ChurchPlan

ChurchPlan is a church administration system that pairs a branded mobile app with an administrative portal. It is aimed at churches, parishes, dioceses and multi-church organizations that want giving, member administration and ministry work in one product. Its strongest value is the breadth of the free core and the way paid tiers add events and education; organizations needing those tools must budget for the relevant upgrade.

Overview

ChurchPlan brings online giving, people records, events, liturgies, calendars and communications together. Essentials includes unlimited people records and household relationships, so a growing congregation can maintain a complete membership database without a per-person ceiling. Group management, volunteer scheduling and a personalized church app extend the platform beyond a simple donor database.

Giving accepts cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, with recurring donations and automated tax receipts. Stripe processes card transactions under standard processing terms, and ChurchPlan says it adds no extra processing fee. Receipts cover CRA, IRS, ATO and IRD jurisdictions, with UK summaries prepared for HMRC. The company says its compliance posture addresses PIPEDA, GDPR, CCPA/CPRA and Australian and New Zealand privacy laws.

Key features

Giving and records

Donation links and QR codes make the free tier practical for congregations moving from manual giving. Automated receipts reduce administrative work, while linked family relationships keep household information together. Unlimited records are particularly useful for churches that would outgrow capped starter databases.

Events and communication

Engagement adds event publishing, free or paid registration, QR tickets and mobile check-in. That combination suits churches running conferences, classes or ticketed gatherings, but it is not part of Essentials. Announcements, push notifications and mobile administrator search support outreach once the church accepts the paid subscription.

Education and worship operations

Education provides curriculum and lesson-plan management, attendance tracking and parent access to children’s curriculum. It also adds ministries and Sunday school tools, liturgies, a church calendar and website publishing. Churches that only need giving and records will not need this tier; congregations coordinating structured teaching or worship schedules may find the bundle more coherent than assembling separate tools.

Enterprise administration

Enterprise is designed for multi-parish and diocesan administration. API access, webhooks and custom integrations address organizations that need ChurchPlan connected to other systems, while dedicated success and support provide a higher-touch service model. Volume pricing is annual and custom rather than publicly priced.

Pricing

Essentials — $0.00 USD, free forever. This includes unlimited members, online giving, automated tax receipts, a personalized church mobile app, donation links and QR codes. There is no credit-card requirement. It is the right entry point for churches focused on donations and core people administration, but it excludes the listed events and ticketing functions.

Engagement — $99 a month, billed $1,188 yearly. Events and ticketing, QR admission and check-in, announcements, push notifications, mobile admin search and outreach make this the practical tier for churches running regular programs and needing active communications. Moving up is necessary when event registration is central to operations.

Education — $199 a month, billed $2,388 yearly. Ministries and Sunday school, curriculum, attendance tracking, liturgies, church calendar and website publishing target churches managing formal education and worship workflows. It costs twice the monthly price of Engagement, so smaller congregations may find its broader ministry bundle excessive if they only need events.

Enterprise — custom annual volume pricing. Multi-parish administration, APIs, webhooks, custom integrations and dedicated success and support fit dioceses and larger networks. The absence of a published price means budget approval requires a direct quotation.

Platforms

ChurchPlan supports Android, iOS and web, with an API for integration work. The branded mobile app gives member-facing access while administrators use the portal; Enterprise is the tier that explicitly includes API access and webhooks.

Who it's for

Churches and parishes wanting one system for donations, membership, communications and ministry administration are the clearest fit. Essentials works for organizations prioritizing unlimited records and digital giving at no subscription cost. Engagement suits congregations with registration and check-in needs, Education suits churches running structured curricula and liturgies, and Enterprise is aimed at dioceses or multi-church groups with integration and support requirements.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Capable free foundation: unlimited members, giving and automated receipts are included without a subscription.
• Strong event workflow: registration, QR tickets and mobile check-in are combined in Engagement.
• Broad ministry coverage: Education connects curriculum, attendance, liturgies and publishing.
• International giving support: receipts span CRA, IRS, ATO and IRD, with HMRC-ready UK summaries.
• Scalable administration: Enterprise adds APIs, webhooks, custom integrations and dedicated support.

Cons

• Important tools are tier-locked: events begin at $99 per month and education at $199 per month.
• Annual commitment on paid tiers: advertised prices are billed yearly, not month-to-month.
• Enterprise budgeting is uncertain: volume pricing is custom and not published.
• Payment costs remain: Stripe’s standard processing applies even though ChurchPlan adds no fee.

Alternatives

See the Church Management Software category for more options.

• ChMeetings is worth considering if a free plan capped at 50 people and 50 donations per month meets your needs.
• Planning Center suits churches wanting separate free Calendar, People and Services plans, including an unlimited database in People.
• Tithely Giving is a better fit when no monthly fee for unlimited donations matters more than ChurchPlan’s broader ministry bundle; transaction fees apply.
• Faith Teams offers a free account for up to 100 active people.
• Asoriba is an option for churches with 50 members or fewer on its free plan.
• ChurchCMS suits organizations seeking self-hosting or managed hosting, including a free self-hosted option.
• Churchy provides a web-only free plan with two team members, 100 member records and 100 MB storage.
• Excellerate is an alternative with desktop support across Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web and Windows.

Verdict

Choose ChurchPlan if your church wants unlimited member records, digital giving and a branded app, with a clear path to event and education management. Its main advantage is the breadth of church-specific functions across escalating tiers. Look elsewhere if annual paid billing, tier-gated events and education, or custom-priced enterprise integration do not suit your budget or operating model.