SteepleMate Church Check-In

SteepleMate Church Check-In is part of a church-management suite for handling people, attendance, communication, finance, and more. It suits churches that want check-in alongside broader operations; the free plan is a practical starting point, but advanced attendance and finance require Pro.

Overview

Check-in covers children, events, prayer, and fasting, while attendance tracking and reports give churches ways to follow participation. That breadth makes SteepleMate more than a door-side kiosk: it can connect participation with people management and communication. The trade-off is that churches looking only for check-in may be paying for a wider system to access its advanced tools.

Role-based access and granular permissions help churches control who can see information and communicate with groups. The provider also offers a dedicated account manager and unlimited phone, email, or screen-share support at no cost, a useful level of assistance for teams adopting a system across church functions.

Key features

Check-in and attendance

Child and event check-in address common arrival workflows, with prayer and fasting check-ins extending the system to ministry activities. Badge printing and family linking are useful for connecting a check-in process to families and identifying participants. Attendance tracking and reporting add ongoing records, but advanced attendance is reserved for Pro, limiting the free plan for churches that need more than basic people management.

Communication and church operations

Pro adds mass texting, email, scheduled announcements, and in-app messaging. The wider suite includes preaching and academic tools, alongside people and finance features, making Pro more compelling for churches seeking one broader management system than for those needing a standalone check-in tool.

Giving and accounting

Finance supports online, text, and QR giving, donation tracking, campaigns, pledges, reporting, and disbursements. QuickBooks Online can receive online and in-person gifts automatically in real time, with fund-to-account mapping and multi-account management. Card processing is 2.99% + $0.30 per transaction; ACH transfers cost $0.50 per transaction, so churches should include transaction charges in their giving-cost calculations.

Pricing

SteepleMate Free costs nothing. It includes a church directory, prayer network, web kiosk, and optional online giving. It is aimed at small churches getting started and growing ministries trying new tools, but advanced attendance, group management, and finance are Pro-only.

SteepleMate Pro costs $69.99 a month, billed monthly. It includes everything in Free, plus People, Finance, Reach, Preach, Academics, and unlimited users. The upgrade description also includes mobile apps. This is the relevant plan for churches needing advanced attendance, finance, or the broader suite; unlimited users avoids a seat cap, though transaction processing fees still apply.

Three per-device licenses cost $12.99 a month each: Billboard for scheduled service announcements, event promotions, and messages; Marquee for a prayer feed and church announcements; and Kiosk for portable walk-up interactions. These are focused display or kiosk options rather than substitutes for Pro's broader tools.

System Art Customization costs 99.99 USD one time for branding the web portal, church website, and online kiosks with church artwork and a logo. Secured Custom Domain costs $199.99 a year and includes RSA 2048-bit SSL certificates. Every plan includes full data security; Pro also describes secure cloud access and enterprise-grade security.

Platforms

SteepleMate supports Android, iOS, and web. Pro includes mobile apps, making it the more relevant option for churches that need the mobile-app offering alongside its advanced management features.

Who it's for

SteepleMate fits churches that want check-in and attendance within a broader system for people, communication, and finance, especially when QuickBooks Online gift syncing is useful. Free is suited to basic people management and communication; churches that depend on advanced attendance, group management, or finance should budget for Pro. A church seeking only a low-cost check-in tool may find the paid suite broader than necessary.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Check-in spans children, events, prayer, and fasting, with badge printing and family linking for practical church workflows.
• Pro: Finance combines multiple giving channels with QuickBooks Online gift syncing and fund-to-account mapping.
• Pro: Unlimited users on Pro and included support by phone, email, or screen share reduce seat-planning and support burdens.
• Con: Advanced attendance, group management, and finance are excluded from Free, so churches needing those capabilities face a 69.99 USD monthly step-up.
• Con: Card and ACH processing carry per-transaction charges, which add cost beyond the plan price.
• Con: The paid system spans many church functions, which may be more than a church needs if check-in is its only priority.

Alternatives

For a broader shortlist, see Church Check-In Software.

Church Central Cloud is worth considering for churches comparing a freemium option with a free tier capped at 10 members, one branch, 500 one-time emails, and 2 GB of storage.

Connection Card Pro Check-Ins may suit a ministry that can start with 250 contacts, three admin users, 1 GB of storage, and 1,000 emails per month on its free plan.

Subsplash Church App is another option to consider; its free Subsplash Giving plan has no setup costs, though card and ACH processing fees apply.

Churchease is an alternative freemium church-management option.

Gracely is an alternative freemium church-management option.

Planning Center is an alternative freemium church-management option.

TimelyChurch is an alternative freemium church-management option.

ACTS is a free, open-source option for churches that prefer Linux, Windows, or web access.

Verdict

Choose SteepleMate if your church wants check-in as part of a connected system for attendance, communication, people, and finance, and Pro's 69.99 USD monthly price fits the budget. Its free plan is a useful entry point for basic management, but churches needing advanced attendance or financial tools should compare the full Pro cost and processing fees with more focused alternatives.