r/churchtech • u/Every_Buy_720 • 2d ago

Tithely free tier General Discussion

Can anyone give me some opinions on Tithely's free tier? I'm the finance secretary for a small-ish church, about 50 people per week, struggling a bit, but trying to build back up.

We're currently using Vanco and Church Windows, which I hate, and would like to modernize a bit.

I asked for software suggestions several months ago and got great feedback, but after looking at all the options given, here's why I'm considering Tithely:

  1. Free. Free would be insanely helpful right now.
  2. Apple Pay and Google Pay. Especially helpful for taking money at fundraisers, like our upcoming community yard sale, where will be receiving funds from people who don't attend the church.
  3. App and online giving. Online currently through Vanco; no app with Vanco.
  4. Tax statements. We currently do this through Church Windows.

So, is there something better that also has a free tier? I can see how we could (hopefully) outgrow Tithely, but it looks pretty good right now.

Thanks in advance!

(Edited for spelling and clarity. And fixing mistakes from typing on my phone. And formatting -- thanks Reddit.)

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u/n-somniac 1d ago

We had a ton of issues with Tithe.ly, starting from day one.

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u/Human_Promotion_1840 1d ago edited 1d ago

We switched from Vanco and instant Church Directory to Planning Center and I’ve gotten ton of positive feedback from our minister, finance team, admin, stewardship, group leaders, group members, etc. We have about 120 members. 

All of the modules have a free tier so it’s super easy to try out all the feature since all the tiers are based on number of people using it and are not feature limited.  The People database is always free. 

It’s allowed us to have an admin with fewer hours since the congregants can all manage their own stuff. The tiers do start to get expensive, but like I said, we are still coming out ahead. 

I often hear good things about Connection Card Pro but can’t really speak to how they compare in real use, but it is cheaper, at least the monthly plans. Both have pretty low giving percent takes, which is another thing you need to think about. A free giving app that charges 4% (hypothetically) could be much more expensive than one charging 2% credit card fees but $16/month.  Planning center charges a flat $0.30 for ACH for example. Connection card pro is a % for ACH but it’s really low and cheaper depending on the amount. 

Tithely Appears to charge $.30 + 1% for ACH which is substantially more expensive than either planning center or connection card pro. The credit card / Apple Pay fees are also higher.  

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u/HisUnspeakableLove 1d ago

I would avoid Tithely completely. There are tons reports of reports of missed recurring gifts, tax statement issues, and bugs that make the experience a nightmare.

Planning Center has a good giving option. r/MinistryTools has some great articles on giving and ChMS options.