Rev. Jennifer Kim
2025-01-25
Let me describe a scene you might recognize.
Church administrator. Office surrounded by browser tabs. Member database in one system. Online giving in another. Volunteer scheduling in a third. Email communications in a fourth. Somewhere in this mess, a family updated their address—but the change only showed up in one place. The weekly giving report requires manually pulling data from three sources and copying it into a spreadsheet.
Training a new volunteer means teaching them four different logins and four different interfaces.
This is what happens when churches accumulate technology tools over the years without thinking about how they fit together. Each tool solved a problem at the time. Now the tools are the problem.
Church management software is supposed to fix this. But there are dozens of options, each claiming to be "the solution." Some are expensive. Some are limited. Some look great in the demo and terrible in real life. How do you actually choose?
I've helped churches through this decision many times. Let me walk you through what actually matters.
There are basically two approaches in this market:
Modular platforms (like Planning Center) let you buy separate tools for each function. Need worship planning but already have a giving solution? Just buy the worship planning piece. The upside: each app tends to be really deep in its specific area because the developers are focused. The downside: costs add up fast when you need multiple tools, and they don't always talk to each other well. You might solve the fragmentation problem for some things while creating it for others.
All-in-one platforms (like MosesTab or ChurchTrac) give you everything in one system. When someone registers for an event, their member record updates automatically. Their giving history connects to their profile. One login, one interface, one source of truth. The upside: no data fragmentation, simpler training, usually more predictable pricing. The downside: a platform that does everything might not do any one thing as deeply as a specialized tool.
Neither approach is inherently better. It depends on your church. Small churches with simple needs usually do better with integrated simplicity. Large churches with complex worship production might value Planning Center Services' depth even if it means juggling multiple systems.
Planning Center has been around forever, and their worship planning tool—Services—is genuinely best-in-class. Nothing else quite matches it for scheduling worship teams, building service plans, managing setlists, and coordinating all the moving pieces of modern worship.
If your worship pastor is serious about their craft, they probably already want Planning Center Services. Chord charts attached to songs. Band members seeing their personal schedules. Service plans that flow from planning to execution. For sophisticated worship needs, it's the gold standard.
Beyond Services, they offer separate apps for Giving, Check-Ins, Groups, Registrations, and People (the core database). Each app works independently but shares member data when you set it up right.
But here's the catch: those costs stack up. A medium-sized church subscribing to Services, Giving, Check-Ins, Groups, and People can easily spend $200-400/month. Maybe more. Each app has its own interface, so staff are constantly switching between tools. And notably absent? Communications. Planning Center expects you to use third-party email and texting, which means yet another tool in your stack.
As a mature platform, development has slowed. Churches have waited years for features that newer competitors ship in months. That's either a strength (stability) or a weakness (stagnation), depending on what you value.
Best fit: Large churches with complex worship needs, budget flexibility, and technical staff to manage multiple integrations. Churches of 500+ with dedicated worship directors.
Breeze was built for churches that don't have IT staff. The defining characteristic is simplicity—average training time is one to two hours, and volunteers can often jump in with zero instruction.
Pricing is refreshingly straightforward: $72/month flat. No per-user fees. No tiered feature access. No surprises. The small church with three staff pays the same as the larger church with twelve.
Adding members and families is notably fast. Family relationships show on the same screen, so entering a new family doesn't require navigating between records. If you've struggled with clunky legacy software, Breeze feels revelatory.
The concern: Tithe.ly acquired Breeze in 2021, and multiple user reviews note that feature updates have basically stopped. It works well for what it does, but don't expect improvements. The roadmap is... unclear. Breeze might be in maintenance mode while Tithe.ly focuses on their own platform.
Depth in specific areas is limited compared to specialized tools. Worship planning is basic. Giving works but isn't sophisticated. Volunteer scheduling is functional, not powerful. For simple needs, this doesn't matter. For growing churches expecting to need more, it's future friction.
Best fit: Small churches under 300 attendees prioritizing simplicity over advanced features, with limited technical resources and appreciation for predictable pricing.
Tithe.ly started as a giving platform, and it shows. If maximizing online giving is your top priority—if you believe removing friction from the donation process directly impacts generosity—Tithe.ly is hard to beat.
The giving workflow has been obsessively optimized. One-click giving for returning donors. Text-to-give that actually works smoothly. Mobile experience that feels native. Recurring giving setup that encourages subscription-style support. Every detail refined.
They've expanded beyond giving into broader church management—member management, event registration, even a church app builder. Pricing varies: free tiers with higher transaction fees, or paid tiers with more features and lower fees.
Watch the math, though. A free tier with 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction doesn't feel expensive until you do the calculation. A church receiving $100K in annual giving pays about $3,000 in fees—often more than the subscription cost of competitors. "Free" can actually be the most expensive option.
And the non-giving features feel secondary. Member management, groups, check-in—functional, but clearly not the development focus. If you need strong ChMS capabilities beyond giving, Tithe.ly might feel underwhelming.
Best fit: Churches with strong digital giving needs, willingness to pay transaction fees as their pricing model, and relatively basic requirements for other ChMS functions.
Subsplash built their reputation on high-quality church apps and media hosting. If you want a polished, professional mobile app for your church—sermon distribution, push notifications, in-app engagement—Subsplash does it better than general ChMS platforms.
The apps genuinely look good. Media management for sermons, podcasts, and video feels native rather than bolted on. The giving platform is competitive.
But it's expensive. Custom pricing based on church size and features means significant variation, but expect to start around $100/month and scale up substantially for larger churches or comprehensive features.
If you don't need a custom mobile app, you're paying for capabilities you won't use. The core ChMS functions—member management, operational features—aren't as deep as dedicated platforms.
Best fit: Churches prioritizing mobile app presence and media distribution, with budget for premium features.
ChurchTrac offers surprisingly comprehensive functionality at one of the lowest price points in the industry. Full-featured plans start around $9/month. Yes, nine dollars.
Member management, giving, check-in, communications, volunteer scheduling—all in one platform at prices competitors charge for basic tiers of limited functionality.
They offer both cloud and desktop options. If you prefer keeping data locally rather than in the cloud, you can. Unusual in a market that's moved almost entirely to cloud delivery.
The tradeoff: the interface feels dated. User experience wasn't built with modern design principles. Learning curve is steeper than simpler platforms. Third-party integrations are limited. Support quality varies.
Best fit: Budget-constrained churches willing to trade interface polish for comprehensive features at minimal cost.
MosesTab takes a different approach—built from the ground up as a truly integrated platform. Rather than bolting features together or selling modular subscriptions, it provides everything in one unified system.
The integration runs deep. When someone registers for an event, their record updates across the system. When they give, their giving history connects to their profile. When they join a group, that membership appears in their record. No synchronization worries, no duplicate entry.
Modern design—clean, intuitive layouts that reflect current expectations. AI-powered tools for media generation and content creation that competitors don't offer. Social media scheduling built in.
As a newer platform, the track record is less established. Smaller user community means fewer third-party tutorials. And in specific niche areas—like worship planning—specialized tools may still have deeper functionality.
Best fit: Churches wanting comprehensive functionality in one integrated platform, with appreciation for modern design and AI-powered tools.
Do the real math. Don't just look at subscription fees. Transaction fees on giving can exceed subscription costs. A platform charging 3% on $100K in giving costs $3,000—more than many annual subscriptions. Factor in per-user fees if you expect staff growth. Add integration costs if you'll need third-party tools for missing features.
Be honest about needs. Small churches with simple needs don't require sophisticated worship planning. Churches prioritizing giving might find a giving-focused platform sufficient. Organizations wanting everything integrated should prioritize all-in-one solutions.
Consider technical capacity. The platform that seems straightforward to tech-savvy evaluators might frustrate a volunteer-dependent operation. Simpler interfaces win when training time is limited and turnover is common.
Think about growth. Per-user pricing gets expensive as staff expands. Basic platforms may require painful migrations as needs grow.
The best church management software is the one your church will actually use consistently. A "lesser" platform used well outperforms a "better" platform used poorly. Every time.
Choose based on your actual situation—not your aspirations, but your honest assessment of current needs, technical capacity, and budget. Get the fundamentals working reliably before chasing advanced features. Invest in training and adoption rather than assuming technology will magically transform operations.
Technology serves ministry; it doesn't replace it. The hours saved by good software should translate into more time for relational work. The organized data should inform better pastoral care. The communication tools should strengthen connections, not substitute for them.
Pick wisely. Implement thoughtfully. Measure honestly. The right platform is out there—you just need to match it to your reality.
What ChMS does your church use? Share your experience in the comments to help other church leaders make informed decisions.
Associate Pastor with expertise in technology integration and digital ministry. Rev. Kim helps traditional churches thoughtfully incorporate technology to enhance worship experiences while preserving sacred traditions and authentic community.
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