Free Church Software

Cheap, is great. But FREE church software is even better!

You do, of course, need to be aware that free often comes at a cost. The cost is that you typically don't get as many features as the paid versions. However, in many cases, the features you give up won't really affect your church too much.

It is also important to note that free church software is usually reserved for small or new churches. Few software packages are available free of charge to medium sized or established churches.

But if your congregation is small or you just planted your church, there are some free church software options for you.

Below are a few to consider.

ChurchTrac

"ChurchTrac is the perfect free church software solution for new church starts and for smaller churches. That's because smaller churches can use ChurchTrac for free. It is our ministry to the churches who might not otherwise be able to afford a quality church software program. Helping churches to more effectively minister is the heart behind what we do.

ChurchTrac is also a good choice for larger churches because it is a complete church management program priced reasonably. The program includes everything from membership management, attendance tracking, absentee follow-up, contributions and everything in between. It also is highly customizable, allowing churches to customize contents of certain fields as well as add their own fields for tracking information that isn't already built into the program.

One of the things that we hear frequently from our customers is how easy ChurchTrac is to use compared to other church software programs. ChurchTrac was designed from the beginning to be easy to learn and use. And when there are questions, churches can consult our online knowledgebase complete with video tutorials or access our free online support."

Visit their web site for complete information.

Bible.org

There are several bible study software programs that you can purchase. But there is one online that is absolutely free: the NET Bible. This includes an entire study bible translation, commentary notes, a place to write your own notes, word definition help, and much more. And yes, it's all free! You just need to set up an account so that your notes will be saved for you. Visit their web site for complete information.

Excellerate

"Excellerate church management software is a cutting-edge system designed to help today's growing churches operate at their best. Excellerate not only completely organizes all of your church information but will help you improve visitor follow-up, become proactive with member and leader development, analyze all of your small group details, simplify contribution reporting, and even streamline your child check-in process."

This free church software is free for up to 50 members. Visit their web site for complete information.

"The free version of Excellerate is a fully functioning version only limited to 50 members and 200 pre-members. This allows you to experience all of the features of Excellerate as a beginning church or for a larger church who wants to try before you buy. We give you 200 pre-members in the free version because we want to make sure you have the tools you need to follow-up on new visitors and get them connected into your church.

ShepherdBase

Ok, ShepherdBase isn't really free church software. But it is so low cost that it deserves to be mentioned on this page.

In their words:

"Need an affordable, user friendly church membership database? Shepherdbase could possibly be what you've been searching for.

Shepherdbase provides churches with a simple and easy solution to track church membership information, contribution records, church attendance and much more with unlimited memberships for only $34.99 so even small churches can enjoy its benefits! You will also receive two FREE Bonuses (Offering Envelope Templates & Offering Count Sheets)!

Shepherdbase was created specifically for small to medium-sized churches that oftentimes has volunteers who maintain the church records. These same volunteers are needing a database that is simple, inexpensive and user friendly to help save their time and organize their office.

Imagine these scenarios:

• The Pastor's wife calls you one hour before church service and tells you that church has been cancelled due to icy road conditions and bad weather. You search and can’t find your notebook with the church member's contact numbers. What do you do? Shepherdbase can quickly generate a printable report of church member's contact numbers.
• The Pastor's wife calls you and needs a list of church member's birthdays and anniversaries for a church newsletter she has been working on for tomorrow's service. What do you do? Shepherdbase can quickly generate a printable report of church member's birthdays and anniversaries.
• The Pastor calls you and tells you he needs a list of every member who missed church last Sunday as quickly as possible. What do you do? Shepherdbase can generate a printable report of every member's church attendance.

Do you have Access 2007 or 2010 in the Microsoft Office you purchased? Microsoft Access and Word 2007 or 2010 is all that is required to fully enjoy the benefits of Shepherdbase. If you don't have the program, you can purchase Microsoft Access 2010 online, from any office supply store such as Staples or even Ebay.

Shepherdbase Features & Benefits:

• Simple and easy to use church membership database.
• Access to unlimited church memberships.
• Tracks church membership information (name, address, phone, email, birth date, anniversary, etc.). Also, you can insert church member's picture on the member's form to help put a face with their name.
• Tracks church membership types (active, inactive) and church groups (member, president, secretary, visitor, etc.) and even church member's events.
• Tracks church member's attendance with access to attendance reports.
• Tracks church member's contributions by fund (general, building fund, missions) and generates weekly contribution reports.
• Tracks individual and family contributions with printable reports by date range or member's name, also printable Itemized Member Contribution Statements.
• Merges church member's contributions into an Annual Contribution Letter.
• Merges new church members into a "First Time Visitor Letter".
• Prints church membership directory (name, address, phone, etc.) and also member mailing labels.
• Shepherdbase has no security so you can modify the database if needed, and instructions on how to easily add security when needed.
• Includes a simple illustrated Concise User Guide with step-by-step instructions on how to set up and use Shepherdbase.
• Includes 24 hours a day/7 days-a-week email and/or phone support.
• Bonuses: Offering Count Sheet & Offering Envelope Templates (2).
• 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed- Absolutely No Questions Asked.

I created Shepherdbase so even the smallest churches can have the opportunity to have an affordable church software tool within their reach to help make their office run more smoothly and save their precious limited time. I'm the Church Secretary for our church and I know how stressful the secretarial duties can be so check out Shepherdbase and see how it can benefit you and your church."

Terressa Pierce, Visit her web site for more information - Affordable, User Friendly Church Membership Software.

CahabaCreek

Visit their web site for complete information.

Free Church Software Conclusion

When it comes to free church software, there really aren't a lot of choices – I'm sorry to have to tell you that. But as the above options show, there are some to choose from. But just because it's free, don't assume that they are the right choice for your church. It may be worth spending a little money to get something more suited to your church. Don't get me wrong – the above options are good. But in addition to free church software, consider church office software too.