Church Plant Media

What Church Plant Media does

Church Plant Media is a privately held Oklahoma LLC founded in 1998 that operates a software platform purpose-built for churches and Christian ministries. Its core product, Herald CMS, is a proprietary content management system that powers church websites, branded mobile apps for iOS and Android, live streaming, podcast distribution, and event and sermon management, with the company handling initial site setup (homepage, up to 15 subpages, sermon imports, branding) and ongoing Apple App Store and Google Play resubmissions. The platform is complemented by Simple Donation-powered online giving (transaction fees of 2.9% + $0.50 or 1.45% + $0.25 when donors cover fees, plus a $29/month platform fee after six months free) and integrations with SermonAudio, Vimeo, Planning Center, Church Community Builder, Breeze, Rock RMS, Fellowship 1, Paxmail, and major podcast directories.

The company monetizes primarily through monthly subscriptions: $59/month for a website-only plan, $99/month for a website and mobile app combo, $99/month for standard live streaming (with paid add-ons for Roku/Apple TV OTT apps, additional channels, 4K, captions, and storage), plus transaction-based giving revenue. Distribution is largely product-led and self-serve via a 14-day free trial on churchplantmedia.com, with inside-sales demo support for live streaming and a community-driven referral motion among church leaders. The customer base is described as "thousands of churches and ministries worldwide," spanning small local congregations of varying denominations and para-church organizations such as The Gospel Coalition, and the company positions itself as a "gospel partner" with product decisions and customer interactions shaped by a small team that itself serves in local churches.

Name

Church Plant Media

Legal name

Church Plant Media, LLC

Website

https://churchplantmedia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Church Plant Media is a privately held Oklahoma-based SaaS company that provides Herald CMS, a proprietary website, mobile app, live streaming, and online giving platform built specifically for churches and Christian ministries. It monetizes via $59–$99/month subscriptions and transaction-based giving fees across thousands of church customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Church Management Software

akta.pro primary industry

Faith & Religious Live Streaming Platforms (MPACACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Christian Broadcasting (TV & Radio) (MPABALAA), Sermon, Homiletics & Ministry Resource Publishing (Preaching Aids, Pastoral Resources) (MPAJAHAD)

Keywords

• Church website hosting
• Church mobile apps
• Church live streaming
• Online giving platform
• Church management software

Headquarters

HQ city

Bethany

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Website Subscription: Monthly subscription fee for website hosting, CMS, updates, security, media hosting, and customer support. The website/app combo includes app security updates, feature releases, and ongoing app store resubmissions.
2. Live Streaming Subscription: Standard features at $99/month including HD broadcasting, multiple syndication destinations, archive storage, transcoding, analytics, and more. Additional revenue from optional add-ons like Roku/Apple TV OTT apps, additional channels, closed captions, extra storage, 4K broadcasting, and simulated live features.
3. Online Giving Transaction Fees: Transaction-based revenue through Simple Donation integration. Standard rate of 2.9% + $0.50 per transaction, or 1.45% + $0.25 when donors cover fees. Monthly platform fee of $29 after six months free.
4. Additional Services: Revenue from domain name registration (~$15 annually, handled by customer through third-party registrars), video hosting recommendations (Vimeo integration), and email services through Paxmail partnership.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Church Plant Media sells a subscription-based digital platform for churches and ministries built around its proprietary Herald CMS. The four product lines are church websites, native iOS/Android mobile apps, live streaming for services, and online giving tools, all managed through a single dashboard without requiring technical expertise. Pricing is primarily monthly subscription ($59-$99/month) with transaction-based fees on donations, and a free 14-day trial plus complimentary initial setup drive product-led adoption.

Product overview

Church Plant Media offers a comprehensive church media platform built around the Herald CMS as the core product, which manages websites and mobile apps through an integrated suite of tools. The platform includes Websites for church web presence with sermon distribution and event calendaring; Mobile Apps for iOS and Android with push notifications; Live Streaming for broadcasting services to multiple destinations; and Online Giving powered by Simple Donation for tithes and offerings. The platform also supports Podcast Distribution across major podcast platforms, Paxmail for email/calendaring, and optional OTT apps for Roku and Apple TV. Herald CMS includes content building features like Blocks for drag-and-drop pages and People Groups for staff/small group listings. Legacy CMS remains available for existing customers using older design themes. All services are priced at $59/month for websites or $99/month for website/app combo, with live streaming at $99/month standard.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Herald CMS: The company's content management system used for building and managing church websites and apps.

Products and services

• Church Websites Church Plant Media's website subscription provides churches with Herald CMS-managed websites featuring flexible layouts, sermon distribution to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, event calendaring, push notifications, multiple podcasts and blog support, SEO tools, Google Analytics/Tag Manager, social media integration, and photo galleries. Designed for local churches of any size or denomination without in-house technical staff; subscription at $59/month with no long-term contract.
• Church Mobile Apps Native iOS and Android mobile apps for churches, listed in the app stores under the church's own name and branding. Features push notifications for announcements, events, and weather closings, along with sermons, events, and giving access. Church Plant Media handles Apple Developer Account setup, D-U-N-S Number registration, and ongoing app store resubmissions. Available as part of the website/app combo at $99/month.
• Church Live Streaming Live streaming service for church services that broadcasts in 720p and 1080p HD with 4K available, supports multiple simultaneous RTMP destinations (Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and other platforms), adaptive bitrate streaming, real-time analytics dashboard, audio-only live, automatic MP3 generation, 300GB archive storage, transcoding, countdown timers, domain locking, and live DVR. Priced at $99/month standard with optional add-ons such as Roku/Apple TV OTT apps, additional channels, closed captions, extra storage, 4K broadcasting, and simulated live.
• Church Online Giving Online giving platform powered by Simple Donation that lets churches create unlimited funds (tithe, missions, building projects, youth) with one-time and recurring giving, donor-covered fees, donor statements, and integration with Church Community Builder, Fellowship 1, Planning Center Online, Rock RMS, and Zapier. Accepts cards, checks, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and SMS/text giving. Standard rate 2.9% + $0.50 per transaction or 1.45% + $0.25 when donors cover fees; first six months free then $29/month platform fee.

Quantifiable outcome

• Testimonial: Someone who had never gone to church got saved by listening to sermons online through a Church Plant Media-powered church website
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration23 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Simple DonationcoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Simple Donation provides Church Plant Media customers with a full-featured, customizable donation system. Features include unlimited funds, one-time and recurring giving, cards and checks acceptance, SMS/text giving, Apple Pay & Google Pay, and integrations with Church Community Builder, Fellowship 1, Planning Center Online, Rock RMS, and Zapier. Church Plant Media offers special pricing exclusive to their customers.
• VimeocoreTechnology or IntegrationVimeo is the recommended video hosting platform for Church Plant Media customers. Full integration with the CMS allows churches to embed Vimeo videos. Vimeo provides HD video features, embeddable HTML5 player viewable on iPad and iPhone, and doesn't consume church website disk space or bandwidth.
• SermonAudiocoreTechnology or IntegrationTwo-way integration automatically syncs sermons between SermonAudio, Herald CMS, and church websites. Eliminates duplicate uploads. Supports SermonAudio Global Sermons with translated sermons appearing in language dropdown menus. Feature is included at no additional cost for all Church Plant Media customers running Herald CMS.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Subsplash: Subsplash provides an all-in-one church engagement platform including mobile apps, websites, online giving, and media — directly competing with Church Plant Media across the same product verticals and customer base.
• Pushpay: Pushpay is a major church engagement and giving platform serving thousands of churches with mobile apps, online giving, and communication tools — overlapping directly with CPM's giving and app offerings.
• Tithe.ly: Tithe.ly provides church giving, mobile apps, and church management software — a direct competitor particularly in the giving and mobile app categories where CPM competes.
• Sharefaith: Sharefaith specializes in church websites, media, and presentation software — competing most directly with CPM's website hosting and design theme offerings.
• BoxCast: BoxCast is a live video streaming platform with strong adoption among churches — competing directly with CPM's live streaming product launched in November 2024.
• Resi: Resi provides resilient live streaming solutions with strong penetration in the church market — a direct competitor in church broadcasting and live streaming.
• Clover Sites: Clover Sites builds and hosts church websites with an all-in-one platform approach — directly comparable to CPM's website-only and combo plans.
• Elexio: Elexio provides church management software including websites, people, and giving tools — a direct competitor targeting similar church customers with overlapping product capabilities.
• Breeze ChMS: Breeze is a simple church management system that integrates directly with CPM websites for calendar and content embedding — competing on the people/management side while partnering on the website layer.

Broad incumbents

• Planning Center: Planning Center offers a broad suite of church management software (services, people, giving, calendar, groups) — competing with CPM particularly on the calendar/people integration side, though more focused on ChMS than digital presence.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mycpm
• Facebookfacebook.com/mycpm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/church-plant-media
• Instagraminstagram.com/churchplantmedia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Church Plant Media