ChurchCMS vs CiviCRM
ChurchCMS
churchcms.app
CiviCRM
civicrm.orgSide by side
| Figure | ChurchCMS | CiviCRM |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $24.17/mo | $15/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 10 | 4 |
| Spec score · Nonprofit Membership Management Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Communications | Communication features include push, SMS and in-app messages, targeted announcements, birthday and anniversary greetings and daily scripture. | CiviMail supports targeted and personalized bulk emails, including rich HTML and text-only messages for Pro subscribers on Spark. |
| Events | Event management includes a shared calendar, registration, reminders, ministry groups, bulletins and Sunday-school registers. | Its event tools support registrations, configurable participant information, pricing, and automated communications. |
| Extensibility | The developer offering describes Laravel plugins, event hooks, Vue admin extensions, custom API routes, webhooks and OAuth2 integrations. | Community-created installable extensions add functionality, with CMS-specific directories for Backdrop, Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress. |
| Headquarters | Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India | San Francisco, California, United States |
| License | The software is released under the MIT open-source license and can be downloaded, used, modified, and shared without a license fee. | CiviCRM 2.x and later is licensed under GNU AGPL 3 with a CiviCRM Licensing Exception. |
| Security | Official material states SSL support, bcrypt password hashing, managed-hosting backups and security monitoring; it also claims GDPR-oriented data ownership. | CiviCRM publishes security advisories and provides instructions for subscribing to security notices and reporting suspected issues. |
| Support | Support is offered through email and WhatsApp, GitHub discussions/issues and optional installation or managed-hosting services. | Support options include documentation, Stack Exchange, community chat, events, release notes, bug reporting, and professional consulting. |
Plans
ChurchCMS
- Self-HostedFree
- Self-Host It YourselfFree
- Managed Hosting$29 a month
- Managed Hosting Monthly$29 a month
- Installation Service$99, paid once
- We Install It For You$99, paid once
- Managed Hosting (annual)$290 a year
- Managed Hosting Annual$290 a year
- Custom Website Template$399, paid once
- Custom DevelopmentPriced on request
CiviCRM
- CiviCRM (self-hosted)Free
- Spark Starter$15 a month
- Spark Essentials$30 a month
- Spark Pro$50 a month
In their own words
ChurchCMS
ChurchCMS is church management software for member administration, attendance, online giving, events, congregation communications, and a church website. Its CRM stores searchable member profiles, family links, giving and attendance history, messages, and printable QR membership cards. Giving supports one-time and recurring donations, donor records, statements, fundraising campaigns, and Stripe, M-Pesa, Flutterwave, and Paystack. A branded Android app provides sermons, events, giving, member messages, prayer requests, and a church calendar. The product exposes a REST API for core modules and describes payment and third-party integrations through it. Churches can self-host under the MIT license or use managed hosting. Self-hosting is free forever with all six core modules, the Android app, and no usage limits. Managed Hosting costs $29 a month; annual managed hosting costs $290 a year. A one-time installation service costs 99.00 USD. The maker says it serves small and medium churches, with no minimum congregation size.