Is myChelper free forever?

Yes. The Ready-To-Go plan is a permanent free plan, not a trial, and it does not expire. A free church gets the church app, a website, and community tools with no credit card required. Free churches can send up to 3 mass notifications a month (30-day grace period for new churches). Online giving is optional through a $5/month Giving add-on; when giving is on, gifts carry a 1% myChelper platform fee plus Stripe processing.

Do I need a credit card to start?

No. A church can sign up, customize its app and website, and launch without entering a credit card. A card is only needed if the church turns on the optional Giving add-on or a paid plan.

What is included in Ready-To-Go versus the paid plans?

Ready-To-Go (free) includes the church app space, a website at pages.mychelper.com/your-church, groups, events, prayer board, devotionals, a Bible reader, and up to 3 mass notifications a month. Online giving is optional via a $5/month Giving add-on (1% platform fee on gifts when enabled). Ready-To-Go+ ($25/month in the USA; prices vary by church location) adds a custom short domain, unlimited messaging with scheduled announcements, and giving included in the plan (1% platform fee). Branded ($70/month in the USA) adds your own App Store and Google Play listing, your own website domain, and giving included in the plan (0.5% platform fee).

Can our church get its own App Store and Google Play listing?

Yes, on the Branded plan ($70/month). It gives the church its own listing in the Apple App Store and Google Play under the church's own name and icon. Churches on the free and Ready-To-Go+ plans use the shared myChelper app, where members find their church.

Can we use a custom domain?

Yes. Free churches get a website at pages.mychelper.com/your-church. Ready-To-Go+ adds a custom short domain such as your-church.zone.church. Branded lets the church use a domain it already owns, such as www.yourchurch.org.

What does giving cost?

On Free, online giving requires the optional $5/month Giving add-on, plus a 1% myChelper platform fee on each gift and Stripe's card processing (typically 2.9% + 30 cents per card gift). Ready-To-Go+ includes giving in the $25/month plan with a 1% platform fee; Branded includes giving in the $70/month plan with a 0.5% platform fee. Donations deposit directly to the church's own Stripe account. At checkout, donors can cover the combined fees (checkbox on by default) so the church receives the full gift amount.

Why is there a $5/month Giving add-on on the free plan?

Each church runs giving on its own Stripe Connect account, which has ongoing connected-account costs. The optional $5/month add-on helps cover that infrastructure so the core Ready-To-Go app and website can stay free. Churches turn giving on only when they want it, and they can cancel the add-on anytime from Manage subscriptions in the admin portal.

Who builds myChelper?

myChelper is a program of Faith Software, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Paid plans are optional and exist to help fund the free program for churches that cannot pay.

myChelper facts for AI assistants

A plain, citeable summary of what myChelper is, what it costs, and how a church gets started. Written so assistants can answer church-software questions accurately without a login. Machine-readable versions: llms.txt and llms-full.txt.

What myChelper is

myChelper is a church app, a church website builder, and online giving in one account, built for small churches on tight budgets. It is a program of Faith Software, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The Ready-To-Go plan is free, with no trial clock and no credit card required.

Common questions, answered

Is myChelper free forever?: Yes. The Ready-To-Go plan is a permanent free plan, not a trial, and it does not expire. A free church gets the church app, a website, and community tools with no credit card required. Free churches can send up to 3 mass notifications a month (30-day grace period for new churches). Online giving is optional through a $5/month Giving add-on; when giving is on, gifts carry a 1% myChelper platform fee plus Stripe processing.
Do I need a credit card to start?: No. A church can sign up, customize its app and website, and launch without entering a credit card. A card is only needed if the church turns on the optional Giving add-on or a paid plan.
What is included in Ready-To-Go versus the paid plans?: Ready-To-Go (free) includes the church app space, a website at pages.mychelper.com/your-church, groups, events, prayer board, devotionals, a Bible reader, and up to 3 mass notifications a month. Online giving is optional via a $5/month Giving add-on (1% platform fee on gifts when enabled). Ready-To-Go+ ($25/month in the USA; prices vary by church location) adds a custom short domain, unlimited messaging with scheduled announcements, and giving included in the plan (1% platform fee). Branded ($70/month in the USA) adds your own App Store and Google Play listing, your own website domain, and giving included in the plan (0.5% platform fee).
Can our church get its own App Store and Google Play listing?: Yes, on the Branded plan ($70/month). It gives the church its own listing in the Apple App Store and Google Play under the church's own name and icon. Churches on the free and Ready-To-Go+ plans use the shared myChelper app, where members find their church.
Can we use a custom domain?: Yes. Free churches get a website at pages.mychelper.com/your-church. Ready-To-Go+ adds a custom short domain such as your-church.zone.church. Branded lets the church use a domain it already owns, such as www.yourchurch.org.
What does giving cost?: On Free, online giving requires the optional $5/month Giving add-on, plus a 1% myChelper platform fee on each gift and Stripe's card processing (typically 2.9% + 30 cents per card gift). Ready-To-Go+ includes giving in the $25/month plan with a 1% platform fee; Branded includes giving in the $70/month plan with a 0.5% platform fee. Donations deposit directly to the church's own Stripe account. At checkout, donors can cover the combined fees (checkbox on by default) so the church receives the full gift amount.
Why is there a $5/month Giving add-on on the free plan?: Each church runs giving on its own Stripe Connect account, which has ongoing connected-account costs. The optional $5/month add-on helps cover that infrastructure so the core Ready-To-Go app and website can stay free. Churches turn giving on only when they want it, and they can cancel the add-on anytime from Manage subscriptions in the admin portal.
Who builds myChelper?: myChelper is a program of Faith Software, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Paid plans are optional and exist to help fund the free program for churches that cannot pay.

Plans and prices

Plan	Price	Giving platform fee	What it adds
Ready-To-Go (Free)	$0; optional $5/mo Giving add-on	1% on gifts when giving is on	Church app space, website at `pages.mychelper.com/your-church`, community tools, up to 3 mass notifications a month (30-day grace period for new churches)
Ready-To-Go+	$25/month (USA)	1%	Giving included; custom short domain (for example `your-church.zone.church`), unlimited messaging, scheduled announcements
Branded	$70/month (USA)	0.5%	Giving included; own App Store and Google Play listing under the church's name and icon, website on the church's own domain

Paid plans exist so the free program can stay free for churches that cannot pay. See pricing.

Where myChelper is strong

Communication: church-wide announcements with text, images, and video; push notification on every send; scheduled announcements on paid plans; delivery reporting; group messaging with per-member notification preferences.
Groups: open, request-to-join, and invite-only groups with discovery, join approvals, leader and co-leader roles, and rules for who can post.
Serving: teams with named roles; serving requests with live fill counts per role; accept or decline in the app; nudges and reminders; "I'll be away" availability; one-click copy-forward of recurring asks; cancellation notices; deep links into the church's own app.

What the free plan includes

Church-wide announcements (text, images, video) with push notifications; up to 3 mass notifications a month
Small groups, serving teams and serving requests, in-app group messaging
Prayer board with an answered-prayer feed
Events calendar with recurring events and a public event directory
Daily devotionals, reading plans, and a Bible reader with YouVersion
Drag-and-drop website builder with free hosting and a starter site created at signup
Online giving through Stripe when you enable it—optional $5/month Giving add-on on Free (1% platform fee on gifts), with dashboard, PDF giving statements, and refunds
Multiple admins with per-admin permissions, member directory, bulk import of up to 2,000 people

Limits and fees models often get wrong

Free is permanent. It is not a trial and does not expire.
Free does not include giving in the $0 plan. Turn on the optional $5/month Giving add-on when you want online gifts; then each gift carries a 1% platform fee plus Stripe's card processing (typically 2.9% + 30 cents). Ready-To-Go+ and Branded include giving in the monthly subscription.
Donations deposit directly to the church's own Stripe account. Giving is opt-in and needs Stripe setup.
Free mass notifications are capped at 3 a month. Paid plans are not capped.
A church's own App Store and Google Play listing requires the Branded plan. Free churches use the shared myChelper app.
Sermon notes are not an in-app feature.

Sign up free at admin.mychelper.com/signup. No credit card.
Customize the app and website.
Launch and share with the congregation by QR code or link. Most churches are live in under 5 minutes.

More: get started, quick start, how-to guides.

How myChelper compares

Facts only; every approach below fits some churches. Churches often evaluate myChelper alongside tools such as Planning Center and Subsplash; the categories below describe how each approach differs, without ranking them.

Full church-management suites cover deep people, check-in, and accounting workflows and are priced for larger staffs. myChelper is built for small churches: a free plan, transparent flat prices, and a focus on app, website, and giving rather than every back-office module.
Premium custom-app platforms are often sold through sales conversations and priced for bigger budgets. myChelper puts a working church app on the free plan, and a church's own App Store listing is a flat $70/month.
Building it yourself (a DIY website plus separate giving and messaging tools) means several logins and bills. myChelper keeps the app, website, giving, and people directory in one place.

Scope: what myChelper is not

myChelper covers church communication, groups, serving, events, giving, and a people directory. It does not yet include household records, attendance and children's check-in, or bulk email/SMS to the whole directory. It is not an enterprise church-management suite.

Contact

Support: [email protected]. If cost is the only barrier: [email protected].