Here Are Some of the Best Church Apps:
Here they are, folks! The best church apps of 2022 are...
Usability and Experience
Tithe.ly's custom church app is effortless to use for churches. It's just one part of a whole suite of features including a church management system, CRM, website builder, and more. That makes it simple to integrate Tithe.ly's app with your church's existing media and content.
Features
The Tithe.ly church app is one of the more comprehensive church apps available. It offers in-app mobile giving, a prayer wall and Bible, a media player, interactive sermon notes, an interactive newsfeed, a group chat feature, push notifications, and more.
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Benefits
A Tithe.ly app has everything your church members need to plug into prayer, the Word, and community on the go. Using Tithe.ly also means minimal upfront costs and labor for running and managing the app.
Pricing
You can use the Tithe.ly church app as a standalone feature for $59 per month, or you can sign up for the entire suite of Tithe.ly tools for just $40 more per month (for a total of $99 per month).
Pros of Tithe.ly
Tithe.ly works with you to create the custom app that's ideal for your church community. They offer a wide range of features and capabilities, a beautiful and easy-to-use interface, and minimal costs.
Cons of Tithe.ly
If you're looking for a complicated, clunky app that takes months to build and thousands of dollars to manage and upkeep, well then, Tithe.ly just isn't for you.
Usability and Experience
Aware3 is a church app that's considered easy to use and simple to set up.
Features
Aware3 offers a chat feature, a crowdfunding tool, interactive media, and member profiles. Aware3 offers the essential elements of a church app, but some users report that their list of features isn't very long.
Benefits
Aware3 can help church members connect and engage with their community, use resources from Sunday morning, and donate to special campaigns.
Pricing
Aware3's most basic plan starts at $125 per month, and its most popular plan starts at $220 per month.
Pros of Aware3
Aware3 has great customer support and a fairly intuitive user interface.
Cons of Aware3
Aware3 is pretty pricey, especially as a standalone app.
Usability and Experience
Shoutem offers a simple, intuitive user experience for church members and staff.
Features
Shoutem has features for sharing a calendar with event information, posting sermon and educational resources, podcast integrations, and a social wall to share prayer requests.
Benefits
This mobile solution can help potential users connect with community, request prayers, and learn critical information about the church.
Pricing
Shoutem costs $189 per month for the professional version. The minimum cost is $59 per month.
Pros of Shoutem
A Shoutem mobile app comes with several pre-built app templates to make it easy to get up and running quickly. For churches wanting a custom app to be setup/built for them, Shoutem offers a $1,499 setup option.
Cons of Shoutem
Shoutem doesn't offer as many features designed specifically for churches. Some features like app usage/analytics are not included in the lowest cost tier.
Usability and Experience
Go Church App is overall easy to use and provides a great user experience. However, some users report that certain features–like Events Registration–can be tricky.
Features
Go Church App includes features such as push notifications, a giving tool, custom forms, and embedded video content.
Benefits
Go Church App allows churches to build an app that's customized to their specific needs.
Pricing
The fully customizable Go Church App is $57 per month, with a one-time setup fee of $997.
Pros of Go Church App
Go Church App is fully customizable. Putting design in the hands of customers, however, doesn't always produce a great result.
Cons of Go Church App
Go Church App doesn't include the most comprehensive list of features. To use its giving feature, for example, you're required to already have an
online giving portal. Go Church App is also expensive to set up, with nearly a $1k sticker price for its customizable version.
Usability and Experience
In terms of usability, the Church App gets mixed reviews. Users report glitches that seriously interfere with the user experience.
Features
As one part of the Subsplash family, the Church App has features for giving, website building, messaging, media, and live streaming that integrate with the rest of Subsplash's tech suite.
Benefits
The Church App is one of the more comprehensive church app platforms. It provides tech-savvy churches the tools they need to engage their church members.
Pricing
Pricing for the Church App isn't clear. While it costs $0 per month to use the giving feature, their website doesn't display information about the remainder of the features.
Pros of The Church App
The Church App can integrate with your church's admin tools and engagement tools (if you use Subsplash).
Cons of The Church App
The Church App's pricing isn't transparent, and users report serious glitches (such as defaulting to a different church after an update, or repeating a donation page).
Usability and Experience
Pushpay's church app–My Church App–is easy to use and simple to navigate.
Features
My Church App integrates with Pushpay's church management system, offering features like check-in, group messaging, volunteer scheduling, and more. My Church App also includes updates about upcoming events, a media player, and church member profiles.
Benefits
My Church App provides a seamless experience for both church members and staff to connect, communicate, and engage with the church community.
Pricing
Pushpay's full package costs $199 per month.
Pros of Pushpay Apps
My Church App is integrated with Pushpay's church management system, providing a smooth experience for churches that already use Pushpay.
Cons of Pushpay Apps
As a part of Pushpay's full package, My Church App can be very expensive. Not only that, but My Church App features integrate with Pushpay, making this a good choice for Pushpay users only.
Usability and Experience
Secure Give has a simple, functional user experience.
Features
Secure Give provides features for digital giving, an event calendar, a media player, note-taking, and podcast streaming.
Benefits
Secure Give provides the basic tools that church members need to donate, connect, and learn.
Pricing
Secure Give's most basic mobile package starts at $149 per month.
Pros of Secure Give
Secure Give has a simple UX and most of the basic features needed by a church.
Cons of Secure Give
Secure Give is very expensive, and some users report that they have very poor customer support.
Usability and Experience
Custom Church Apps have mixed reviews from users, in terms of usability and experience. To be fair, some of this may be due to user error.
Features
Custom Church Apps offers push notifications, an in-app Bible, interactive sermon notes, live streaming, and giving tools.
Benefits
Custom Church Apps give potential users the ability to connect with their church communities with messaging tools, a prayer request tool, event registration, and more.
Pricing
Custom Church Apps cost anywhere from $19.95 per month to $129.95 per month, but with
a $999 setup fee (There is also a 30-day free trial available).
Pros of Custom Church Apps by Subsplash
Custom Church Apps provides dynamic content editing, allowing churches to create a more customized app than provided by tools with static content.
Cons of Custom Church Apps by Subsplash
Custom Church Apps is extremely expensive to set up.
Usability and Experience
Appy Pie is a no-code app builder, meaning that users can develop their own app without coding experience. Users of Appy Pie report that its most basic version is simple enough, but it can be difficult to add more advanced "beta" features.
Features
In theory, you could build a whole range of features that integrate with your church's website, community prayer list, weekly bulletin, contact info, and giving platform. However, that depends on how much time and energy you want to invest in Appy Pie.
Benefits
Appy Pie can give churches the ability to build and publish an app all on their own.
Pricing
Appy Pie's most basic self-service package costs $16 per month, or you can pay up to $60 per month for advanced packages to run and manage your app.
Pros of Appy Pie
Appy Pie is highly customizable, and doesn't have to include anything your church doesn't need.
Cons of Appy Pie
Appy Pie may not be the best choice for churches, as it will require quite a bit of work upfront and a potentially complex setup process to create an app you love. Sometimes, it's better to go to the experts.
Usability and Experience
DialMyCalls is easy to use and learn.
Features
DialMyCalls is a basic tool for sending mass text messages or voice memos.
Benefits
DialMyCalls can help your church staff and church members to stay connected and informed.
Pricing
DialMyCalls increases in price with a greater number of contacts. With 500 contacts, it costs $85 per month–making it less ideal for larger churches.
Pros of DialMyCalls
DialMyCalls is easy to use and delivers on its promises.
Cons of DialMyCalls
Unlike app packages, DialMyCalls offers only one feature for churches. It does not provide an app with a traditional user interface.
Final Thoughts
Before choosing an app that's right for you, consider your church's budget and most pressing needs. If you need an app as a standalone feature, it doesn't need to be super pricey.
If you're interested in a beautiful, comprehensive app that's low in cost as a standalone or as a part of a full technology suite,
check out Tithe.ly.
Should a Church Have an App?
Yes. A church app is a powerful tool that can help your members engage, discover, and even grow in their faith. And as you've learned, building an app doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars.
How Much Does It Cost to Have a Church App?
It can cost anywhere from roughly $50-$130/month with a $1000 startup fee to run an app. However, if you use Tithe.ly's full suite of technology for $99 per month, the app comes at no extra cost (that's right, there's no setup cost for Tithe.ly).
How Do I Get an App for My Church?
How Do Church Apps Work?
Church apps work just like any other app. They are typically accessible in the app store, and can be downloaded by anyone. They can also be synced with a church's CRM, social media accounts, church calendar, mobile websites, blog posts, and more.
