Top 10 Church Management Software for Small Churches

Do small churches need tools to help them run their organizations?

You bet they do!

Small churches need church management software just as much as any mega church. In fact, with limited resources and limited staff, there’s an argument to be made that small churches need administrative technology more than large churches do.

Here’s the good news: There are plenty of church management software that can help small churches thrive. They’re affordable, easy to use, and streamlined. And they include what small churches need to connect with their members, grow giving, and stay organized.

Ready to dive in?

‍

What is Church Management Software for Small Churches?

Church management software is simply a set of tools that help churches–small and large–to accomplish administrative tasks like donation management, contact database management, volunteer scheduling and check-in, attendance tracking, and more.

‍

Why Do Small Churches Need Software?

As stated above, small churches need software to accomplish administrative tasks. But there are other use cases, as well. They might use church software to connect with their members (via text and email), offer online giving, and even get insight into the growth and development of their congregation.

‍

How Do Church Management Systems for Small Churches Work?

Church management systems for small churches allow admin users to log in to a system in order to access a contact database, communications platform, donation management system, and more.

‍

Key Features to Consider in a ChMS for Small Churches

A ChMS, or church management system, should include:

A contact database management system
Group management (such as messaging)
Donation tracking and reporting, including printing year-end statements
Reporting
Child check-in
Attendance tracking

You may also want to look for a ChMS that offers free data migration.

‍

How We Chose the Best Software for Small Churches

To choose the best software for small churches, we considered feature set, pricing, and user experience.

Top 10 Church Management Software for Small Churches

<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. Pushpay</a>

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

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

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

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

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

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

<a href="#list-10" class="toc-link">10. Servant Keeper</a>

1. Breeze ChMS

BreezeChMS is a church management software that’s ideal for small churches.

Pros of Breeze ChMS

Breeze has features that include:

A contact management system that makes it simple to store and customize information about your church members and visitors
Group management for organizing your small groups and ministries
Online giving that makes it easy for your church members to be generous online and via text
Child check-in (even name tag printing!), volunteer management, and custom registration forms
And much more

Plus, Breeze offers free data migration so that you can easily transition from your old system–and awesome, hands-on customer support to walk you through every step of the way.

Cons of Breeze ChMS

If you’re looking for an overly-complicated, old-school church management system, then Breeze isn’t for you!

Price of Breeze ChMS

Breeze costs only $72 a month–perfect for small churches on a budget.

2. Tithely

Tithely is a church management system that helps both small and large churches do a better job at administration and task management.

Pros of Tithely

Tithely has features that include:

Online giving, including text-to-give
Reporting
A messaging platform that includes email and text
A contact database (Tithely People)
And more

Tithely also offers a website and app building service that make it easy to create an awesome online presence. Plus, they have a customer support team to help you navigate through any issues that may arise.

Cons of Tithely

Tithely syncs with its giving platform, so you’ll want to make sure that you use Tithely Giving before taking the leap into their ChMS.

Price of Tithely

Tithely costs $119 a month for their entire range of products.

Start an Instant Demo

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://pushpay.com/">3. Pushpay</a>

Pushpay is one of the oldest online giving platforms for churches on the market. But they also offer a church management solution that can be used by small churches.

Pros of Pushpay

Pushpay church management includes:

Online giving
Attendance tracking
In-depth reporting
Church event management

In short, they offer most of the basic tools needed for church management.

Cons of Pushpay

Pushpay is expensive, making it less than ideal for small churches on limited budgets.

Price of Pushpay

Pushpay costs a minimum of $199 a month–far too pricey for most churches under 200 members.

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.shelbysystems.com/">4. Shelby Systems</a>

Shelby Systems is a church management tool that includes many of the tools and features needed for small church management.

Pros of Shelby Systems

Shelby Systems includes:

Group management
Prayer requests
Volunteer tracking
A communications tool, including text and email
Child check-in

Shelby Systems also offers an online giving tool with a text-to-give option.

Cons of Shelby Systems

Users of Shelby Systems aren’t crazy about the customer experience. One user calls it “adequate but clumsy.”

Price of Shelby Systems

Shelby Systems costs $60 for a church of 200 people. Their pricing scales up from there.

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

WildApricot is an organizational software that could potentially be used by small churches for church administration.

Pros of WildApricot

WildApricot includes some of the tools required for small church management, including:

An event management system
A contact database that can be used for church members and visitors
A website builder
A payment tool (note that this is different from a donation tool)

One additional tool offered by WildApricot is their administrative mobile app, which can be used by administrators to run their basic management tools.

Cons of WildApricot

WildApricot isn’t designed for churches. That means that it lacks much of the functionality (and user experience) needed for small churches.

Price of WildApricot

WildApricot costs $60 a month for organizations with 100 members, and $75 a month for organizations with 200 members. They also offer a free trial.

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.fellowshipone.com/">6. Fellowship One</a>

Fellowship One is a church management software that can be used by small churches for admin and management.

Pros of Fellowship One

Fellowship One includes tools for:

Online giving
Accounting
Church member management
Volunteer scheduling
In-depth reporting
Small group communication and admin

Fellowship One users report that it’s easy to use.

Cons of Fellowship One

Fellowship One has a pretty high price tag for small churches (see below!)

Price of Fellowship One

Fellowship One’s monthly subscription is $169 a month.

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

FlockBase is church software that can be used to meet some of the needs of small churches.

Pros of FlockBase

Because FlockBase is tailored for accounting, it has some pretty robust capabilities for financial management. With Flockbase, you can:

Track funds
Run payroll
Create budgets
Print checks
Set up direct deposit
And more

But that’s not all–Flockbase also has a membership management system (including email and text) and an online giving platform that create a fuller suite of church management tools.

Cons of FlockBase

Some users of FlockBase have described issues with their reporting feature.

Price of FlockBase

FlockBase costs $39 a month for their standard package.

<a class="listicle-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://go.churchteams.com/">8. Churchteams</a>

Churchteams is a church management software tool that’s tailored to large churches, but that can also be used by small churches.

Pros of Churchteams

Churchteams includes:

A texting platform
Group management
An online giving platform
Volunteer management

Churchteams also has child check-in and automated workflows.

Cons of Churchteams

Churchteams may have more than is needed for a small church, and as a consequence, may be a bit confusing to navigate.

Price of Churchteams

Churchteams is $77 a month for a church with up to 500 people; the pricing scales up as your church grows.

9. Elvanto

Elvanto is a church management solution that offers a comprehensive set of features for faith-based communities (such as churches) to manage their people, finances, services, staff, and more.

Elvanto's combination of tools includes:

Calendar support
Event management tools
Email and text
Unlimited contact storage
Custom church forms
In-depth reporting
and more...

Pros of Elvanto

There's no lack of powerful features here. In our experimentation and usage with Elvanto, we’ve found that this product offers church administrative teams advanced software for managing everything from pastoral teams, to worship, to volunteers, to members, and more.

Cons of Elvanto

Elvanto may offer more than a small or mid-sized church really needs, which can complicate administration a bit.

ElvantoServant Keeper

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://servantkeeper.com/">10. Servant Keeper</a>

Servant Keeper is a church management software that includes many of the features needed by small churches.

Pros of Servant Keeper

Servant Keeper includes:

Text and email

Child check-in
Volunteer scheduling
Church accounting tools
And more

Servant Keeper also has a positive user experience, with customers reporting that it’s “user friendly.”

Cons of Servant Keeper

Servant Keeper’s pricing is a bit convoluted–for example, they charge $49.99 a month for their standard package, but that doesn’t include a very hefty $500 price tag for data transfer.

Price of Servant Keeper

As stated above, Servant Keeper costs $49.99 a month for its standard package, but that includes the ability to track only up to 100 families (plus $500 for onboarding).

Which Church Management System for Small Churches Should You Choose?

To choose a church management system for your small church, you’ll want to consider pricing and functionality.

‍

Key Takeaways

The key takeaways? While there are many tools out there that offer a similar suite of products, the best choice for a small church is a tool that doesn’t scale up in pricing as your church grows (after all, you don’t want to be penalized as more people join your community!)

You’ll also want to prioritize tools that make the transition easy, and offer a great user experience.

Church Management Software for Small Churches FAQs

What Is Simple Church CRM?

A simple church CRM provides a contact database that makes it easy to store contact information, track members, and engage with community.

How Do You Track Church Members?

You can track church members with a contact database management system.

What Does Church Management Software Do?

Church management software makes it possible to expedite common church administrative tasks such as contact management, communication, online giving, and more.