ChMeetings vs. Subsplash: Finding the right fit between church management and digital engagement
Selecting a church management system (ChMS) shapes how your church organizes people, manages giving, runs events, and engages members both in person and online. Two platforms often compared are ChMeetings, known for its affordability and ease of use, and Subsplash, recognized for its mobile app and media engagement tools. While both cover core areas like people management, donations, and event planning, they differ in cost structure, depth of features, and long-term fit. This guide walks through their capabilities side-by-side, to help you find which system may be suitable for your church.
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Five Ways ChMeetings Stands Out (Versus Subsplash)
Transparent, affordable pricing:
ChMeetings publishes pricing tiers and offers a free plan for smaller congregations. This makes it lower-risk for smaller churches to start using and test before scaling. In contrast, Subsplash does not make its pricing public.Strong built-in accounting tools:
ChMeetings includes true fund accounting, built for churches; with budgeting, income and expense tracking, reconciliation, check printing, and financial reports as part of the package. While Subsplash focuses heavily on giving, its deeper accounting features are less of a highlight and such tasks may depend on external integrations or exports.Admin and Member Mobile App:
The ChMeetings mobile app offers 99% of the features, so you can manage pretty much everything on-the-go, without needing a computer. The app is available for members too, regardless of your plan. Subsplash’s mobile app only appears to be member-facing, with administrative tasks requiring the web app.Better cohesion in core ChMS features:
Because ChMeetings’ design is centered around church operations (people, events, giving, check-in, etc.) rather than media-first, the core ChMS features tend to be more seamless together. Subsplash is built of separate products and may present some challenges in terms of feature alignment between modules.Focused on great customer experience:
ChMeetings emphasizes an intuitive interface and good support channels (without hidden fees), aiming to minimize your learning curve. Subsplash is more complex due to its product-based nature, and charges $89/month for better quality support.
What is ChMeetings?
ChMeetings is a cloud-based church management system (ChMS) that works for churches of all sizes and denominations, with tools for membership management, communications, mobile and media engagement, events, volunteer scheduling, check-in, giving, accounting, reporting, and more. In short: ChMeetings is a well-rounded, budget-friendly platform that covers most of the
everyday administrative and ministry needs of a church, maintaining a good balance between affordability and scalability.
What is Subsplash?
Subsplash is a platform built around church engagement and digital presence, combining church management tools (ChMS) with media, a mobile app, giving, content, and streaming capabilities. Subsplash focuses more on engagement, content, and app/media integration, and less on church administration.
Core Features Comparison
Let’s now go through a quick comparison of core features for both ChMeetings, and Subsplash.
| Feature | ChMeetings | Subsplash |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-device access | Fully cloud-based SaaS; accessible via web browsers and mobile app. | Also a cloud solution, with mobile, tv, and web access. |
| Cost | There is a free plan offering all the essentials, and paid plans start as low as $12/month or $120/year. The highest cost is $60/month or $600/year, and there is a custom plan available for more advanced requirements. | Pricing is not public. |
| People Management | Strong people module: member profiles, contact info, group assignments, transfers, merges, search, member directory, member access to the church app, and more. | Subsplash includes a people database integrated with events, groups, apps, and giving modules. |
| Giving | Supports in-person and online giving, recurring gifts, multiple funds, donation history, integration into the built-in church accounting feature, reports, and more. | Strong giving features, linking giving to app presence, analytics, or donor engagement. The donation module is a core feature of Subsplash. |
| Pledges | Supports pledges, as part of the Contribution module that tracks both donations and pledge campaigns. | Supports pledge campaigns as part of their Giving product. |
| Accounting | Offers built-in financial tools for tracking funds, budgets, income and expense streams, reporting, and more. | Subsplash does not offer deep accounting; they integrate giving and donor tracking but accounting integration is done more via exports or third-party tools. |
| Events | Full event module with registration, event calendar, paid or free events, reminders, checkin, volunteers, and more. | Offers an event & registration module, integrated with the mobile app and media content. |
| Volunteer Management | Volunteer scheduling comes with role assignments, signups, reminders, and more, within a dedicated feature, part of the Events module. | Volunteer management is supported, within the people and events modules. |
| Check-in | Checkin and Child check-in with nametag printing are included as part of the Events module. | Supports check-in and child check-in via its ChMS features. |
| Mobile App / Branded App | There is a free ChMeetings mobile app available to all users (admins and members, including with the free plan). A branded app add-on is available for an extra cost of $50/month or $500/year. | Subsplash offers custom mobile apps that are integrated with their relevant products. |
| Support | ChMeetings offers excellent, free-of charge support, plus live demos, documentation, a help center, a blog, and a responsive, dedicated team. | Subsplash provides support, as well as other resources, including a help center, blog, and other helpful content for churches. However, if you need fast, pro support, it costs $89/month. |
| Free Plan | ChMeetings offers a free plan for small churches of up to 50 members. This plan comes with all the essentials, including a free mobile app for both admins and members. | Subsplash only offers their Giving product for free. Plans including church management are only available with paid plans. |
| Free Trial | There is a 30-days free trial available, to try almost all ChMeetings features yourself (with some security-minded exceptions). Learn more. | Subsplash offers demos for their platform, but individual access may require a subscription. |
Detailed Feature Comparison Table
Let’s now take a look at a detailed feature comparison table that goes through most features offered by each platform.
| Feature | ChMeetings | Subsplash |
|---|---|---|
| All-in-one solution | Yes | No |
| People Profiles (store, manage) | Yes | Yes (basic) |
| Email (bulk sending) | Yes | Yes |
| Email Designer (drag & drop) | Yes | No |
| SMS | Yes | Yes |
| Push Notifications | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled Email / SMS / Push | Yes | No |
| Mobile App (member + admin tools) | Yes | Yes (member-facing only) |
| Custom Profile Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Conditional Profile Fields | Yes | No |
| People Map | Yes | No |
| Printed & Online Member Directory | Yes | No |
| Groups | Yes | Yes |
| Group Signup (self-join) | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Event Registration | Yes | Yes |
| Paid Events | Yes | Yes |
| Guest Registration | Yes | Yes |
| Volunteer Scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Service Planning | Yes | No |
| Kiosk Mode Check-In | Yes | Yes |
| Child Check-In with Nametags | Yes | Yes |
| QR code support | Yes | Yes |
| Calendars | Yes | Yes |
| Follow-Ups | Yes | No |
| Manage Giving(records, funds, envelopes) | Yes | Yes |
| Online Giving | Yes (Stripe, PayPal) |
Yes (Subsplash Giving only) |
| Non-Member Giving | Yes | Yes |
| Pledges / Campaigns | Yes | Yes |
| Member App | Yes | Yes |
| Member App Builder | Yes | Yes |
| Blog | Yes | Yes |
| Appointments | Yes | No |
| Accounting | Yes | No |
| Forms | Yes | Yes |
| Digital Signatures | Yes | No |
| Automated Tasks | Yes | No |
| Elections Module | Yes | No |
| Website Builder | No | Yes (SnapPages) |
| Media Hosting & Streaming | No | Yes |
| Podcast Publishing | No | Yes |
| TV Apps (Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Google TV) | No | Yes |
| Reports (general, attendance, activity logs, stats) | Yes | Yes (Limited) |
| Import Data (people, groups, giving, attendance, etc.) | Yes | Yes (Limited) |
| MailChimp Integration | Yes | No |
| Zapier Integration | Yes | Yes |
| API Access | Yes | Yes |
| Roles & Permissions | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Language Support | Yes (22) | No |
| App Color Customization | Yes | Yes |
| Free Data Migration | Yes (with any paid plan subscription) |
No |
| Free Pro Support | Yes | No $89/mo |
Who ChMeetings Is Best For
ChMeetings might be for you if:
- You want a straightforward, all-in-one tool for members, events, giving, volunteers, check-in, communication, accounting, and more, without needing to stitch together many apps or systems.
- You prefer transparent pricing, and high value for money, with the option to scale gradually as membership grows.
- Your top priority is solid church administration, rather than heavy media or streaming functionality (though ChMeetings can support some media too, especially if you subscribe to the branded app).
Who Subsplash Is Best For
Subsplash fits better when:
- Your strategic priority is digital media engagement.
- You have capacity to absorb more complexity and manage tiered features and add-on costs.
- You have your church accounting side covered by another system.
Conclusions
ChMeetings fits well in the “sweet spot” of church operations; it delivers excellent value, low costs, and cohesive management across core church administration areas. If you prioritize minimal friction in terms of people, giving, events, volunteers, check-in, accounting, or appointments, then ChMeetings is a compelling option. As you grow or your digital ambitions increase, you can consider subscribing to the ChMeetings branded app, or layering in other tools you may find suitable. Subsplash offers a wide array of features that may be suitable for churches focusing more on media engagement and giving, and less on the church administration side. But that being said, there may not be that many such churches, because membership and general church management isn’t something to compromise on.
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FAQs
What is the main difference between ChMeetings and Subsplash?
ChMeetings is a comprehensive church management system (ChMS) focused on people management, events, giving, volunteer coordination, community building, accounting, and more. Subsplash, on the other hand, focuses on giving and is media-first. While both offer core features like giving and events, ChMeetings is better suited for administrative tasks, and Subsplash excels in engagement and content delivery.
Which platform is more affordable for small churches?
ChMeetings offers transparent pricing with a free plan for small congregations, allowing you to start at no cost and scale as you grow. Subsplash does not publish pricing online and may have a baseline cost, making ChMeetings potentially the more budget-friendly choice for smaller churches.
Can I manage volunteers and complex events with both platforms?
ChMeetings provides a full volunteer management system, including scheduling, role assignments, signups, and integration with events and check-in. Subsplash also supports event creation and registrations with volunteer management.
Which platform is better for donations and pledges?
Both platforms allow members to pledge and give, including online. ChMeetings offers pledge tracking, recurring giving, and full integration with reporting and accounting. Subsplash also supports giving and pledges, but does not offer an accounting feature.
How do web, mobile, and TV features differ between ChMeetings and Subsplash?
ChMeetings provides a consistent experience across web and mobile, but does not offer TV apps. Subsplash has web, mobile, and TV apps, with the mobile app offering push notifications and streaming. However, interactive features like donations, forms, and registrations may be limited on TV and potentially mobile due to app store restrictions.
Which platform has stronger reporting and administrative tools?
ChMeetings is stronger in reporting, follow-ups, accounting, automated tasks, and administrative tools overall. Subsplash provides basic analytics related to giving, app engagement, and media consumption, but lacks the depth of ChMeetings’ church management reports and tools.
Can both platforms be customized for my church?
ChMeetings allows multi-language support, custom profile fields, app color customization, and a fully custom member portal (with a paid plan). There is an optional branded app that can be customized more comprehensively for your church, which is an add-on and costs $50/month or $500/year on top of any ChMeetings paid plan.
Subsplash offers custom branded apps, a website builder, and media customization, but administrative customization is more limited.
Which platform is easier to onboard and use?
ChMeetings emphasizes intuitive design and strong support, including free migration for paid plans, guided onboarding, and premium quality, free support. Subsplash requires more effort to navigate its modular setup, and premium support is only available at an additional monthly cost of $89/month.
Which platform is better for a church that is media-focused?
If your church prioritizes streaming sermons, podcasts, TV apps, and app engagement, Subsplash excels in these areas. ChMeetings focuses more on operations and community engagement, so media tools are less powerful.
Which type of church should choose ChMeetings vs. Subsplash?
ChMeetings is suitable for churches that need strong administrative tools in one place, such as membership and volunteer management features, event organization, forms, follow-ups, giving and pledge tracking, accounting, appointments, or reporting.
Subsplash is better for churches that want to prioritize digital engagement, branded apps, media delivery, and audience interaction.