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Religion · head to head

Elvanto vs Gloo

Elvanto logo

Elvanto

Religion

Church management with strong volunteer rostering, now owned by Tithe.ly

From
$72/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Gloo logo

Gloo

Religion

Data and AI platform connecting churches, ministries and the people looking for them

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Gloo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Elvanto tithe.ly owns both Elvanto and Breeze, two overlapping church management systems, and has directed most recent product investment towards Breeze and giving, so Elvanto buyers are betting on a product that is maintained rather than actively advanced.; Gloo churches are not the paying customer, so the product roadmap answers to ministries, funders and campaign buyers whose interests do not always match a local congregation.
  • They diverge on capability: Elvanto covers Volunteer rostering, Gloo covers Gloo Workspace.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Elvanto and Gloo actually diverge.

Attributes where Elvanto and Gloo differ
AttributeElvantoGloo
Starting price$72/monthFree
Pricing modelPer month by planFree tier for churches, paid tiers and campaign services quoted
Free tierNoYes

Identical on both: platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Religion).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Elvanto

  • Volunteer rostering
  • Service planning
  • People and groups
  • Child check-in
  • Online giving
  • Forms and event registration
  • Multi-site support
  • Church website and app

Only in Gloo

  • Gloo Workspace
  • Church messaging
  • Prayer inbox
  • Explorer campaigns
  • Ministry insights
  • Aggregated content and research
  • Free tier

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Elvanto

  • A multi-site church rostering several hundred volunteers across campuses where double-booking is a weekly problemnot Gloo
  • A church outside the United States wanting a management system that was not designed solely around American church practicenot Gloo
  • A congregation replacing spreadsheets for service planning, song rotation and CCLI reportingnot Gloo
  • A church that wants management and online giving on one invoice rather than integrating two vendorsnot Gloo

Gloo

  • A church with no communications budget wanting AI drafting and mass texting without a subscriptionnot Elvanto
  • A congregation that wants to be the local referral destination for people searching online for help with addiction or anxietynot Elvanto
  • A denomination seeking engagement data across its member churches rather than per-church anecdotesnot Elvanto
  • A ministry running a national awareness campaign that needs to route responders to nearby churchesnot Elvanto

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Elvanto

  • Tithe.ly owns both Elvanto and Breeze, two overlapping church management systems, and has directed most recent product investment towards Breeze and giving, so Elvanto buyers are betting on a product that is maintained rather than actively advanced.
  • The advertised monthly price excludes card processing on donations, which for a church taking most giving online is the larger of the two costs and is set by the payment provider, not the licence.
  • The interface is functional but dated relative to Planning Center, and volunteer-facing screens draw complaints from occasional users who only log in to accept a roster.
  • Reporting is adequate for attendance and giving summaries but weak for pastoral care analysis and cohort tracking, so larger churches export to spreadsheets.
  • Support is documentation-and-ticket based with no phone line on the standard plan, which is difficult for a volunteer administrator troubleshooting check-in on a Sunday morning.

Gloo

  • Churches are not the paying customer, so the product roadmap answers to ministries, funders and campaign buyers whose interests do not always match a local congregation.
  • Participation routes congregant and enquirer interactions through a commercial data network, and a church board should have the data terms reviewed before enrolling a congregation rather than after.
  • It is not a church management system: there is no membership database, giving ledger, child check-in or rostering, so it sits alongside an existing ChMS rather than replacing one.
  • Free message credits are capped monthly, and a church that builds its weekly communications on texting will exceed them and move to paid volume where the effective cost is comparable to dedicated messaging vendors.
  • The company has grown by acquiring more than twenty brands, and integrating that many products takes time, so overlap and inconsistency between the acquired tools is visible to users.

Pricing, plan by plan

Elvanto

$72/month
  • Church Management + Giving$72/month
    • Full church management modules
    • Volunteer rostering and service planning
    • Child check-in
  • Church Management + Giving + Custom App$119/month
    • Everything in the base plan
    • Branded church mobile app
    • Push notifications

Gloo

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Core Workspace AI tools
    • Monthly message credit allowance
    • Prayer inbox
  • Gloo+ and campaign services$undefined/year
    • Higher message volumes and additional media features
    • Explorer campaign participation
    • Ministry and denomination data services

Which should you pick?

Choose Elvanto if

  • You need volunteer rostering.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want service planning.
Elvanto review

Choose Gloo if

  • You need gloo workspace.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want church messaging.
Gloo review

Questions people ask

Is Elvanto or Gloo better?
Neither clearly leads. Elvanto starts at $72/month and Gloo at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elvanto or Gloo?
Gloo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $72/month for Elvanto and Free for Gloo.
Does Elvanto or Gloo run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Gloo for free?
Yes. Gloo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Elvanto starts at $72/month.
What is Elvanto best used for?
Elvanto is most often used for a multi-site church rostering several hundred volunteers across campuses where double-booking is a weekly problem, a church outside the united states wanting a management system that was not designed solely around american church practice, a congregation replacing spreadsheets for service planning, song rotation and ccli reporting, a church that wants management and online giving on one invoice rather than integrating two vendors. Of those, a multi-site church rostering several hundred volunteers across campuses where double-booking is a weekly problem and a church outside the united states wanting a management system that was not designed solely around american church practice are not what Gloo is typically brought in for.
What can Elvanto do that Gloo cannot?
Elvanto covers Volunteer rostering, Service planning, People and groups, Child check-in. Gloo covers Gloo Workspace, Church messaging, Prayer inbox, Explorer campaigns.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Elvanto: Is Elvanto still being developed?

It is maintained and sold to new customers, but Tithe.ly also owns Breeze and has prioritised that product and its giving tools. Ask the vendor directly what is on the Elvanto roadmap before a multi-year commitment.

Gloo: Is this the same as Gloo Gateway the API product?

No. This is gloo.com, the faith sector data and AI platform. Gloo Gateway is an unrelated API gateway product from a different company.

Elvanto: What does it really cost?

$72 a month for management plus giving, or $119 with a branded app, plus payment processing on every donation charged by the provider. Budget the processing rate as the main variable cost.

Gloo: Why is it free for churches?

Because churches are not the revenue source. Ministries, publishers, philanthropists and campaign funders pay to reach and measure engagement with the audience the network reaches.

Elvanto: Is it better than Planning Center for rostering?

For availability handling, clash detection and swap requests it is genuinely competitive. Planning Center is stronger on service and worship team workflow and has a larger integration ecosystem.

Gloo: Does it replace our church management software?

No. There is no membership ledger, giving records, check-in or volunteer rostering. Keep your ChMS.

Elvanto: Can we migrate our data out?

Yes, exports are available, but rebuilding rosters, forms and check-in configuration in a new system is manual work regardless of the export.

Gloo: What happens to data about people who contact us through Explorer?

That is the question to put in writing to Gloo before joining. Enquirer data flows through a commercial network, and the governing terms should be reviewed by whoever advises your board.

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