ChurchDesk

What ChurchDesk does

ChurchDesk is a cloud-based, all-in-one church management software platform purpose-built for Christian congregations and ecclesiastical administrative bodies. Founded in 2012 in Copenhagen by Christian Steffensen, the company serves more than 10,000 churches across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Norway through offices in Berlin, Copenhagen, and London. The platform is built on a modular architecture sharing a common data layer, with fully integrated modules covering Calendar, People (CRM), Forms, Website, Workflows, Finance, Newsletter, Rota, Ticketing, Time Registration, Anniversaries, Booking Enquiries, and Payments & Giving. Enterprise products include Portal, Safeguarding, and Intentionen (Catholic mass intentions). All servers are hosted in Germany on ISO 27001-certified Hetzner infrastructure, and the platform is designed to comply with GDPR, KDG (Catholic church data protection), and DSG-EKD (Protestant church data protection) regulations.

The company's revenue model is anchored by tiered SaaS subscriptions (Basic £54/month, Small £97/month, Medium £140/month, Large £239/month, all billed annually) plus a mandatory one-time setup fee of £655 per parish. Revenue is supplemented by recurring add-ons (Studio, Multi-Parish, Additional Website, Cookies & Analytics), the standalone ChurchDesk Terminal payment hardware (€552/year per terminal), and professional services including website transfer, web design, web accessibility compliance, training, and a Fusion Package for merging multiple installations. Distribution combines self-serve direct website sales with a dedicated enterprise sales motion targeting dioceses, archdioceses, and regional church bodies, supported by a personal ChurchDesk Advisor model and free community events, webinars, and PDF guides.

Name

ChurchDesk

Legal name

ChurchDesk GmbH

Website

https://churchdesk.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ChurchDesk provides an all-in-one cloud-based church management platform serving more than 10,000 Christian congregations and dioceses across DACH, the Nordics, and the UK with integrated modules for calendar, CRM, forms, website, finance, donations, and pastoral workflows.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Church Management Software

NAICS

Religious Organizations (81311)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

Keywords

• Church management software
• Parish administration platform
• Donation management software
• Multi-parish coordination
• Contact relationship management

Headquarters

HQ city

Copenhagen

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Plans (SaaS): ChurchDesk generates the majority of its revenue from recurring SaaS subscription plans (Basic, Small, Medium, Large) billed annually. Each tier includes core platform modules and support, with higher tiers adding more contacts, time registration users, and premium features. Add-ons (Studio, Multi-Parish, Additional Website, Cookies & Analytics) are charged as monthly supplements.
2. Payment Terminal (Hardware + Software): ChurchDesk Terminal is sold as a rented hardware device with an annual subscription fee (€552/year per terminal). Stand and shipping fees are charged additionally. Access to the associated donation and payment software is included in the Terminal subscription. This is a standalone product not requiring a standard ChurchDesk subscription.
3. Professional Services: One-time fees for implementation, onboarding, and training services including website transfer (from £1,600), web accessibility service (£540), website design service, worship list template customization (£400), on-site training packages (€1,200 for 3 hours, €2,400 for 6 hours), and a Fusion Package for merging multiple ChurchDesk installations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

ChurchDesk is a cloud-based, all-in-one church management software platform that provides churches with integrated modules for calendar, contact/CRM, forms, website building, finance, donations, newsletters, and rota planning. The platform is purpose-built for ecclesiastical workflows including life events, safeguarding documentation, multi-parish coordination, and compliance with church-specific data protection laws (KDG, DSG-EKD, GDPR). It also offers a standalone contactless payment terminal and professional services for website transfer, design, and training.

Product overview

ChurchDesk is an all-in-one church management platform combining digital administration and communication tools in a unified platform-plus-modules architecture. The core platform includes Calendar for event management, People (CRM) for contact relationship management, Forms for registrations, Website for church web presence, Finance for invoices and donations, and Newsletter for email communication. Additional core modules include Rota (scheduling), Ticketing, Time Registration, Anniversaries, Booking Enquiries, and Payments & Giving. Add-on modules include Studio (with AI tools for communication design), Multi-parish for church networks, and Cookies & Analytics. Enterprise-level products include Portal for regional content aggregation, Safeguarding for prevention documentation, and Intentionen for Catholic mass intentions. The platform also offers a standalone Payment Terminal for contactless donations. Services include website transfer, webdesign, accessibility compliance, fusion packages for merged parishes, and training/onboarding programs. The platform is designed specifically for churches with GDPR compliance built-in (KDG, DSG-EKD) and servers hosted in Germany.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ChurchDesk Terminal: Contactless payment terminal for donations and payments on-site at churches.
• ChurchDesk Studio
• ChurchDesk Workflows
• ChurchDesk Portal

Products and services

• ChurchDesk Platform (Calendar, People, Forms, Website, Finance) Core all-in-one church management platform including Calendar for event and resource management, People (CRM) for contact relationship management, Forms for event sign-ups and registrations, Website builder with drag-and-drop editor, and Finance module with GoBD-compliant bookkeeping and DATEV export. Designed for churches of all sizes with GDPR/KDG/DSG-EKD compliance built in.
• ChurchDesk Newsletter Email newsletter creation tool with automatic integration of events, articles, and forms from the ChurchDesk platform, with design customization through the Studio module.
• ChurchDesk Rota Staff and volunteer scheduling tool integrated with the Calendar module for shift management, absence planning, and permission-based access.
• ChurchDesk Ticketing Event ticketing system integrated with Forms for selling tickets to concerts, camps, and other church events with integrated payment processing.
• ChurchDesk Time Registration Employee time tracking solution with desktop and mobile app access, working hour recording, and absence management. Included in all plans.
• ChurchDesk Anniversaries Birthday and anniversary tracking tool that generates lists of upcoming milestones and enables personalized email or SMS communication.
• ChurchDesk Booking Enquiries Online booking system for room rentals, appointments, life events (baptisms, weddings, funerals), and tourist activities with automated availability checking and calendar integration.
• ChurchDesk Payments & Giving Digital donation and payment management module supporting one-off and recurring donations, ticket payments, and project allocation through website and newsletter integrations.
• ChurchDesk Workflows Central workflow management with ticket system for projects, sacraments, and life events including shared inboxes, task management, and automated email handling. Included in Medium and Large subscriptions.
• ChurchDesk Studio Communication design tool with AI assistance for creating posters, newsletters, and invitations using drag-and-drop templates, with AI-powered text optimization, alt text generation, and AI image generation in the email editor.
• ChurchDesk Multi-Parish Multi-parish management tool for merged or networked churches enabling shared websites, calendars, contacts, and coordinated administration across multiple parishes.
• ChurchDesk Cookies & Analytics Automated cookie consent management and GDPR-compliant website analytics tool with multi-level cookie categorization for church websites.
• ChurchDesk Portal Central event and news portal for dioceses and deaneries enabling parishes to contribute content that is automatically visible on regional websites and in newsletters without duplicate data entry.
• ChurchDesk Safeguarding Standardized safeguarding documentation module for churches to record prevention measures, track staff compliance, and manage document renewals with automatic reminders for review deadlines.
• ChurchDesk Intentionen Mass intention management tool for Catholic parishes to track and manage liturgical intentions.
• ChurchDesk Terminal Contactless payment terminal hardware and software for in-person donations and payments supporting card, phone, and smartwatch payments with no Wi-Fi required and up to 6 hours battery life. Available as a standalone product.
• ChurchDesk Website Transfer Service Migration service transferring existing church website content into the ChurchDesk editor, with responsive and accessible design setup and transfer of up to 20 newest blog posts. Starting at £1,600 one-time.
• ChurchDesk Webdesign Service Professional website design service building church websites in the ChurchDesk editor with web accessibility and SEO optimization included.
• ChurchDesk Web Accessibility Service Website accessibility compliance service adapting church websites to meet legal accessibility standards (European Accessibility Act / WCAG 2.1 Level AA). One-time fee of £540.
• ChurchDesk Fusionspaket (Fusion Package) Service combining multiple ChurchDesk installations into a single shared installation with data migration and structure consultation for parish mergers.
• ChurchDesk Worship List Customization Customized worship list template service creating tailor-made templates based on a church's existing design, with one-time fee of £400.
• ChurchDesk Training Courses and Onboarding Training program including startup call, online webinars, follow-up sessions, and on-site training with ChurchDesk advisors, plus on-site training packages at €1,200 (3 hours) or €2,400 (6 hours) plus travel costs.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 5,000 training sessions conducted for customers across Germany and Europe
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability4 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.

• Hetzner OnlinecoreTechnology or IntegrationHetzner Online is the hosting provider for ChurchDesk's servers. Their data centers in Nuremberg and Falkenstein (Vogtland, Germany) are ISO27001 certified and located within the EU. ChurchDesk's data hosting agreement with Hetzner ensures customer data never leaves the EU.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe handles all payment processing for ChurchDesk (credit card, BACS, SEPA transactions). ChurchDesk's PCI compliance obligations are managed through Stripe's PCI-compliant payment infrastructure.
• Development Partners (Dioceses and Regional Churches)strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerChurchDesk invites national churches and dioceses to become development partners for features, products, or integrations not yet covered by the platform. Several existing ChurchDesk solutions were developed through such partnerships. Development partners collaborate with ChurchDesk to implement specific use cases.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Subsplash: Church engagement and giving platform combining mobile apps, websites, media, and donations for churches of all sizes. Comparable as a broader incumbent offering overlapping communication and giving capabilities.
• Pushpay: Public church engagement and giving platform serving large US and Canadian churches with donations, app, and church management. Comparable as a larger, well-capitalized incumbent competing for the same church budget category.
• ACS Technologies: Long-standing US provider of church and faith-based software (Realm, ACS, PDS) covering membership, contributions, and accounting. Comparable as a broad incumbent with overlapping church administration functionality.

Direct peers

• Planning Center: Church management platform offering a suite of integrated products (People, Giving, Services, Check-Ins, Groups, Calendar) for churches. Comparable in modular, integrated SaaS architecture and church-specialized feature depth.
• ChurchSuite: UK-based church management software offering similar integrated modules (calendar, people, bookings, giving, website) for local congregations. Most directly comparable to ChurchDesk in product scope, target customer, and European/UK market focus.
• Breeze ChMS: US-headquartered church management SaaS serving tens of thousands of churches with people, giving, events, and check-in functionality. Closest US analogue to ChurchDesk's all-in-one, church-specialized platform approach.
• IconCMO: Cloud church management software offering membership, giving, events, child check-in, and small groups. Comparable as a direct competitor in the integrated church SaaS category.
• Shelby Systems / ShelbyNext: Church management and accounting software provider serving small to mid-sized churches. Comparable as a direct competitor offering integrated people, giving, and accounting functionality.

Emerging players

• Tithe.ly: Digital giving and church engagement platform with mobile giving, texting, and church apps. Comparable as an adjacent competitor in the digital donations category that increasingly overlaps with church management.
• ChurchCRM: Open-source church management system offering membership, groups, giving, and reporting for smaller congregations. Comparable as an emerging/free alternative that competes on price for budget-constrained churches.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/churchdesk
• Facebookfacebook.com/churchdesk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/churchdesk

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ChurchDesk