ChurchPlan

ChurchPlan combines giving, events, people records, education, liturgies, calendars, and communications in a church app and administration portal. It is intended for churches and parishes, including dioceses and multi-church organizations. Online giving accepts cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, with recurring donations and automated tax receipts. The platform supports unlimited people records and links family relationships within a household. Churches can publish events, accept free or paid registrations, issue QR tickets, and check attendees in by mobile. Education tools cover curriculum and lesson-plan management, attendance tracking, and parent access to children's curriculum. Essentials is free forever and includes unlimited members, giving, automated tax receipts, a personalized church mobile app, donation links, and QR codes. Events and ticketing are listed under Engagement, which costs $99 a month, billed $1,188 yearly. Education costs $199 a month, billed $2,388 yearly. Enterprise offers API access, webhooks, and custom integrations, with annual volume pricing.

ChurchPlan brings several church administration functions together, with a free option for unlimited members and paid plans for additional capabilities. Consider which functions are included in each plan before choosing.

ChurchPlan suits churches and parishes managing giving, member records, and communications. Its education, event, and multi-parish features may also fit organizations with those needs.

ChurchPlan is a church administration platform built around a branded mobile app and an admin portal. It best suits churches and parishes seeking to combine giving, membership, events, and ministry administration. Its free plan covers giving and unlimited member records; event and education tools require paid tiers.

Overview

ChurchPlan brings financial giving, people records, communications, and church operations into one platform. Unlimited people records and linked family relationships make Essentials useful for congregations that need a central membership database without a per-person ceiling. The catch is that the free tier is narrow: events and ticketing begin with Engagement, and education tools sit in the more expensive Education plan.

Donors can give by card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, set up recurring donations, and receive automated tax receipts. Stripe processes card transactions under standard processing terms, with no additional ChurchPlan fees. Receipts cover CRA, IRS, ATO, and IRD, with HMRC-ready UK summaries. ChurchPlan says its compliance posture covers PIPEDA, GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and Australian and New Zealand privacy laws.

Key features

Giving and people

Donation links and QR codes give churches practical ways to collect gifts, while recurring donations and automated receipts reduce routine administration. Unlimited records and household relationships support member management at no subscription charge on Essentials. Group management and volunteer scheduling are also part of ChurchPlan's capabilities, though they are not identified as inclusions in the Essentials plan.

Events and education

Engagement adds event publication, free or paid registration, QR tickets, and mobile check-in. Those tools are valuable for churches that run regular events, but they are not available on the free plan. Education adds curriculum and lesson-plan management, attendance tracking, and parent access to children's curriculum, along with ministries, Sunday school, liturgies, a church calendar, and website publishing. That breadth makes Education more compelling for congregations coordinating teaching and worship than for churches seeking only a member database and giving.

Administration and integrations

ChurchPlan offers a personalized church mobile app and mobile admin search and outreach. Enterprise extends the platform to multi-parish and diocese administration, with API access, webhooks, custom integrations, and dedicated success and support. These capabilities target organizations with integration or multi-site needs; the plan's custom pricing means those churches should confirm fit and cost before committing.

Pricing

ChurchPlan is freemium. Essentials costs nothing, billed Free forever, and includes unlimited members, online giving, automated tax receipts, a personalized church mobile app, donation links, and QR codes. It requires no credit card. This is a strong fit for churches that need core giving and records, but it excludes the listed events and ticketing features.

Engagement costs $99 a month, billed $1,188 billed yearly. It adds events and ticketing, QR admission and check-in, announcements, push notifications, and mobile admin search and outreach. Churches that need event operations and congregation communications have a clear reason to upgrade; those that do not will get little benefit from paying for this tier.

Education costs $199 a month, billed $2,388 billed yearly. It includes ministries and Sunday school, curriculum, attendance tracking, liturgies, a church calendar, and website publishing. It is the relevant tier for churches coordinating education and worship materials, but it costs substantially more than Engagement and its added capabilities may be unnecessary for congregations focused on giving or events.

Enterprise has custom pricing, billed annually with volume pricing. Its multi-parish and diocese administration, API access, webhooks, custom integrations, and dedicated support are aimed at larger organizations rather than a single congregation. Standard payment processing applies to card transactions, and ChurchPlan says it adds no processing fees of its own.

Platforms

ChurchPlan is available on Android, iOS, and the web, and offers API access as an Enterprise feature. The mobile app is branded for the church, making the platform a better fit for organizations that want a member-facing app than for those seeking only back-office software.

Who it's for

ChurchPlan suits churches and parishes that want giving and member records in a branded app, then can justify paying for event or education functions as their needs grow. Its unlimited-member free plan is particularly useful to congregations that would otherwise outgrow a people cap. Dioceses and multi-church organizations should consider Enterprise for centralized administration and integrations. Churches seeking event management without a paid subscription, or only a focused giving tool, should compare alternatives.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Essentials has unlimited members and is free forever, so record growth alone does not force an upgrade.
• Pro: Giving includes recurring donations and automated receipts, with card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay support.
• Pro: Paid tiers cover distinct needs, from event check-in to curriculum, attendance, and liturgies.
• Con: Events and ticketing are excluded from Essentials, so churches running registrations must budget for Engagement.
• Con: Education costs $199 a month billed annually, a significant step up for churches that need only one or two education tools.
• Con: Enterprise uses custom annual volume pricing, so larger organizations must get a quote to assess the cost.

Alternatives

Church Management Software is a useful broader category to explore when you want to compare church administration options beyond ChurchPlan.

Choose ChMeetings if a free plan capped at 50 people and 50 donations per month fits your church, or if its freemium offering and free trial suit your evaluation. Choose ChurchCMS if self-hosting and no usage limits matter more than ChurchPlan's paid feature tiers; its free self-hosted plan includes six core modules and an Android app.

Faith Teams is another option to compare for churches considering a free account capped at 100 active people, with online giving activation required within 30 days of signup. Choose Planning Center if its separate free modules better match your needs, including a one-room Calendar and an unlimited People database and reporting.

Tithely Giving is worth considering if you want a free giving plan with unlimited donations and no monthly fee, while accepting transaction fees. Asoriba offers a free plan for churches with 50 members or fewer. Elexio Community uses custom pricing, with churches paying for the space they need. ParishSOFT is another option to compare.

Verdict

ChurchPlan is a good fit for churches and parishes that want a branded mobile app, unlimited free member records, and digital giving, with the option to add event or education tools as needs expand. The main reason to choose it is the combination of an uncapped free membership database and integrated giving. Look elsewhere if events must be included without a paid tier, or if your church needs only a narrower tool and would rather avoid paying for bundled capabilities.