AltarDesk vs HolyJot
AltarDesk
altardesk.co.uk
HolyJot
holyjot.comSide by side
| Figure | AltarDesk | HolyJot |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £17/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 13 | 7 |
| Spec score · Church Background Check Software | 9.2 (#1) | 9.0 (#6) |
| Audience | AltarDesk describes itself as built for church administrators and provides UK Gift Aid and Charity Commission governance modules. | The platform is presented for individual believers and church leaders, including churches, small groups, families, and friends. |
| Headquarters | The registered address is 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ. | Fort Myers, Florida, United States |
| Privacy | AltarDesk says it does not sell church data, share it with advertisers or train AI models on it. | HolyJot says it does not sell personal information and allows users to request account and data deletion through account settings or by contacting the company. |
| Product | AltarDesk is a church management platform for member records, donor statements, schedules, safeguarding and giving. | HolyJot combines faith journaling, Bible study, Scripture-focused AI, community, and church management tools. |
| Security | AltarDesk says connections use TLS 1.3, stored data is encrypted with AES-256, and organisation records are isolated with row-level security. | The privacy policy says data transmissions use TLS/SSL or equivalent, sensitive stored data uses AES-256 or stronger encryption, and system access follows least-privilege controls. |
| Security controls | AltarDesk states that it uses TLS 1.3, AES-256 encryption, bcrypt passwords, row-level security and append-only audit logs. | The privacy policy lists TLS/SSL in transit, AES-256 at rest, hardware-backed key management, role-based access, monitoring and vulnerability testing. |
| Self-hosting | AltarDesk is presented as a hosted web service with UK and European infrastructure providers; self-hosting instructions are not published. | HolyJot's public pages describe a hosted web service and do not document self-hosting. |
| Support | The support centre says its team normally responds within one working day. | The pricing page includes priority support for individuals and priority support and onboarding for churches; the contact page says replies usually arrive within 1–2 business days. |
| What it does | AltarDesk is a church and charity management platform combining member records, Gift Aid, rotas, safeguarding, giving and communications. | HolyJot combines Bible journaling, Scripture study, FaithAI, community spaces and church-management tools for individuals and churches. |
Plans
AltarDesk
- FreeFree
- Free (up to 15 people)Free
- Up to 75 people£17 a month
- 76–125 people£25 a month
- 76–125 people£25 a month
- 126–200 people£35 a month
- 126–200 people£35 a month
- 201–500 people£69 a month
- 201–500 people£69 a month
- 501–1,000 people£99 a month
HolyJot
- FreeFree
- Individual free planFree
- Volunteer background check$5, paid once
- Volunteer background checks$5, paid once
- FaithAI credit pack (100 credits)$10, paid once
- FaithAI credit pack (200 credits)$20, paid once
- FaithAI credit pack (500 credits)$50, paid once
In their own words
AltarDesk
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.
HolyJot
HolyJot combines faith journaling, Bible study, Scripture-focused AI, community, and church management tools. Individuals can link notes to Scripture, track moods, lock entries with a PIN, record voice journals, and create time-capsule entries. The Bible reader offers six translations, full-text search, text-to-speech, and verse-level journaling. More than 5,000 study plans include daily passages, reflection prompts, progress tracking, and AI-generated plans. FaithAI answers Bible questions with Scripture context, cross-references, and commentary. Church features include member profiles and a directory, events and attendance, online giving, a sermon library, and email campaigns. Churches can also use an embeddable chat widget based on a church knowledge base. HolyJot is free for individuals and churches, with unlimited journal entries, FaithAI conversations, and community hubs; optional volunteer background checks cost $5. It works in a browser and is optimized as a progressive web app that can be added to an iPhone or Android home screen. HolyJot says it does not sell personal information.