For many people, your website will be their first interaction with your church. Because of that, it’s important to have a website that looks good, loads fast, and authentically displays the culture of your church.
This sounds good, but it can be overwhelming, especially if you know nothing about web design.
This is where church website builders come in.
Church website builders are web design platforms that make it easy to create a professional website without having the technical skills.
There are quite a few in the industry, so I compiled a list of the best church website builders to help you decide which platform is right for your church. Read to the end and I’ll share the best path your church should take.
Best church website builders
- Subsplash - Best all-in-one church website builder
- Nucleus Church - Best for attracting visitors to your church
- Ministry Designs - Most customizable church website templates
- The Church Co - For a user-friendly church website
- Tithely - For churches on a budget
Subsplash - Best all-in-one church website builder
Pricing: Contact for a quote
The thing that makes Subsplash so unique is the fact that it is more than just a church website builder. They offer products that most churches need like church management software and online giving. Instead of paying for multiple software and apps, a church can have everything it needs on one simple platform. Here are some of the reasons your church should go with Subsplash:
- Drag-and-drop builder - Design beautiful websites with ease with Subsplash's drag-and-drop builder.
- Apps for mobile & TV - Your church can have its own custom app that features streaming video and audio, church news and events, bible reading plans, group messaging, and the ability to give.
- Live stream + sermon library - While all this can be done on YouTube, there are so many ads and other distractions that can harm the experience for viewers. With a click of a button, your sermons and streams can go live on your website, apps, and even social media platforms.
- Powerful church management software - Your church can stay organized by having all of its members' data in one place. Communicate with them easily through email and text messages on the Subsplash platform. Be in full control of volunteers on Sundays, event registrations, child check-in, and more.
Nucleus Church - Best for attracting visitors to your church
Pricing: Starts off at $50/month
While a lot of church websites cater more to their members, Nucleus Church is all about making visitors feel welcome at church. They make it easy to get the most common information that visitors are looking for (service times, leadership/beliefs, kid's information). Their templates are simple but modern. Here are some of the reasons your church should go with Nucleus:
- The Launcher: On every page of a Nucleus website, there’s a small icon at the bottom where you can easily access important information. You can customize it to display whatever information you want. Some of the most common uses for it are: planning a visit, prayer requests, giving, next steps, small group sign-ups, and volunteer sign-ups.
- Flows: Flows are forms that are fast and user-friendly. Forms can be overwhelming and cause people not to fill them out because of how long they are. Nucleus fixes this problem by gathering information in small pieces. This approach is similar to Typeform. You can also trigger automatic follow-up responses when users submit forms.
- Sermon Hub: Nucleus’s Sermons come fully loaded with features like: sermon notes, scripture references, transcripts, and other resources. It lets you organize sermons by speaker, date, or topic. You can even create public or private playlists and easily distribute your sermons to podcasts like Apple, Spotify, or Google.
Ministry Designs - Most customizable church website templates
Pricing: $57/month Omega Lite & $97/month Omega Plus
Ministry Designs has a church website builder called Omega. They use an award-winning block edit technology that allows you to create a powerful custom website in minutes. The main goal of their platform is to reach more people. Here are some of the reasons your church should go with Ministry Designs:
- Over 1000 designs: The main reason why I'm calling Ministry Designs the most customizable is the fact that you'll have access to a huge marketplace of professionally designed pages. Most church website builder templates tend to look the same; there’s not that much customization to it. Ministry Designs solves this problem by giving users plenty of options to help their church website stand out.
- Free migration: While Omega is a DIY platform, Ministry Designs has a team that helps churches by migrating up to 20 pages of content from their old website. This is huge because it allows churches to have their new website up and running in no time.
- Landing pages: Landing pages for special events are one of the most common requests for churches. Whether it’s Easter, Christmas, or Family Day, Ministry Designs gives you access to event-based landing pages. This is another tool that allows you to design a page quickly and let your church website stand out.
The Church Co - For a user-friendly church website
Pricing: $29/month Basic Plan, $49/month Premium Plan, & $199/month Ultimate Plan
The Church Co is by far the most popular church website builder. I am constantly looking up church websites and I always run into a website built by The Church Co. I’ve seen small, medium, and large churches use them. Because of this, I am giving them the best user-friendly church website platform. Here are some of the reasons your church should go with The Church Co:
- Pricing: They offer similar features to Subsplash but for a fraction of the cost. The quality is a little lower than other website builders on this list, but you can’t beat everything that you get at their price.
- Prayer Wall: Members can submit a prayer request or praise report on the website and it’ll be displayed for the whole church to see and pray. This is great for engagement and allows people to constantly pray for the needs of the church.
- Church Online: The Church Co has a very engaging online church platform. You'll be able to take notes, view announcements, give, make a prayer request, take the next step, and live chat, all without leaving the live stream. This is something that can’t be accomplished on YouTube or Facebook Live.
Tithely - For churches on a budget
Pricing: $19/month for website only & $119/month for All-Access
Tithely is known for its giving platform, but its website builder pricing is the cheapest on this list. Even their All-Access Plan which includes: websites, apps, text to give, messaging, church management, etc, comes out to be cheaper than the all-in-one plans on this list. If your church is on a tight budget, Tithely is the way to go. Here are some of the reasons your church should go with Tithely:
- User-friendly: Tithely makes their sites very simple and easier to use than WordPress so churches can focus more on ministry. While it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that other website builders have, it offers everything you need for a church website.
- Messaging: Easily text and email your church members. You can schedule automated campaigns that can trigger a follow-up sequence. Following up with a visitor can be the reason they return. Following up with someone that gave their life to Jesus can be the reason they stay the course and get discipled.
- Free church media: Tithely offers thousands of sermon series kits, social media graphics, motion graphics, and more. They have an image editor that allows you to create and edit all on one platform
Go with a web designer who designs websites for churches
While church website builders are great, I believe a better option is to go with a web designer who designs websites for churches.
Why?
Though website builders give users the ability to DIY a website, most users don’t understand how to structure a website, how to optimize a website to improve its SEO (Search Engine Optimization), or how to get found on search engines like Google.
It’s like with any DIY solution. It can save you money in the short run, but it might hurt you in the run. For example, TurboTax is a good option for doing your own taxes since it is cheaper. But, when you go with a professional accountant, though it costs more at first, it can save you so much money in the long run.
Now this isn’t to say that church builders are bad. In fact, I think they’re great. It’s simply a tool though. If you have a great tool without the knowledge, the tool isn’t as effective. Learn the ins and outs of building a church website.
If it is too much to handle, reach out to a professional.
Conclusion
When it comes to creating a church website, using one of the best church website builders can simplify the process and deliver a professional-looking result.
Whether you choose Subsplash for its all-in-one platform, Nucleus Church for its visitor-friendly design, Ministry Designs for customization, The Church Co for user-friendliness, or Tithely for affordability, each option brings something unique to the table.
That said, while these tools are great for DIY solutions, they may not fully address the deeper challenges of creating a strategic and effective church website. Working with a professional web designer who specializes in church websites might be the better option for you.
No matter which route you take, the goal is the same: to create a website that not only attracts visitors but also helps fulfill your church's mission of spreading the Gospel.
Evan Smith is the owner of Two Ten Creatives, a creative design company specifically for churches. He strategically finds ways to bring more visitors to churches by designing church websites and focusing on local SEO. He is a follower of Jesus, a husband, and a father.
