The 8 best text-to-give platforms for churches in 2026

Text-to-give lets donors contribute to your church via SMS by texting a keyword or amount to a short code or dedicated number. The donor gets a reply with a secure giving link and completes the donation through a mobile form, with the charge going to their card or bank account on file.

The right text-to-give platform really comes down to your church’s size, your budget, and what other tech you’re already using. Pushpay is the go-to for big churches (think 7 of the 10 largest in the U.S.) and has the best all-in-one church giving software. Planning Center optimizes for fee minimization, which works if your tech stack is already in their ecosystem. If you want straightforward monthly costs, Tithe.ly runs $19/month for text-to-give on its own. Subsplash throws in text-to-give for free with its giving product. Givelify is more of a mobile app than a true SMS text-to-give option. We’ll break down all eight platforms below—fees, features, and which churches they fit best—so you can find the one that makes sense for you.

Text-to-give in 2026

Text-to-give means that a church attendee is able to text a keyword or amount to your church’s dedicated number, receives an SMS reply with a secure giving link, and completes the donation through a mobile-optimized form. The donation is charged to the card or bank account on file — not to the donor’s phone bill. This replaced the older carrier-based model, which capped donations at $5–$10 and delayed payouts until donors paid their phone bills.

Before you pick a platform, check two things;

• Do you get your own dedicated number (which is better for branding and tracking), or are you sharing a short code or toll-free number with other churches?
• Does the platform let people give via ACH bank transfer through text? Most don’t—text-to-give is usually card-only, but you can often get ACH through the same provider’s website or app.

Quick comparison table

Pricing accurate as of April 2026; verify with vendor before purchase.

1. Pushpay—Best for mid-to-large U.S. churches

Pushpay is the only platform on this list that handles the payment flow end-to-end as a direct processor. That translates to a 95% transaction success rate against a 92% industry standard, next-day payouts instead of five-day waits, and no need to reach out to a third party if a donation fails. The text-to-give flow itself moves a repeat donor from SMS to completed gift in roughly six seconds via QuickGive. The broader giving suite covers every standard channel and adds stock and crypto via the Engiven integration. One representative result: LibertyLive.Church, on their third giving platform when they switched, moved recurring givers from 45% to 60% in their first year on Pushpay, with overall giving up 10%. Trade-off: pricing is quote-based, so smaller churches looking for a flat $19/month line item won’t find one. Rates scale with giving volume, which is why most churches over 500 members come out ahead of flat-rate processors. Everygift® also stands out as a feature that is adding incredible value to churches. Everygift is a collection of automated giving features that have been proven to add value to organizations by saving gifts from failure and growing donations.

Pushpay is used by 7 of the 10 largest U.S. churches and 84 of Outreach’s top 100. Best fit: mid-to-large U.S. churches running text-to-give as one channel inside a full giving stack.

2. Tithe.ly—Best for predictable pricing on a smaller budget

Tithe.ly’s “Text to Give” runs $19/month as a standalone subscription or is bundled into the $119/month All Access plan that adds ChMS, websites, and a custom church app. Per Tithe.ly’s official pricing, transactions are 2.9% + $0.30 on credit/debit, 3.5% + $0.30 on Amex, and ACH is not supported on text-to-give specifically (ACH is available at 1% + $0.30 through the web/app channel). Multi-campus churches get a dedicated text giving number per location at the single $19/month fee. Best fit: small-to-mid churches that want a clear monthly line item and a single login for giving + ChMS.

3. Subsplash—Best when text-to-give is part of a bigger app and media strategy

Subsplash includes text-to-give at no extra cost with Subsplash Giving, which itself has no monthly subscription fee. Card processing starts at 2.99% + $0.30 for Giving-only customers and drops to 2.3% + $0.30 under the Exclusive Partnership tier; ACH is 1% with no per-transaction fee. Subsplash launched the first church-app giving experience in 2009, so the platform’s strength is when text-to-give is one channel inside a broader app, livestream, and media ecosystem. Trade-offs: lowest rates require an app package (typically $149+/month per third-party reporting), and some users report multi-year contract terms.

4. Givelify—Best zero-commitment mobile giving (with a caveat)

Be aware that Givelify isn’t a true SMS text-to-give platform. It’s mobile-app-first: donors download the Givelify app, search for your church, and give in three taps. Givelify’s own blog argues against text-to-give in favor of app giving. If “text-to-give” is a hard requirement, Givelify won’t deliver it. As an app-based alternative, it’s the lowest-commitment option in the category: 2.9% + $0.30 on Visa/Mastercard/Discover and 3.5% + $0.30 on Amex, with no setup fees, no monthly fees, and no contracts. Trade-offs: no ACH, no website embed, no Planning Center or Breeze integrations, and no donor-covered-fee option. Best fit: small churches that want app-based giving with zero upfront risk.

5. Planning Center Giving—Best for lowest processing fees

Planning Center’s Text2Give costs $5/month for the toll-free number add-on and runs on the lowest fees in this comparison: 2.15% + $0.30 on cards, 0% + $0.30 on ACH bank transfers. Pricing for Giving itself is by total monthly donation count rather than feature tiers, so a church with 500 batched cash entries pays the same as one with 200 cash plus 300 online. Trade-offs: You’ll get the most value if your church already lives in the broader Planning Center ecosystem (Services, People, Check-Ins, etc.).

6. Vanco—Best for mainline and denominational churches

Vanco serves over 25,000 churches and gives each one its own dedicated 10-digit text number rather than a shared shortcode. Members text an amount, get a confirmation, and reply “Repeat” or “Recurring” to convert to a recurring schedule. Customer support is free, and 24/7. Pricing is package-based and quote-driven; Amex runs 3.99%, ACH return fees are $5/transaction, chargebacks are $25, and there’s a $23.95/month PCI non-compliance fee plus a $10/month fee if you fail to launch within 30 days. No contracts or cancellation fees. Best fit: mainline Protestant, Catholic, and denominationally-affiliated churches that need responsive support and dedicated numbers without enterprise pricing.

7. Donorbox—Best for faith-based nonprofits with mixed campaign types

Donorbox serves several types of nonprofits—schools and political campaigns, alongside ministries—making it a fit for churches that also run events, peer-to-peer, and membership programs. Text-to-Give is a paid add-on at $19/month basic or $50/month for a dedicated short code. The Standard plan is $0/month with a 2.95% platform fee plus Stripe processing (Stripe nonprofit rate is 2.2% + $0.30). Pro and Premium plans start at $150/month and reduce platform fees to 1.75%. On the basic Text-to-Give plan, donors text your campaign ID to a shared toll-free (1-888-575-7888), receive a link, and reply “YES” to repeat. Trade-offs: not church-specific, platform fees compound at scale, and the basic Text-to-Give number is shared.

8. ChurchTrac—Best budget-conscious small-church option

ChurchTrac bundles text giving into every paid subscription at no additional monthly cost, with online giving processed through a direct Stripe integration. Stripe’s standard rate is 2.9% + $0.30 on cards and $0.25 flat on ACH; nonprofits that qualify with Stripe drop to 2.2% + $0.30 on cards. ChurchTrac itself takes $0 of the processing fee—they make money on the ChMS subscription, which starts at $9/month and scales by names tracked. Setup uses ChurchTrac’s shared phone number by default; the recommended path is connecting your own Twilio number for “Give”-keyword auto-replies. Trade-offs: You handle your own Stripe nonprofit negotiation, and Twilio adds setup work. Best fit: small churches under 200 members.

How to choose the right text-to-give platform

Three filters cut the decision down quickly:

Start with your church size and giving volume. If you’re under 200 members, every dollar counts—ChurchTrac, Planning Center, and Givelify are your best bets for keeping subscription costs low. Pushpay is the default for 200 and above if you want analytics, a custom branded app, and donor coaching built in. Subsplash makes more sense if your giving channel is the app itself.

Next, look at what you’re already using. If your church is on Planning Center, you can add Planning Center Giving. If you want a custom-branded app and giving in one, Subsplash and Pushpay are your top options. And if you’re on Breeze (now called Tithe.ly ChMS), Tithe.ly’s All Access bundle is the easiest way to go.

Finally, think about what matters most for your donors. If text-to-give is your main giving channel, go for a platform with dedicated phone numbers like Pushpay, Vanco, Tithe.ly, Subsplash, or Planning Center.

Frequently asked questions

How much does text-to-give cost for a church?

Text-to-give costs range from $0 to $50+ per month in subscription fees depending on the platform, plus processing fees of typically 2.15%–2.99% + $0.30 per credit-card transaction. Planning Center charges $5/month for the toll-free number; Tithe.ly and Donorbox offer text-to-give at $19/month; Pushpay, Subsplash, Givelify, ChurchTrac, and Vanco include it with their giving platform.

What is the difference between text-to-give and text-to-donate?

Text-to-give in 2026 is technically text-to-donate: the donor texts a keyword or amount, receives a secure link, and completes the donation through a mobile form charged to a card or ACH. The older carrier-billed text-to-give model, where donations were added to the donor’s phone bill and capped at $5 or $10, has been largely phased out by modern church giving platforms.

Are text-to-give donations tax-deductible?

Yes. Text-to-give donations to a qualified 501(c)(3) church are tax-deductible identically to any other donation method. All eight platforms in this comparison automatically generate tax receipts for donors and year-end giving statements for the church.

Does text-to-give require donors to download an app?

No. SMS-based text-to-give platforms (Pushpay, Tithe.ly, Subsplash, Planning Center, Vanco, Donorbox, ChurchTrac) work with any phone that can send a text message and open a web link. Givelify is the exception: it’s app-based rather than SMS-based, so donors do need to download the Givelify app.

Can text-to-give donations be set up as recurring?

Yes. All eight platforms allow donors to convert a one-time text gift into a recurring schedule, typically by replying “Repeat,” “Recurring,” or “YES” to the confirmation message, or by toggling a recurring option on the giving form they reach via SMS link.

Is text-to-give safe and PCI-compliant?

Yes. All eight platforms are PCI-DSS compliant. Donor card data is tokenized (replaced with a non-sensitive identifier) so the church never stores raw card numbers. Donors authenticate through the platform’s secure mobile form, not via SMS itself.

Bottom line

In 2026, text-to-give should be just one part of your overall giving strategy—not the whole plan. The best platform is the one that fits your current tech, matches how your members actually want to give, and balances monthly costs with per-transaction fees. If you’re a mid-to-large church that cares most about donor experience and analytics, Pushpay is probably your best bet. Want to see it in action? Check out a demo or talk to an expert about your options.

Sources: Tithe.ly text-to-give fees help doc, Tithe.ly transaction pricing, Tithe.ly pricing page, Subsplash giving processing fees support article, Subsplash giving pricing, Subsplash giving product page, Buildify pricing analysis of Subsplash, Givelify pricing page, Givelify post arguing against text-to-give, ChurchMemberPro on Givelify, Planning Center pricing, Planning Center Giving processing fee calculator, Planning Center text-to-give announcement, Planning Center pricing FAQ, Donorbox pricing FAQ, Donorbox pricing page, Donorbox text-to-give for churches guide, Donorbox text-to-give platforms comparison, Vanco pricing page, Vanco eGiving product page, Vanco text-to-give guide, ChurchTrac online giving fees, ChurchTrac giving features, ChurchTrac pricing, ChurchTrac online giving setup, ChurchTrac fee comparison post