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Giving platforms and church accounting

Online giving, fund accounting, donor statements, and the fees between a gift and the bank.

Giving and accounting used to be two pages here. A church does not decide them separately. The gift arrives through a processor, lands in a fund, and has to show up on a statement the giver can hand to an accountant, so the processor and the ledger are one purchase with two invoices. Count the fees in dollars a year at your real giving volume before you compare anything else.

The tools

  • Planning Center Giving

    Churches already keeping people records in Planning Center

    The lowest published card rate of the church processors we checked, and donor identity stays attached to the household record instead of living in a second database. The free tier stops at 10 donations a month, which almost every church clears.

    Who should skip it
    Skip it if your membership records live somewhere else, because the integration is most of the value.
    Price
    Card and debit processing at 2.15% + $0.30 in the US. Free up to 10 monthly donations, paid above that. Read on July 28, 2026 at planningcenter.com/pricing .

  • Tithe.ly

    Churches that want giving at no monthly charge and may add a site or app later

    Giving costs nothing a month, and the ACH rate at 1% + $0.30 is the number to point families toward. A church of 200 giving units moves real money by asking for bank transfer instead of card. The other products are separate subscriptions and the bundle only pays off if you use all of them.

    Who should skip it
    Skip the bundle if you already have a website and a church management system you like, and buy the giving product alone.
    Price
    Giving is $0 a month. Card and debit processing at 2.9% + $0.30, American Express at 3.5% + $0.30, ACH at 1% + $0.30. Their church management is $72 a month, a website is $19 a month, a custom app is $89 a month, the all-access bundle is $119 a month, and premium onboarding is $599 once. Read on July 28, 2026 at get.tithe.ly/pricing .

  • Givelify

    Churches whose givers will use a phone app and nothing else

    No monthly fee and a giving experience a first-time digital giver can finish in under a minute. There is no ACH option in the published fee schedule, so every gift carries a card rate. At a card rate of 2.9% + $0.30, a church receiving $300,000 a year in gifts of $100 pays roughly $9,600 in fees.

    Who should skip it
    Skip it if a meaningful share of your giving could move to bank transfer, because that is where the savings are.
    Price
    No signup fee and no monthly fee. Card processing at 2.9% + $0.30, American Express at 3.5% + $0.30. Read on July 28, 2026 at givelify.com/pricing .

  • Pushpay

    Large churches with someone who negotiates contracts for a living

    A polished product with a sales process attached. We checked their pricing page, and it publishes no rate and no fee schedule and asks you to book a demo. We have not signed a contract, so we have no figure to give you. Ask for the effective rate in writing, ask for the term length, and have an elder read it.

    Who should skip it
    Skip it if nobody at your church will read the whole agreement. A multi-year term you cannot explain to the congregation is not a stewardship decision.
    Price
    No price is published, and a church gets one only by talking to sales. Read on July 28, 2026 at pushpay.com/pricing .

  • Aplos

    Churches that want true fund accounting without an enterprise ledger

    Built for nonprofit and church books, so restricted and unrestricted funds are built into its structure. A treasurer can close a month in it without inventing a system first.

    Who should skip it
    Skip it if your bookkeeper already runs a clean chart of accounts elsewhere and your activity is simple.
    Price
    Monthly subscription by tier. We have not verified a current figure, so none is printed here. Ask for the tier list and the payroll add-on cost in writing.

  • QuickBooks Online

    Churches whose bookkeeper or CPA already lives in QuickBooks

    Every accountant in the country knows it, which lowers the cost of finding help and closing a review. Fund accounting is possible through classes and a disciplined chart of accounts, and it holds up when a competent person owns it.

    Who should skip it
    Skip it if nobody owns the books. The discipline is the product here, and without it the fund balances quietly stop meaning anything.
    Price
    Intuit subscription, priced by plan. We have not verified a current figure, so none is printed here, and accountant fees come on top.

Ask for these in writing

  • A published fee schedule for cards, ACH, and American Express, in writing, before signup
  • The effective rate worked out in dollars against last year total giving
  • ACH or bank transfer offered, so families can avoid card fees when they choose to
  • Designated fund records that match your chart of accounts line for line
  • Year-end statements a giver can hand to a tax preparer without a phone call
  • Restricted and unrestricted funds kept separate in the ledger, not in a spreadsheet beside it
  • Payroll that handles a minister housing allowance correctly in your state
  • Export for CPA review and for the board packet
  • Separation of duties written down: who enters, who approves, who reconciles