user-friendly and will equip both your congregation and staff with the tools they need to operate effectively.
Church software is any software specifically designed for use by a church. Church software can be sourced to meet a specific need but is often bundled with a wide range of functionality within a ChMs, or church management software.
You can find church software for:
- Church websites
- Church accounting software
- Church presentation software
- Worship software
- Congregation management software
- Church membership management
- Check-in management
- Donation management software
- Church giving app
- Church attendance tracking
- Church member directory
- Church small group management
- Volunteer management
- Church contact management
If you’re looking for an all-in-one church management system, check out our list which contains all the best church management software solutions.
Our pick of the best church software
This list of church software is what we think are the best in class church software platforms across all functionality. Our reviews below include functionality and pricing information.
We've made this shortlist primarily on what we consider to be forward-thinking and more cutting edge ChMs that is demonstrated by user-friendly interface, communication tools such as text messages, availability of mobile app (Apple and Android), child check-in, volunteer scheduling, event registration, text giving, and excellent customer support that would be suitable for churches of all sizes.
- Wild Apricot
- Servant Keeper
- Aplos
- Breeze ChMS
- MinistryTracker
- Elexio
- Subsplash
- Tithe.ly
- ChurchStaq
- Blackbaud Church Management
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Overviews of the 10 Best Church Software
Here’s a brief description of each of the church software on my list, showing what it does best, plus screenshots to showcase some of the features.
1. Wild Apricot - Best for NGO website building
Wild Apricot is cloud-based software to help you manage your NGO. Store, manage and update your church's membership information in one centralized location. It has an event management feature you can use to organize events and handle the attendance of participants.
Harnessing the power of the internet is one of the best ways to connect with church members and encourage new members to join your church, and Wild Apricot can help you create a website that reflects what your church is all about. Use Wild Apricot to build a website from scratch using templates with the sections, features, and functionalities your church members need. If your church has an existing website, you can use Wild Apricot to improve it through additional widgets, forms, and membership applications.
Wild Apricot has a free account with limited features, while the paid version costs $48/account/month. Wild Apricot offers a 30-day free trial.
2. Servant Keeper - Best for large churches
Servant Keeper is a cloud-based church management software you can use to manage your church, its members, and your daily operations. It has embedded communication tools like emails, text messaging, voicemail, and video messages to help you keep in touch with members and update them about your church's activities and events. You can also use it to create and manage fundraising activities to support your church's projects and operations.
Servant Keeper is an excellent church software if you have a large church or growing membership because it allows you to add an unlimited number of members. You can create a membership directory complete with crucial information like contact information, address, family members, crucial dates, and worship history. Members can access and update their details through a mobile app that works on iOS and Android mobile devices, ensuring you have updated information for all members.
Servant Keeper has a one-time license fee starting at $299.
3. Aplos - Best built-in accounting software
Aplos is an all-purpose church software you can use in managing the day-to-day operations of your church. It has an online giving and tithing feature, giving members the freedom to use their preferred payment of choice, whether it's through checks, bank transfers, or supported bank cards. This church software has built-in communication tools enabling you to utilize text messages, emails, and letters to maintain communication with members.
If you want church software that lets you manage your church and your finances in one interface, then Aplos is the software for you. You can use Aplos to track and pay bills, ensuring the smooth operation of your church's daily activities. Aplos allows you to track designated funds to show your members how you steward the gifts they give your church.
Aplos pricing starts at $29.50/account/month, and they offer a 15-day free trial.
4. Breeze ChMS - Best for event management
Breeze ChMS is a church management software that can help you store and organize membership data so you can steward your congregation better. To get to know your members better, you can add personal notations on member records like special dates, food allergies, background check renewals, and other critical information. It also has a feature that enables you to track online giving to consolidate records and enable you to come up with year-end statements detailing your church's financial status.
Holding activities and events is one of the best ways to keep church members engaged, and Breeze ChMS can help you with its event management feature. You can use Breeze ChMS to plan and conduct a wide variety of activities and events like Sunday school classes, worship services, fundraising events, and community gatherings. You can also use Breeze ChMS to print name tags on the spot and track attendance to know which events appeal to your members.
Breeze ChMS costs $50/account/month.
5. MinistryTracker - Best data reporting for churches
Ministry Tracker is a church management software with dynamic features, including people management, events management, and small groups management. It comes with communication tools allowing you to keep in touch with members through emails, traditional mail, voice calls, and text messages. It also has a scheduler to help you allocate equipment, venues, tools, and human resources to church events and activities.
Reports are fantastic tools if you want to understand your flock better and serve your members better. Ministry Tracker is the best church software for you if you want excellent reporting capabilities. You can generate reports to assess different aspects of your ministry like the demographics of members, attendance reports, financial reports, and others. What's even better is you can use Ministry Tracker to create reports on different levels of your ministry, from a church-wide report down to small groups allowing you to drill down on even the smallest of issues.
Ministry Tracker pricing starts at $44.99/account/month, and they offer a 30-day free trial.
6. Elexio - Best for group management
Elexio is a church management software you can use to manage members, organize schedules, and plan events. This software has reporting functionality to help you analyze critical data that can help you assess your church and implement action plans to address crucial issues. You can use Elexio to automate simple and repetitive tasks like sending welcome messages to new members to streamline workflow and allow you to devote your time to caring for your ministry.
Small groups make up the backbone of your church, and if you need church software to help you organize them, then Elexio is the best software for you. Elexio allows you to create an unlimited number of small groups making it ideal no matter how small or large your church is. Organize members into different groups like choir members, Sunday school teachers, volunteers, and others. You can also use the software to send private messages to small groups ensuring confidentiality on sensitive matters.
Elexio pricing starts at $35.13/account/month, and they offer a 30-day free trial.
7. Subsplash - Best for community engagement
Subsplash is an all-in-one engagement platform with a mobile app version available to Android and iOS users to reach all your members regardless of their mobile device of choice. It has a mobile giving feature to help members support your church and outreach programs through donations and pledges. Subsplash has a messaging function to share messages, files, polls, and prayer requests, ensuring that you stay connected to church members.
Media is a powerful tool your church can use to boost engagement with members, and Subsplash's media hosting and streaming platform can help you reach not just current members but potential new members of your flock. You can use Subsplash to stream, publish and share videos that your members can benefit from. You can use your Subsplash dashboard to organize and upload sermons, music, and podcasts to your website, YouTube channel, or social media accounts so members can listen using their preferred media platform.
Subsplash provides customized pricing upon request.
8. Tithe.ly - Best giving solutions
Tithe.ly is a church giving platform with a wide variety of digital tools for building your church's website, organizing events, and managing membership. It also has a suite of communication tools allowing you to communicate with existing church members and reach new ones to grow your ministry. Tithe.ly can also help you set up your church's mobile app to reach more members, highlight events, and upload media your members can enjoy.
Tithe.ly is the best software for your church if you want to give members a wide variety of options to contribute to your church. This enables members to choose the giving option they're most comfortable with, like online giving, text to give, or through checks. The software also allows members to set up recurring donations to continue supporting the church regularly.
Tithe.ly's giving app is free, but the pricing for Tithe.ly All Access is $99/month.
9. ChurchStaq - Best mobile app
Churchstaq is a church management solution with useful tools for managing your congregation like attendance tracking, mobile check-ins, membership management, and events management. You can use Churchstaq to organize and schedule volunteers to maximize your church's human resources. It has a useful dashboard to assess the health of your congregation and gain insights on critical aspects of your ministry like member participation, financial status, and others.
There are mobile apps for almost everything in this digital age, and churches are no exemptions; if you want to increase your church's reach, Churchstaq can help you create a mobile app for your church. You can use Churchstaq to send announcements or share media content to members improving engagement with your congregation. Members can also use the mobile app to give and tithe as well as view their giving history.
Churchstaq integrates with productivity tools like QuickBooks, Planning Center, and others.
Churchstaq pricing is available upon request.
10. Blackbaud Church Management - Best congregant portal
Blackbaud is a church software for managing and growing your church membership. Use the software to manage events, volunteers, and small groups. Blackbaud also simplifies tithing and offerings through online donation forms so members can continue supporting your church and its various activities and services.
Blackbaud is the best software if you want a platform where your members can manage certain aspects of their membership. Congregants can use the portal to manage saved payments and recurring gifts and view their giving history. Members can also use the portal to update their contact information and personal details, ensuring that you have up-to-date information at all times.
Blackbaud pricing is available upon request.
Other church software
- Church Social - Church management software for tracking and managing membership data.
- One Church - Cloud-based church management software with online giving, membership management, and automated emailing capabilities.
- Faith Teams - Cloud-based management system for small and mid-sized churches.
- ChurchTrac - Church software for tracking online giving, accounting, events management, and groups management.
- SimpleChurch CRM - A suite of tools to track engagement of church members.
- Rock RMS - Cloud-based open source church management system.
- Donarius - Church management software for contribution management.
- IconCMO - Church software for ministry and financial management.
- CahabaWorks Church - Church management software for managing membership, contributions, events, and small groups.
- Church Community Builder - Cloud-based church management solution specializing in flock engagement.
- Excellerate Church Software - Cloud-based or installed solution religious organizations can use in managing daily operations.
- Church Office Online - Online ChMS for tracking members, sending communications, tracking attendance, and others.
- Chmeetings - Church management software for membership, attendance, and event management.
- Church Community - Centralized cloud-based church management solution for managing membership records.
- CDM+ - Church management solution for small and mid-sized churches
- Planning Centre - A suite of software tools for organizing data, managing events, and communicating with your flock.
- Realm - Software developed by ACS for managing Catholic churches.
- Churchteams - Church management software for organizing small groups and managing your ministry.
- ProPresenter - Presentation and production software for worship media.
- MediaShout - A church presentation tool you can use to edit media in real time and present it to your congregation.
- FellowshipOne - Communications and management platform for church teams and small groups.
What church software do you use?
Have you discovered or used any good church software recently? What did you think of it? Ever wondered what kind of software is best for streaming? Here are the 10 Biggest Streaming Churches And The Software They Use.
Do you have any idea what to make of the data you’ve been gathering? We’re here to help with this article: What Every Lead Pastor Needs To Know About Church Metrics.
Let us know in the comments below!
If you’re looking for even more help, here’s our list of the 10 Top Church Technology Resources For Leaders in 2023.