Best Church Management Software in 2026

Planning Center is a suite of church software products headquartered in Carlsbad, California. It was formed in 2006 by Jeff Berg and Aaron Stewart, who built its Services worship-planning tool while working at a church. The company says it serves more than 78,000 churches, is founder-owned and debt-free, has never taken outside funding, and in 2024 created the Ministry Centered Foundation to ensure it is never sold.

The suite is modular: People, Giving, Services, Check-Ins, Groups, Calendar, Registrations, Publishing and the Church Center member app. People is free with an unlimited database and reporting, and every other product has a free tier with usage-based paid tiers, such as five team members in Services, ten monthly donations in Giving, ten daily check-ins and 15 group members. US giving is processed at 2.15% plus US$0.30 per card transaction and US$0.30 per ACH transfer.

The modular model lets a church pay only for what it uses, but costs must be calculated product by product, and the pricing page does not list most paid-tier prices directly. There is no built-in fund accounting module.

Pushpay provides church giving, a church management system, church apps, analytics and the Resi live-streaming service, packaged as the ChurchStaq suite for Protestant churches and ParishStaq for Catholic parishes. The company states it is trusted by more than 14,000 churches, that seven of the ten largest US churches and 84 of Outreach's top 100 churches run on Pushpay, and that US$62.9 billion has been given through its platform across more than 310 million transactions.

The ChMS includes AI people search and profile summaries, SacramentTracker for Catholic records, workflows, forms, reporting and the LEAD mobile app for staff. Giving features include Apple Pay and Google Pay, tap-to-give, stock and cryptocurrency giving through Engiven, and campaigns and pledges. Pushpay Processing, Inc. is a registered independent sales organisation of KeyBank.

Pushpay does not publish prices; it offers a free giving analysis and a 12-month no-cost grant of the full platform to qualifying pre-launch church plants. Its depth suits large churches, but smaller congregations may find it more than they need.

Breeze is a church management system known for a simple interface aimed at small and mid-sized churches. Its pricing page carries Tithely branding, offering Breeze alongside Tithely Church Apps and Tithely Sites, and Tithely lists Breeze as an integrated product.

Breeze uses a single flat-rate plan, Church Management plus Free Giving, at US$72 a month. There are no tiers or limits based on church growth, contacts are unlimited, and there are no set-up fees or contracts. The plan includes 250 text messages a month, with additional texts at US$10 per 500. Worship Tools cost US$29 a month extra, and a bundle with Worship Tools, Tithely Church Apps and Tithely Sites is offered at US$119 a month. A 30-day free trial and an instant demo with sample data are available.

The flat price makes costs predictable for growing churches, though very small congregations pay more than with headcount-tiered rivals. The pricing page does not state card processing fees for its giving feature.

Tithely began as an online giving provider and now sells a full church platform. It says it is trusted by more than 53,000 churches, and its card data handling is PCI DSS Level 1 certified with audits twice a year. Tithely also owns Elvanto and markets Breeze ChMS.

The Free Online Giving plan has no monthly fee; US card gifts cost 2.9% plus US$0.30, ACH 1% plus US$0.30 and American Express 3.5% plus US$0.30, and a Cover the Fees option lets donors pay processing costs. The All-Access plan costs US$119 a month and bundles giving, people records, messaging, church management, a mobile app, a website and service planning, with a 30-day trial. Standalone prices are listed as Church Management US$72, Mobile Church App US$89 and Website US$19 a month.

Tithely's ChMS covers directories, attendance, volunteer scheduling, groups, email and SMS, check-in and reporting, and the vendor quotes a typical launch of two to four weeks. The pricing page contains minor inconsistencies on included SMS volume.

Realm is the cloud church management system of ACS Technologies, a church software company that says it has served churches since 1978 and is trusted by more than 50,000 churches, dioceses, schools and ministries. ACS also sells giving, accounting, communications, background checks, community analytics, mission-trip tools and ACST Catholic products.

Realm covers pastoral care, administration, children's and youth ministry, discipleship, communications, events, worship planning, stewardship and outreach. Its tools include dashboards, reporting, groups, events, check-in, volunteer management, background checks, giving and contributions, profiles and directories, websites and integrations. Unusually for a ChMS, Realm includes accounting with payroll. Members use the Connect app and pastors the Shepherd pastoral-care app.

Realm is sold in three plans, Inform, Connect and Multiply, but ACS does not publish prices, and prospective customers must request a demo. The integrated accounting makes it a common choice for churches that want one system for ministry and finance.

MinistryPlatform is a highly customisable church management database for large churches, parishes, dioceses and denominational offices, now offered by ACS Technologies; its former domain redirects to the ACS site. ACS markets it as church management software for large churches.

The platform centralises people, parishes and operations in one configurable database, with a unified diocesan database option, self-service access for members, parishioner management beyond basic profiles, centralised communications and role-based real-time insights. Modules include groups, check-in, volunteer management, giving and contributions, e-giving, email and texting, engagement tracking and integrations. The PocketPlatform product provides a customisable mobile app.

Customers named in testimonials include Cross Point Church, Saint Thomas More, Northwoods Community Church, Church of the Nativity and St. Joseph Catholic Church & School. No prices are published, and the flexibility that suits large organisations implies a heavier implementation than simpler tools.

Rock RMS is an open-source relationship management system for churches developed by Spark Development Network. It is distributed under the Rock Community License, which grants a no-charge, royalty-free right of use solely for internal use by faith-based organisations recognised by the US Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)(3) entities; for-profit and non-faith-based organisations, including managed hosting providers, need a commercial licence.

Rock's feature set is among the broadest in this list: check-in, metrics and reporting, prayer, finance, event registration and workflows; email, SMS conversations, push notifications and communication flows; websites, mobile and TV apps and content management; groups, group scheduling, connections, steps, a learning management system and sign-ups; and AI agents, MCP agents and prayer automations.

Churches can self-host or use Rock On the Cloud hosting partners. The software is free but running it is not: self-hosting requires technical staff, and the licence restricts use to qualifying US organisations.

Subsplash provides church apps, media, websites, giving and, in its Subsplash One package, people-management tools. The company says it is trusted by 20,000 churches and ministries.

Subsplash One and Enterprise include people management, groups and messaging, volunteer management, child check-in, service planning and event registration. Enterprise adds custom API integrations, a multi-campus app and integration with Rock RMS. Every package includes seven-day technical support, a dedicated success coach and quarterly engagement reports.

The Subsplash Giving plan costs nothing per month. Its standard rate is 2.99% plus 30 cents for cards and 1% for ACH, with an exclusive rate of 2.3% plus 30 cents for churches that use only Subsplash for giving and lower rates through its GrowCurve programme. Subsplash One pricing depends on church size and is not published. The product is strongest on media and app engagement; churches needing deep administrative records may pair it with another ChMS.

ChurchTrac is a church management system that says it has been trusted by thousands of churches since 2002, citing more than 14,000 churches among its users. It is aimed at small and mid-sized churches that want people records, giving, communication and bookkeeping without a large budget.

Pricing is tiered by the number of names tracked, counting all adults, children, members and donors but excluding archived records: US$29 a month for 75 names, US$39 for 125, US$59 for 250, US$79 for 500, US$99 for 1,000 and US$119 for unlimited names. Paying yearly saves 10%. A 30-day free trial requires no credit card.

Optional services include Enhanced Messaging at US$7 a month for 250 credits, a website and app build from US$477 and accounting set-up from US$399. Online giving uses Stripe's discounted nonprofit rate, which ChurchTrac does not state on its pricing page.

Elvanto is a cloud church management system owned by Tithely. It covers people, groups, volunteer rostering, service planning and check-in; prices are in US dollars, payable by card or PayPal.

Elvanto's distinctive pricing counts only active adults, defined as people who attend services, volunteer or give, while children, contacts and archived people are free. The 50-adult plan costs US$19 a month billed monthly or about US$15.20 billed annually; the 100-adult plan US$39 monthly or about US$31.20 annually; higher tiers are chosen from a dropdown. Annual payment saves 20%, and each plan carries a US$149 set-up cost.

The model favours churches with many children and occasional contacts. The set-up fee is a cost few competitors charge, and the pricing page does not mention a free trial. Elvanto also integrates with Tithely Giving.

Icon Systems sells cloud church management and church accounting software, formerly promoted under the IconCMO name; the old domain now redirects to Icon Systems. It is aimed at churches that put financial administration on an equal footing with membership tracking.

Membership and donation plans are Basic at US$50 a month (one user; membership, attendance and donations), Standard at US$75 (five users; communications, email statements and 2,000 emails a month) and Premium at US$125 (unlimited users and emails; event registration, check-in and document storage). Annual billing costs US$550, US$825 and US$1,375 respectively. Accounting packages cost US$35 a month (general ledger, banking, reporting) or US$45 a month with accounts receivable and payable.

Icon Systems also offers bookkeeping from US$500 a month, payroll from US$40 a month and SMS from US$20 a month. A trial is available without a card. Check-in is available only on the Premium plan.

ChMeetings is a cloud church management system notable for low prices and a permanent free plan. Every plan includes a calendar, contribution tracking, people management, a member portal, ministries management, a church app, events and check-in, groups, a form builder and follow-up management, with no limit on administrators.

Pricing is by people count: Free for up to 50 people, Very Small at US$12 a month for 100, Small at US$25 for 250, Medium at US$40 for 500, Large at US$50 for 1,000 and Unlimited at US$60. Annual payment costs ten months instead of twelve. Accounting is included from the Small plan. There are no set-up or termination fees, data migration is free, and ChMeetings charges no fee on donations, although processors such as PayPal or Stripe charge their own.

Messaging credits and a custom-branded app cost extra. ChMeetings is a strong value option for small churches, though its vendor information is thinner than that of larger competitors.