AltarDesk

Overview

AltarDesk is a church management platform for administering member records, donor statements, schedules, safeguarding and giving. It also provides a member portal and app, so congregants can update their own details, check rota duties, give and view their giving statements.

The product is aimed at church administrators and includes UK Gift Aid and Charity Commission governance modules. Its plans are sized by the number of people a church manages, with different storage allowances at the free and paid tiers. AltarDesk offers a free plan and a 30-day trial.

Key features

Member and giving administration

AltarDesk brings member records, schedules, safeguarding information and donor statements into a church management platform. Members can use the portal and app to maintain their details, see rota responsibilities, make gifts and access giving statements.

Paid plans include Gift Aid and GASDS management, direct HMRC claim submission and contactless giving. For reconciliation, bank statement imports support Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Monzo. Member card payments use Stripe.

Storage, privacy and security

The free plan includes 500 MB of storage; the displayed tier for up to 75 people includes 2 GB. 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 is encrypted with AES-256, and organisation records are separated using row-level security. It also says it does not sell church data, share it with advertisers or use it to train AI models. The company identifies the service as UK GDPR compliant and ICO registered under ZC117860.

Support and plan limits

The pricing page says a real person usually responds to questions the same day, and that security support comes from the team that builds the product. Plan capacity is a firm limit: once a church reaches its member cap, it must move to a higher tier to add people. AltarDesk says it does not charge surprise overage fees.

Pricing

AltarDesk uses a freemium model, with a free plan and paid tiers based on member count. Listed plans are:

• Free (up to 15 people): £free; 15 people and 500 MB storage.
• Up to 75 people: ££17 a month; pay monthly or annually. Includes 75 people, 2 GB storage, 1 giving device and 500 marketing emails per month.
• 76–125 people: ££25 a month; pay monthly or annually.
• 126–200 people: ££35 a month; pay monthly or annually.
• 201–500 people: ££69 a month; pay monthly or annually.
• 501–1,000 people: ££99 a month; pay monthly or annually.
• 1,000+ people: ££199 a month; pay monthly or annually.

A 30-day trial is available. The plan details make capacity and, for the listed free and up-to-75 tiers, storage explicit; churches approaching a people limit should account for the required upgrade before adding more records.

Platforms

AltarDesk is available on Android, iOS and the web. The member portal and app provide mobile access to member details, rota duties and giving statements. The company is headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom.

Who it's for

AltarDesk is designed for church administrators managing people, giving, schedules and safeguarding. Its UK-specific Gift Aid and Charity Commission governance modules make those responsibilities part of its intended use. Churches should consider whether their member count fits a tier and whether its stated storage allowance meets their needs.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Member self-service through a portal and app; Gift Aid, GASDS and HMRC claims on paid plans; support for five named UK bank statement imports; stated UK data hosting for member and giving records.
• Cons: The free plan is limited to 15 people and 500 MB; reaching a plan’s member cap requires moving up a tier; sermon video and audio remain in the church’s own Google Drive rather than the stated UK data centres for member and giving records.

Alternatives

Churches comparing products focused on volunteer or background-check workflows can also consider POINT, VolunteerBadge, VolunteerReady and AlignMint. For other church management options, compare Faith Teams and Planning Center. ChurchSoftware.com Groups and Get Connected by Galaxy Digital are additional options to review. For a category-specific shortlist, see Church Background Check Software.

Verdict

AltarDesk combines core church administration with member self-service and UK-specific giving and governance tools. Its free tier offers a small church a way to start, while paid pricing scales through defined people-count bands. The central trade-offs to weigh are the firm member caps, storage allowances and the use of the church’s own Google Drive for sermon media. Churches that need member records, giving administration and safeguarding in one platform may find its scope relevant, provided the appropriate tier matches their size and working requirements.