ChurchPlan

Overview

ChurchPlan combines giving, member records, events, education and communications in a church app and administration portal. It suits churches and parishes looking to bring those operations together, though the most useful features beyond giving require a paid plan. Its free Essentials tier is a meaningful starting point; broader event and education tools commit a church to annual billing.

That breadth is its strongest case: a congregation can manage donations and member information alongside events and, on higher tiers, education and worship services. Churches that need only one narrow function may find a more focused product a better fit.

Key features

Giving and payments

ChurchPlan supports online and recurring donations, a searchable ledger and automated tax receipts. Donation links and QR codes are included in Essentials, making the free plan useful for basic digital giving. Stripe processes card payments; ChurchPlan says it does not store card numbers or full payment credentials. It charges no per-member, donor-tipping, service or per-ticket fees, but standard Stripe processing fees still apply.

Members, events and education

Member profiles can hold family relationships, engagement information and emergency or health details. Those records can support a fuller picture of a congregation, but storing sensitive details calls for care. ChurchPlan says church records are isolated at the database level, member records are not pooled across churches or sold, and only event details selected for publication are shared publicly.

Engagement adds event publishing, registrations and payments, QR tickets and attendee check-in, plus announcements, push notifications and mobile admin search and outreach. This is a stronger fit for churches coordinating gatherings and attendance than Essentials, which does not include those event tools.

Education adds ministries and Sunday school, curriculum and lesson plans, attendance tracking, parent follow-up, liturgies and worship services, and website publishing. That makes Education the relevant tier for congregations wanting those workflows in the same system; it is a substantial step up in price from Engagement.

Security and service

ChurchPlan says data in transit uses 256-bit TLS, data at rest uses AES-256, and passwords are bcrypt-hashed. It describes its privacy posture as aligned with PIPEDA, GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, Australian privacy principles and New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020. The company states a 99.5% uptime SLA, breach notification within 72 hours and a 90-day data export window after termination. These commitments provide useful operational assurances, though they do not remove a church's responsibility to handle member data carefully.

Pricing

Essentials is free forever at no cost. It includes unlimited members, online giving and automated tax receipts, a personalized church mobile app, donation links and QR codes. For a church starting with digital giving and member access, the lack of a member cap is a notable advantage. It gives up event and education features found in paid tiers.

Engagement costs $99 a month, billed $1,188 billed yearly. It includes everything in Essentials plus events and ticketing, QR admission and check-in, announcements, push notifications, and mobile admin search and outreach. It fits churches that need event operations and communications beyond basic giving; the annual billing is the key commitment.

Education costs $199 a month, billed $2,388 billed yearly. It includes everything in Engagement plus ministries and Sunday school, curriculum, attendance tracking, liturgies and worship services, and church website publishing. Churches that will use these education and worship tools may justify the higher tier; those needing only events pay less with Engagement.

Enterprise has custom pricing, billed annually with volume pricing. It includes everything in Education, multi-church and diocese administration, API access, webhooks, custom integrations, and dedicated success and support. Its expanded administration is aimed at dioceses and networks rather than a single congregation.

ChurchPlan says there are no per-member or per-ticket software fees, but standard Stripe card-processing charges apply. No seat or donation quota is stated for the paid plans.

Platforms

ChurchPlan supports Android, iOS and web, and also offers API access on Enterprise. The combination gives members mobile access while staff use the administration portal; the API and webhooks are reserved for organizations choosing the top tier.

Who it's for

ChurchPlan is best suited to churches and parishes seeking one system for giving and member records, with a path to event management and education tools as needs grow. Essentials works for basic giving without a member cap; Engagement fits churches running paid or registered events; Education suits those also managing ministries, Sunday school and worship services. Dioceses and multi-church networks are the intended audience for Enterprise. A church seeking only a single specialized tool may prefer a narrower product.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Essentials includes unlimited members, giving and tax receipts at no subscription cost, so a congregation can begin without a per-member cap.
• Pros: QR ticketing and check-in, education tools and multi-church administration extend the system beyond donation processing.
• Pros: The company states security, privacy, uptime and export commitments that matter when maintaining sensitive church records.
• Cons: Events require Engagement at $99 a month billed yearly, while education requires Education at $199 a month billed yearly.
• Cons: Stripe processing charges still apply, so free software does not mean card giving is cost-free.
• Cons: Enterprise pricing is custom, making its cost harder to compare before contacting the company.

Alternatives

For a focused search, compare Church Giving Software, Church Directory Software, Church Event Management Software and Church App Builders.

Continue to Give is worth considering for churches focused on online giving; its Silver plan is for U.S. and Canadian clients under $5,000 per month in giving, with unlimited projects and donors. Give A Little offers a free Basic plan capped at $1,000 raised over 12 months, or a Premium plan at $10 a month, for readers weighing a giving-focused option against ChurchPlan's broader system.

Planning Center may suit churches wanting modular services, with free Calendar for one room and free People with an unlimited database and reporting. Subsplash Church App is another option to compare for app and giving needs; its Subsplash Giving plan is free, with card and ACH processing fees.

Tithely Giving offers free giving with no monthly fees and transaction fees, while its Giving + Church Management plan is $72 a month. Vanco Giving has a free GROW plan with stated card and ACH transaction charges, making it an alternative for churches comparing giving costs.

Corban offers a free plan for up to 20 donors and a $19 a month Starter plan capped at 250 donors, which may suit a smaller donor base. Flocknote is another option for church communications, with a free tier for 0–40 members and monthly pricing that varies by church size above that range.

Verdict

ChurchPlan is a strong choice for churches that want giving and member tools at no subscription cost, with event and education capabilities available as needs expand. Its main advantage is the range of church operations in one system; the main reason to look elsewhere is the annual cost of the paid tiers if a church needs only one function. Choose Essentials for basic giving, Engagement for event workflows, Education for teaching and worship administration, and Enterprise for multi-church operations.