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Religion · head to head

Church Alive vs Ministry Brands

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Church Alive

Religion

Church management and event software

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ministry Brands logo

Ministry Brands

Religion

A church software holding company whose current product is the Amplify module suite

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • They diverge on capability: Church Alive covers Member Management, Ministry Brands covers Amplify People.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Church Alive and Ministry Brands actually diverge.

Attributes where Church Alive and Ministry Brands differ
AttributeChurch AliveMinistry Brands
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2006Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), 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 Church Alive

  • Member Management
  • Event Planning
  • Group Coordination
  • Volunteer Scheduling
  • Email Integration
  • Calendar Systems
  • Payment Processing
  • Giving Integration

Only in Ministry Brands

  • Amplify People
  • Amplify Giving
  • Amplify Accounting
  • Amplify Websites and Streaming
  • Background screening
  • Amplify Service Planning

What people use each for

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

Church Alive

  • Member managementnot Ministry Brands
  • Donation trackingnot Ministry Brands
  • Event planningnot Ministry Brands
  • Volunteer schedulingnot Ministry Brands
  • Communicationnot Ministry Brands

Ministry Brands

  • A church that wants member records, giving, website and streaming from one vendor with one loginnot Church Alive
  • A congregation needing fund accounting that understands restricted funds rather than a general ledger adapted from business softwarenot Church Alive
  • Running volunteer background checks under a child protection policy without a separate screening vendornot Church Alive
  • A denominational office standardising several congregations on one records and giving platformnot Church Alive

Where each one falls short

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

Church Alive

Nothing recorded yet. See the Church Alive review.

Ministry Brands

  • The legacy acquired brands and Amplify are different software, so a church buying Shelby or Fellowship One today is buying a product line that is not receiving the development investment.
  • Nothing is publicly priced at any level, so churches cannot compare modules against single-purpose competitors without running a full sales process.
  • Ministry Brands processes the giving, so the transaction rate is a large and negotiable part of the cost that is easy to overlook while comparing module subscriptions.
  • Module count creates upsell pressure, and churches often sign for a bundle then use three or four modules while paying for the rest.
  • Moving from a legacy brand onto Amplify is a full data migration with its own cost and risk, which weakens the argument that staying inside the family is the low-effort choice.

Pricing, plan by plan

Church Alive

On request
  • Basic$49/month
    • Core management
    • Up to 200 members
  • Professional$149/month
    • All features
    • Unlimited members
    • Advanced reporting

Ministry Brands

On request
  • Amplify$undefined/year
    • Modules bought individually or bundled
    • Priced by church size and modules selected
    • Giving processed by Ministry Brands at a negotiated transaction rate
  • Legacy products$undefined/year
    • Shelby Systems, Elexio, Fellowship One, easyTithe and others
    • Supported for existing customers
    • Not the go-forward investment line

Which should you pick?

Choose Church Alive if

  • You need member management.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want event planning.
Church Alive review

Choose Ministry Brands if

  • You need amplify people.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want amplify giving.
Ministry Brands review

Questions people ask

Is Church Alive or Ministry Brands better?
Neither clearly leads. Church Alive starts at On request and Ministry Brands at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Church Alive or Ministry Brands?
Church Alive starts at On request and Ministry Brands at On request.
Does Church Alive or Ministry Brands run on more platforms?
Church Alive runs on Web, Mobile. Ministry Brands runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Church Alive best used for?
Church Alive is most often used for member management, donation tracking, event planning, volunteer scheduling. Of those, member management and donation tracking are not what Ministry Brands is typically brought in for.
What can Church Alive do that Ministry Brands cannot?
Church Alive covers Member Management, Event Planning, Group Coordination, Volunteer Scheduling. Ministry Brands covers Amplify People, Amplify Giving, Amplify Accounting, Amplify Websites and Streaming.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Ministry Brands: What do I actually buy from Ministry Brands?

Amplify, sold as modules. The older acquired brands are still supported but are not what new customers are sold.

Ministry Brands: Is pricing published?

No. Everything is quoted by church size and module selection, and the giving transaction rate is negotiated separately.

Ministry Brands: Are Shelby and Fellowship One discontinued?

They are supported but not the go-forward line. Ask for written end-of-support commitments before renewing.

Ministry Brands: Is Amplify Equip the same as Faithlife Equip?

No. Amplify Equip is an AI sermon preparation module. Faithlife Equip was a separate product that has been discontinued.

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