Top 10 Best Catholic Church Management Software

What is Church Management Software for Catholic Parishes?

Every Catholic parish is an organization of people—some who attend once, some people who are actively involved for years, and others ranging everywhere in between. How do you keep track of all of these people, collect and update their information, and communicate with them?

The answer to all of the above is reliable Church Management Software (ChMS).

ChMS manages the various administrative tasks of the people within your parish. This database consolidates personal contact information into one central place, rather than having it float around on various staff members’ email accounts and spreadsheets.

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Why Do Catholic Churches Need Software?

All parishes are created differently with unique strengths and challenges. However, a solid Church Management Software is a helpful tool for parishes of any size, location, or persuasion. And here are a few reasons why:

It helps you keep track of your many parishioners.
You can store and update their contact information.
It provides a central database for your entire staff.
A ChMS allows you to communicate with individuals or groups.
It can also track important details like giving and volunteerism.

That’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. When used properly, your Catholic church’s ChMS is the central hub for administration and operations. But that also requires selecting the right ChMS solution and knowing how to properly leverage it.

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How Do Church Management Software for Catholic Churches Work?

Essentially, Church Management Software is a way to keep records and store data. This data might include a parishioner's name, contact information, giving history, attendance records, and volunteer involvement. That’s why you might be tempted to store this information in something simple like a spreadsheet.

A ChMS elevates these records beyond a basic database. These software systems are designed specifically for the Church, some even specifically for the Catholic denomination. They connect with other powerful tools to make management easier.

What are some of the key features that you should look for in an effective ChMS?

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Key Features to Consider in a ChMS for Catholic Churches

Most Church Management Software has similar features, while some boast some unique attributes that make them stand out. Here are a few of the basic elements you should look for when selecting a ChMS for your parish:

People directories: where all of the contact information is stored.
Reporting: allows you to easily run searches for specific information.
Usability: how simple (or difficult) is the program for your team to use?
Communication: the ability to message individuals or groups of people.
Financial: see the giving records for people and connect with your accounting.
Integrations: what other platforms does the ChMS connect with?

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How We Chose the Best Software for Catholic Parishes

Choosing the right solution for your parish is a challenge—both because there are so many features and multiple options to choose from. The needs of a Catholic community will be different than that of a Baptist church or Anglican congregation.

We’ve compiled a list of the top 10 Church Management Solutions based on how they fit Catholic congregations.

Top 10 Best Catholic Church Management Software

<a href="#list-1" class="toc-link">1. Breeze ChMS</a>

<a href="#list-2" class="toc-link">2. Tithely</a>

<a href="#list-3" class="toc-link">3. Fellowship One</a>

<a href="#list-4" class="toc-link">4. Pushpay</a>

<a href="#list-5" class="toc-link">5. FlockBase</a>

<a href="#list-6" class="toc-link">6. Churchteams</a>

<a href="#list-7" class="toc-link">7. WildApricot</a>

<a href="#list-8" class="toc-link">8. Servant Keeper</a>

<a href="#list-9" class="toc-link">9. Elvanto</a>

<a href="#list-10" class="toc-link">10. Shelby Systems</a>

1. Breeze ChMS

Pros of Breeze ChMS

Claims to be the “easiest-to-use church management software”
Used by more than 10,000 churches
One monthly price that includes all features

Cons of Breeze ChMS

Simpler ChMS that doesn’t have some of the more robust features
No native integrations; they must be built using the Breeze API

Price of Breeze ChMS

Breeze ChMS costs $72 per month. There are no other tiers or pricing options to choose from. The cost includes all of their features for unlimited users with no onboarding fees.

2. Tithely

Pros of Tithe.ly

Connects to other products in the Tithe.ly suite of solutions
Includes the ability to manage worship planning and events
Unlimited people can be added to the database

Cons of Tithe.ly

Works best if you’re using the other Tithe.ly products
The challenge of understanding multiple different integrated platforms

Price of Tithe.ly

Tithe.ly’s ChMS option costs $72 per month with a $149 one-time setup cost. This can also be bundled with the rest of the Tithe.ly suite for $119 per month.

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<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.fellowshipone.com/">3. Fellowship One</a>

Pros of Fellowship One

Partnered with Ekklesia360 for website and app design & hosting
Used by more than 4,000 local churches
Extensive reporting that can pull a wide range of analytics

Cons of Fellowship One

Some features—like giving—are handled by a third-party tool
A more complex UX that requires a learning curve
Record updates can take up to 24 hours to be applied to the database

Price of Fellowship One

Fellowship One does not list public pricing and develops contracts based on individual churches. However, they do have a 30-day free trial so you can test the system.

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://pushpay.com/">4. Pushpay</a>

Pros of Pushpay

They have a unique solution specifically for Catholic parishes—called ParishStaq
Their software focus is on giving, which makes the finances easier

Cons of Pushpay

One of the most significant cons of Pushpay is the price (see below). Even for large churches, this platform is quite expensive.

Price of Pushpay

Pushpay offers three pricing tiers for their ChMS—core, advanced, and complete—based on what features you need. The specific pricing for these tiers is not listed.

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.flockbase.com/">5. FlockBase</a>

Pros of FlockBase

Specifically geared more toward smaller-sized churches
Offers an online database for customer support issues
Self-hosted options for a one-time cost

Cons of FlockBase

Not as robust because of the focus on affordability
More out-dated UX

Price of FlockBase

They have two different pricing models based on locally-hosted or cloud-hosted solutions. Cloud-based prices range from $24 to $59 per month, while the desktop options range from $139 to 269 one-time costs.

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://go.churchteams.com/">6. Churchteams</a>

Pros of Churchteams

Text-to-Church is a custom full texting suite built into the system
No long-term contract, so you can cancel the plan month-to-month
Much of their team previously worked at churches and has good customer service

Cons of Churchteams

Difficult to use on a mobile device
There’s a learning curve, especially with regular feature updates
Everything is based around groups, which can be limiting

Price of Churchteams

Churchteams has a more complicated pricing structure based on features and how many people are in the system. This starts at $37/month for the Starter plan with up to 200 people and goes up to $227/month for the MVP plan with up to 10,000 people.

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.wildapricot.com/">7. WildApricot</a>

Pros of WildApricot

WildApricot has a wide range of features built around the member database
It integrates well with tools like WordPress, Google Workplace, and Quickbooks
The platform is used by more than 26,000 organizations

Cons of WildApricot

WildApricot is not exclusively built for churches
Their customer support is often slow to respond
The usability is lackluster and difficult to use

Price of WildApricot

The cost of WildApricot depends on the number of contacts and admins. This begins at $60/month for up to 250 contacts and extends to $350/month for up to 5,000 contacts.

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://servantkeeper.com/">8. Servant Keeper</a>

Pros of Servant Keeper

Servant Keeper is customizable specifically for different parishes
There are options between a cloud-based or onsite solution

Cons of Servant Keeper

The UX and UI appear outdated and viewed as clunky
Accessing from the desktop app requires a separate license per computer

Price of Servant Keeper

Servant Keeper offers a small church option at $250 for up to 50 families. Their unlimited plan is $499 plus an initial fee for unlimited users. There is also a $50/computer license fee.

9. Elvanto

Pros of Elvanto

The ability to see high-level reports on church metrics
Now part of the Tithe.ly family of tools
Integrates with a wide range of tools including Mailchimp, Stipe & PayPal

Cons of Elvanto

Difficulty with searching for individual church members
The mobile version of the software is more limited and harder to navigate
The youth ministry check-in feature can be unreliable
Pricing includes a transaction fee for giving

Price of Elvanto

Elvanto costs $50 a month for church giving + management, and $99 a month for church giving + management + a custom app.

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.shelbysystems.com/">10. Shelby Systems</a>

Pros of Shelby Systems

Built more for larger and mid-sized churches with features and budgets to match
Good hardware options like barcode readers, check-in tools, and finger scanners
Flexible pricing based on the size of your parish

Cons of Shelby Systems

More complex user interface that requires training
The desktop app for the solution is Windows-only
Few and infrequent updates to the software

Price of Shelby Systems

Shelby Systems’ pricing is based on the size of your church starting around $35/month.

Which Church Management Software for Catholic Churches Should You Choose?

Key Takeaways

Church Management Software is a central place to manage the administrative features of your parish.
There are a wide range of ChMS options to choose from with variations of features, ease of use, and price.
It’s important to choose the right ChMS for your catholic parish based on your budget, needs, and staff expectations.

Catholic Church Management Software FAQs

How Much Does Church Management Software Cost?

The price of a ChMS ranges greatly based on which software you select. Some offer a flat fee regardless of your size, while other ChMS solutions charge based on how many records or users will be in the system.

Do Churches Use CRM?

A Church Management Software (ChMS) essentially serves the same function as a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM). CRMs are used by most businesses to manage contact information and interactions with customers and potential customers.

Churches and catholic parishes could certainly consider using a CRM tool, but these are more often built for for-profit businesses and aren’t the right fit for a faith-based community.

What Giving Software Do Churches Use?

Receiving and processing donations are a major part of any Catholic parish. Without giving, your congregation cannot grow or serve your community. Therefore, a giving solution is needed to keep up with the modern options for donations.

Many Church Management Software incorporate a giving tool directly into their system. This means you can accept online and login offline gifts directly into your database.