ChurchPress vs. Church Plant Media: Launch Bundle or Website First

Church Plant Media is a church technology provider that offers four products: websites powered by its Herald platform, branded mobile apps, live streaming and online giving. When you sign up for a website, its team takes care of the initial setup, from building your homepage to importing your first sermons, and then hands you a full-featured editor.

ChurchPress is a website service. It drafts your new site from the website you already have, or from a short set of questions if you do not have one yet, and you keep it current by asking for changes in plain language. You can see the whole site before you pay anything.

Church Plant Media describes itself as gospel partners first and technology providers second, and that heart shows in how it talks about serving churches. Its team lists decades of experience in technology and local church ministry, and it says thousands of people around the world use its tools.

For a church that wants several ministry tools from one team, the bundle is a real strength. Sermons, blog posts and events entered once appear on both your website and your church app, so nobody has to enter the same information twice.

Church Plant Media's website setup is especially helpful for a church that is short on time. According to its website FAQ, the team builds your homepage, creates up to 15 subpages and one leadership or staff page, imports up to 30 sermons with media files, notes and scripture references, sets up your navigation, applies your branding and adds your logo. From there you can add more content before launch, and it will quote larger sermon migrations.

That makes it a comfortable option for a church plant team that wants a person walking alongside them while they get the website, app and giving in place.

ChurchPress starts by learning who you are. If you have a website, it studies your logo, colors, photos, ministries, service times and voice. If you are a new church with no site yet, it asks a few questions instead. You confirm key facts, answer about five minutes of questions, and it designs your homepage first, usually in 15 to 45 minutes. One click then builds the rest: typically Plan a Visit, About and Beliefs, Ministries, Sermons, Events, Groups, Giving, Staff and Contact.

After that, updating the site is a conversation. As a young church changes meeting locations, adds a second service or launches its first small groups, someone can simply ask, "we moved to the Lincoln Elementary gym starting in March, update every page." The change appears in a private preview, with one-click undo and version history, and goes live only when you press Publish.

ChurchPress also brings the essentials a growing church needs to connect with guests: plan-a-visit, prayer, contact, volunteer and newsletter forms that land in a dashboard Inbox and email the right people, a small-group finder, serving opportunities with an "I'm interested" form, and Growth tools that show visits, form submissions and sermon plays.

How the two compare, job by job:

When we checked Church Plant Media's pricing page in October 2026, the website plan was listed at $59 per month plus a $499 setup fee, or $53 per month plus a $449 setup fee under its package pricing, which saves 10% when you get all of its products. Its mobile app, streaming and giving were each priced separately. The FAQ notes there is no minimum contract period and that you will also need a domain name, which it estimates at about $15 per year. Please confirm current pricing with Church Plant Media.

ChurchPress has no setup fee, since the build and full preview are free with no credit card. Publishing on the Founders offer is $97 per month or $997 per year, price locked while your subscription stays active, with a 30-day money-back guarantee on the first payment and no long-term contract. That includes hosting, SSL, connecting your domain, unlimited plain-language updates and redesigns, all site tools and support from real people. ChurchPress does not sell domains, so you would keep or register one separately.

For a church that plans to use an app, streaming and giving, Church Plant Media's bundle may be the most efficient way to get them. For a church whose priority is a website that is designed and maintained for it, ChurchPress keeps everything in one plan.

Church Plant Media is a great fit if you want your website, app, livestream and giving from one gospel-minded team, you like having a person handle setup, and you have someone who will enjoy using a flexible editor.

ChurchPress is a great fit if you want the website itself handled: drafted from what you have, adjusted by simple requests, and checked on phones, tablets and desktops before it goes live. It pairs well with whatever giving, app or streaming tools you already use, linked through Connections.

If you are deciding, build a free ChurchPress preview from your current site, or from a few answers if you are just launching, and compare it with what you create during a Church Plant Media trial.