Best Church Management Software for Small Churches (2025)
For churches with 50–500 members, the right ChMS should be affordable, easy to learn, and cover the essentials without overwhelming your admin staff.
Updated February 2025 · 3 platforms ranked · Independently reviewed
What Small Churches Need
$72/month flat — all features included
Churches under 500 members wanting the simplest all-in-one system
✓Flat $72/month — no per-member fees, no feature tiers
✓Easiest onboarding in the category (up in hours)
✓30-day free trial, no credit card required
✓Excellent member directory with custom fields
✓Responsive customer support with real humans
✗Volunteer scheduling is basic
✗No custom mobile app
Free (giving); $14/month (ChMS); $99/month (app)
Small churches where growing digital generosity is the top priority
✓Free giving tools — no monthly fee to start
✓Best mobile giving experience available
✓Custom church app at $99/month (unbeatable value)
✓Text-to-give and recurring donations included
✓No long-term contract required
✗ChMS features less deep than Breeze
✗Transaction fees add up at higher volumes
Free → $14+/module/month
Small churches expecting to grow, with active volunteer programs
✓Free tier available on most modules
✓Best volunteer scheduling tool available
✓Scales to any church size without switching platforms
✓60,000+ churches — huge support community
✗Steeper learning curve than Breeze
✗Modular pricing can add up with multiple apps
How We Chose These Picks
We evaluated each platform on four criteria weighted for small church needs:
- Affordability (40%) — Total monthly cost for a 200-member church
- Ease of Use (30%) — Time to onboard a non-technical admin
- Core Features (20%) — Member management, giving, communication
- Support Quality (10%) — Availability and responsiveness of help
What to Avoid as a Small Church
- Enterprise platforms (Pushpay) — Cost is not justified for churches under 500 members
- Per-member pricing — Can get expensive fast as your church grows
- Long-term contracts — Flexibility matters when you're still finding your needs
- Overly complex systems — Complexity leads to low adoption by volunteers and staff
Our Small Church Recommendation
Start with Breeze if you want the simplest path to a functional ChMS. The $72/month flat rate and 30-day free trial make it low-risk. If growing digital giving is your priority, start with Tithe.ly's free giving tools and add the ChMS later.