A few years ago, building a church website was time-consuming, costly, and required technical skills to get it up and running. With expansion of website builders such as WordPress, Joomla, Weebly, Squarespace and Webstarts, among others, the process of getting your church or ministry site up is as fast and could take you less than 30 minutes to complete.
Website builders are an ideal solution for church organizations, projects, and ministries, to start a site without having to hire a web developer. Yet, finding the best web builder can be tricky, especially for beginners, as there are a plethora of providers in the market.
A church website is essential for engaging the existing church members and is a great platform beneficial to boosting your church’s following.
Research shows that more than 60% of people who attend churches link full participation to a church’s site. It enables them to search serving openings at church, hook them up with their community and congregation, and so on.
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How to Find the Best Church Website Builder
In our previous reviews, we have assessed how to find the best web builder for small businesses and comparisons. Today, the purpose for our web builders is for a church, which makes two factors or features ultimately crucial: performance and portability.
So, let us have a brief review of each factor:
- Performance – Also referred to as functionality, this is where you look at how capable your website is regarding compatibility and usefulness. Your website must have these abilities:
- Mobile responsiveness – many people search for content using mobile phones. Ask yourself how compatible is your church’s website with different mobile devices? Because if it is not, Google will find you.
- Sermon or podcast ability – while new attendees want to familiarize themselves with your sermons, existing ones want to catch up with them. As such, ensure your providers offer quality audio and video platforms, and the charges incurred depending on the amount of data.
- Giving options – does your site have an online payment option? If your provider does not offer payment options, please use a third-party service. Remember that a certain percentage of the donation money goes to payment processing systems. So, ensure you investigate their fee structures before picking.
- Portability – This refers to how easy it is going to be to transfer your content from one website to another (or site migration), in case you decide to change host providers. It is recommended that you choose your host wisely to avoid penalties in Google ranking. But if your church wants something to start-off with while waiting for your dream site, remember migration will bring hiccups in the future. As such, be watchful on the providers you choose from the word go.
- Features – Your church website builder requires specific functionalities for both audio and video sermons, plus baptism, weddings, worship services, and funerals information. As such, the web builder you choose should focus on add-ons and features that help the church have an easy online presence.
- User-friendliness – Your church cannot afford to employ a developer or an IT pro to keep things afloat. So, the website builder should have ease of use and tools that even tech-savvy individuals can use efficiently.
- Customer Support – A suitable church website builder should include responsive customer support in its service. Is there 24/7 support? Live chat? Phone and Email? While taking advantage of the free trial (if any), assess their reliability in customer service. The last thing you need is to have a problem that no one helps you solve.
- Cost – Often, churches rely on fundraisers and donations to maintain the institute’s existence. No wonder many churches have no online presence. As such, look for a web builder with reasonable pricing, especially with the annual billing option. Also, remember to check the renewal fees.
Other than the mentioned, ensure you check on SEO elements, such as load-time, uptime, security, and your site’s image optimization. Remember to also look at how easy it is for members to sign in, create a calendar, and the site’s navigation.
10 Best Church Website Builders
Here is a list of the ten (10) best church website builders:
- WordPress.org: The most popular web builder and top software for creating a church website. Self-hosted and completely free website building services. You only pay if you need a custom domain for your church such as prayerfullchurch.com instead of prayerfulchurch.wordpress.org.
- Constant Contact Website Builder: It is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and an all-in-one web solution.
- Gator by HostGator: An all-in-one web builder with many templates to pick from and is completely hosted by HostGator, a popular web hosting platform globally with church specific templates.
- Sharefaith: A famous web builder specifically devised for church sites. Includes a support team to help you with start-up.
- Ministry Designs: A well-known website builder explicitly designed for building church sites.
- Nucleus: An all-in-one church site builder that includes a 30-day free trial, and has numerous helpful features.
- WordPress.com: Another premium and all-in-one hosted platform that uses similar underlying code as its cousin WordPress.org.
- Weebly: Recommended as the most user-friendly all-in-one website builder and comes with plenty of website designs.
- Squarespace: A popular user-friendly, all-in-one website builder that allows for multiple users within a single account.
- Wix for Churches: A popular cloud-based web builder software with user-friendly and robust features.
Now let us get an in-depth review of the best church website builders looking at their pricing options, features, as well as their pros and cons. By the end of this analysis, I’m sure you will have known the best choice for your church website.
WordPress.org
WordPress.org or self-hosted WordPress ranks as the globe’s most famous web builder that powers more than 35% of all the sites on the Internet. Other than its popularity, it includes robust features, is user-friendly, and scalability.
It is a free and open-source web builder for churches and church ministries. As a church, you get ultimate control over your site compared to other providers on our list. The only thing you should keep in mind is that you will require a WP hosting account and hosting if you want a custom domain.
A free Church website with WordPress.org has a url like this: https://10webtoolschurch.wordpress.org
You can pay for a custom domain like this: https://10webtoolschurch.org
The web builder gives you access to over 55,000 WP plugins or apps that include extra features and functionality to your site like Google Analytics, CSS customization, contact forms, and more.
WordPress is also available in many languages that allow creating multilingual sites. Other features include robust SEO plugins that improve your rankings in search engines such as Google.
Pros:
- Ultimate control on each site’s aspect and online presence
- Multiple websites, for instance, personal website, eCommerce stores, and more
- Includes plenty of pre-made WP themes for designing your site
- Drag-and-drop features such as Divi and Beaver Builder
- Access to over 55,000 free WP plugins
- Ability to create multilingual sites
- Robust SEO plugins to boost your rankings
- Slightly cheaper than others in our list
Cons:
- You manage your website so you have to improve your skills regularly
- No automatic backups
Constant Contact Website Builder
This is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) website builder that aims to make your church online presence fast and easy. It uses the Unsplash royalty-free image gallery to facilitate easy image attachment if you do not want to use your own.
Constant Contact loads pages quickly and includes pre-designed layouts, visual effects, in-built analytics, blogs, and more. The web builder offers a free trial to ensure you are familiar with what you purchase.
It has an easy set-up process and user-friendly interface that allows quick and easy customization, such as font color and style. Its landing page provides all the details you require to set up your church’s contact info, payment option, and more.
All that and more is available in the free version, but with just $10/m for the Starter Plan, you can get additional features like $200 credit offers towards Google ads.
Pros:
- A generous free website plan
- Easy-to-comprehend analytics
- User-friendly
- Easy and robust email creation UI
- Straightforward set-up process
- Responsive 24/7 customer support
Cons:
- Average features
- Designs are not advanced
- Backend is susceptible to bugs
Create your church website using Constant Contact here
Gator by HostGator
Gator by HostGator is a famous online web builder that offers full hosting so you do not have to worry about backups, updates, or software. HostGator ranks among the world’s largest web hosting providers.
This all-in-one web builder and hosting solution makes it an ideal site builder for your church website. You can choose from more than 200 professional templates for your website design, with each design including easy customization options.
Gator has a user-friendly interface that enables to edit items on the page, as well as a drag-and-drop feature for placing your church images, videos, contact forms, and text. You also have access to an in-built stock photo gallery to help you beautify your site.
Both the free and premium plans come with a free custom domain name for your site. You are also assured of data protection with their zero-logs policy.
Pros:
- Access to unlimited space, bandwidth, and pages
- A free domain name for a year for all plans
- Reliable customer support 24/7 via email, live chat, and phone
- More than 200 website design templates
- Robust features
Cons:
- You cannot receive donations unless you use their eCommerce plan
- No free trials available
- Unclear pricing
Sharefaith
Sharefaith has been helping churches in their online presence and investments for more than fifteen years, amassing more than 100k fruitful projects. The website’s About Us page includes the firm’s core value and introduction of its exec team.
The website builder offers a free trial upon sign up (very easy), and its set-up wizard guides you through the fundamentals. It will also take you through a selection of twenty-seven responsive templates that include a religious theme.
When you login to your account, a modern-looking dashboard that includes editing options welcomes you. The website’s back end is attractive, but has some minor performance issues. It’s compatible with mobile devices and has responsive 24/7 customer support.
That aside, Sharefaith includes features including 100GB web space which can host one domain and three subdomains. You can also edit your site’s designs and play with the offered templates as you wish. Sharefaith pricing plans include Web + media ($50/m), Suite Essentials($84/m), Custom Site (from $8,500) as shown in the snapshot below
Sharefaith’s award-winning platform, Worship Manager that comes as a plugin, enables you to build impressive sermon presentations via Presenter and PowerPoint. It includes features such as 100GB web space (enough for four sites) and impressive template designs.
Sharefaith’s Worship award-winning Worship Manager (comes as a plugin) lets you build amazing sermon presentations via Presenter and PowerPoint. It also partners with CCLI SongSelect that gives you access to the globe’s largest worship song lyrics database. This builder aso has several theme portfolio ideal for any church ministry:
Pros:
- Excellent visuals
- User-friendly interface
- Reliable client support
- Mobile responsive
- Good partnerships
- Impressive template designs
Cons:
- No free plan
- Pricey set-up fee
Get started with Sharefaith website builder to create a beautiful customized website for your church.
Ministry Designs
Every Ministry Designs team member has church ministry background, which offers you tailored service to your church needs. The web builder includes standard features such as podcasts, video backgrounds, and blogging tools.
While the templates are not cutting-edge in design, they are very appealing and useful features to get you started. In terms of pricing, you have to be very keen before you sign up. You are required to pay an upfront fee of $1,020, that is, $1,000 as a single-time and $20/m for web hosting.
You are not tied up to this option, yes, but Ministry Designs pricing plans are pretty steep in comparison to others in our list today.
Pricing: Your church will have to spend $1,000 to set up the site and you’ll pay $20 monthly.
Pros:
- High quality services
- Experienced service
- User-friendly interface
Cons:
- Average designs and features
- Pricey upfront and ongoing fees
Nucleus
Nucleus is an all-in-one church website builder solution that enables you to build your church’s online presence. The web builder is a division of a large platform known as Pro Church Tools (PCT), an invention of Brady Shearer.
Brady’s motivation to spread the word has made Nucleus a favorite church platform for more than 115k customers globally. The web builder makes a match between the new and old tactics by merging features such as sermons, social sharing, and announcement. That particularly affects the web builder’s user-friendliness.
Nucleus web includes advanced features and personalization options that makes using the site easier. It also has its online mobile responsive giving solution that focuses on maximizing your church’s revenue and intuitive dashboard.
The website builder’s integrations include sixteen useful tools, such as HubSpot, Dropbox, and MailChimp, and RockRMS (community builder), Tithely (payment), and Elvanto (church managing). If you are a beginner, you will get useful gradual tutorials.
However, Nucleus website does not include contact page or any signs of phone and email contacts. But if you scroll down (to the footer), there is a section asking if you need help or have a question. Nucleus Church costs $99/m or $125/m yearly.
Pros:
- Focus on church websites
- Impressive images
- Offers sermon storage
- Stunning designs and features
Cons:
- Pricey monthly fees
- Not friendly for a beginner
- Lacks pre-built themes
WordPress.com
A cousin to WordPress.org, WordPress.com is a commercial all-in-one hosted platform that is based on similar underlying code as WP.org. Unlike .org, .com includes many limitations on what you can do with it.
As such, we recommend that you use WP.org for its flexibility and useful features. But in some situations, WordPress.com can be an appropriate choice as it is hosted for you. Therefore, it takes care of backups, security, and updates for you.
If you are working on a tight budget, the website builder’s premium plans are reasonably cheap (starts at $4/m billed yearly). In case you need to migrate your church site someday, shifting from WordPress.com to WordPress.org is pretty easy.
WordPress.com includes hundreds of different themes designs that you can pick from in both the free and paid plans that work well for the church. You can unlock additional features with the Premium plan at $8/m (billed yearly) plus custom domain name and 24/7 client support.
Pros:
- Offers web hosting, backups, security and updates
- Many different and beautiful designs
- Low-priced premium plan options
- Easy site migration from WordPress.com to WordPress.org
- User-friendly interface
Cons:
- Low customization capabilities compared to others in our list
- Free plan does offers limited functionality and there is no customer support
Weebly
Weebly is a DIY giant in the web builder world which means you can also use it for church websites. It offers everything you need to start building your website at your fingertips to make sure it is an exceptional experience.
The platform is fully hosted, which means that you will not need to install and run any software. They do all this in the backend, and the web builder includes many website designs to help you build an attractive site using its editor.
Weebly also includes features such as sliders, contact forms, and photo galleries, among others. As such, you can build your church website by adding features without any complex set-up process.
Pros:
- Offers web hosting for your church website
- Many gorgeous website designs
- User-friendly user interface
- Striking features
- Easy set-up process
Cons:
- Full hosting means you cannot adjust functionality
- You are wedged to the features they offer
Squarespace
Squarespace is a popular, user-friendly and all-in-one website builder that offers multiple solutions for all your church website ideas. The web builder comes with hundreds of striking, optimized, and progressive templates that you can modify to your preferences.
As such, you can build your church website by adjusting and editing it with your content and imagination to make your preferred site. It might sound complicated right now, but it is easy, especially using its free trial. Squarespace web builder block editor includes many fonts, striking templates, crucial for sermons.
Besides the attractive features and many assets for creating your church websites, Squarespace also includes some useful marketing tools. When it comes to customer support, the website builder has a reliable and responsive customer team at your service. For your church website, we recommend using Squarespace Business plan that starts at $18/m (billed yearly) and comes with premium blocks and extensions. It also allows you to take donations.
Pros:
- Includes a free trial without card details
- Impressive templates and fonts
- User-friendly especially in adding videos, images, and audio files (vital for uploading sermons)
- Allows multiple sites
- Allows taking donations
Cons:
- Includes a few third-party extensions
- No templates designed specifically for the church
- 3% fees on donations by the payment processor
Wix for Church
Wix is a popular cloud-based web builder software with user-friendly and robust features, which makes it an ideal go-to church web builder platform. It includes a powerful service that you can use right off the bat, and you will not understand until you try. It offers a free plan with limited storage and bandwidth.
With this web builder, you can pick a ready-to-use layout and have the builder do most of the work for you. Yet, you can customize and enhance your preferred website design and have the exact website dream.
Wix offers all the necessary tools that makes building a site for your local church fun and enjoyable. The web builder boasts three major characteristics, including Code, ADI, and Editor. ADI stands for artificial design intelligence and performs most of the hard tasks for you.
As for the Editor, it offers freedom to tech-savvy people by turning them into a code pro without actually coding. If you are an expert in IT, Wix’s Code functionality or characteristic is for you to edit the website as per your preferences.
Pros:
- Fully hosted platform
- Dozens of template designs
- User-friendly interface
- Fully editable templates
- Includes many free and premium apps
- A free SSL
Cons:
- Connect and Free domain include Wix branded ads
- Complicated site migration
- Wix Connect Domain plan costs $9.16/m only connects a custom domain name. As such, you will be required to purchase a domain name separately.
We hope our guide for the best church website builders was helpful and that you already have insights on what to look for. Wishing you all the best as you build your church’s website to spread the Word.
My name is Nate Reiner and I am the editor here at 10Webtools. I have 8 years of experience using 50+ different web tools ranging from podcast, web hosting, email marketing, and much more. I previously managed a team offering support services to a large conglomerate that utilized tens of software solutions. I now run this blog full-time and when I am not reviewing or testing software, I enjoy riding bikes and supporting my clients achieve internet success. You can reach me directly at [email protected]