Church Software Costs HOW Much? Here’s the Alternative

By Jennifer Grisham and Mary Jahnke

Every month, the dreaded day arrived—the church credit card bill came in the mail, full of charges for church software. 

It’s not that we were too spendy. We were actually quite frugal! But our credit card statements exposed a problem . . . one that all too many churches face. (And no, the problem wasn’t the exorbitant amounts of Goldfish and lemonade demanded by our church’s three-year-olds.)

The big, hairy problem with church software tech stacks

Our church tech stack was a bit out of hand. Every month, I was pulling individual receipts for:

1. Church email platform
2. Church website builder
3. Online forms
4. Church management software
5. Online giving platform
6. Volunteer scheduling system
7. Graphic design software (we had two of these, actually)
8. Church accounting software
9. Church video curriculum
10. Volunteer background checks

And that doesn’t even include the couple of products we had an annual subscription for. Somehow, a 12-month renewal cycle is just enough time to forget whatever that code on the credit card receipt even means. Those annual subscriptions included another handful of products, such as

1. CCLI
2. Video hosting
3. Audio hosting for podcast
4. Digital signage
5. Digital asset management (We had four or so separate annual subscriptions, so it was a whole new level of fun to figure out which one just renewed.)
6. Church presentation software

You don’t have to be good at math to count 16 different products or subscriptions. (Finally, something I didn’t need math for.)

Phew.

Our credit card statements revealed two kinds of inefficiency:

• Having to track down a bunch of receipts . . . over and over again. Each month, I spent at least 8–10 hours on credit card reconciliations . Granted, I was working through receipts for a handful of church credit cards. We had subscriptions on multiple church cards, so I had to wait for coworkers to dig through their emails to find the receipts I was missing. 
• Having a bunch of church software that overlapped, but didn’t integrate. 

 I’m guessing you wouldn’t be surprised if I tell you the average medium-sized church spends multiple thousands per year on its church tech . . . only to have to do manual entry and double work regularly.

Curing the church software disconnection: the integrated ministry platform

Here’s where Faithlife Equip comes in: with a single subscription (and a single login, bless!), your church unlocks a host of products that all work together. As the first-ever integrated ministry platform, Faithlife Equip gives your church all this:

The best part: we’re always adding more features. You can start right now and still get all the new perks as they roll out.

And along the way, you’ll enjoy the benefit of seamless integration and a single bill.

Speaking of a single bill . . . 

Comparing costs: the average church software setup vs. Faithlife Equip

If you picture a roller coaster car click click clicking to its peak hundreds of feet from the ground, then plummeting down as it barrels forward . . . you’ve got an idea of how fast the costs of church tech stacks add up. 

Take 10+ subscriptions multiplied by 10+ monthly/annual subscription charges, and the total can be breathtaking. 

Do you know how much your church spends per year on software? 

Here’s a look at how much a church of 150 might be spending—$518 per month ($6,216 annually).

But there’s another option: pay as little as $189.99 per month for everything.

Yep, that’s right. You can get all the capabilities listed above (and more) for less than half of other non-integrated solutions. 

See all that’s included with Faithlife Equip for as low as $189.99 per month—and how it all works together like a dream. 

Comparing costs: individual Faithlife products vs. Faithlife Equip

If you’re using only one or two Faithlife products, you’re getting a good deal. But you could get an even better deal with Faithlife Equip.

• Give your staff everything they need for smooth church administration, online giving, seamless team collaboration, a professionally designed church website, and more. 
• Give your pastor access to all of that plus a Logos Bible Software package that helps  cut the busywork from sermon preparation. 
• And even more exciting: give your members access to powerful Logos Bible software, $100s worth of Bible study resources, $1,000s worth in Bible courses from top teachers, and spiritually enriching Christian entertainment (documentaries, movies, and more).

The value of what’s included with Equip comes out to an astounding $20,500.96.

But Faithlife Equip doesn’t only save you money—it saves you tons of time by killing double-entry and busywork. As one example, here are just a few of the things you can do with your sermon using Faithlife Equip:

• Write your sermon in Logos.
• Build sermon slides in Logos that automatically push to Proclaim.
• Record your sermon audio in Proclaim.
• Publish the sermon on your podcast and save it to the archives with Sermons.
• Post the sermon automatically on your website with Faithlife Sites.

We could keep going (we haven’t even mentioned the ways your sermon gets updated in your church’s online community), but you get the picture. It’s work that could take hours, whittled down to a few clicks—and all because you’re using an integrated ministry platform.

Sign up and pay as low as $189.99 per month or $2,089.89 annually, based on your church size. Learn more today!