The best church giving platforms for a church plant with no staff

Before launch, the planter is also the finance office. They build the giving page. They answer the text from a donor whose card was declined. In January, they pull year-end giving statements while writing a sermon series.

Any giving platform can take a card. For a plant with no staff, the better question is how much of that work the platform handles on its own.

This comparison covers Tithe.ly, Givelify, Planning Center, Stripe, and Pushpay. It uses each vendor’s current pricing as of September 2026. Rates can change over time, so confirm with the vendor before you sign anything.

The short answer

Suppose your plant is affiliated with a church planting network and your public launch is 6 to 18 months away. In that case, apply for Pushpay’s church plant technology grant before you set up anything else. Qualified pre-launch plants get 12 months of the full Pushpay platform at no subscription cost: Giving with Everygift®, ChMS and a mobile app. Text giving is included, and you launch a system that will support your growth, even when you’ve scaled up to a few thousand people.

If you don’t qualify, or you need giving live next week at zero monthly cost, Tithe.ly’s free giving plan or Givelify gets you there with the least setup. If your team already schedules volunteers in Planning Center, Planning Center Giving has the lowest published card rate of the group. Stripe alone isn’t a church giving platform, and a plant without a developer should skip it.

Fees and features side by side

Where Pushpay fits a new church

Pushpay’s reputation comes from the top of the market, where 7 of the 10 largest U.S. churches run on it. The church plant program brings that same platform to a church that hasn’t held its first service.

The grant isn’t a trial or a stripped-down tier. Qualified plants get the same Giving, ChMS and mobile app that established multi-site churches run, free for 12 months.

Eligibility is specific. Your plant has to be affiliated with a recognized church planting network or organization and be 6 to 18 months from its public launch. The application confirms eligibility through your network.

Here’s what that covers for a plant with no staff:

• Recurring giving that keeps running between Sundays: Everygift® includes recurring gift protection and failed payment recovery. When a donor’s card expires, Pushpay handles it automatically, so a volunteer doesn’t have to chase the donor.
• One record per person from the first visit: The ChMS creates a single profile when someone first gives or walks through the door. It adds automated follow-up workflows, kids check-in and Pushpay Insights, which flags people who are disengaging before they leave.
• Setup finished before launch: Your Pushpay team walks you through onboarding during pre-launch, so giving is tested before your first Sunday. Plants also get a Recurring Giving Playbook, setup guides and a cohort of other plants at the same stage.

The bigger advantage shows up in year three. Pushpay scales from your first 50 people to 10,000-plus without a platform switch or retraining. For plants that already started on another giving tool, Pushpay has a migration process that includes a process for moving recurring givers over.

Pastor Dylan Jones of NEUMA Church in Los Angeles described the reasoning plainly: “We didn’t want temporary tools for a permanent mission.”

Budget for year two. After 12 months, the church moves to standard subscription pricing and works out a plan with its dedicated Pushpay contact. By then, you’ll have a year of giving data behind that conversation.

Processing isn’t covered by the grant. Pushpay’s rates vary with total giving volume:

• Card gifts: 2.1% to 2.9% plus $0.20 to $0.30 each.
• Bank transfers: 0.5% to 1.0% plus $0.20 to $0.30 each.

Plants outside a formal network may not fit the grant yet, but Pushpay works with independent plants on pricing for their stage.

Tithe.ly and Givelify, the fee-only route

Both platforms let a plant take gifts this week with no monthly bill.

• Tithe.ly: The Giving plan costs $0 to set up and $0 a month. Card gifts cost 2.9% plus $0.30 and bank transfers cost 1% plus $0.30.
• Givelify: It charges a flat 2.9% plus $0.30 per donation, with no signup fee, monthly fee or contract. Deposits arrive the next business day.

On a $100 card gift, either one takes $3.20. For a plant receiving a few dozen gifts a month, that’s the whole cost, and at that stage it’s a sensible choice.

The cost shows up later.

• Tithe.ly’s free tier covers giving only. The member database, app and website sit on paid plans. Text giving costs $19 a month on its own.
• Givelify is a giving app. Once the plant needs a people database, kids check-in and follow-up, you either run a second system alongside it or move your recurring givers somewhere else.

Moving recurring givers means asking donors to set their gifts up again, unless the new platform has a migration process for them.

Starting on a free tool may be a good budget move at this point in time, but the question is: will the platform support you five years from now?

Planning Center Giving for teams already in Services

If your worship team is already scheduled in Planning Center Services, Giving uses the same people records. Donors can check past gifts and change their recurring donations in Church Center, and those changes sync back to the admin side.

• Giving plan: Giving is free up to 10 donations a month and priced by monthly donation count after that.
• Other modules: The People database and the Church Center app are free.
• Processing fees: Planning Center says it makes $0 from processing fees.

Each Planning Center product carries its own plan. That suits a planter who likes choosing parts. It’s more work for a planter who doesn’t want to size and manage several subscriptions.

Should a church plant use Stripe?

Stripe moves money from a card to your bank account. It doesn’t include a donation page, donor records, recurring gift management or tax receipts. You’d build or buy each of those.

The nonprofit discount comes with conditions. You have to apply and provide tax documentation, and more than 80% of your Stripe volume has to come from tax-deductible donations. A plant still operating under its sending church’s paperwork may not be able to apply yet.

Stripe direct makes sense when someone on your launch team can build and maintain a donation form, receipts and year-end statements without being paid for it. So, in all likelihood, the answer is, no, church plants shouldn’t rely on Stripe.

The work a volunteer ends up doing

Ask every vendor about these four areas before you choose:

• Failed payments: A recurring gift that fails on an expired card stops until someone notices. Ask what happens automatically when a card expires or a bank transfer bounces.
• Donor self-service: Donors should be able to change the amount, card and frequency of their gifts without contacting the church.
• Year-end statements: Ask whether statements go out from the platform, or whether you export them and send them yourself.
• QR codes and text giving: For a portable church, a QR code on the welcome table and a text-to-give number cover Sunday. Check whether text giving adds a monthly charge. Tithe.ly charges $19 a month for it, and Planning Center charges $5 a month for the number. Text giving is included with Pushpay’s church giving software.

Pricing out your first year

Start with two estimates: your first-year online giving and your average gift. Divide giving by average gift to get your gift count.

For each platform, multiply the gift count by the per-gift fee at your average gift size. Then add 12 months of every subscription you’d use, including text giving and any ChMS or app plan.

Here’s an example: $40,000 in first-year online giving at a $50 average gift is 800 card gifts.

• Tithe.ly or Givelify: $1.75 per gift, or $1,400 for the year, before any ChMS or app plan.
• Planning Center: about $1.38 per gift, or $1,100 for the year. Add the Giving plan cost too, because 800 gifts a year exceeds the free tier of 10 donations a month.
• Pushpay under the grant: a $0 subscription for Giving, ChMS and the app. Processing runs $1.25 to $1.75 per gift, or $1,000 to $1,400 for the year, depending on where your volume lands in Pushpay’s range.

At the top of its range, Pushpay’s per-gift cost equals Tithe.ly’s and Givelify’s. The difference is that the grant also covers the ChMS and app, which those platforms either charge for separately or don’t offer.

Questions church planters ask

Is Tithe.ly free for church giving?

The Giving plan has no setup or monthly fee. You still pay processing on every gift, and the church management system, app and website cost extra.

Which platform has the lowest fees per gift?

Planning Center Giving charges a flat 2.15% plus $0.30 on cards. Pushpay’s card rate varies with total giving volume, from 2.1% plus $0.20 to 2.9% plus $0.30, so ask Pushpay for your rate before comparing. Stripe’s nonprofit rate falls in the same range, but it comes without donation tools.

Is Pushpay a fit for a plant with no staff?

Yes, especially if the plant qualifies for the grant. It covers the full platform subscription for 12 months, and onboarding happens before launch, so giving is tested before your first Sunday.

Can recurring donors move between platforms?

It depends on the platform you’re moving to. Pushpay’s migration process includes tools for moving recurring givers.

If your public launch is 6 to 18 months out, send the grant application this month. Onboarding happens during pre-launch, and applying now leaves time for your core team to test giving before your first Sunday.