ChurchPlan

ChurchPlan is a church operating system for congregations that want giving, member records, events and education in one service. It is strongest for churches and parishes moving beyond basic donation collection, while dioceses and networks have a dedicated enterprise tier. The free starting point is useful, but the capabilities most churches will want beyond giving require annual paid plans.

Overview

ChurchPlan combines a member app with an administration portal. Churches can manage people, family relationships, engagement information and emergency or health details alongside calendars, communications, liturgies and worship services. That breadth favors organizations seeking one administrative home rather than separate directory, event and education tools.

Its audience is clearly ecclesiastical: individual churches and parishes fit the main plans, while Enterprise is aimed at dioceses and multi-church networks. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, and says its parent company was established in 2001.

Key features

Giving and financial administration

Online giving, recurring donations, a searchable ledger and automated tax receipts cover the routine work of donation administration. Essentials includes donation links and QR codes, making the free plan a credible option for churches that mainly need digital giving and a branded mobile presence. Stripe processes card payments; ChurchPlan says it does not store card numbers or full payment credentials.

There are no per-member, donor-tipping, service or per-ticket fees from ChurchPlan. Standard Stripe card-processing charges still apply, so payment costs remain separate from the subscription.

Events and communication

Engagement adds event publishing, registration and payment collection, QR tickets and QR-based attendee check-in. Announcements, push notifications, mobile admin search and outreach make this tier more useful for churches coordinating regular activities and communicating with members. Essentials is not an event-management plan, so congregations running registrations or ticketed gatherings need to move up.

Education and publishing

Education adds ministries, Sunday school, curriculum and lesson plans, attendance tracking, liturgies and worship services, plus church website publishing. Those additions matter for churches that need education records and worship planning in the same system; they are difficult to justify if the requirement is limited to giving or occasional events.

Security and service commitments

ChurchPlan states that data in transit uses 256-bit TLS, data at rest uses AES-256, passwords are bcrypt-hashed and church records are isolated at the database level. It describes its privacy posture as aligned with PIPEDA, GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, Australian privacy principles and New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020. It says member records are not pooled across churches or sold, and only event details selected for publication are shared publicly.

The stated 99.5% uptime SLA, breach notification within 72 hours and 90-day data-export window after termination provide concrete operational terms. Enterprise adds API access, webhooks, custom integrations, and dedicated success and support.

Pricing

Essentials — free forever

Essentials costs nothing, billed free forever. It includes unlimited members, online giving, automated tax receipts, a personalized church mobile app, and donation links and QR codes. It suits a small or budget-conscious church that needs core giving without a subscription. It does not include the event, communication, education or website capabilities introduced in paid tiers.

Engagement — $99 per month, billed yearly

Engagement is $99 a month, with $1,188 billed yearly. It includes everything in Essentials plus events and ticketing, QR admission and check-in, announcements, push notifications, and mobile admin search and outreach. Choose it when event operations and member communication are central; the annual commitment is the key trade-off compared with the free plan.

Education — $199 per month, billed yearly

Education costs $199 a month, with $2,388 billed yearly. It adds ministries, Sunday school, curriculum, attendance tracking, liturgies and worship services, and church website publishing to Engagement. This is the appropriate tier for churches running structured education and worship programs; smaller congregations may pay for functions they will not use.

Enterprise — annual volume pricing

Enterprise uses custom annual volume pricing. It includes everything in Education, plus multi-church and diocese administration, API access and webhooks, custom integrations, and dedicated success and support. It is the logical choice for networks with centralized oversight, but organizations must obtain a tailored quote.

Platforms

ChurchPlan runs on web, Android and iOS, and provides an API. The combination supports member-facing mobile use and browser-based administration; API access and webhooks are part of Enterprise rather than the standard plans.

Who it's for

ChurchPlan fits churches and parishes that want giving, member management, event registration and education in one product, especially when a free entry plan can cover initial needs. Engagement suits congregations with recurring events and active announcements; Education suits those managing Sunday school, ministries and worship services. Enterprise is designed for dioceses and multi-church networks. It is less suitable when only one narrow function is required or when annual billing is unacceptable.

Pros and cons

Pros

Broad church operations coverage: giving, people, events, education and worship are organized in one system.

Useful free foundation: unlimited members and core giving tools are available without a subscription.

Practical event workflow: paid plans combine registration, payment collection, QR tickets and check-in.

Clear data commitments: encryption, database-level record isolation, a 99.5% uptime SLA and a 90-day export window are stated.

No ChurchPlan transaction add-ons: there are no per-member, donor-tipping, service or per-ticket fees, apart from Stripe processing.

Cons

Annual payment for paid tiers: Engagement and Education are quoted monthly but billed for the full year.

Feature gating: events begin at Engagement, while education, worship and website publishing require Education.

Enterprise requires a quote: multi-church administration and integration features have no published price.

Stripe fees remain: card processing is an additional operating cost.

Alternatives

Choose Appy Pie Church App Maker instead if the priority is building a member-facing app with unlimited edits and preview on a free plan, accepting that store publishing requires payment.

Subsplash Church App is a better fit when free giving with no setup costs and card and ACH processing is the main requirement.

Pick Choicely Church App for a free app centered on daily credit limits, public apps, collaborators and push notifications.

SermonAudio Church App suits churches already broadcasting through SermonAudio, where ChurchOne is available at no additional cost.

Consider Church Compass for a paid church-app product with a free trial and a lower-priced Basic tier.

Churchory is an alternative paid service with a free trial and a plan capped at 250 people.

Ekko offers a free trial and quote-based pricing for churches, conferences and ministries.

Tithely Custom Church App is worth considering for a branded app at $89 a month, with cancellation at any time and inclusion in Tithely All Access.

For narrower comparisons, see Church App Builders, Church Directory Software, Church Giving Software and Church Event Management Software.

Verdict

ChurchPlan is a strong choice for a church that wants one system spanning donations, member records, events and education, with unlimited members available on the free tier. Choose it when that integrated scope outweighs annual billing and Stripe fees. Look elsewhere if you need only a single specialist function, require monthly flexibility, or want published pricing for multi-church administration.