For churches · Website builders
10 builders · price, setup fee, hosting · updated September 2026
The builders churches actually choose between, what each one costs, and who it fits. Plus the question most of these guides skip: whether your church should build the site yourself or have it built for you.
The short answer
The right builder depends on your size, your budget, whether you want church features built in, and who keeps the site current. Five church-specific builders come up in almost every conversation: The Church Co, Nucleus, Tithe.ly Sites, ChurchSpring, and Sharefaith. They ship giving and sermons out of the box. General builders like Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress are cheaper and easier, but leave the church features to you.
The decision most of these roundups skip is the one that actually matters: whether your church should build the site yourself on one of these tools, or have it built for you. That fork, not the brand name, is what determines whether the site is still current a year from now.
What actually matters
Sermons, recurring giving, events, and a sane mobile layout matter more for a church than a fancy editor. A church-specific builder ships these. A general builder makes you assemble them.
The website that goes stale is the one nobody owns on staff. Be honest about whether a volunteer will keep it current, or whether you want someone to handle updates.
Add the monthly fee, any setup fee, the add-ons you will actually turn on, and the hours your team spends. The cheapest sticker price is not always the cheapest website.
Most builders rent you a site. If you stop paying, it goes away, and your design does not come with you. Ask what happens to the site and the content if you cancel.
The shortlist
Pricing verified from each vendor in June–July 2026 where a number is published, marked quote-based where it is not. Setup fee and hosting are listed because those are the two numbers the monthly price hides. The point is fit, not a winner: each one is good at something specific.
| Builder | Type | Starts at | Setup fee | Hosting | Church features | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Church Co | Church-specific platform | $29/mo billed annually ($34 monthly) | Free to $999 by build size | Included | Giving, sermons, events built in | DIY after a pro setup, or fully managed on top tier |
| Nucleus | Church-specific builder | $99/mo | None published | Included | Sermons, forms built in; giving +$49/mo | A polished DIY church site |
| Tithe.ly Sites | Builder + giving | $19/mo | $149 one-time | Included | Giving built in (Tithe.ly) | Small churches already on Tithe.ly |
| ChurchSpring | Church-specific builder | $79/mo | None | Included, domain too | Giving, app built in; sermons on higher tiers | All-in-one DIY for small churches |
| Sharefaith | Church web + media | ~$59–79/mo (annual) | None published | Included | Sermons, giving built in; media library | Churches that also need graphics |
| Subsplash | Full ecosystem | Quote-based | Quote-based | Included in the bundle | Giving, app, media, messaging — the whole stack | Larger churches wanting one bundle |
| Clover Sites | Church-specific builder (Ministry Brands) | Quote-based | Historically ~$1,000 (unpublished now) | Included | Giving via Ministry Brands add-ons | Churches already in the Ministry Brands stack |
| Wix | General DIY builder | ~$17/mo and up | None | Included | None — add giving and sermons with third-party tools | Volunteers who want drag-and-drop |
| Squarespace | General DIY builder | ~$16/mo and up | None | Included | None — giving and sermons bolted on | Design-first DIY, no church features |
| WordPress | General CMS | Hosting ~$5–30/mo | None (your time) | Separate — you pick and pay a host | Plugins for everything; you maintain them | A technical volunteer who wants control |
Sources: each vendor’s public pricing page, confirmed June 2026 (The Church Co re-verified July 2026 — they publish full pricing). Subsplash does not publish bundle rates. Prices move and most builders bill annually, so confirm the current number and term at signup.
Built only for churches and the SEO leader in the space, with published pricing and a free 14-day trial. Basic ($29/mo) and Premium ($49/mo, billed annually) are self-managed after their team sets the site up; Ultimate ($199/mo billed annually) adds their design and content team plus a custom app. One-time setup packages run free to $999 by build size.
A clean, church-focused builder with done-for-you templates, sermons, and forms. Giving, messaging, and media are $49/mo each on top. No contract.
The cheapest church-specific entry point, bundled with the most common church giving platform. Simple, and the right call if you already use Tithe.ly for giving.
Hosting, domain, giving, and a mobile app bundled in. Sermons, live streaming, and church management sit on the higher tiers. No setup fee.
Pairs a website with a large media and graphics library. Worth it if your team uses the media side. Billing is typically annual, so confirm the term.
Website plus app, giving, media, and messaging on one bill. Strong if you need the whole stack. Rarely worth it for the website alone. The bundle math is the real question.
Now folded into Ministry Brands’ Amplify roll-up alongside their other church-software brands. Current pricing isn’t published; historically Clover setup ran around $1,000 up front plus a monthly fee, so get the full quote in writing. If the changeover has you re-evaluating, that’s a fit question, not a loyalty one.
Not church-specific, but genuinely easy. A volunteer can update pages without help. You add giving and church features yourself with third-party tools.
The nicest templates of the general builders. No church features out of the box, so giving and sermons are bolted on. Good when a capable volunteer owns it.
The most flexible and the most work. Free software, you pay for hosting and your time. Powerful with the right person, a liability without one.
Church web hosting
Almost never. Hosting is the part of the bill most churches overthink, because it used to be a separate purchase. With every builder above except WordPress, it is inside the monthly fee.
Every builder in the table except WordPress hosts the site as part of the monthly fee. There is no separate hosting bill, no server to manage, and no renewal surprise from a hosting company.
WordPress is free software; hosting is a separate purchase from a host you choose, roughly $5 to $30 a month at today’s introductory rates, with renewals often higher. Someone has to keep the plugins and PHP version current, or the site slows down and eventually breaks.
Your domain name (yourchurch.org) is usually a $10 to $20 a year purchase you keep in your own registrar account, whatever platform hosts the site. Keep it in the church’s name, not a volunteer’s.
A built-for-you church site should carry hosting, security, and updates inside the flat monthly fee. If a proposal lists hosting as a separate line, ask why.
What it costs
Using only the published numbers above: a general builder like Squarespace or Wix starts around $16 to $17 a month with no church features. Church-specific builders run $19 (Tithe.ly Sites, plus a $149 setup) to $99 (Nucleus, with giving another $49) a month, with The Church Co at $29 and ChurchSpring at $79 in between. Bundled ecosystems like Subsplash are quote-based and reported well above that. WordPress is free software plus hosting and, more importantly, someone’s time.
The number worth comparing is the three-year total: the monthly fee times 36, plus setup, plus the add-ons you will actually turn on, plus the volunteer hours. On that math a $19 builder that nobody maintains and a $99 builder with giving bolted on land closer together than the stickers suggest. The full line-by-line breakdown is in the 2026 church website cost breakdown; built-for-you pricing is on the pricing page.
The real decision
Every builder above is a DIY tool. You sign up, you pick a template, and someone on your team keeps it current. That is the right path for a lot of churches. It is the wrong path for the ones whose website has looked the same since 2019.
Use a builder when
Have it built for you when
Go deeper
Compare platforms
Honest, dated write-ups on the platforms churches ask about most — what each does well, what it costs, and who should stay put.
Common questions
Not sure which way to go
We will record a free five-minute Loom walking through your homepage, the giving link, and the mobile flow, and tell you whether a builder would fix it or whether the site needs a rebuild. No pitch, no call required.
Custom church website plans — see current pricing. No setup fee. No contract — cancel anytime.