Connection Card Pro Check-Ins

Overview

Connection Card Pro Check-Ins is a church attendance tool for tracking people across services, classes, groups, and events. It is best suited to congregations that need flexible check-in options, printed tags, and attendance reporting in one system. Its strengths are practical: self-service kiosks and parent pickup tags support busy children’s programs, while the free plan’s contact and storage caps may quickly constrain a growing church.

Key features

Staff can check in children, students, and adults from a computer, tablet, or the Connection Card Pro mobile app. Kiosks also let attendees check themselves in with a plastic card, phone number, or photo. That flexibility suits churches with a mix of staffed and self-service entry points; kiosks require a suitable device and setup.

Customizable name tags and optional parent pickup tags can be printed on supported Dymo LabelWriter 450 or 550 models, including Wireless models, and Brother QL-810 or QL-820 series printers. Pickup tags are a useful fit for children’s programs, but churches should confirm their existing printer is supported before relying on this workflow.

Customizable attendance reports can be organized around the whole organization, groups, services, events, or classifications. This range is useful when leaders need to examine attendance at different levels rather than keep a single event count. Mailchimp integration exports contacts, while Slack integration sends crew notifications and updates to channels.

The maker says the service follows PCI DSS guidelines, does not retain donors’ card and account details on its servers, and encrypts data transfers with SSL. It also describes quadruple backups across multiple secure data centers and configurable roles covering more than 30 permission types. Human support is offered, with online help and sales phone support at 1-888-777-0928.

Pricing

Ministry Lite is free forever and includes 250 contacts, three admin users, 1 GB of storage, and 1,000 emails per month. It gives a small ministry room to use check-ins without a subscription, but the contact, admin, and storage ceilings make it a limited fit as the organization grows.

Ministry Core costs $29/mo, or $23/mo billed annually ($278 / yr). It includes 1,500 contacts, unlimited admin users, and 5 GB of storage, making it the entry paid tier for a church that has outgrown the free caps but still has a modest contact database. Ministry Plus costs $49/mo, or $39/mo billed annually ($470 / yr), and raises those limits to 4,000 contacts and 10 GB of storage. It is the more suitable step for a growing congregation with a larger database. Ministry Unlimited costs $99/mo, or $79/mo billed annually ($950 / yr), and includes unlimited contacts, unlimited admin users, and 25 GB of storage; it removes the contact ceiling, though storage remains capped.

The pricing also gives alternate prices effective September 26: Ministry Core at $40/mo for 1,250 contacts, Ministry Plus at $70/mo for 2,500 contacts, Ministry Pro at $100/mo for 5,000 contacts, and Ministry Unlimited at $150/mo for unlimited contacts. Each paid plan has unlimited admin users. The free 30-day trial applies to any plan, and signup requires no credit card. Churches should compare the applicable price and contact limit against their expected database before committing.

Platforms

The service has a web interface for desktop, laptop, or tablet, alongside iOS and Android apps. Check-in can also be handled from a computer, tablet, or mobile app, so churches can choose devices that fit their entry points.

Who it's for

Connection Card Pro presents its plans for church plants, small ministries, growing and established churches, and multi-site or large churches. The free tier is most plausible for a small operation within its tight caps; larger congregations can choose higher contact limits or unlimited contacts. Churches seeking multi-site support can consider it, but should match the plan’s storage and contact allowances to their scale.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Multiple check-in routes accommodate both staff-assisted and self-service attendance capture.
• Pros: Optional parent pickup tags and customizable name tags support children’s check-in workflows, with named Dymo and Brother printer families.
• Pros: Reports can be tailored across groups, services, events, and classifications rather than only at the organization level.
• Cons: The free plan stops at 250 contacts, three admins, and 1 GB of storage, which can force an upgrade as a ministry expands.
• Cons: Paid tiers still impose storage caps, and the listed pricing includes different September 26 rates and contact limits that churches need to distinguish.
• Cons: Tag printing depends on supported Dymo or Brother hardware, so an unlisted printer may not fit this workflow.

Alternatives

Church Check-In Software is the category list to consult when comparing check-in-focused options. Church Scheduling Software is the broader category list for churches prioritizing scheduling.

Church Central Cloud is another freemium, cross-platform church option; its free plan is capped at 10 members and one branch, with 500 one-time emails and 2 GB of storage. Subsplash Church App may suit readers looking at a church app and giving option: Subsplash Giving is free, though card and ACH processing fees apply, and Enterprise uses custom pricing. Planning Center is a freemium cross-platform alternative with free Calendar, People, and Services plans, including a one-room Calendar and unlimited database and reporting in People.

TimelyChurch offers a free plan for up to 100 people and 500 MB of storage, or a Growth plan at $49 /month or $488/year (save 17%) for up to 500 people. CDM+ is a paid alternative with a free trial and a $25 a month Essentials plan for one program and one user. ChurchTrac is another paid option with a free trial; its $29 a month tier covers 75 people.

MosesTab Worship Planning is a web-only freemium option with a free tier that includes unlimited members, one admin, one group and ministry, five events, three forms, and 500 MB of storage. ACTS is a free, open-source church management option for web, Windows, and Linux, with attendance and activity management, membership management, and accounting and financial reports.

Verdict

Connection Card Pro Check-Ins is a strong fit for churches that need varied attendance capture, printable pickup tags, and customizable reports, especially when multiple kinds of gathering must be tracked. Its free plan offers a low-commitment starting point, but contact, admin, and storage caps are restrictive for growth, and paid prices rise across the tiers. Choose it when its check-in workflow matches your church and its limits fit your scale; look elsewhere if you need a higher free ceiling or a more clearly bounded budget.