What OpenLP does

OpenLP is a free, open-source church worship presentation software project founded in 2004 and maintained by an all-volunteer team led by Raoul Snyman. The product targets churches of all sizes — from small congregations with limited budgets to Bible colleges and larger institutions — that need to display song lyrics, Bible verses, presentations, images, and video during worship services. The core application is a Python/PyQt5 desktop client that uses QtWebEngine for rendering, VLC for media playback, and SQLAlchemy for data storage, with a built-in Flask-powered web remote and an Angular front-end accessible from any network device. The software runs on Windows, macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch), and FreeBSD, with native remote apps for Android and iOS.

The product functionality spans six built-in plugins (Songs, Bibles, Media, Custom Slides, Presentations, and Pictures) plus a community plugins architecture introduced in v3.1. It supports importing songs from 10+ proprietary formats (CCLI SongSelect, EasyWorship, ProPresenter, OpenSong, SongBeamer, etc.), importing Bibles from the SWORD Project, and controlling PowerPoint, LibreOffice Impress, and Keynote presentations. Theme-based rendering with transitions and motion backgrounds is enabled through the Chrome-based QtWebEngine rewrite in v3.0 (December 2022).

OpenLP has no commercial revenue model: the software is licensed under GPLv3, distributed free of charge, and the project is funded entirely by community donations processed via PayPal, Stripe, and Bitcoin. Reported operating costs are approximately $100/month for a Linode VPS and backups, plus $52/year for domain registration. The project explicitly has no corporate parent, no venture funding, no headcount costs (volunteer-only), and no sales organization. Recent leadership action included shutting down the email support channel due to developer time constraints, with users redirected to the forums and manual.

Name

OpenLP

Legal name

OpenLP Developers

Website

https://openlp.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Short description

OpenLP is a free, open-source church worship presentation software maintained by volunteers since 2004, serving churches globally with cross-platform tools for displaying songs, Bible verses, presentations, images, and media during services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Software Distribution: OpenLP is completely free, open-source software. There is no revenue generated from software sales or subscriptions. The project is maintained by volunteers and funded entirely through user donations.
2. Donations: OpenLP accepts financial donations through PayPal, Bitcoin, and credit/debit cards (via Stripe). Donations cover server hosting costs ($40/month VPS from Linode, $10/month backup service, $17/year for openlp.org domain, $35/year for openlp.io developer domain). The project has no income and is entirely funded by personal funds of developers and community donations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

OpenLP is a free, open-source church worship and presentation software that displays song lyrics, Bible verses, custom slides, presentations, images, and media during services. It runs natively on Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD, and is operated remotely through a built-in web interface or through standalone Android and iOS remote applications distributed via the app stores.

Product overview

OpenLP is a single, unified open-source church worship presentation software platform. The core OpenLP application provides the main presentation functionality, supplemented by built-in plugins for Songs, Media, Bibles, Custom Slides, Presentations, and Pictures. Remote access is enabled through a Web Remote (built-in), an Android Remote App, and an iOS Remote App. Version 3.1 introduced Community Plugins support, allowing users to create their own extensions. The software is completely free and open-source, with no subscription costs or platform restrictions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OpenLP Free, open-source cross-platform desktop application used by churches to display song lyrics, Bible verses, custom slides, presentations, images, videos, and audio during services. Supports Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD with multiple monitor output and stage view.
• OpenLP Web Remote Browser-based remote control interface that lets operators drive OpenLP from any device with a modern web browser over HTTPS, controlling songs, slides, and service flow without being at the projector computer.
• OpenLP Android Remote Standalone Android application that connects to an OpenLP installation over the local network and acts as a wireless remote control for service operators.
• OpenLP iOS Remote Standalone iOS application that connects to an OpenLP installation over the local network and acts as a wireless remote control for service operators.

Quantifiable outcome

• Users report getting services up and running in less than 10 minutes
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• VLC / VideoLANcoreTechnology or IntegrationVLC media player integration is fundamental to OpenLP's media playback capabilities. OpenLP uses VLC for displaying almost any video file and playing almost any audio file, enabling wide format support. On macOS and Windows, VLC is bundled with OpenLP. Users on other platforms need to install VLC separately.
• LibreOfficecoreTechnology or IntegrationLibreOffice Impress integration allows importing and controlling presentations via OpenLP on Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD.
• LinodeminorOthersOpenLP uses Linode VPS ($40/month) for downloads, developer tools, and First Time Wizard data, plus Linode backup service ($10/month).
• Gandi.netminorOthersDomain registrar for openlp.org ($17/year) and openlp.io developer domain ($35/year).
• StripeminorOthersStripe processes credit/debit card donations to OpenLP project.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• EasyWorship: EasyWorship is a long-standing commercial worship presentation application with similar song, Bible, media, and presentation features targeted at the same SMB church segment.
• SongShow Plus: SongShow Plus is a commercial church presentation product offering song, scripture, and media display, positioned as another subscription alternative to OpenLP in the same vertical.
• Worship Extreme: Worship Extreme is a commercial live presentation application for churches with lyric, media, and stage display features directly comparable to OpenLP.
• MediaShout: MediaShout is a commercial church presentation platform offering songs, scripture, media, and announcement features in a comparable workflow to OpenLP.
• SongBeamer: SongBeamer is a long-running worship presentation program that OpenLP explicitly supports as an import format; it serves similar European and global church congregations with comparable functionality.
• Faithlife Proclaim: Faithlife Proclaim is a subscription church presentation tool from Faithlife/Logos, offering similar lyric, Bible, and media presentation features and competing for the same congregation base.
• Renewed Vision (ProPresenter): ProPresenter is the dominant commercial church presentation software (lyrics, Bible verses, media, stage display) on Windows and macOS, directly competing for the same church use cases that OpenLP serves.
• WorshipTools (Planning Center Presentation): WorshipTools' Presentation software targets the same live-service lyric and slide display need as OpenLP, but as a cloud-connected offering within the broader Planning Center church management ecosystem.
• VideoPsalm: VideoPsalm is a free worship presentation application specifically imported by OpenLP; it targets the same cost-sensitive church segment with overlapping feature sets.

Emerging players

• ZionWorship: ZionWorship is a newer cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux) worship presentation application positioning similarly to OpenLP on price and platform breadth, representing a closer emerging open/free alternative.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/openlp
• GitHubgitlab.com/openlp
• Facebookfacebook.com/openlp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 OpenLP