AltarDesk

AltarDesk is a church management platform for member records, donor statements, schedules, safeguarding, and giving. Its member portal and app let people update their details, check rota duties, give, and access giving statements. Paid plans include Gift Aid and GASDS management, direct HMRC claim submission, and contactless giving. Bank statement imports support Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, Barclays, and Monzo; member card payments use Stripe. The free plan covers up to 15 people with 500 MB of storage. A displayed paid tier for up to 75 people costs £17/mo and includes 2 GB of storage. Member and giving records are held in UK data centres, while sermon video and audio remain in the church’s own Google Drive. AltarDesk says connections use TLS 1.3, stored data uses AES-256 encryption, and organization records are isolated with row-level security. It says it does not sell church data, share it with advertisers, or train AI models on it. The site identifies AltarDesk as UK GDPR compliant and ICO registered. At a plan’s member cap, a church must move to a higher tier before adding people.

AltarDesk combines church administration with member-facing access to rota and giving information. Consider the storage allowance and member cap when choosing a tier.

AltarDesk is aimed at church administrators, particularly those managing member records, giving, and UK Gift Aid or Charity Commission governance. Its member portal and app also support church members.

Overview

AltarDesk is church management software for congregations that need shared administration and a member-facing portal. It is best suited to UK churches managing people, giving and rota duties in one service; the free tier is a useful starting point, but growing churches must budget around its firm member caps.

Key features

Church administration and member access

AltarDesk brings member records, donor statements, schedules, safeguarding and giving into a church-focused platform. Members can update their details, check rota duties, give and access giving statements through the portal and app, which can reduce reliance on administrators to maintain routine information. Renewal tracking, record storage, mobile access and multi-location support broaden its usefulness for ongoing church administration.

Giving and UK administration

Paid plans include Gift Aid and GASDS management, direct HMRC claim submission and contactless giving. Bank statement imports support Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Monzo, while member card giving uses Stripe. Those UK-specific tools make AltarDesk particularly relevant to churches that handle Gift Aid claims and governance alongside day-to-day records.

Storage, privacy and security

Storage is 500 MB on the free plan and 2 GB on the displayed tier for up to 75 people. That is a material constraint for churches storing substantial digital content: sermon video and audio stay in the church’s own Google Drive rather than AltarDesk, while member and giving records are held in UK data centres.

AltarDesk says it uses TLS 1.3 for connections, AES-256 encryption for stored data and row-level security to isolate organisations’ records. It says it does not sell church data, share it with advertisers or train AI models on it. The service identifies itself as UK GDPR compliant and ICO registered under ZC117860. Its pricing page says a real person usually answers questions the same day, and security support is handled by the product-building team.

Pricing

AltarDesk has a free plan, paid monthly tiers and a 30-day trial. The published tiers are organised by member count, so choose based on the church’s current size and room to grow:

• Free (up to 15 people): £0.00 per free, with 500 MB of storage. It suits a small congregation trying the system, but its 15-person cap and smaller storage allowance limit its usefulness as records grow.
• Up to 75 people: £17.00 per month, billed £17 a month, with monthly or annual payment, 2 GB of storage, one giving device and 500 marketing emails per month. This is the entry paid tier for churches that outgrow Free and need the paid giving features.
• 76–125 people: £25.00 per month, billed a month, payable monthly or annually. It raises the member range but the published tier does not specify the storage, device or email allowances.
• 126–200 people: £35.00 per month, billed a month, payable monthly or annually. It is the next step for churches beyond 125 people.
• 201–500 people: £69.00 per month, billed a month, payable monthly or annually. This accommodates a substantially larger member list.
• 501–1,000 people: £99.00 per month, billed a month, payable monthly or annually. It is intended for churches at the upper end of that range.
• 1,000+ people: £199.00 per month, billed a month, payable monthly or annually. It covers the largest stated tier.

At a tier’s member cap, the church cannot add more people until it moves up; AltarDesk says it does not charge surprise overage fees. That makes the limits clear, but means a church near a threshold should account for the next tier rather than expect incremental overages. The 2 GB, one-device and 500-email allowances are published for the up-to-75 tier only.

Platforms

AltarDesk is available on Android, iOS and the web. That mix supports access from phones as well as a browser, while giving members a mobile route to rota and giving information.

Who it's for

AltarDesk is a strong fit for UK church administrators who want member records, safeguarding, schedules and giving workflows together, especially where Gift Aid, GASDS and Charity Commission governance matter. Churches should compare their expected membership with the hard caps and weigh the free tier’s 500 MB against the 2 GB on the displayed paid tier. It is less compelling for a church that needs substantially more stated storage at the entry tier or wants to exceed a member cap without changing plans.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Member-facing access covers self-updated details, rota duties, giving and statements, extending the system beyond staff administration.
• Pros: Paid plans combine Gift Aid and GASDS management with direct HMRC claims and contactless giving, a focused set of tools for UK churches.
• Pros: Bank imports support five named UK banks, and card giving uses Stripe.
• Pros: Published member caps and no surprise overage charges make the upgrade trigger explicit.
• Cons: Free is capped at 15 people and 500 MB, so it is not a long-term fit for a church that quickly outgrows either limit.
• Cons: The displayed up-to-75 tier has 2 GB of storage, one giving device and 500 marketing emails per month; churches needing more than those allowances may need to assess a higher tier.
• Cons: Reaching a member cap blocks adding people until the church upgrades, so the next tier’s cost can arrive as a practical requirement rather than an optional expansion.

Alternatives

Choose Planning Center instead if its modular free options better match the need: Calendar is free for one room, People includes an unlimited database and reporting, and Services covers five team members. Choose POINT instead when volunteer management is the priority; its free plan includes unlimited volunteers and admins alongside signups and scheduling.

VolunteerBadge is another alternative. VolunteerReady is worth considering for its free plan with no volunteer, opportunity or seat cap. ChurchSoftware.com Groups offers a free-forever plan for eligible 501(c)(3) organizations. Faith Teams has a free account for up to 100 active people. HolyJot is a free option for individuals and churches. Better Impact Volunteer Impact is another alternative, with custom pricing for its Foundation plan.

For a narrower safeguarding search, browse Church Background Check Software.

Verdict

AltarDesk is a sensible choice for UK churches that want church administration and member access joined to Gift Aid and giving workflows. Its member-facing portal and UK-specific tools are the main reasons to choose it; its storage allowance and hard membership thresholds are the reasons to look elsewhere or budget for an upgrade as the congregation grows.