Quelea

What Quelea is

Quelea is free, open-source software for projecting multimedia content during church services. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and can import PowerPoint presentations and song databases from church projection software such as EasyWorship, OpenLP, and EasySlides. It supports Bible files in Zefania XML format, and its home page lists video backgrounds, colors, and still images as supported media.

For a separate stage screen, Stage View can display a clock and song chords, but not presentations, notices, or videos. Quelea can send live lyrics to mobile devices through a browser, with colors viewers can choose. Mobile Remote lets a browser on the same network control the software after a password is configured. Documentation covers importing from Planning Center Online; Elvanto imports require manually adding a client ID to quelea.properties. The interface is listed in English, German, Spanish, Swedish, Czech, Hungarian, Norwegian, Dutch, Lithuanian, and Portuguese. The project directs users to its community forum for problems and suggestions. It cautions that CI releases are automatically built from repository code, are not fully tested, and should not be used in production. The Snap Store says the stable Linux channel has not been updated in a while and may have stability or security issues. Quelea uses the GPL-3.0 license and is available free of charge.

Who it suits

Quelea suits churches looking for free software to project songs, Bible passages, presentations, and other multimedia during services. It also fits teams that want browser-based lyric viewing on mobile devices or browser control from the same network.

Limits

Quelea has no paid plan in the listed options: its plans are free. Stage View excludes presentations, notices, and videos; CI builds are not fully tested and are not recommended for production, while the stable Linux Snap channel may have stability or security issues.

Getting started

1. Visit https://quelea.org/.
2. Choose a version for Windows, macOS, or Linux.
3. Import a PowerPoint presentation or song database from EasyWorship, OpenLP, or EasySlides.
4. To use Mobile Remote, configure a password and connect a browser on the same network.
5. Use the free GPL-3.0 software; the project directs users to its community forum for support.

Verdict

Choose Quelea if you need no-cost, open-source church projection software with song imports, mobile lyrics, and browser remote control. Take care when selecting releases: CI builds are not fully tested, and the stable Linux Snap channel may have stability or security issues.