"How much does it cost?" is the first question every church asks about a ChMS, and it's the one vendors are weirdly bad at answering. Some publish clear prices. Some make you sit through a demo first. A few won't tell you at all until a salesperson calls.
I don't love that. Your church's money is ministry money, and you deserve a straight number before you give anyone your phone number. So here are the real prices we could verify on each vendor's own pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
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The quick answer
For most small and mid-size churches, a church management system runs somewhere between free and about $80 a month. A few cost more, and the quote-only platforms built for big churches are a different conversation entirely.
But the sticker price is only half of it. How a vendor charges matters as much as how much.
The three ways ChMS vendors charge
1. Flat price. One number no matter how big you get. Breeze is the classic example at $72/mo. Easy to budget, a little rich if you're tiny.
2. By database size. You pay based on how many people are in the system. ChurchTrac, Churchteams, ChMeetings and One Church Software work this way. Cheap when you're small, and it climbs as you grow.
3. By module. You pay for each piece you turn on. Planning Center is the big one here. Its People database is free, and things like Services, Giving and Check-Ins are priced by usage.
Real published prices
| Tool | Starting price | How it scales | Our score |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChMeetings | Free (50 people) | 100 people $12/mo, 250 people $25/mo | 4.4/5 |
| Planning Center | People: free | Paid modules priced by usage | 4.2/5 |
| Flocknote | Free (0–40 members) | Complete: $75/mo+ | 4.1/5 |
| ChurchTrac | $29/mo (75 names) | 125 $39, 250 $59, 500 $79 | 3.9/5 |
| Churchteams | $37/mo (200 people) | Under 500 $67; 2,000 $97; 6,000 $147 | 4.4/5 |
| ChurchTools | $39/mo (100 people) | 200 $59; 500 $99; 1,000 $159 | Not yet rated |
| IconCMO | $50/mo (Basic) | Standard $75, Premium $125 | 3.9/5 |
| One Church Software | $58/mo (Core) | Rises with database size | 3.7/5 |
| Breeze | $72/mo (1,000 contacts) | Flat | 3.6/5 |
| Servant Keeper | $79.99/mo (Core) | Complete $159.99/mo | 3.4/5 |
| PowerChurch Plus | $445 one-time (Windows) | Online: $47/mo or $499/yr | 3.8/5 |
| ChurchCRM | Free (open source) | You pay for hosting | Not yet rated |
| Rock RMS | Free (open source) | You host and maintain it | 3.8/5 |
And then there's the "call us" group. Church Community Builder (Pushpay), MinistryPlatform, Realm, Fellowship One and a few others don't publish a price at all. That doesn't make them bad. It does mean you're negotiating, and with CCB, reviewers say annual contracts are standard.
The hidden costs that change the math
This is the part the pricing page doesn't put in big letters. Every one of these comes from real reviews or the vendor's own fine print.
- Modules add up. The most common Planning Center complaint is that costs add up as you add modules and people.
- Inactive people still count. With database-size pricing, inactive records count toward your bill. One Church Software reviewers call this out specifically. Clean your database once a year and you might drop a tier.
- Support isn't always included. PowerChurch Plus's $445 desktop license is a great deal, but free support only lasts 90 days. After that it's $40 per call or $330 a year.
- Add-ons. Servant Keeper reviewers mention rising costs for support, cloud and mobile add-ons. Breeze's worship tools are a $29/mo add-on.
- Texting. Breeze includes 250 texts a month, then $10 per 500. Churchteams charges 2¢ per text beyond 500.
- Giving fees. This is the big one. Your ChMS might be $50 a month, but your giving fees could be $500 a month. See church giving app fees compared.
- Your time. Rock RMS is free, but reviewers say you almost need a full-time person or team to roll it out and maintain it. Free software that eats a staff member isn't free.
Pay annually if you can
Several vendors knock money off for paying yearly. Servant Keeper says annual saves about 8%, and One Church Software says about 20%. If the tool is a keeper and your cash flow allows it, that's free money. Just make sure you've used it for a few months first. Don't prepay for a year of something you haven't tested on a real Sunday.
What I'd actually do
- Count your real people. Not everyone who's ever filled out a card. Active people.
- List what you need now, not what a demo made you want. Database, giving, check-in, scheduling, communication.
- Price out two or three tools from the table above at your size.
- Add the giving fees before you compare. That's often where the real difference is.
- Ask about the exit. How do you export your data if you leave?
If you're a small church, I've got a separate article on the best free and cheap ChMS for small churches. And you can browse every church management system we track, with the sourced pros and cons.
The goal isn't the cheapest tool. It's the one your people will actually use, at a price that doesn't steal from ministry.