Congregate vs The Church Co
Congregate
congregateonline.comThe Church Co
thechurchco.comSide by side
| Figure | Congregate | The Church Co |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $10/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 10 | 4 |
| Spec score · Church Website Builders | 9.1 (#1) | 7.8 (#16) |
| Founded | The Congregate service was launched in 2009. | 2015 |
| Integrations | Congregate supports embedded or linked live-stream and online-giving providers and offers Google Analytics and Google Maps API settings. | The features page lists Planning Center, Tithely, Church Community Builder, Church Suite, Stripe, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Optimize, Facebook, Intercom and Drift. |
| Intended users | Congregate describes its service as built for local churches and their visitors, members, and leaders. | The company presents the platform for churches and ministries and says it serves churches of different sizes. |
| Mobile app | The native members app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android and includes member modules, directory, Bible, and sermon audio. | The company describes a branded church app that syncs content with the church website and offers sermons, events, forms, prayer requests, giving, groups and livestreams. |
| Security and privacy | The privacy policy says sensitive information is encrypted in transit and stored on secured servers with limited employee access. | The privacy policy says data is stored on secure servers, payment information is transmitted over an encrypted connection, and submitted information may be stored in the United States or Australia. |
| Support | Free technical support is included in every service plan, and the company says it responds to support tickets within 24 hours or less. | The company says its customer success team can help and offers training videos, webinars, articles and blog posts; the site also links to chat support. |
Plans
Congregate
- Virtual Library$10 a month
- Sermon Transcriptions$15 a month
- Economy$20 a month
- Members Only$20 a month
- Text Messaging$25 a month
- Voice Messaging$25 a month
- Classic$45 a month
- Self-Hosted WordPress$55 a month
- Unlimited$55 a month
- Congregate-Hosted WordPress$70 a month
The Church Co
- Simple setupFree
- Essentials setup$299, paid once
- Tailored setup$799, paid once
- Custom setup$999, paid once
In their own words
Congregate
Congregate is a church management platform that combines a church website, member management, and leadership tools. Member features include a directory, attendance tracking, visitor registration and follow-up, and a leadership CRM. Communications include email, premium SMS, and premium text-to-speech voice messages. Its worship scheduler assigns positions and volunteer tasks, with support for blockout dates, replacements, confirmations, and reminders.
Churches can upload sermon media in formats such as MP3, PowerPoint, PDF, or YouTube links; the platform can create podcast feeds and support social sharing. The native members app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android, and includes member modules, a directory, Bible, and sermon audio. Congregate says more than 30 modules are included in each service plan. Plans include a public website and mobile app at $20/mo for Economy, while Members Only is also $20/mo and omits the public website and email accounts. Standard plans carry a one-time $499 setup fee, discounted by $50 for churches with fewer than 50 members. Free technical support is included, with ticket responses stated as within 24 hours or less. The site offers a free test drive but gives no duration. The service runs on web, Android, and iOS.
The Church Co
The Church Co is a website builder and digital platform for churches and ministries. Its drag-and-drop builder offers templates and custom pages, while built-in features cover sermons, events, forms, prayer requests, small groups, sermon notes, online giving, livestreams, and a member portal. A branded church app can sync content with the church website and present sermons, events, forms, prayer requests, giving, groups, and livestreams. A custom app requires the On-demand team and is unavailable on the basic or premium plan. Listed integrations include Planning Center, Tithely, Church Community Builder, Church Suite, Stripe, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Optimize, Facebook, Intercom, and Drift. Planning Center can update events, registrations, groups, forms, giving, and sermons on the website automatically; online giving uses Stripe. The service runs on web, Android, and iOS and offers a 14-day trial. Setup options include a free Simple setup with a yearly subscription, plus one-time packages at $299.00, $799.00, and $999.00. The company offers customer success help, training materials, webinars, articles, and chat support.