AltarDesk vs GLAD

AltarDesk is a church management platform for member records, donor statements, schedules, safeguarding and giving. Its member portal and app let people update their details, view rota duties, give and access giving statements. Paid plans include Gift Aid and GASDS management, direct HMRC claim submission and contactless giving. Bank statement imports support Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Monzo; member giving uses Stripe card payments. The free plan covers up to 15 people and includes 500 MB of storage. The displayed tier for up to 75 people costs £17 a month and includes 2 GB of storage. Member and giving records are held in UK data centres, while sermon video and audio remain in the church’s own Google Drive. AltarDesk says connections use TLS 1.3, stored data is encrypted with AES-256, and organisation records are isolated with row-level security. It also says it does not sell church data, share it with advertisers or train AI models on it. At a plan’s member cap, a church must move to a higher plan before adding people.

GLAD is web-based church management software that brings people, schedules, volunteers, giving, worship, websites, and administration into one service. The maker describes 15 integrated modules without separate logins, duplicate entry, or per-module pricing. Worship teams get Stage Deck tools for editing ChordPro, transposing automatically, syncing across devices, using backing tracks and PDF sheet music, and operating a Bluetooth foot pedal. Scheduling includes a drag-and-drop matrix, AI-generated drafts, rotation templates, volunteer blackout dates, and burnout alerts. Listed integrations include Checkr for background checks, Stripe Connect for giving, Twilio for SMS, and Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams for life-group meetings. Events can also be published to Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Permission controls cover 43 permissions across 15 areas, with distinct access for medical, giving, and background-check information. Starter is free and limited to 50 people, 10 AI credits monthly, 500 MB of storage, one location or floor plan, a subdomain, and a 1% giving fee. Paid plans start with Grow at $74 a month; higher tiers add capacity and support options.