For churches · Budget
Published prices · checked 2026 · no setup fee
Every church website is affordable on the brochure. The question is what you get for the number, and what it costs your team in hours after launch. Here is the honest ladder.
The ladder
A builder's free tier or a Facebook page. You get a subdomain or ads, no church features, and a site that reads as temporary. Fine as a placeholder for a plant. Not the site people should find when they search for a church.
Squarespace and Wix entry plans billed annually (vendor pricing pages, checked July 16, 2026). Good templates, hosting included, no church features: giving, sermons and events get bolted on with third-party tools, and a volunteer does all of it.
Church-specific builders as published: Tithe.ly Sites from $19 with no setup fee shown, The Church Co from $29 billed annually, ChurchSpring $79, and Nucleus from $65 for the website, rising to $199 once giving and media are included (Tithe.ly and Nucleus checked October 2026). Giving and sermons built in on most plans; you still do the work after launch.
Church Digital: custom design, hosting, and every update handled, no setup fee, no contract. 25% off for as long as you stay at the founding rate ($90). This is the tier where nobody on staff has to be the website person.
The number that matters
Monthly fee times 36, plus setup fees, plus the higher tier you need for the features you will actually use, plus the volunteer hours. On that math the cheap sticker and the flat monthly that includes the work sit closer together than they look, because the volunteer hours only show up on one of them.
Our 2026 study of 1,734 small-church websites adds the part the stickers hide. Sites spending $12 a month or less (144 sites) had working giving 62.5% of the time and had been updated within the year 72.9% of the time. Sites over $20 a month (101 sites): 82.2% and 88.1%. The $13 to $20 band (765 sites) sat between at 70.5% and 80%. Correlation, not causation, but cheap sites are disproportionately the stale ones.
Where it goes wrong
Church Plant Media charges a $499 setup on its $59 website plan (checked October 2026), which adds about 70% to the first year. The Church Co charges $299 to $999 for larger builds. Ask for the setup number in writing before comparing monthly numbers.
The features you want can sit on a bigger plan. On Nucleus the website starts at $65 a month, but giving and media come with the $199 plan. Count the ones you will actually use.
The site is only affordable while someone maintains it for free. When they stop, it is the most expensive site you own: current in nothing, and costing you first-time visitors every week.
Common questions
Want the real number for your church
A free four-minute review of your homepage, and a straight answer on whether a builder would do it or whether it needs a rebuild. No pitch, no call required.
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