If you are a church leader or stakeholder, you know that the process of church administration can get messy. With a number of church members and volunteers to manage and processes to analyze, it’s no wonder many Christian organizations turn to one of the best church management software systems to help them stay organized, improve service, and foster community engagement. Luckily, the marketplace for the best church management software is crowded with different tools, platforms, and services to solve your organization’s unique needs.
As a result, Lord’s Library editors decided to create this resource to assist church management leaders in their search for the best possible systems. But given that we’re not technology experts, you might be wondering how we chose which church management software is truly the best. It’s in this spirit that our editors decided to do a meta-analysis of the sentiment from leading church management review websites G2 Crowd, Capterra, and Software Advice to flesh out which tools are really the best according to verified users.
Note: This directory of the best church management software is made up of products that appeared in leading market reports for church management software from G2 Crowd, Capterra, and Software Advice.
The Best Church Management Software Overall
Note: The best church management software overall is made up of products which appeared in all leading market reports for church management software: G2 Grid for Church Management, Capterra Shortlist for Church Management Software, and Software Advice FrontRunners for Church Management Software.
Breeze
Software: Breeze
Key Features:
- People (quickly lop up people)
- Groups (Organize and communicate)
- Giving (Track giving and generate reports)
- Events and check-in
Description: Rated as one of the most user-friendly by customers, Breeze offers a powerful church management system designed for saving time and accomplishing goals for church teams. Breeze features tools for storing and organizing member data, managing schedules and volunteers, tracking donations, and more. Breeze is unique for its customer support capabilities which allow the company to provide help through phone and email. Customer success is also a major strength of Breeze’s popular church management system.
Church Windows Software
Software: Church Windows Management Software
Key Features:
- Membership (family records and member involvement)
- Scheduler (calendar sharing)
- Donations (tracks member giving via reports)
- Accounting (funds tracking and reporting)
- Payroll
Description: Church Windows offers church management software that is focused on responsiveness. The platform features key capabilities in data management for membership, as well as tools for scheduling, donation tracking, accounting, and more. Church Windows lets organizations customize the offering to fit their specific needs as well, so they only need to pay for the individual modules they select. In addition to customized packaging, Church Windows subscriptions include support, live product demos, and pre-recorded tutorials for faster onboarding.
Churchteams
Software: Churchteams Church Management Software
Key Features:
- Text-to-Church
- Dashboards
- Giving (online and text)
- Volunteer management
- Registration management
Description: Churchteams offers a church management system designed to assist with check-in, groups, member organization, giving, and volunteers. The product also includes tools for improving the communications and workflow among church team members. Churchteams is noteworthy for its clean and clear dashboard that lets key stakeholders gain a view of trackable church metrics. Additionally, a unique Text-to-Church feature lets guests, attenders, and staff text a local 10-digit phone number you choose for anything they need.
Elexio (Ministry Brands)
Software: Elexio Church Management Software
Key Features:
- Smart people management
- Reporting and dashboards
- Forms and event management
- Contribution tracking
- Church Health Dashboards
Description: Elexio’s church software suite is focused on boosting community organization and engagement. The offering features tools for managing people, groups, and teams, as well a managing church check-in, calendaring, and stakeholder workflows. Additional noteworthy capabilities include mobile management, church health dashboards, and task assignment to your staff and team. Elexio should be a consideration for churches that not only want to better connect with their members, but also reach out to more people in hopes of building a genuine connection.
Planning Center
Software: Planning Center Church Management Software
Key Features:
- Event Attendance
- All-Team Scheduling
- Group Chat and Directory
- Worship Planning
- Flexible donation options
Description: Planning Center is an all-in-one church management platform that bring together many tools for organizing information, coordinating events, communicating with teams, and connecting with the congregation. Key capabilities are offered for event check-in, scheduling, group management, giving, registration, church services, and more. Planning Center is highly customizable and can serve church organizations of varying sizes.
PowerChurch Software
Software: PowerChurch Plus
Related: PowerChurch Online
Key Features:
- Membership functionality
- Talents and activities
- Attendance tracking
- Visitation history
- Ministry services
Description: PowerChurch Plus is one of the best church management systems due to its focus on church health maintenance. The software offers tools for membership, contributions, event scheduling, and even accounting. PowerChurch is user-friendly and offers an all-in-one framework for managing internal church staff and the congregation. If your organization is looking for a simple, classic user interface and straightforward capabilities, this is a good one to consider.
Pushpay
Software: ChurchStaq
Related: ParishStaq
Key Features:
- Centralized church management
- Simple giving tools
- Customizable church app
Description: Pushpay is a church management service that offers different plans based on your specific needs. Pushpay’s ChurchStaw product line includes capabilities for church check-in, event management, scheduling, tithing, communications, giving, and even dedicated video streaming. With apps, chms, and giving all interconnected, people contact information is synced between all platforms which helps to reduce double entry. The software is also highly secure.
Realm (ACS Technologies)
Software: Realm Church Management Software
Key Features:
- Realm Dashboards and reporting
- Profiles and directories
- Live-streaming
- Giving
- Personalized training
Description: Offered by ACS Technologies, Realm Church Management is a popular church management system aimed at helping church staff members work more effectively. Prominent ministry modules included in this tool are people profiles and directories, streaming, communications functionality, website creation, event check-in, background checks, and volunteer management. Realm also touts an app that enables members to fellowship with one another while church is out of session.
Servant Keeper (Faithlife)
Software: Servant Keeper
Key Features:
- Member and volunteer management
- Donor and contributions management
- Child check-in and security
- Sacrament management
- Event and attendance management
Description: Offered by Faithlife, Servant Keeper excels by providing churches with easy-to-understand dashboards that monitor your organization’s “health” based on compiled data. Servant Keeper features tools for every persona, including the pastoral team, administrators and IT, children’s ministry leaders, and the finance department. The product also lets you manage your team members, track giving statistics, and manage people via events and church attendance.
Tithe.ly
Software: Tithe.ly Church Giving
Key Features:
- Digital giving
- Texting and email tools
- Events management
- Church apps and websites
Description: Tithe.ly is a church management platform focused on giving. The platform offers a multitude of ways to improve giving initiatives and develop trackable reports for management purposes. Tithe.ly enables church leaders to set up text-giving via a feature called QuickGive, as well as capabilities for auto-recurring giving and daily deposits in accordance to your organization’s needs. The company is unique because it offers church application development and website building as well.
The Best Church Management Software: Honorable Mentions
Note: The best church management software honorable mentions is made up of products which appeared in two of the three leading market reports for church management software: G2 Grid for Church Management, Capterra Shortlist for Church Management Software, and Software Advice FrontRunners for Church Management Software.
ACS Technologies
Software: Realm, MinistryPlatform
Related: Parish Data Systems
Key Features:
- Realm Dashboards and reporting
- Profiles and directories
- Live-streaming
- Giving
- Personalized training
Description: ACS Technologies offers its church management portfolio through two main channels: Realm and MinistryPlatform. Realm is a popular church management system aimed at helping church staff members work more effectively. Prominent ministry modules included in this tool are people profiles and directories, streaming, communications functionality, website creation, event check-in, background checks, and volunteer management. MinistryPlatform is a church management system that lets you track each member’s attendance, requests, spiritual gifts, giving, engagement, prayers, milestones, and more.
Aplos
Software: Aplos Church Management
Key Features:
- Meeting plans and management
- Volunteer management
- Automatic reminders
- Custom email templates
- Tithe tracking
Description: Aplos is designed to enable nonprofits and churches to better manage their finances. The software lets you accept online donations and gifts, manage your donors, groups, and teams, as well as manage communications like email marketing. Aplos also includes expansive reporting and analytics capabilities. In fact, Apolos touts more than 70 different report types for delivering key church metrics to stakeholders and other members.
aware3
Software: Together+
Key Features:
- Church mobile app
- Text messaging
- Forms and registrations
- Multi-channel giving
Description: aware3 is a member engagement platform for churches that helps the congregation stay connected, organized, and unified. The software offers features like text messaging, forms and registrations, and multi-channel giving to ensure these connections. aware3’s mobile app lets church members attend virtual service, create sermon notes, engage in small groups, and view multimedia (video, podcasts, announcements). The system touts member engagement insights so stakeholders can keep tabs on key metrics as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqVSCNVM2zY
Bitrix24
Software: Bitrix24
Key Features:
- CRM
- Social tools
- Calendars and events
- Tasks and documents
- Mobile, source code, API
Description: Bitrix24 is an online workspace designed for church organizations looking to streamline communication and enhance cohesiveness. The software offers tools for private and group chats, cloud storage, workflow automation, and task and project management. Bitrix24 is best for organizations looking for simple onboarding and a free start to church management. In total, the software touts more than 35 unique tools via the basic package.
ChurchTrac
Software: ChurchTrac Church Management Software
Key Features:
- People and member management
- Contributions and online giving
- Check-in and security
- Accounting and budgeting
- Worship planning
Description: ChurchTrac offers a church management system that helps with member management, contributions and online giving, check-in and security, accounting and budgeting, worship planning, and events. The platform also enables organiztions to manage a membership database through the creation of directories, sending email blasts, and even setting up a texting service within the congregation. ChurchTrac is known for its excellent customer support functionality as well.
Continue to Give
Software: Continue to Give
Key Features:
- Giving and donor management
- Donor database
- Groups and events
- Picture directory
- Fund tracking
Description: Continue to Give is a donation software designed for nonprofits, churches, and missionary groups. The software lets you manage your books, create opportunities for giving online, text, and through the app, as well as streamline the process for congregants. Continue to Give also includes detailed analytics tools for doing analyses on giving and donation initiatives.
easyTithe (Ministry Brands)
Software: easyTithe Pro
Key Features:
- Giving management
- Recurring donations
- Multi-church support
- Detailed reports
- Tool integrations
Description: easyTithe is a donation software that aims to help organizations streamline giving, boost generosity among members, and save time. The product enables churches to move beyond simple payment processing via the ability to use multiple giving platforms in one. easyTithe lets members give online, through text messaging, kiosks, or the easyTithe mobile app. What’s unique about the tool is that it brings all giving data into one single interface so stakeholders can view and manage progress through included analytics.
Faith Teams
Software: Faith Teams Church Software
Key Features:
- Profile and families
- Text-to-Give
- Automated guest follow-up
- Contributions management
- Dashboards and reports
Description: Faith Teams is an affordable church management option for small and mid-sized churches (Faith Teams recommends up to 2,000 members). The system includes various capabilities including online giving, member and families management, attendance and check-in, and automatic visitor follow-up. Faith Teams is cloud-based, meaning church stakeholders can access it anywhere with an internet connection.
Faithlife
Software: Faithlife Equip
Key Features:
- Website builder
- Giving platform
- Church presentation tools
- Pastoral resources
- Free customer support
Description: Faithlife Equip is a church management software designed for pastors. It helps them to automate tasks like creating and posting announcements, Sunday presentations, and more. The platform also touts a website builder, giving platform, and presentation tools. Faithlife Equip is the only church management system to include Logos, a popular online Bible study tool. Free customer support from Faithlife is a major value-add of this choice.
FellowshipOne (Ministry Brands)
Software: FellowShipOne
Key Features:
- Church accounting and payroll
- Online giving and payments
- Church mobile apps
- Worship planning
- Church website design
Description: FellowshipOne is a church management software offering features like church accounting, online giving and payment, and even worship planning capabilities. A recent partnership between FellowshipOne and Ekklesia360 is designed to help organizations create mobile-friendly church ministry websites. The websites are fully integrated into FellowshipOne software to create a cohesive platform for church management and administration.
MinistryPlatform (ACS Technologies)
Software: MinistryPlatform
Key Features:
- Check-in suite
- Attendance reports
- Volunteer tracking
- Background check integrations
Description: MinistryPlatform is a church management system that lets you track each member’s attendance, requests, spiritual gifts, giving, engagement, prayers, milestones, and more. The software also offers features for children’s ministry and various types of church staff personas. Additional key features include people and family management, donations and payments, and real-time data filtering. MinistryPlatform touts the ability to create custom tables and fields without impacting customizations as well.
ParishSOFT (Ministry Brands)
Software: ParishSOFT
Key Features:
- Accounting for parishes
- Giving for parishes
- Census for dioceses
- Development manager
- Training tools
Description: ParishSOFT is a church management system focused on Catholic Parishes. It offers an easy-to-use interface to help parishioners drive community engagement and connection. ParishSOFT centralizes all the data so stakeholders can gain an accurate, real-time look at all those across staff and members. This software is noteworthy also due to its expansive communication and giving features for email and texting. No parish is too large or too small to use this cloud-based product.
Shelby Systems
Software: Shelby Systems Church Management
Key Features:
- Member management
- Online giving
- MinistryOne mobile app
- Church website
- Church hardware support
Description: Shelby Systems is a professional-level church management platform designed for faith leaders. The software has a strong focus at member engagement and relationship nurturing. Shelby includes several simple-to-use features like member engagement, group engagement, and calendar management so stakeholders can stay connected. Other noteworthy add-ons are volunteer tracking, event check-in, and even a module for prayer requests.
The Best Church Management Software: Best of the Rest
Note: The best church management software best of the rest is made up of products which appeared in one of the three leading market reports for church management software: G2 Grid for Church Management, Capterra Shortlist for Church Management Software, and Software Advice FrontRunners for Church Management Software.
CDM+
Software: CDM+ Desktop
Key Features:
- Integrated True Fund accounting
- Rich reporting and analysis
- Integrated online and text giving
- Online community tools
- Customer support
Description: CDM+ is a complete management software for faith-based and non-profit organizations. The platform enables customers to manage finances, staff, events, facilities, members, and giving with a single portfolio of tools. CDM+ plans and prices are designed to adapt to the needs of any size church or organization. Engagement capabilities are accessible from any desktop, laptop, or mobile device with an internet connection.
ChMeetings
Software: ChMeetings
Key Features:
- People management
- Events and check-in
- Member access
- Groups
- Giving
Description: ChMeetings is a church management software designed to be user-friendly and affordable to many. The system lets you track and organize church members and groups for effective follow-up, communication best practices, and outreach. The included member database can also be a great tool for analyzing new ways to drive engagement. Custom, branded church applications are a unique piece of the ChMeetings platform and enable isers to create custom apps from scratch.
Church Office Online (Ministry Brands)
Software: Church Office Online
Key Features:
- People management
- Church communication
- Reporting
- Group management
- Church check-in
Description: Church Office Online offers a cloud-based church management platform that lets you send group emails, text messages, access a member database, and track attendance and giving history from any device. The company is known to offer excellent customer service functionalities as well. In addition to basic, included tools, Church Office Online touts add-ons like church accounting, website, and live streaming services.
Donarius
Software: Donarius Church Management Software
Key Features:
- Online donation import
- Access from anywhere
- Print donation receipts
- Contribution tracker
- Pledge tracking
Description: Donarius is a throwback church management tool that offers easy-to-use tools and provides excellent customer service. The product’s main focus is on church donationd so it utilizes a number of payment processors to make church donation easier and more accessible. Key features include the ability to read checks, track donor information, and print donation receipts. If you’re worried about the advanced nature of some software included in this list, Donarius might be the choice for you.
Flocknote
Software: Flocknote
Key Features:
- Unlimited standard texts and emails
- Simple replies
- SuperTexting
- Unolytics
- Text-to-Join
Description: Flocknote is a church management service that focuses on communication by enhancing chutch email and text messaging. The company believes text messaging is the most effective way to reach members with new information so operates on that standard. Flocknote enables users to create and manage a church database of members, create and send out email blasts, and launch text message campaigns. The tool also houses member replies in one place to make it easier for keeping in touch. Detailed analytics are a key differentiator as well.
Neon One CRM
Software: Neon One
Key Features:
- Donor management
- Member management
- Peer-to-peer fundraising
- Events and ticketing
Description: Neon One CRM is a church management and nonprofit software platform offering capabilities for donor and member administration, as well as event management and ticketing. It includes tools for engaging and building relationships with donors, support for DIY and community giving, and ticketing and promotion frameworks from a singular module. Neone One touts a community of industry-leading partners and consultants as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsCO1Qte8LQ
Rock RMS
Key Features:
- Relationship management
- Content management
- Built-in giving tools
- Customization
- Mobile functionality
Description: Rock RMS is an open-source church management platform centered on relationship-building. The software is mobile-friendly and owned and shepherded by a non-profit ministry itself. Rock also brings new features whenever necesarry to enable churches to remain on-trend. Rock Chat enables churches to connect on best practices, and sipport, as well as searchable Q&A archives to answer key questions. Community feedback is taken into account for feature updates.
SimpleChurch CRM (Ministry Brands)
Software: SimpleChurch CRM
Key Features:
- People and groups
- Online giving and donor management
- Background checks
- Mobile apps
- Volunteer schedules
Description: SimpleChurch CRM is an easy-to-use yet powerful church management system that enhances member connection and organization management. The software includes flexible giving options, intuitive management frameworks, and a dedicated mobile application called MinistryOne. Through this mobile app, congregants can communicate, give, and register for events, all from their mobile device.
Subsplash
Software: Subsplash One
Key Features:
- Church mobile apps
- Online giving for churches
- Church media delivery
- Church websites
- Live streaming
Description: Subsplash offers a church management product designed to boost engagement via various communication techniques and media provisioning. Additional key features include the ability to create a custom church mobile app, online giving, media delivery, live streaming capabilities, church messaging, and website building templates. Subsplash also includes event scheduling tools, and various modules for people, groups, volunteering, child check-in, and more.
Text In Church
Software: Text In Church
Key Features:
- Various church management connectors
- Plan A Visit
- 2-Way text messaging
- Automated workflows
- Full-featured support
Description: Text In Church is a popular text and email software designed for church organizations. The platform allows users to follow-up with guests and engage members. A 6-week follow-up system is a unique tool, and the solution includes proven, easy to use, guest follow up templates as well. The service is notable because it touts automated personalized communication recommendations and mobile applications for Apple and Android.
Text-Em-All
Software: Text-Em-All
Key Features:
- Mass texting services
- Automated calling system
- Simple pricing
Description: Text-Em-All aims to help organizations build stronger congregations by enabling users to communicate well through text messaging. The platform is designed to improve connection and engagement. Text-Em-All founders suggest that the service is great for sending out things like prayer requests, devotionals, volunteering queries, and additional service times. The service is built on two pillars: mass text messaging and automated calling, which deliver most of the tool’s functionality.
TouchPoint Software
Software: TouchPoint Church Management Software
Key Features:
- Status markers and custom access
- Engagement toolkit
- Personalized dashboards
- Mobile capabilities
- Member segmentation
Description: TouchPoint Software offers a cloud-based church management that acts as a single database where church leaders can update their information while enabling others to maintain individual records. Engagement tools include pieces for establishing a group, promoting an event, or building a registration form. Online giving is fully featured, flexible, and customizable at no extra cost. Mobile-first capabilities ensure a consistent look and feel between devices as well.
NOW READ: The Best Church Administration Books to Consider
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