Pushpay vs. Tithe.ly vs. Subsplash: Church Giving Fees Compared
Pushpay vs. Tithe.ly vs. Subsplash: how to compare church giving fees on a real weekly gift, from monthly plans and ACH rates to payouts and ChMS sync.
Photo: Pixabay
On this page 8 sections
- How Church Giving Platforms Make Money: Subscriptions vs. Per-Gift Fees
- Pushpay vs. Tithe.ly vs. Subsplash: Side-by-Side Cost on a $100 Gift
- Recurring Tithes, Text Giving, and Kiosk Add-Ons
- Payout Speed and How Deposits Land in Your Church Bank Account
- Church Management Software Sync and Giving Statements
- Contracts, Cancellation Terms, and Moving Saved Donor Cards
- Which Platform Fits Small, Mid-Size, and Multi-Campus Churches
- Next Steps
Key takeaways
- Headline percentages don't settle Pushpay vs. Tithe.ly. Add monthly fees, the card/ACH mix and add-ons, then divide by your real gift volume.
- Per-gift pricing tends to favor smaller churches. Subscriptions with lower per-gift rates can win once giving volume is high.
- Payout timing, church management software (ChMS) sync, and whether saved donor cards can move with you often matter as much as the rate.
- Get current pricing, contract length and data-export terms in writing from each provider before you switch.
Comparing Pushpay vs. Tithe.ly vs. Subsplash usually starts with a pricing page. A church running giving through any of them pays more than the advertised percentage, though. This guide shows how to work out what your congregation actually pays on a typical weekly gift. That total includes monthly platform fees, the different cost of card and bank (ACH) gifts, add-ons like text giving and kiosks, how fast deposits arrive, and whether giving records sync with your church management software.
We don't quote any provider's current rates here. Church giving pricing changes, is often packaged differently by church size, and can be negotiated. Use the framework below, then get each provider's current terms in writing.
How Church Giving Platforms Make Money: Subscriptions vs. Per-Gift Fees
Almost every church giving app earns revenue in some mix of three ways:
- Per-gift processing fees. These are usually a percentage of each gift plus a fixed per-transaction amount. Card gifts generally cost more than ACH gifts.
- Monthly or annual subscriptions. You pay a recurring fee for the platform, sometimes bundled with a church app, website, media hosting or communication tools.
- Add-ons. Text giving, kiosks, extra campuses, advanced reporting or integrations can be priced separately.
The three platforms in this comparison have broadly been known for different approaches:
- Tithe.ly has been known for an entry option you pay for per gift, with paid tiers for additional church tools.
- Subsplash has been known for bundling giving into a broader church app, website and media platform.
- Pushpay has been known for quote-based pricing aimed at mid-size and larger churches.
Treat these as starting points only. Packaging changes, and your quote may look different.
The key question is where the cost sits. A low-subscription, higher-per-gift model costs little when giving is light and more as giving grows. A subscription model with lower per-gift rates works the other way. If you've already compared general donation tools, the same logic applies. Our breakdown of the true cost of "free" donation tools like Givebutter, Donorbox and Zeffy walks through it for nonprofits.
Pushpay vs. Tithe.ly vs. Subsplash: Side-by-Side Cost on a $100 Gift
Rather than compare headline rates, model a single gift and then a month of giving. The table below uses three illustrative pricing models. These are hypothetical numbers chosen to show how the math works. They are not the current rates of Pushpay, Tithe.ly, Subsplash or any other provider.
| Illustrative model | Monthly fee | Card rate | ACH rate | Cost on $100 card gift | Cost on $100 ACH gift |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: Per-gift only | $0 | 3.0% + $0.30 | 1.0% + $0.30 | $3.30 | $1.30 |
| B: Mid-tier subscription | $150 | 2.5% + $0.30 | 0.8% + $0.30 | $2.80 | $1.10 |
| C: Larger-church plan | $350 | 2.2% + $0.25 | 0.5% + $0.25 | $2.45 | $0.75 |
On a single gift, Model C looks cheapest. That changes once you add the monthly fee and apply it to your real volume. Assume (illustratively) an average gift of $100, with 60% of gifts by card and 40% by ACH:
| Illustrative monthly gifts | Model A total | Model B total | Model C total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 gifts (small church) | $200.00 | $319.60 | $491.60 |
| 400 gifts (mid-size church) | $1,000.00 | $998.00 | $1,058.00 |
| 2,000 gifts (large or multi-campus) | $5,000.00 | $4,390.00 | $3,890.00 |
Three lessons apply no matter which provider you're evaluating:
- Your card-to-ACH mix moves the total more than small rate differences do. Encouraging bank gifts for recurring tithes often matters more than shaving a tenth of a point off the card rate.
- Monthly fees dominate at low volume. A small church can overpay on a plan built for a congregation several times its size.
- Ask how pricing is structured. Flat-rate pricing hides card-type differences. Interchange-plus pricing passes them through. Card networks have offered reduced interchange for some qualifying charities, and whether your church benefits depends on your provider's pricing. Our guide to claiming charity discounts on nonprofit card processing rates explains what to ask.
Many platforms also let donors choose to cover the processing fee. That can lower your net cost, but it changes the donor experience. Before you turn it on, read whether asking donors to cover processing fees works and is legal.
Recurring Tithes, Text Giving, and Kiosk Add-Ons
Recurring Tithes
Recurring gifts are the backbone of predictable church budgets. For each platform, ask:
- Can donors schedule weekly, biweekly, first-and-fifteenth and monthly gifts to match how they're paid?
- Can one gift be split across funds such as general fund, missions and building fund?
- Does the platform use a card account updater when cards are reissued? See how a card account updater keeps recurring billing running.
- Are failed-gift notices sent to the donor, the finance team, or both?
Silent failures quietly erode giving. Our article on fixing failed recurring gifts covers retry logic and donor outreach.
Church Text Giving Cost
Text giving is popular for in-service appeals and special offerings. Its cost can show up in several places:
- Included in a plan tier, or sold as a separate add-on
- A dedicated number or keyword setup
- Standard per-gift fees on the resulting card or ACH gift
Ask whether a first-time texter is sent to a web form, and whether returning givers can complete a gift with a short reply. Faster flows usually mean the platform is storing payment credentials. That makes the donor-data portability questions below more important.
Kiosks
Lobby kiosks serve guests and members who prefer to give in person on Sunday morning, at conferences or during building campaigns. Compare:
- Whether hardware is bought, leased or bundled
- Whether in-person card gifts are priced as card-present, which is often lower risk than keyed or online gifts
- Who supports the device when it fails before the 9 a.m. service
If you want hardware that isn't tied to a single giving app, MannyPay offers self-service kiosks and countertop and handheld card terminals that run on a standard merchant account.
Payout Speed and How Deposits Land in Your Church Bank Account
Your treasurer cares about when money arrives and how it shows up, not just what it costs. Ask each provider:
- Timing. How many business days from gift to deposit for cards, and separately for ACH? Is faster payout available, and does it cost extra?
- Batching. Is each day's giving deposited as one lump sum or broken out by fund or campus? Lump deposits make bank reconciliation harder for multi-fund churches.
- Gross vs. net. Are fees deducted from each deposit, or billed monthly? Gross deposits with monthly fee billing are easier to match against giving reports.
- ACH returns. Bank gifts can be returned after they appear to settle, for example for insufficient funds or a closed account. Find out how returns are deducted and whether a return fee applies.
- Holds and reviews. Easter, Christmas Eve, year-end giving and capital campaigns can produce volume well above normal. Ask how the provider handles spikes. Our article on why giving spikes can trigger holds on nonprofit merchant accounts explains how to give your processor notice in advance.
Giving pages are also targets for card-testing fraud, where bots run stolen cards through small "gifts." Each attempt can carry fees and disputes. Ask what protections are built in, and review how to stop card testing on a donation page.
Church Management Software Sync and Giving Statements
A cheap giving tool can get expensive in staff hours if gifts have to be re-entered by hand. Before choosing, confirm:
- Native vs. export-based sync. Does giving data flow automatically into your ChMS (for example, Planning Center, Rock RMS or Breeze)? Or does someone upload CSV files every week?
- Donor matching. How does the platform handle duplicate profiles, such as a couple giving from two cards or a member who changes email addresses?
- Fund mapping. Do platform funds map one-to-one to your chart of accounts, including campus-specific funds?
- Accounting. Can you get a clean export for your bookkeeping software? MannyPay supports QuickBooks integration for churches that run their own processing.
- Contribution statements. Who generates year-end giving statements, the giving platform or your ChMS? Can donors download their own?
The IRS has written-acknowledgment requirements for certain charitable contributions. Confirm the current rules and your statement process with a qualified tax professional or church accountant. This section is general information, not tax advice.
Contracts, Cancellation Terms, and Moving Saved Donor Cards
Switching platforms is where hidden costs show up. Get answers in writing to these questions:
- Term length. Is the agreement month-to-month or multi-year? Does it renew automatically?
- Early termination. Is there a fee to leave early, and how is it calculated?
- Hardware. If kiosks or terminals are leased, what happens to the lease when you cancel?
- Giving history export. Can you export complete donor and gift history in a usable format?
- Saved card portability. Stored card numbers are held by the payment processor, not your church. Moving them to a new provider requires a secure, PCI DSS-compliant transfer that both the old and new processors must support. Ask whether the current provider will release tokens or card data to a new processor. Otherwise, every recurring giver may need to re-enter payment details.
- ACH authorizations. Ask whether existing bank-debit authorizations carry over or whether donors must re-authorize.
If recurring givers have to set up their gifts again, expect some drop-off. Plan a migration communication well before the cutover Sunday.
Which Platform Fits Small, Mid-Size, and Multi-Campus Churches
There's no single best online giving platform for churches. The right fit depends on size, staff and how much you want bundled together.
| Church profile | What usually matters most | Questions to press on |
|---|---|---|
| Small church, volunteer treasurer | Low or no monthly fee, simple setup, easy reconciliation | Total cost at your actual gift volume; donor-covered fee options |
| Mid-size church with staff | ChMS sync, recurring-gift tools, text giving | Whether add-ons are bundled; reporting by fund |
| Large or multi-campus church | Per-campus reporting, negotiated per-gift rates, kiosks, support | Contract term, volume pricing, payout batching by campus |
| Church wanting an all-in-one app | Giving plus app, media and website in one bill | What you lose if you later leave the bundle |
A practical evaluation process:
- Pull 12 months of giving data, including the number of gifts, average gift and card vs. ACH share.
- Note seasonal peaks such as Easter, Christmas and December year-end giving.
- Request written quotes from each provider covering every fee, add-on and contract term.
- Plug each quote into the monthly model shown above.
- Weigh the result against staff time saved on reconciliation and statements.
Some churches prefer to own the processing relationship directly. They pair a merchant account with an online payment gateway such as Authorize.net or NMI and a giving form, rather than using an all-in-one platform. That approach can give more control over pricing and data, but it requires more setup. Not every giving platform lets you bring your own processor, so ask.
Next Steps
Whatever you compare, whether Pushpay vs. Tithe.ly, Subsplash, or something else, judge it on total monthly cost at your real volume, payout clarity, ChMS sync and exit terms. The headline percentage is only one input.
If you'd like to see how a direct merchant account and gateway would price against your current giving platform, explore MannyPay's online payment processing options or request a free quote. A MannyPay specialist will respond within one business day. Pricing depends on your church's volume and underwriting, so compare any quote side by side with your current statements before deciding.
This article is for general educational purposes and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Card network rules and state laws change; confirm current requirements for your business.
