Looking for an alternative to The Church Co?
The Church Co builds church websites — only church websites — and the data says their churches are well served: of the 48 Church Co sites in our 2026 study of 2,000 small-church websites, 97.9% showed an update within the year — the best freshness of any platform in our table. (48 sites is a small sample; we say so again below.)
So why look at an alternative? Price shape, mostly. The Church Co publishes clear pricing — self-managed plans from $29/month billed annually, a managed tier (Ultimate) at $199/month billed annually ($232 month-to-month), one-time setup packages from free to $999, and a free 14-day trial. Church Digital collapses all of that to one number: $120/month flat, with custom design, hosting, and ongoing updates done for you — $0 setup, no contract.
From our 2,000-church study
What we found in the wild
Of the 48 The Church Co church sites in our 2026 study:
- showed an update within the last year
- 97.9%
- had a working online giving path
- 89.6%
- made service times findable
- 91.7%
Small sample: 48 sites is enough to be interesting, not enough to be precise — read these as directional.
For context, across all 1,930 reachable sites in the study: 74% showed an update within the year and 67.3% had working giving. This is correlation, not causation — a platform doesn’t make a church diligent, but diligent churches cluster on certain platforms. Two caveats at once here: The Church Co bundles giving into the product (so the giving number is partly definitional), and this is the smallest platform cohort in our table — read it as directional. See the full study →
What The Church Co does well — for real
Design-forward and church-specific
Their portfolio is genuinely strong — modern, considered work that holds up outside the church-website bubble — their site reports over 5,000 churches served, and the platform ships church features (sermons, events, giving) as products, not assembly projects.
Published pricing and a free trial
Their pricing page lists the whole menu — website tiers with annual and month-to-month rates, one-time setup packages, and a free 14-day trial (verified 2026-07-30). You can budget The Church Co without booking a call, and that transparency deserves plain credit.
The initial build is handled — sometimes free
The Church Co sets the site up rather than handing you an empty editor: a simple build (up to 9 pages, theme design) is free with any yearly subscription, and larger builds are packaged at published one-time prices. On the initial build, we’re more alike than different — the difference is who makes the updates afterward.
The study numbers are excellent
97.9% updated within the year and 89.6% with working giving — the freshest cohort in our platform table, with the small-sample caveat (48 sites) stated plainly.
Where churches struggle with The Church Co
The advertised entry tiers are self-managed
Basic ($29/month billed annually, $34 month-to-month) and Premium ($49/$57) include “Make Your Own Updates” — their team builds the site, then keeping content current is your team’s job. The tier where their team manages the website and content for you is Ultimate, at $199/month billed annually ($232 month-to-month). None of this is hidden — their pricing page is clear about it — but budget for the tier that matches who will actually make your updates.
Setup is a package for larger builds
The one-time setup packages are published and fair: free up to 9 pages with any yearly subscription, then $299 (up to 20 pages), $799 (up to 40 pages), or $999 (up to 50 pages, custom design). If your site is bigger than a simple build, add the package to your year-one math.
Ask the exit questions in writing
As with any platform-hosted site, ask about term length, renewal, and what happens to your site and content if you leave — and get the answers in writing before you sign. That’s standard homework for any vendor, us included, not a knock on this one.
The Church Co vs Church Digital, side by side
| The Church Co | Church Digital | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | Published: $29–$199/month billed annually ($34–$232 month-to-month); the tier their team manages for you (Ultimate) is $199–$232/month | $120/month flat — published, whole price |
| Setup fee | One-time packages, $0–$999 by build size — simple builds free with a yearly plan | $0, ever |
| Who builds the site | Their team — built for you, like us | We do — custom design, built for you |
| Who updates it | Your team on Basic/Premium (“Make Your Own Updates”); their content team on Ultimate | We do — email us the change |
| Contract | Monthly or annual billing, your choice — annual rates are lower; confirm renewal terms in writing | None — cancel anytime, from your account |
| Online giving | Giving tools built into their platform | We connect the giving platform you already use |
Pricing verified 2026-07-30, directly from The Church Co’s public pricing page (thechurchco.com/pricing). A correction: earlier versions of this page said their pricing wasn’t published. Their pricing page blocks automated tools, and we wrongly read that as pricing you had to ask for — it isn’t. Their site lists website plans from $29/month billed annually to $199/month for the managed Ultimate tier ($34–$232 month-to-month), one-time setup packages from free to $999, and a free 14-day trial. Prices can change — confirm current figures with The Church Co. Church Digital pricing is our published price list.
Want the full feature-by-feature comparison? Church Digital vs The Church Co→
Who should stay on The Church Co
The Church Co earns its churches honestly. Stay (or pick them) if:
- Design is the priority and their menu fits your budget — the portfolio earns the look, and the pricing is published, so you can check the fit without a sales call.
- You’re already on The Church Co and happy. Our data says their churches’ sites are kept well; don’t fix what isn’t broken.
- You want a church-specific platform with a branded mobile app — their Ultimate tier includes a custom app.
One flat price
Website
A custom-built church website, hosted and maintained for you.
$120/mo
- Custom design for your church
- Service times, sermons, giving, events
- Hosting and updates included
- Live on your own domain
$0 setup · no contract · cancel anytime
Common questions
- Is The Church Co any good?
- Yes — honestly, very. Their design portfolio is strong, and in our 2026 study their churches had the freshest sites of any platform cohort: 97.9% updated within the year, 89.6% with working giving. The sample is small (48 sites), so treat those as directional — but the direction is clearly good.
- What does The Church Co cost?
- Their pricing is public — we verified it on their pricing page 2026-07-30. Website plans billed annually: Basic $348/year (about $29/month), Premium $588/year (about $49/month), and Ultimate $2,388/year (about $199/month); month-to-month they’re $34, $57, and $232. Setup is a one-time package: free for simple builds with any yearly subscription, then $299–$999 as pages, revision cycles, and design customization grow. Basic and Premium are self-managed after the build (“Make Your Own Updates”); Ultimate adds their design and content teams. There’s a free 14-day trial. Prices can change — confirm with them directly.
- Only 48 sites — is that enough to judge the platform?
- It’s enough to be interesting, not enough to be precise — which is why we disclose it everywhere the number appears. The 48 sites are simply every Church Co site that surfaced in a random national sample of 2,000 small-church websites; we didn’t seek them out or screen them. Directional, and honestly favorable to them.
- How is Church Digital different?
- The shape of the price, and who does the ongoing work. The Church Co publishes a tiered menu: their entry tiers cost less than we do and leave the updates with your team; their managed tier costs more than our flat rate. Church Digital is one number — $120/month flat with custom design, hosting, and ongoing updates handled for you, $0 setup, no contract, cancel anytime from your account. If you want the two compared feature by feature, we keep a full side-by-side at /vs/the-church-co.
- Should we try The Church Co before deciding?
- Easily done — they publish pricing and offer a free 14-day trial, so you can evaluate them without a sales call. Go in knowing which tier you’re really buying: if nobody on your team will make the weekly updates, price Ultimate, not Basic. And with any vendor — us included — get the term, renewal language, and what happens to your site if you leave in writing. Grade your current site first with our free grader so you know exactly what needs fixing.
Not sure yet? Grade your current site first.
Free and instant — paste your church’s address and get a 0–100 score across eight checks, benchmarked against the same study quoted on this page. No email required.