How to Build a Church App: Main Features and Cost Estimation

Building a church app has become a revolutionary method for congregations to engage with their members and improve their overall church experience. Such an app is an unchangeable tool in the modern tech world because it brings the church an opportunity to conduct online sermons, receive donations, and expand outreach.

However, there are plenty of things to learn before looking for church app development. This article will help you learn how to create your own church app, its benefits, technology trends, features to implement, and cost estimate in detail.

A church app is a digital tool for managing daily activities and administrative tasks such as church management, tracking attendance, and allowing spiritual leaders to take notes on participants in various groups. Making your regular church a smart church by creating a specified mobile app can get a number of benefits, including cost reductions, improved communication, and more.

Let’s disclose church app benefits in more detail.

Church mobile app development is an excellent decision if church ministers want to stay in touch with parishioners and parishioners want to communicate with each other. Electroiq survey reports that 15% of responders regularly listen to religious podcasts. Also, the application can inform users about the latest church news and deliver them invitations to events.

Church apps offer users 24/7 access to sermons, videos, sacred books like the Holy Bible, and other religious material with just a few clicks. As for clerics and spiritual leaders, they can deliver the word of the Lord among people by applying modern OTT solutions with superior streaming quality.

Church app solutions may have a donation opportunity and let parishioners share the donation link on social networks. So, a church app can help you establish a convenient way to make donations, increasing their number and enhancing parishioners’ experience. According to EnterpriseAppsToday, 49% of all donations to churches come from credit cards or other electronic means.

Offering online sermons through a church app ensures that members can access spiritual guidance anytime, anywhere, without the feeling attached to specific conditions. This feature is especially valuable for those unable to attend in person, helping them maintain their connection to the church community and its teachings.

Building a church app allows reminding parishioners about the forthcoming charity or volunteering events. Push notifications can be great helpers in involving more people in an event. It’s reasonable to add a photo library for events, let people comment on them, and make charity donations.

Creating a church app fosters a stronger sense of community by providing a central hub for members to connect, share updates, and engage in church activities. Electroiq survey shows that 60% of virtual viewers stay loyal to one congregation. Such statistics confirm that a user-friendly digital tool such as a church app can improve members' commitment.

Wondering how to get a church app, you may choose between custom development, off-the-shelf software, or a solution created using app builders. Custom software development services for your church means creating software from scratch, considering all your goals and requirements. It will allow you to get all the necessary functionality and meet all your needs.

On the other hand, out-of-the-box solutions and applications created with app builders cannot guarantee either stability of work or rich functionality. Developing a custom app is the only way to keep user experience at a high level and provide users with the required features. Let’s see the advantages that custom mobile apps for churches can bring.

The post-pandemic reality shows the need to make churches more flexible and get online. Church applications allow priests and pastors to hold religious practices and meetings remotely without being limited to specific places and times.

Church app development provides members with secure access to services and content for church members. With built-in security features, users can enjoy safe and private access to online services, events, and resources without worrying about data breaches or unauthorized access.

When you create a custom product from scratch, you can get a unique mobile app design that will reflect all the features of your brand and ensure your church name and logo are on the user’s home screen. This way, you can promote it, increase your reach, and attract new users.

Custom building a church app gives you a way to convey your church's personality, mission, and values through the design. This creates a simple connection for individuals with your brand. The app is a constant reminder of your church and keeps your brand at the forefront of their minds while giving them a simple and personal way to connect with your content.

By contacting the church app developer to create a custom solution, you can share all your requirements and business goals and get an application that will meet all your needs and have all the necessary features. With a custom church app development, you don’t have to settle for features you don’t need or miss out on essential tools. The developer works closely with you to make sure that the app is tailored to your church’s goals.

Custom development allows you to successfully integrate a mobile church app with your accounting software, allowing you to conduct and monitor payments. Through this integration, you will more easily be able to control your financial activities. It provides you with the correct and secure donation process, event fees, and other payments. The easy integration of the app with your accounting system enables you to report and track in real time. This will hence eliminate the chances of errors and enhance the clarity of your financial data.

To help you outline what exactly to do to ensure a smooth process of building a church app, below you can examine a step-by-step guide on custom church app development:

Think about the primary reasons why you could benefit from creating a church app. Maybe you need to improve communication within your congregation, making it easier for members to stay updated on events and sermons. Or, perhaps you're looking for a more convenient way to handle donations or want to reach a broader audience. For example, if your church often struggles with getting information out quickly, an app that sends push notifications could be a game-changer.

Next, set some clear and achievable goals for your church or ministry app development. In other words, define what you want your church app to do. Maybe you want to boost engagement by having more members attend events or make online giving more inclusive and accessible. For example, if one of your goals is to increase online donations, having a secure and user-friendly donation feature will be the key. Defining these goals will help you prioritize key features over functionality that may be added later.

Focus on looking for a company with experience in creating church apps, especially for non-profits or religious organizations. Check out their past work and read client reviews to get a sense of their reliability and expertise. Research platforms like Clutch or GoodFirms to find a company that suits your requirements regarding domain expertise and tech proficiency.

It’s important to find someone who understands your vision and values. Having a good working relationship with your church app development vendor will make the development process smoother and ensure the final product aligns with your church's mission.

For example, offshore software development is an excellent choice for church app development due to its cost-effectiveness and high-quality services. Offshore outsourcing also provides access to a broad pool of skilled developers, often with exclusive expertise.

Let’s take a look at the developer’s hourly rates depending on their region:

Anyway, you may notice that offshore experts' rates are quite different. For example, regions like Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) offer competitive pricing with hourly rates ranging from $30 to $110, compared to $60 to $180 in North America. Despite the lower rates, the quality of work in the CEE region is top-tier, often matching or exceeding that of West European and North American developers. This cost-quality ratio allows churches to stretch their budgets further without sacrificing the standard.

Now, think about the features your app should have. Here are key features that are commonly included while planning to create an app for a church:

• Church information
• News
• Event calendar
• Push notifications
• Sacred books section
• Donations
• Social networks integration
• Media library
• Live streaming
• Community forums
• Contact feature

Note: The feature list may significantly vary depending on your church's and congregation's needs, so prioritize features that will best serve your community and support your church's mission. In this way, if you want to improve engagement, including a feature that lets members easily register for events could be very beneficial. Besides, engage with your congregation through surveys or focus groups. This will provide valuable insights into what features they would find most useful and what exactly they need to improve their experience within your organization.

If you need assistance with feature list, feel free to contact us for help.

Step 5. Choose a platform for your church app Decide whether your solution will be a web church app, a native church app for iOS and Android, or a cross-platform church app that operates both on iOS and Android. Web apps are accessible from any browser, making them widely available without needing downloads. Native apps offer better performance and can use device-specific features but require separate development for iOS and Android. At the same time, utilizing cross-platform app development services can save on development costs by running on multiple platforms and stores with a single codebase, even its Android (Google Play) or iOS (App Store). While making this decision, consider your budget, timelines, and preferences of your congregation.

Make sure your church app development provides a solution that is easy to navigate and visually appealing so members can find and use its features without frustration. Conduct usability testing with a small group from your congregation to gather feedback and make necessary adjustments. A positive user experience will encourage members to use the app regularly. A professional UI/UX design services provider will help you create a custom church app design that aligns with your church’s brand identity and meets accessibility standards.

With a clear plan and design, your development team pulls into the church app development process. The team will help you create a detailed timeline and roadmap, outlining each phase from coding to testing. At this stage, you’ll closely collaborate with your vendor, providing feedback to make sure the team’s effort aligns with the vision and goals you plan to achieve by creating a church app. Regular check-ins and updates will help keep the project on track. Nevertheless, the church app development team will conduct iterative testing during development to catch and fix bugs early.

Before launching your app, the development team conducts thorough testing to ensure it’s free of bugs, and the performance of your app is still high. This stage includes testing your church app functionality, usability, and scalability within different levels of user loads. Once testing is complete, you’ll need to plan your church app launch with your development team. From your side, inform your congregation about the new app through announcements during services, newsletters, and social media. Provide clear instructions on how to download and use the app.

After launching the app, mobile church app tech team will monitor its performance and adjust it to growing app users loads. You can use analytics tools (Google Analytics, Firebase Analytics, Maixpanel, etc.) to track user engagement, feature usage, and any issues that arise. Gather feedback from users to make improvements and updates. The development team will update the church app to fix bugs, enhance performance, and add new features. Besides, promote the app within your community by highlighting new features and encouraging members to share it with others.

To create your own church app, you should first decide on the required features. Once it’s done, write down every idea you have to be able to provide clear requirements for the company that’ll create your church application. It’ll speed up the app development process and help bear everything in mind.

Now, let’s talk about features. First, let’s consider some basic features needed to create a church app that will be helpful for parishioners:

That’s probably the first thing the app development process should contain. You may provide members with detailed information on church history, goals, clerics, and ministry programs. This section can include photos, videos, and testimonies to help new and existing members connect with the church's mission. A well-structured "About Us" section fosters transparency and trust among the congregation.

The news feed will make parishioners aware of all the upcoming church events. Church app development delivers the information panel where users will find regular updates on church activities, announcements, and special messages from church leaders that will keep members engaged. A categorized news section can help users find useful updates on services, outreach programs, and more.

The information in real-time with push notifications for your members is a vital part of your church app. Your development vendor should make a notification system that will analyze the members’ interests. Thanks to it, your users will get alerts for prayer requests, emergency notifications, and reminders of community services, which will facilitate communication and church experience in total.

A variety of users read religious books like the Bible on their mobile devices. So, you can provide them with such an opportunity to make a church app. Do not forget about translations of the sacred books and members’ study notes, which will expand your audience with people from different countries and allow your members to understand religious scriptures better.

Donations are important for any non-commercial organization. Some churches collect donations during events. To organize it conveniently for parishioners, you can send notifications to remind them about the possibility of making donations. Secure payment options and real-time tracking of contributions can make giving easier. A section highlighting how donations are used can also encourage more participation.

Create a church app with an event calendar feature so that users can plan their time. You can also use app notifications to remind you of upcoming events. The calendar can enable the users to engage by RSVPing, reminders, and syncing the event with their calendars. Details for events, including venue, time, and guest speakers, will be easily available so that the members know.

You should think about the integration of social media when you want to create a church app. This step will provide you and your users with an opportunity to share different events on social networks using your church app solution. Thanks to it, social media integration enables the church to expand its audience and give better engagement and outreach.

You can connect websites like YouTube or Vimeo for placing/adding videos to your media library. You can also integrate audio sermons from iTunes or other audio stores, as well as create your own podcasts and downloadable audio files. A well-organized media library allows members to easily access past sermons, inspirational videos, and worship music anytime. Offline downloads can provide access to content even when an internet connection is unavailable.

By means of services like Live Stream or Ustream, you are able to conduct live broadcasts from your church app. This feature will help to keep up with events for those parishioners who cannot physically attend church services or certain events. Live streaming can also include interactive elements such as real-time comments, prayer requests, and virtual meet-and-greets. Automatic recording and playback options allow users to revisit past sermons and teachings at their convenience.

We at Cleveroad know how to develop reliable live-streaming functionality and have practical experience in this field.

We’ve developed a versatile video-on-demand platform that provides high-quality transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) to its customers. Our client was Blockbuster - a leading service company in the Nordic countries from Denmark with 500,000+ subscribers. They supply home entertainment solutions to local markets and other Nordic countries, including movie rental services.

See what Henrik Loop, CTO of Blockbuster, says about cooperation with Cleveroad:

You may allow your app's users to ask questions in chat, make calls, or contact the representatives of the church in any other convenient way. A dedicated contact section with quick links to email, phone, and social media ensures easy access to church representatives. A feedback form can also allow members to share their thoughts, suggestions, and prayer requests with church leaders efficiently.

Building a church app provides a great opportunity to create a friendly community among church members. Introduce features as group chats, that allow members to communicate, discuss the latest news, and prepare for upcoming events. Community forums, prayer groups, and mentorship connections can help strengthen relationships within the congregation. User profiles and interest-based groups can facilitate deeper engagement and interaction among members.

There are several tendencies that are most likely to be incorporated by organizations that plan to build a church app. Let’s explore the four most vibrant trends:

By leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), church apps can provide more personalized content, such as tailored sermons, prayer suggestions, and event recommendations based on user behavior and preferences. These technologies enhance users’ engagement by delivering more relevant and meaningful interactions for each member.

AI implementation will change the way how churches interact with their congregation. It automates the tasks, personalizes the conversation, and makes interaction more meaningful. AI development services can provide chatbots that offer immediate support by answering questions about service times, activities, and church events so that the staff can focus on more important interactions.

Church app development can deliver AI to recommend sermons, Bible verses, and prayer topics. It will align with the user’s interests and past activities, which makes spiritual guidance more relevant. Smart notifications help keep members engaged because they remind them about upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and prayer requests.

With the wide popularity of hybrid worship models, church apps will increasingly integrate features that bridge the gap between online and in-person experiences. Creating a church app with this functionality can include live streaming of services, virtual small groups, interactive event calendars, and real-time participation in worship activities. All these foster a sense of community regardless of physical location or each community member.

Church apps are now likely to focus more on community engagement and connection. Features like social networking, real-time chat, and collaborative platforms for group activities and missions are already becoming more prevalent. These tools help congregations stay connected, support one another, and participate actively in church life, even outside of regular services.

There are a lot of factors affecting the final church app development cost, such as platform, features, design, integrations, and developers’ rates. So, regarding all factors, church app development costs approximately $60,000-$180,000+.

As we mentioned earlier, cross-platform solutions are more budget-friendly than native app development. That’s why our expert team has calculated the approximate cost of developing a church app with Flutter based on the basic features.

The price is based on the average hourly rate in our region (Estonia), which equals $50/h, and on development time in the table below:

Note: The estimation above doesn't include QA, BA, SA, DevOps, and UI/UX design services (the services of these specialists are counted separately) and estimates only features described in the article. Meaning those are approximate numbers.

For sure, church app development cost is significantly impacted by your development team's location. For example, if your destination is the U.S., hiring nearshore, like a team from Mexico or Canada, offers cultural and time zone advantages but can still be pricey.

On the other hand, hiring custom church app developers offshore, such as from Central and Eastern Europe, provides substantial cost savings and access to a larger talent pool with expertise more tailored to your demands. Countries like Estonia offer developers at lower rates (ranging from $30 to $50/hour), making high-quality app development more affordable.

Offshore development is often the better choice for churches looking to maximize their budget. It allows for robust, feature-rich apps without breaking the bank, letting churches invest more in their ministry and community.

Our team has proven expertise in church app development. Recently, we’ve helped a Christian missions training organization create a cross-platform social networking platform to connect people willing to share their faith in one digital community.

The Cleveroad team created a comprehensive ministry management app and a web admin panel from the ground up. This solution allows churches and ministries to initiate and monitor the progress of prayer training and evangelism efforts. The app includes features like video training, map services displaying outreach locations, and tools for tracking disciples' progress. It is fully compliant with GDPR regulations and provides access permissions control based on the administration’s role-based access control (RBAC) approach, catering to various denominations.

As a result, the new app attracted more users, leading to increased donations and financial support for their initiatives. Improved app performance and user experience helped retain members previously dissatisfied with the old app. Overall, the organization saw growth in its digital community, more efficient management of training programs, and increased participation and support for its missions.

See what our client says about their experience collaborating with the Cleveroad team during the creation of the church app:

Now, let us tell you more about us and what IT services we offer to church committees. Cleveroad is an outsourcing app development company headquartered in Northern Europe, Estonia. Since 2011, we have assisted religious organizations in creating customized software solutions to ensure church committees can enhance community engagement, streamline operations, and foster deeper connections with their congregations through innovative digital solutions. Besides, we provide a wide range of IT services, including web and mobile development from scratch, cross-platform app development, legacy software modernization, DevOps services, UI/UX design services, and much more.

Here’s why cooperating with us is beneficial in terms of delivering a digital product for your church:

• Wide range of on-demand IT services, including software development from scratch, legacy soft modernization, Discovery Phase services, UI/UX design services, and more.
• Full-service development, encompassing initial concept validation, product release, deployment, and support.
• Flexible cooperation models: Dedicated Team, IT Staff Augmentation, and Project-Based
• Tailored expertise in on-demand development and a smooth and efficient process by assembling the perfect team, backed by thorough documentation and a strong knowledge base
• Partnership with an ISO-certified company, implementing ISO 9001 quality management systems and ISO 27001 security standards