- Starting price
- $0 · Standard $19–$29/mo · Pro $49–$59/mo
- Free tier
- Yes
- Platforms
- Web administration · iPhone · iPad · Android · member portal
- Developer
- Gracely LLC
- Launched
- 2023 platform · 2025 member app
- Updated
- Aug 2, 2026
The verdict
Gracely may be the most credible low-cost full ChMS option for a small church that has outgrown spreadsheets. The free plan covers unlimited people, families, groups, events, attendance, chat and two administrators; Standard adds giving, contributions, pledges, tax statements, follow-up, a portal, directory and 500 monthly emails; Pro adds accounting, forms, child check-in, appointments, paid events, rooms, volunteers, multiple campuses and unlimited email and admins. The My Gracely app gives members events, RSVPs, groups, chat, giving history, forms, attendance and per-field directory privacy. Those are meaningful capabilities at $0–$59 per month. The reservation is trust maturity: Apple lists linked contacts, messages, photos and sensitive information; Google paradoxically says no data collected, financial information may be shared and deletion is unavailable; directory fields begin visible when enabled until a member changes them; and public documentation does not replace a security assessment. Pilot the complete workflow, verify finance and child controls, require MFA, export and deletion answers, and compare support and resilience—not price alone.
Try Gracely ↗Opens gracely.io
Gracely is a cloud church-management system and My Gracely is its congregation-facing mobile app. Leaders use the web platform for people and family records, groups, events, attendance, communication, giving and contribution tracking, accounting, forms, check-in, appointments, facilities, volunteers, websites and reporting. Members use the app or portal to update a profile, see their family, browse events, RSVP, join groups, receive announcements, chat, give, see giving history, complete forms and review attendance.
The pricing model is unusually simple. Every listed plan allows unlimited members. Free supports the basic people and engagement database, ten emails per month and two admins. Standard is currently shown at $19 per month on annual billing or $29 month-to-month and adds the financial and member-portal layer with up to ten admins. Pro is shown at $49 or $59 and adds operational modules plus unlimited admins and emails. The site advertises a 30-day Pro trial without a card and free migration.
Giving is not costless even though Gracely says it adds no platform percentage. The current page quotes Stripe processing of 2.2% plus $0.30 per transaction. Eligibility, card type, international payment, ACH, chargeback and nonprofit-rate conditions can change the effective price; verify the actual processor agreement. SMS requires a $5 monthly number subscription, a $30 activation fee and $0.02 per message after introductory credits. A custom website domain costs another $19 monthly.
This independent review is based on the current official product, pricing, privacy, terms and help pages; exact Apple and Google listings; release history; store ratings and reviews; and faith.tools. We did not create a church, migrate records, invite members, process a gift, reconcile accounting, check in a child, send email or SMS, test the directory, inspect roles or audits, contact support, review a SOC report or penetration test, or perform legal, tax, safeguarding, accessibility, security or code testing.
✓ The good
- Exceptional entry price - unlimited people, families, groups, events and attendance remain available on a real free plan
- Flat paid tiers - Standard and Pro do not meter member count, making growth easier to budget than per-person pricing
- Broad Pro scope - accounting, forms, child check-in, appointments, paid events, rooms, resources, volunteers and multiple campuses live together
- Member self-service - the app supports profiles, events, groups, messages, giving history, forms, attendance and a personalized dashboard
- Improved directory control - members can now hide photo, email, phone and address separately instead of accepting one all-or-nothing setting
- Free migration and trial - lowering switching and evaluation cost is especially valuable for small churches with messy legacy spreadsheets
✗ Watch out
- Privacy disclosures conflict - Apple lists extensive linked data while Google says no collection, financial sharing and no deletion
- Sensitive database concentration - contact, family, child, attendance, giving, message, health-adjacent and pastoral data require mature controls
- Directory defaults need review - the help page says details are visible once the directory is enabled unless a member changes field settings
- Low price may imply support trade-offs - Standard lists email support and public terms say support depends on the purchased plan
- Small mobile evidence base - high Apple ratings and improving Google reviews still represent only a few dozen people
- Public security evidence is limited - organizations should not infer MFA, logging, recovery, testing or incident readiness from encryption-in-transit claims
Best for
- Small and midsize churches replacing spreadsheets or several disconnected free tools with one affordable system
- Growing churches that want unlimited member records and predictable software fees rather than per-person pricing
- Churches needing people, groups, events, attendance and communication now, with giving or accounting added later
- Teams willing to configure permissions, directory privacy, finance segregation, child check-in and retention before inviting everyone
Avoid if
- Your denomination or insurer requires independently published security certification, formal uptime commitments or a long enterprise track record before adoption
- You need 24/7 phone support, deep custom integrations, a mature public API or complex multi-entity accounting that has not been demonstrated in a pilot
- Your church will enable child, finance and pastoral data without separate roles, MFA, background-checked staff, audit review and tested exports
- The Google deletion statement or mismatch between mobile privacy labels cannot be resolved contractually before member rollout
What Gracely is
Gracely is a multi-tenant system of record. Each church controls its congregation database and authorizes staff and members; Gracely hosts the software and acts as a service provider or processor for much of the church-entered data. The public privacy notice distinguishes Gracely’s controller role for its own website and customer billing from its processor role for donations and church service data. The church remains responsible for lawful collection, accurate permissions and responding to members in many circumstances.
My Gracely extends selected records to members. That is valuable because people can correct contact information, manage directory visibility and see their own activity instead of asking an administrator. It also makes mobile configuration part of the security boundary. A church must define which roles can see addresses, families, attendance, gifts, messages, forms, child details and accounting; remove access immediately after staff or volunteers leave; and review privileges regularly.
Unlimited people at every price makes a real ChMS accessible to small churches
Many church systems become expensive as attendance or record count grows, encouraging leaders to delete inactive people or keep data outside the system. Gracely’s unlimited-member policy removes that particular pressure. A church can start with Free, establish clean people, family, group, event and attendance practices, then add Standard or Pro modules when the need is proven.
Unlimited records are not the same as unlimited governance. Old duplicates, deceased members, children who age out, visitors who never consented to ongoing contact and years of sensitive notes can create risk. Define record purpose, owner, review date and deletion or archive rule before importing everything simply because storage appears free.
People, groups, events and communication form a useful free foundation
The Free plan includes unlimited people and family records, group management, event management, attendance, in-app chat and two administrators. That is enough for a small church to replace several spreadsheets, see who belongs to what, record participation and keep internal conversation with the relevant group. Ten monthly emails are only a trial-sized allowance, so larger communication requires Standard, Pro or SMS credits.
Start with data standards rather than screens: define household relationships, preferred names, consent, status, group ownership, attendance purpose, duplicate handling and who may add notes. Limit administrative access, require individual accounts and test an export early. The terms prohibit shared logins, which is good practice; the church should also require MFA if the product supports it and insist on a roadmap if it does not.
Giving, accounting and tax records can reduce re-entry but increase consequence
Standard adds donations, contributions, pledges, batches and tax statements, while Pro adds a church accounting system and financial reports. The member app can initiate gifts and show giving history. Integrating these records can reduce duplicate entry and give leaders a clearer picture than payment exports plus a separate ledger.
Do not adopt accounting from a feature list alone. Test fund restrictions, refunds, chargebacks, recurring gifts, cash and checks, batches, bank reconciliation, year-end statements, donor anonymity, household attribution, fiscal years, audit trail, approval separation, locking periods, exports and accountant access. Confirm processor pricing and settlement, and never let one person create, approve, reconcile and report the same transaction chain.
Child check-in and the member directory need privacy-by-default configuration
Pro includes child check-in, and the app’s directory can display a member’s photo, email, phone and home address. A strong June 2026 improvement lets each member hide those fields independently, while authenticated church members—not the public or other churches—see the directory. Administrators can still view and change contact data.
The help page says fields are visible by default after the directory is turned on. A safer launch would notify every member, default addresses and children to hidden, and require an affirmative choice. Child check-in needs guardian authorization, allergy and medical minimization, custody alerts, secure labels, pickup verification, volunteer restrictions, incident handling and rapid deletion of temporary data. Directory visibility controls do not restrict administrators, so role access remains critical.
Pricing
Free
$0/month
Unlimited people, families, groups, events and attendance; in-app chat; up to ten emails monthly; two admins; and a 30-day Pro feature trial.
Standard
$19 annual · $29 monthly
Adds online giving, contributions, pledges, batches, tax statements, follow-up, church portal, member directory, 500 emails monthly, ten admins and standard email support.
Pro
$49 annual · $59 monthly
Adds accounting, forms, child check-in, appointments, paid events, rooms and resources, volunteer scheduling, multi-campus, unlimited admins and email, and priority email support.
Add-ons and payments
Variable
SMS: $5/month plus $30 activation and $0.02/message after credits. Custom domain: $19/month. Giving processor quote: 2.2% + $0.30, subject to actual Stripe terms.
Gracely’s annual equivalents are compelling: Standard saves $120 per year relative to $29 monthly, and Pro saves $120 relative to $59 monthly, assuming the displayed annual prices are monthly equivalents billed for a year. Confirm billing cadence, refund and renewal terms before paying. The free plan is valuable enough to conduct a data and workflow pilot without immediately committing.
Calculate the complete price. Add payment processing, SMS number and messages, custom domain, staff implementation, data cleanup, label equipment, training, accounting review, integration work, backups and exit testing. Free migration is useful, but the church must validate every household, gift total, fund, child relationship, attendance date and consent after import.
Low cost changes the competitive comparison but not the required controls. Ask the same questions you would ask a much larger vendor: ownership, subprocessors, data location, encryption, MFA, roles, logs, penetration testing, incidents, uptime, backups, disaster recovery, support response, export format, deletion and vendor continuity. Price is a benefit only if the system remains trustworthy and available.
Where Gracely falls behind
Mobile disclosure accuracy. Reconcile Apple’s linked contacts, messages, photos and sensitive information with Google’s “no data collected,” financial sharing and no-deletion statements, feature by feature and platform by platform.
Privacy defaults. Make directory fields hidden until members choose visibility, especially home address and children. Explain administrator access, exports, screenshots, departed members and cross-household relationships.
Security transparency. Publish supported MFA methods, role matrix, audit events, encryption scope, subprocessor list, data regions, penetration-test summary, incident notification, backup and recovery objectives and vulnerability reporting.
Plan and credit consistency. The pricing section mentions 100 starting SMS credits while a later FAQ says ten. Correct the number and publish complete message segmentation, carrier, number-registration and overage rules.
Finance documentation. Provide clear accounting basis, fund controls, reconciliation, period close, approvals, audit export, statement correction, processor eligibility and tax-report limitations; software is not accounting or tax advice.
Accessibility and support. Apple shows no declared accessibility support, and low-cost tiers rely on email. Publish conformance testing, status history, support targets, incident escalation and training coverage before churches make the app essential.
Gracely vs. Planning Center vs. Breeze
Gracely wins the published-price comparison for many small churches. Unlimited people and a functional free tier undercut mature modular suites, while $49–$59 Pro bundles accounting, check-in, forms, volunteers, facilities and multi-campus functions. Planning Center is more mature and modular, with particular strength in services, check-ins, registrations, groups, people, giving and a widely adopted Church Center experience.
Breeze emphasizes approachable small-church people, giving, events, forms and communication with a longer market history. Tithe.ly is giving-first and expands into apps, websites, messaging and church management. Subsplash is a broader premium digital front door covering media, apps, web, giving, messaging and engagement.
Choose Gracely when budget, unlimited records and one bundled toolset dominate and the pilot proves controls and support. Choose Planning Center for mature modular operations, Breeze for established simplicity, Tithe.ly for a giving-centered stack or Subsplash for polished media and branded engagement. Export the same sample people, event, child and giving workflows through every finalist before deciding.
The bottom line
Gracely makes a serious ChMS financially reachable: $0 people and attendance management, a $19–$29 Standard plan with giving and member tools, and a $49–$59 Pro plan with accounting, check-in, forms, volunteers, facilities and unlimited administration. The actively improved My Gracely app brings events, groups, chat, giving history, forms and directory control to members. That combination is worth a real trial. It is not permission to skip diligence. The database may hold the church’s most sensitive information, mobile privacy labels conflict, Google says deletion is unavailable, addresses begin visible when directory access is enabled, and child and finance modules amplify mistakes. Run a representative pilot, clean data before migration, lock down roles, confirm MFA and audit behavior, test giving and check-in edge cases, verify exports and deletion, and obtain written security and support answers before making Gracely the system of record.
Alternatives to Gracely
Planning CenterA mature modular church suite with strong services, people, check-ins, groups, registrations, giving, workflows and publishing.
BreezeAn established small-church ChMS focused on approachable people, giving, events, forms and communication.
Tithe.lyA giving-first church technology stack expanding into apps, websites, messaging, people and events.
SubsplashA premium church platform spanning branded apps, media, websites, giving, messaging, engagement and integrations.Frequently asked questions
How much does Gracely cost?
The current page lists Free at $0, Standard at $19 per month with annual billing or $29 month-to-month, and Pro at $49 annual or $59 monthly. Verify billing cadence and current terms.
Does Gracely charge per member?
No. The public pricing page says every plan includes unlimited members. Limits instead apply to administrators, email and feature modules.
What is included in Gracely Free?
Unlimited people, families, groups, events and attendance, in-app chat, up to ten emails monthly and two administrators, plus a 30-day trial of Pro features.
What does the My Gracely app do?
Members can update profiles, see family information, browse events, RSVP, join groups, receive announcements, chat, give, see giving history, complete forms, view attendance and control directory visibility.
What are Gracely giving fees?
Gracely says it adds no platform fee and currently quotes Stripe processing at 2.2% plus $0.30. Confirm eligibility, payment method, chargebacks, international cards and actual processor terms.
Is the Gracely member directory private?
It is limited to authenticated members of the same church. Members can hide photo, email, phone and address separately, but fields are visible by default once the directory is enabled and admins retain access.
Is Gracely secure?
Google says data is encrypted in transit, and the policy includes processor and subprocessor commitments. That is not a full security assessment; request MFA, roles, audit, testing, incident, backup, recovery and deletion evidence.
Sources & further reading
More Church Management Software
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CalledA thoughtfully designed church-community layer for chat, groups, prayer, events, and shepherding—stronger on engagement than full ChMS operations, with a costly pricing cliff and conflicting youth rules.
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ClearstreamBootstrapped since 2010, founder-owned, church-only since around 2016, with the deepest integration list in church texting and a compliance position most buyers never think to ask about - sold on a credit ladder that punishes buying too small.