If you are starting a new church or thinking of creating a new church site or if you are an existing church who is thinking of switching your current church management system, then I have to warn you. It’s not easy to find the Best Free Church Software For Tithing . There are hundreds, if not thousands, of church software on the internet that claims that they offer free church software. Most of them offer a demo to prove that their software works.
Finding the best free Church Software for tithing can be stressful, especially if you are someone who wants to find everything at one website. It’s overwhelming to find the best Church Software for tithing among thousands of options.
If you’re a church leader, you know how important it is to stretch your budget as far as possible. It’s not just important to make sure that you have enough funding to go around, but you also owe it to your donors to be as responsible with their donations as possible.
One area where you might be thinking about a budget is on the software that you use to run your church operations. Church management software helps church leaders keep track of church members, accept and manage donations, plan church groups and events, and much more. It’s a must-have for churches of all sizes.
And yes, there is such a thing as free church software.
In this article we’ll look at four options for free church management software, listed in alphabetical order: two limited-capacity versions of paid products, along with two open source products that churches can download for free and host and maintain themselves.
In each case, there are advantages and disadvantages which we’ll discuss below.
But first, how did we choose these products?
For the two hosted systems, we used our Top 20 report of the most popular church software on the market based on verified user reviews (read the full methodology here), and picked the two products that offer free versions (not limited-time free trials).
For the two open source options, we performed a Google search for “open source church management software” in May of 2021 and picked the two options that appeared on the first page of the search results.
Let’s take a look.
Bitrix24
By Bitrix
4.0 (482)ESTABLISHED PLAYER / 2021View the Capterra ShortlistIf you are looking for free online church management software, you’ll love Bitrix24. Free for unlimited users, Bitrix24 is a tool of choice by many faith-based and non-profit organizations who have limited funds. More importantly, Bitrix24 has both social tools for engaging your congregation, like social network, user groups, polling, media gallery, shared calendars, video conferencing and business tools like CRM, telephony or project management that help you keep your affair in order.
Church management software can offer many benefits to your church. For example, it makes tracking donations faster and easier, and it also allows members to make online donations. However, such software was not always available for churches, and those that used other systems were able to get the job done. Check out these five options if free church management software isn’t an option for you right now or if you still aren’t certain how it could benefit your church.
Planning Center
4.7/5.0
960+ reviews
Donations management in Planning Center (Source)
Planning Center may have a secular sounding name, but it is 100% designed for churches from the ground up. The software was first developed in California in 2006 by two full-time church leaders scrambling to stay on top of all facets of worship planning, from scheduling volunteers to preparing music by manually updating spreadsheets. Planning Center claims to serve 90 of the 100 largest churches in the country, but also caters to small, neighborhood churches. The software itself is packaged as a collection of apps, from calendar and donations to publishing.https://www.youtube.com/embed/ApYhtmvlMW8?enablejsapi=1&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.capterra.com
Intro to Planning Center (Source)
What you get for free: Planning Center’s free version includes an unlimited membership database with communication tools, a calendar with unlimited events and up to two meeting rooms, 15 daily check-ins, up to 10 monthly donations, small group planning for up to 25 members, event registration for as many as five attendees, and service planning for up to five administrators.
Cost to upgrade: Users can expand each application to accommodate the size of their congregation. For example, a 10-room calendar, 50 daily check-ins, 100 monthly donations, 125 small group members, 20 event attendees, and service planning for 25 administrators would cost a church $84/month. Publishing plans start at $14/month. All apps are optional and include a 30-day free trial.
Churchteams(57)4.8 out of 5Optimized for quick responseEntry Level Price:37 per monthFavorite
Everything you want in a cloud Church Management System: membership, groups, assimilation, scheduling, registration, check-in, contributions, online giving, text giving, email marketing, texting, robust reporting and more. Completely optimized for use on any device. We became the leader in group software by taking the best practices of ministry and blending them with the best of software architecture. We do the same for the rest of your church needs at a price you can afford and service yo… Show MoreRead Churchteams Reviews
Awesome program handles all the needs of our church. The BEST tech support I have ever seen. Its manned by real people, not canned email responses… Read reviewRHIf i had to pick just one, having the ability to upload giving from a CSV file is a huge timesaver for me. My check scanner software allows me to… Read review
Flocknote(50)4.6 out of 5Entry Level Price:$0 price/monthFavorite
Flocknote is a smarter way manage your church or ministry member database AND communicate with your people — all with the same tool! Cut through the noise. Reach your people. Hear back. Flocknote helps you reach people where they’re already at, in their inboxes and via text message. There’s nothing for your members to download, or pick up after church, and no need for them to ‘check-in-on’ anything to stay connected with you. By organizing your church into different groups and ministries on
ChurchCRM
5.0/5.0
2 reviews
The ChurchCRM home screen (Source)
ChurchCRM is built off of the ChurchInfo open source framework. Because it runs on LAMP, you can use it on any device with an internet browser, including tablets and smartphones. ChurchCRM also offers membership management for unlimited members, calendar, donation tracking, volunteer management features, and more. An active developer community is constantly working on new features, and is available for support via chat.https://www.youtube.com/embed/SMjZpo3aO5Q?enablejsapi=1&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.capterra.com
Intro to ChurchCRM (Source)
Support: ChurchCRM offers support via GitHub and Gitter live chat.
Have you used ChurchCRM? Leave a review here.
ChurchInfo
3.2/5.0
4 reviews
A member profile in ChurchInfo (Source)
ChurchInfo is a free, open source database that helps your church manage and track members, groups, donations, and payments. It is supported by an open source community of volunteer developers who work to make it as accessible as possible to churches. It is a web-based solution, meaning that you can run it through any internet browser.https://www.youtube.com/embed/HqlLW8DR8YY?enablejsapi=1&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.capterra.com
ChurchInfo installation walkthrough (Source)
Support: ChurchInfo offers support through a SourceForge discussion group and ticket system, as well as online documentation.
Conclusion
Finding the best free Church Software for tithing can be stressful, especially if you are someone who wants to find everything at one website. It’s overwhelming to find the best Church Software for tithing among thousands of options.