ChurchTools Innovations
ChurchTools Innovations GmbH provides a GDPR-compliant, all-in-one SaaS platform for church administration, communication, finance, and community engagement, serving 3,000+ Protestant, Catholic, and Free Church congregations across DACH and select international markets.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersKarlsruhe, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What ChurchTools Innovations does
ChurchTools Innovations GmbH is a private German software company founded in 2015 (with the underlying software originating in 2004) and headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany. It develops and operates ChurchTools, an all-in-one, GDPR-compliant church management platform delivered as a web application with native iOS and Android apps, cloud-hosted in German data centers and offered in seven languages (German, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish, Finnish). The platform integrates more than 100 domain-specific features across modules covering member management, groups, calendars, events, volunteer coordination, resource booking, check-in, internal chat, knowledge base, social-style posts, financial accounting (GoBD-compliant), and data synchronization with external church registration systems such as Optigem and DaviP.
The company sells primarily through a self-serve, product-led growth model with a 30-day free trial and six monthly subscription tiers (XS–XXL) priced from €29 to €339 per month, plus optional add-ons (unlimited campuses, sync connections, LDAP, storage) and billable professional services (training, migration, setup) at €99/hour. Distribution is reinforced by more than 40 framework agreements with church denominations and associations (including Landeskirchen, BFP, FeG, BEFG, KRZ-SWD), an IT integration partner network (KRZ-SWD, AMOS IT), a certified trainer community, and mobile app stores.
ChurchTools Innovations is a bootstrapped, founder-led business serving more than 3,000 Protestant, Catholic, Free Church, and Pentecostal parishes plus Christian ministries across DACH and select international markets, with 150,000+ active end users and a team of 30+ employees. The founders are Jens Martin Rauen (original developer of the software, dating to his 2004 youth-group project at Elim Hamburg) and Matthias Huber (managing director since 2015). The company has not disclosed external institutional funding and operates profitably from customer revenue.
ChurchTools Innovations firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ChurchTools Innovations
- Legal name
- ChurchTools Innovations GmbH
- Website
- https://church.tools
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- ChurchTools Innovations GmbH provides a GDPR-compliant, all-in-one SaaS platform for church administration, communication, finance, and community engagement, serving 3,000+ Protestant, Catholic, and Free Church congregations across DACH and select international markets.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ChurchTools Innovations industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Church Management Software
- NAICS
- Religious Organizations (8131)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Denominational & Ecclesiastical Governance Bodies (Dioceses, Synods, Conferences) (BPAGAJAB)
Keywords
Where ChurchTools Innovations is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Karlsruhe
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
ChurchTools Innovations business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software Subscription (SaaS): ChurchTools operates on a subscription SaaS model with six pricing tiers (XS through XXL) priced in EUR and USD. Each tier provides a specific number of people/capacity, resources, ministry roles, campuses, and sync connections. Add-on options exist for unlimited campuses (+€49), unlimited sync connections (+€49), LDAP Service (+€9 EUR), and additional storage (+15 GB for €10/month). No minimum contract term; cancelable monthly.
- Professional Services: Billable services including on-site training at €99/hour, initial system setup, data migration from legacy systems, database dumps, domain renaming, and Zoom-based remote training sessions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Package XS: 100 people, 10 resources, 20 ministry roles, no additional campuses, 1 sync connection for +€4 |
| Subscription | Monthly | Package S: 200 people, 15 resources, 30 ministry roles |
| Subscription | Monthly | Package M: 500 people, 2 campuses, 25 resources, 50 ministry roles, 2 sync connections for +€7 |
| Subscription | Monthly | Package L: 1,000 people, 3 campuses, 50 resources, 100 ministry roles, 3 sync connections for +€9 |
| Subscription | Monthly | Package XL: 2,500 people, 5 campuses, 100 resources, 200 ministry roles, 5 sync connections for +€14 |
| Subscription | Monthly | Package XXL: unlimited people, unlimited campuses, unlimited resources, unlimited ministry roles (single multi-campus church only) |
| Subscription | Monthly | All packages include unlimited groups, calendars, events, wiki-sites, chats, check-ins, reports, church app, hosting in Germany (GDPR), 5 GB storage, integrations and open API, intelligent writing assistant, ChurchTools Academy, and email support |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Setup, Training, Migration, and other professional services |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
ChurchTools Innovations product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ChurchTools Innovations develops and operates an all-in-one, GDPR-compliant SaaS church management platform that helps congregations administer members, groups, events, resources, communications, finances, and websites. The platform is offered as a tiered monthly subscription (XS through XXL) in EUR and USD, sold directly via the company website with a 30-day free trial, and complemented by professional services such as setup, migration, and certified trainer-led training.
Product overview
ChurchTools is an all-in-one GDPR-compliant church management software platform with a modular architecture. The core platform provides a web application and mobile app (Church App) in six languages (German, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish), with over 100 integrated features organized into modules: People (member management), Groups (team organization), Posts (social-style content sharing), Calendars (event scheduling), Resources (room and equipment booking), Events (volunteer coordination), Wiki (knowledge base), Check-in (attendance tracking), Chat (secure messaging), Sync (data synchronization), and ChurchTools Finance (GoBD-compliant accounting). Separate sub-products include the Website Builder (church websites), Church Finder (directory), and ChurchTools Academy (training). All modules are fully integrated into a single platform accessed via web or mobile app.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ChurchTools Finance: Church accounting and financial management module enabling GoBD-compliant bookkeeping.
- ChurchFinder
- ChurchTools Website
- ChurchTools Chat
Products and services
- ChurchTools Core Platform All-in-one GDPR-compliant church management software platform providing web application and mobile app access, with modules for people management, groups, posts, calendars, resources, events, wiki, check-in, chat, sync, and finances. Sold on a tiered monthly subscription basis to churches and church organizations.
- Church App Native mobile application for iOS and Android distributed via app stores, enabling church community members to access ChurchTools features including check-in, chat, posts, and resource booking from any device.
- ChurchTools Finance GoBD-compliant financial accounting module for church donations, budgets, and bookkeeping with secure permission-based administration, integrated within the ChurchTools platform.
- ChurchTools Website Website builder allowing churches to create their web presence without programming skills, with automatic synchronization of people, groups, and events data from the core ChurchTools platform.
- Church Finder Platform enabling churches to be discovered online and helping people find a spiritual home in a church.
- ChurchTools Academy
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 3,000 churches and parishes have adopted ChurchTools, indicating strong product-market fit for the church management software category
Companies that use ChurchTools Innovations
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
ChurchTools Innovations technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability1 record
Feature13 records
ChurchTools Innovations partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
34 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Anskar-Kirche DeutschlandcoreFramework agreement partner. Anskar-Kirche Deutschland endorses ChurchTools for its member churches, promoting adoption through the denomination.
- Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlicher Gemeinden (BEFG)coreFramework agreement partner. The BEFG (German Baptist Union) has a framework agreement with ChurchTools for its member churches.
- Evangelische Landeskirche in BadencoreFramework agreement partner. The Protestant Church of Baden has a framework agreement promoting ChurchTools to its parishes.
- Evangelische Landeskirche in WürttembergcoreFramework agreement partner. The Protestant Church of Württemberg endorses ChurchTools for its member congregations.
- Bund Freikirchlicher Pfingstgemeinden (BFP)coreFramework agreement partner. The BFP has a framework agreement promoting ChurchTools to its member Pentecostal churches.
- Freie Evangelische Gemeinden (FeG) DeutschlandcoreFramework agreement partner. FeG Deutschland has a framework agreement with ChurchTools for its member churches.
- CVJM Deutschland (YMCA Germany)coreFramework agreement partner. CVJM Deutschland endorses ChurchTools for its member organizations.
- Evangelische Landeskirche SachsenscoreFramework agreement partner. The Saxon Regional Church has a framework agreement with ChurchTools.
- Kirchliches Rechenzentrum Südwestdeutschland (KRZ-SWD)coreSince 2019, KRZ-SWD offers KRZ.ChurchTools to established churches at special enterprise pricing with integration to church registration systems via the Sync module.
- AMOS ITminorImplementation partner. AMOS IT helps churches and religious organizations work digitally in a modern, efficient, and GDPR-compliant manner using ChurchTools.
- Archevêché de Luxembourg (Erzdiözese Luxemburg)coreFramework agreement partner. The Archdiocese of Luxembourg endorses ChurchTools for its parishes.
- Heilsarmee Schweiz (Salvation Army Switzerland)coreFramework agreement partner. The Salvation Army Switzerland uses ChurchTools for its churches.
- Berliner StadtmissioncoreFramework agreement partner. Berliner Stadtmission is a major church mission organization in Berlin using ChurchTools.
- Ev.-Luth. Kirchenkreis Hamburg-OstcoreFramework agreement partner. The Lutheran Church District of Hamburg-East uses ChurchTools for its member parishes.
- Mülheimer VerbandcoreFramework agreement partner. The Mülheimer Verband has a framework agreement with ChurchTools for its member churches.
- Liebenzeller GemeinschaftsverbandcoreFramework agreement partner. The Liebenzell Association has a framework agreement with ChurchTools for its member congregations.
- Freie Christengemeinde - Pfingstgemeinde in ÖsterreichcoreFramework agreement partner. The Austrian Free Christian Church uses ChurchTools.
- Evangelische Allianz (Germany)coreFramework agreement partner. The German Evangelical Alliance endorses ChurchTools for its network of churches.
- Calvary ChapelcoreFramework agreement partner. Calvary Chapel network uses ChurchTools across its German and European churches.
- Chrischona-Gemeinschaftswerk (Germany)coreFramework agreement partner. Chrischona-Gemeinschaftswerk uses ChurchTools for its member churches in Germany.
- FeG Schweiz (Freie Evangelische Gemeinden Schweiz)coreFramework agreement partner. The Swiss Free Evangelical Churches use ChurchTools.
- Freikirchen in Österreich (FKÖ)coreFramework agreement partner. The Austrian Free Churches association uses ChurchTools for its member churches.
- Freikirchlicher Bund der Gemeinde GottescoreFramework agreement partner. The Church of God (Baptist) federation in Germany uses ChurchTools.
- Gemeinde Gottes DeutschlandcoreFramework agreement partner. The Church of God Germany uses ChurchTools for its member congregations.
- Selbstständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche (SELK)coreFramework agreement partner. The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church uses ChurchTools.
- Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche (EMK)coreFramework agreement partner. The Evangelical Methodist Church in Germany uses ChurchTools.
- Kirche des NazarenerscoreFramework agreement partner. The Church of the Nazarene in Germany uses ChurchTools.
- Foursquare (Germany/Austria)coreFramework agreement partner. The Foursquare movement in Germany and Austria uses ChurchTools.
- Viva-Kirche SchweizcoreFramework agreement partner. Viva-Kirche Switzerland uses ChurchTools for its network.
- Bund evangelikaler Gemeinden ÖsterreichcoreFramework agreement partner. The Austrian Union of Evangelical Congregations uses ChurchTools.
- Bund evangelischer Freikirchen (Taufgesinnte Gemeinden) (BeFTG)coreFramework agreement partner. The Federation of Evangelical Free Churches (Anabaptist Congregations) uses ChurchTools.
- Ev.-Luth. Kirchenkreis AltholsteincoreFramework agreement partner. The Lutheran Church District of Altholstein uses ChurchTools for its parishes.
- Ev.-Luth. Kirchenkreis Schleswig-FlensburgcoreFramework agreement partner. The Lutheran Church District of Schleswig-Flensburg uses ChurchTools.
- Evangelische Kirche der PfalzcoreFramework agreement partner. The Protestant Church of the Palatinate uses ChurchTools for its parishes.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
ChurchTools Innovations competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Breeze: US-based church management system offering people, groups, events, giving, and check-in functionality with a similar self-serve, SMB-friendly pricing model targeting Protestant churches.
- ChurchSuite: UK-based church management software offering member database, groups, events, check-in, small groups, and serving Protestant/UK denominations — the closest direct geographic and product-market analogue to ChurchTools in Europe.
- ChurchDesk: Dutch SaaS platform for church administration, communication, and engagement serving Protestant churches across Netherlands and broader Europe; a direct European church-management-software competitor with comparable feature scope.
- Elvanto: Australian/NZ church management software providing member management, groups, events, check-in, and check-in for churches; comparable vertical SaaS model and feature set targeting English-speaking Protestant churches.
- ChurchTrac: Affordable US-based church management software for smaller churches covering people, giving, events, and check-in — comparable SMB pricing tier focus and self-serve onboarding model.
Broad incumbents
- Planning Center: Large US-based church software suite covering people, groups, services, check-in, giving, and church apps — significantly larger scale (~50k+ churches) and broader product portfolio that competes in feature breadth.
- Pushpay: New Zealand/US giving and engagement platform that acquired Church Community Builder; broader church software suite with payments-anchored go-to-market and large North American scale.
- ACS Technologies: Large US faith-based software company (parent of Breeze, Realm, ACS Parish) providing comprehensive solutions for churches, parishes, and faith-based organizations — significantly larger incumbent across multiple denominations.
Emerging players
- Tithe.ly: Canadian/US giving-focused platform expanding into broader church engagement (ChMS, app, streaming) — overlapping target customers with broader feature ambitions and significant venture funding.
- Subsplash: US-based church engagement platform spanning app, giving, media, and communication — overlapping target customers but specializing in mobile-first engagement rather than full operational church management.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
ChurchTools Innovations social profiles
Digital presenceChurchTools Innovations compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
ChurchTools Innovations financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ChurchTools Innovations leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
ChurchTools Innovations funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ChurchTools Innovations M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ChurchTools Innovations
What does ChurchTools Innovations do?
ChurchTools Innovations develops and operates an all-in-one, GDPR-compliant SaaS church management platform that helps congregations administer members, groups, events, resources, communications, finances, and websites. The platform is offered as a tiered monthly subscription (XS through XXL) in EUR and USD, sold directly via the company website with a 30-day free trial, and complemented by professional services such as setup, migration, and certified trainer-led training.
Is ChurchTools Innovations a public or private company?
ChurchTools Innovations is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was ChurchTools Innovations founded?
ChurchTools Innovations was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is ChurchTools Innovations based?
ChurchTools Innovations is headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does ChurchTools Innovations make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Software Subscription (SaaS) is the primary driver. The others are professional Services.
Who are ChurchTools Innovations's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Breeze, ChurchSuite, ChurchDesk, Elvanto and ChurchTrac. Broad incumbents are Planning Center, Pushpay and ACS Technologies. Emerging players are Tithe.ly and Subsplash.
Does ChurchTools Innovations have an API?
Yes. ChurchTools offers a REST API for external developers. Available endpoints include PATCH operations for group members and new REST endpoints for resource management. The API is included across all subscription packages. The platform supports third-party systems to import, export, and synchronize data via the Sync module. Developer documentation is at churchtools.academy/de/help.
What industry is ChurchTools Innovations in?
ChurchTools Innovations's product category is Church Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAJAA, Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues), with a secondary code of BPAGAJAB, Denominational & Ecclesiastical Governance Bodies (Dioceses, Synods, Conferences). Its NAICS code is 8131 and its SIC code is 7372.