Lightpost

What Lightpost does

Lightpost is a cloud-based SaaS church management platform built exclusively for the Churches of Christ denomination, delivering 40+ features across member directory management, multi-channel mass communication (email, SMS, MMS, voice calls, in-app messaging), prayer lists, group posts, task boards, calendars, file sharing, song tracking, sign-up sheets, Bible class registration, emergency check-in, and sermon/media uploads. The technology stack consists of a web-based admin interface (admin.lightpost.app) for church leadership, a web member portal (app.lightpost.app), native iOS and Android mobile applications distributed via Apple App Store and Google Play, and payment processing integrated through Stripe Connected Accounts. Operational uptime is reported at 99.997% for Core Services on a Better Stack-powered status page, and lifetime engagement includes 4.4M+ messages sent and 35k+ daily notifications across the user base.

The company is operated by Tiny Bit Farm LLC, a Texas-incorporated LLC owned and operated by founder Drew Johnston, and is bootstrapped and customer-funded with no external investors or venture capital. Revenue is generated through tiered monthly subscriptions scaled by congregation size (starting at $19-$29/month for smaller directories up to 100 members, ascending through 200/300/400/500+ member brackets at +$10 per additional 100 members), supplemented by premium add-on modules including Assignments ($15/month), Attendance Tracking ($9/month), Online Giving ($24/month plus Stripe transaction fees), Financial Management ($20/month), Website & Blogs ($25/month promotional), and Domain Management ($10+/month). Usage-based revenue streams layer on top, including pass-through SMS/MMS/voice/email messaging costs (e.g., SMS at $0.024/recipient), Stripe transaction fees on contributions (2.9% + $0.40 card, 0.9% + $0.10 ACH), AI-powered media transcription and summarization ($0.05-$0.65 per media), podcast hosting ($49 per podcast plus $7.50 per 10k downloads beyond the first 10k), storage ($0.09/GB over 20GB included), and one-time professional services for directory data import ($199) and per-program pricing for seasonal initiatives like VBS ($39/program).

Go-to-market combines a product-led growth motion — free mobile apps, no long-term commitment, self-serve sign-up via the website's contact form, with a 1-business-day personalized follow-up for new congregations. The customer base comprises 32+ Churches of Christ congregations across multiple US states (Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, Louisiana, Virginia), serving autonomous nonprofit congregations with a toolset pitched as a lower-cost, denomination-specific alternative to generic church management software. The product originated as a custom 2009 web application for a single Katy, Texas congregation, was rewritten as a multi-tenant platform in 2016, publicly launched in 2018, and has expanded its feature set steadily through 2020-2023 with two notable 2026 additions: themeable website templates and an AI-driven Sermon & Media Transformation module.

Name

Lightpost

Legal name

Tiny Bit Farm LLC

Website

https://lightpost.app

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lightpost is a bootstrapped SaaS church management platform built exclusively for Churches of Christ congregations, offering 40+ features across web and mobile including directory, multi-channel messaging, attendance tracking, online giving, podcast hosting, and AI-powered sermon transcription and summarization.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Church Management Software

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based Media, Publishing & Broadcasting (Radio, TV, Digital, Press) (BPAGAJAI)

Keywords

• Church management software
• Congregation communication app
• Member directory software
• Online giving platform
• Faith-based mobile app

Headquarters

HQ city

Morgan Hill

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Base Subscription: Monthly subscription priced by congregation size (up to 100, 200, 300, 400, or 500+ members). Includes core features like directory, messaging, mobile apps, and 20GB storage.
2. Premium Add-on Features: Optional paid add-ons including Assignments ($15/mo), Attendance Tracking ($9/mo), Online Giving ($24/mo), Financial Management ($20/mo), Domain Management ($10+/mo), and Website & Blogs ($25/mo limited time)
3. Usage-based Communication: Pass-through costs for SMS, MMS, voice calls, and emails based on actual usage. SMS at $0.024/recipient, MMS at $0.039/recipient, Voice at $0.03/minute, Email at $0.0012/recipient. SMS/MMS enablement fee of $9/month.
4. Online Giving Transaction Fees: Credit/debit cards: 2.9% + $0.40 per transaction. ACH debits: 0.9% + $0.10. Plus 0.25% payout fee to bank. Processed through Stripe.
5. Podcast Hosting: One-time publishing fee of $49 per podcast plus $7.50 per 10,000 downloads after the first 10,000
6. Data Import Service: One-time fee of $199 for importing directory data from existing church management systems
7. Media Transformation Services: Usage-based AI services: transcription at $0.65/audio file, summaries at $0.08, descriptions at $0.12, outlines at $0.20, YouTube transcript pull at $0.05/media
8. Programs (VBS/Camp): Per-program pricing at $39/program for seasonal initiatives
9. Extra Storage: $0.09/GB per month for storage beyond the included 20GB

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lightpost is a unified, cloud-based church management SaaS platform built exclusively for Churches of Christ, offering 40+ features across directory, multi-channel messaging (email, SMS, MMS, voice, in-app), prayer lists, calendars, file sharing, attendance tracking, online giving, financial management, website hosting, podcast distribution, and AI-powered sermon/media transformation, delivered through web admin and member portals plus native iOS and Android mobile apps on a tiered subscription basis.

Product overview

Lightpost is a unified church management platform built exclusively for Churches of Christ, available via native mobile apps (iOS/Android) and web interfaces (member site and admin dashboard). The core platform includes 40+ built-in features covering directory, multi-channel messaging (email, SMS, MMS, voice, in-app), prayer lists, group posts, task boards, calendars, file sharing, sermon/media uploads, song tracking, sign-up sheets, Bible class registration, emergency check-in, and reporting. Premium add-on modules available for an additional monthly fee include: Assignments ($15/mo), Attendance Tracking ($9/mo), Online Giving ($24/mo), Financial Management ($20/mo), Website & Blogs ($25/mo promotional, $35/mo regular), Domain Management ($10+/mo), Podcasts ($49/podcast + usage), Visitor Tracking, and Child Check-in. Per-use features include Programs ($39/program) and Data Import ($199/import). A recent addition, Sermon & Media Transformation, generates AI-powered summaries, descriptions, outlines, and transcriptions from uploaded audio content. The platform is bootstrapped, not VC-funded, operated by Tiny Bit Farm LLC, and was officially launched in 2018 after originating as a custom app in 2009.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lightpost Platform A unified cloud-based church management SaaS platform built exclusively for Churches of Christ, combining member directory, multi-channel messaging (email, SMS, MMS, voice, in-app), prayer lists, calendars, file sharing, task boards, and reporting with 20GB of storage. Delivered through web admin/member portals and native mobile apps. Priced tiered by congregation size from $19/month (Candle Plan) up through 500+ member tiers.
• Lightpost Mobile App Native iOS and Android mobile applications for congregation members, free to download. Provide directory lookup, group chats, mobile push notifications, prayer requests, calendar views, file access, and member lookup for any congregation on the Lightpost platform.
• Lightpost Admin Dashboard Web-based administration interface at admin.lightpost.app for church leaders to manage members, groups, messaging, assignments, attendance, online giving, financials, and all platform settings, including reports for birthdays, anniversaries, attendance, and giving.
• Online Giving Add-on Standalone subscription add-on that lets congregations accept digital contributions through web and mobile, integrated with Stripe Connected Accounts. Supports credit/debit cards (2.9% + $0.40 per transaction) and ACH (0.9% + $0.10). Flat monthly fee of $24 plus pass-through processing fees.
• Financial Management Add-on Standalone subscription add-on providing church finance tools including income recording against custom categories (General Contribution, Missions, Building Fund), expense tracking with yearly budgets, reimbursement request workflows, and check reader compatibility. Priced at $20/month.
• Attendance Tracking Add-on Standalone subscription add-on providing attendance tracking options including head-count records, individual user attendance, member self-check-in, visitor cards with QR codes/URLs, and Missing Persons reports. Priced at $9/month.
• Assignments Add-on Standalone subscription add-on providing automated assignment scheduling and notification for worship roles (e.g., communion preparation, song leading) with auto-fill, member availability management, and position descriptions. Priced at $15/month.
• Podcasts Add-on Standalone podcast hosting and publishing service for sermons and Bible classes. Automatically distributes to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Listen Notes. Priced at $49 one-time per published podcast including first 10,000 downloads, then $7.50 per additional 10,000 downloads.
• Website & Blogs Add-on Standalone subscription add-on providing church website hosting with 3 templates (Standard Two Column, Themeable Two Column, Themeable Single Column), custom color themes, public calendars, sermon/media display, podcast integration, leadership listings, contact forms, prayer request forms, and live stream links. Limited-time promotional pricing of $25/month (regular $35/month).
• Domain Management Add-on Standalone subscription add-on providing domain name registration and management, including renewals, DNS configuration, and registrar transfers on behalf of congregations. Domain ownership remains with the congregation. Priced at $10+/month plus yearly renewal costs.
• Child Check-in Add-on Standalone subscription add-on providing secure family check-in for children's ministry using QR code scanning for check-in/check-out in under a second, allergy/special needs labels via DYMO or Brother label printers, and visitor registration.
• Programs (VBS/Camp) Per-program organizational tool for seasonal initiatives such as Vacation Bible School and camps, providing flexible program management. Priced at $39 per program.
• Data Import Service One-time professional service that imports directory data (family units, roles, contact info, baptism status, allergies, photos) from CSV or Excel files into the Lightpost platform. Priced at $199 one-time.
• Sermon & Media Transformation Usage-based AI service that ingests uploaded sermon or Bible class audio/video and generates speech-to-text transcriptions ($0.65/audio file), AI summaries ($0.08/media), descriptions ($0.12/media), outlines ($0.20/media), and pulls YouTube transcripts ($0.05/media). Powers search and display on Lightpost Websites.

Quantifiable outcome

• Saves 27 hours per month for church leadership
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability5 records

Feature14 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe is the payment processor for Lightpost's Online Giving feature. Congregations create and own their own Stripe.com payment processor accounts. Lightpost connects to the congregation's Stripe account to enable payment processing, manage recurring giving, and generate payout reports. Transaction fees (2.9%+$0.40 for cards, 0.9%+$0.10 for ACH) are charged by Stripe directly.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Planning Center: Planning Center is a leading church management SaaS suite (People, Giving, Check-Ins, Services, Groups, Calendar) used by tens of thousands of churches across many denominations. It directly competes with Lightpost's core directory, communication, giving, and group management features, though it is a broad-denomination product rather than Churches of Christ-specific.
• Pushpay: Pushpay is a publicly traded church engagement and giving platform (now incorporating Church Community Builder and Resi) used by thousands of mid-to-large US churches. It overlaps with Lightpost's online giving, communication, and engagement features and represents the most well-capitalized direct competitor.
• Tithe.ly: Tithe.ly is a mobile-first church giving and engagement platform offering text-to-give, app, and management tools aimed at SMB and mid-market churches. It competes most directly with Lightpost's Online Giving and mobile communication features and serves a similar customer profile.
• Breeze ChMS: Breeze is a simple, low-cost church management system focused on small and mid-sized churches, covering people, giving, events, check-in, and communication. It competes with Lightpost at the lower end of the market where pricing sensitivity is highest, particularly among small Churches of Christ congregations.
• Subsplash: Subsplash is a church mobile app and engagement platform with giving, media, and communication tools, serving many US denominations. It competes directly with Lightpost's mobile app, sermon/media hosting, podcast distribution, and communication features.
• Church Community Builder: Church Community Builder is a church management platform covering people, groups, events, giving, and communication; it has merged into the Pushpay ecosystem. It overlaps with Lightpost's directory, groups, calendar, and messaging capabilities for mid-sized congregations.
• FellowshipOne: FellowshipOne is an established church management database and check-in system (now under Pushpay) widely used in mid-to-large US churches. It overlaps with Lightpost's directory, attendance tracking, and child check-in features, particularly for larger congregations.
• Elexio: Elexio is a church management software platform with people, communication, giving, and web features used by evangelical and Restoration Movement-adjacent congregations. It is especially comparable to Lightpost given overlap with Churches of Christ / Restoration Movement heritage.
• Aplos: Aplos is a cloud accounting and donor management platform designed for churches and nonprofits. It overlaps directly with Lightpost's Financial Management and Online Giving add-ons and competes for the same church-admin budget line.

Broad incumbents

• Realm (ACS Technologies): Realm by ACS Technologies is a long-established church management and constituent engagement platform used by hundreds of US congregations. It competes with Lightpost across directory, groups, giving, and communication but as part of a broader enterprise-focused suite.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/lightpostapp
• Xx.com/lightpostapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Lightpost