9 Best Church Website Builders of 2024 (Easy for Beginners)

Creating a website for your church can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re not a web designer. The good news is that plenty of user-friendly website builders make creating your own site possible, even if you don’t have any technical skills.

At WPBeginner, we have been teaching our readers how to launch and improve their own online businesses for over 16+ years. During that time, we’ve tried and tested tons of website builders. Our favorite option is self-hosted WordPress since it gives you complete control over your website while also being affordable and beginner-friendly.

That said, we know that everyone has unique needs, and there are lots of other excellent church website builders out there. So, we decided to research and test all the most popular options and share our findings.

In our opinion, self-hosted WordPress still comes out on top, even for church websites. However, we also discovered some other solid platforms, including Sharefaith and Ministry Designs.

In this guide, we will explore the 9 best church website builders to help you find the perfect option for your needs.

A Quick Look: Best Church Website Builders

Are you in a hurry? Here’s a quick look at our top choices for the best church website builders:

#	Church Website Builder	Best For	Pricing
🥇	WordPress	Full ownership & control + customization + flexibility	Free, with additional web hosting + domain name costs
🥈	Web.com	All-in-one website solution for quick setup	From $1.95 per month
🥉	Wix	Small churches seeking all-in-one, easy website setup	Freemium, paid plans start from $17 per month (annual)
4	Sharefaith	Tailored tools for sermon and event management	$45 per month (annual)
5	WordPress.com	All-in-one, managed solution	From $4 per month
6	Ministry Designs	1-1 support from a representative	$1,000 upfront
7	Nucleus	Churches with lots of online members	Not specified
8	Weebly	A beginner-friendly solution with eCommerce features	From $6 per month (annual)
9	Squarespace	Design flexibility + ease of use + multiple users	From $12 per month (annual)

Why Do I Need a Church Website?

A church website can be a digital extension of your ministry. It serves as a central hub for your congregation and community, offering easy access to important information like service times, event details, and updates.

Today, when most people turn to the internet to find answers, having a church website helps make sure that your ministry remains accessible and welcoming to both members and visitors.

A well-designed church website also strengthens communication. It lets you share sermons, host online giving, and even stream live services. All of this makes it easier to engage with your audience beyond the church walls.

Plus, it’s a powerful outreach tool that can help you connect with people who are searching for a spiritual home in your area.

Without a website, it’s like keeping your church’s doors closed throughout the week. A church website ensures you’re always open, ready to serve, and available to anyone in need, anytime.

How We Tested and Reviewed the Best Church Website Builders

When you’re considering which church website builder to pick, you’ll want to look for features that help you accomplish key tasks. Here are the factors we looked into when testing and reviewing church site builders:

• Calendar features: We looked for tools that make it simple to list regular services, events, and activities. The goal is to make sure your church schedule is easy for visitors to find and follow, encouraging participation.
• Support for sermons: We focused on platforms that support both video and audio uploads without extra technical steps. This way, your congregation can catch up on sermons anytime, even if they missed them live.
• Easy member registration and login: We prioritized website builders that support secure member login areas. This feature is key for protecting content, like meeting minutes or internal announcements, with registered church members only.
• Advanced user permissions: We looked into options that allow role-based capabilities so you can assign specific tasks to volunteers without risking access to sensitive areas of the site.
• Donation options: We picked platforms that let churches securely collect donations and contributions, particularly from members who may attend remotely.
• Templates and user-friendly design: We looked for website builders with modern, church-focused templates that are easy to customize. The ability to tweak layouts, add images, and adjust colors ensures your website reflects your church’s identity.

Now, here are the most popular church website builders on the market.

1. WordPress

WordPress or WordPress.org is a powerful, user-friendly website builder that can build any type of site. The best thing about it is that it gives you full ownership and control of your website. That means your data will always belong to you, and you can customize every aspect of your site. You can also extend its features using free or premium plugins.

At WPBeginner, our blog runs on WordPress, and we’re continually impressed by its versatility and power. We’ve covered this platform in detail in our ultimate WordPress review.

Before we dive deeper, it’s important to note that WordPress.org, also called “self-hosted WordPress,” is different from WordPress.com (we’ll discuss this one later in the article).

If you’d like to know how they’re different, then you can take a look at our guide that compares WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com.

As we mentioned, one of the things we love most about WordPress is that you fully own your website.

Unlike other free website builders, there are no ads, and you’re in charge of everything from the design to the content. This makes it a great foundation for any church website.

When it comes to building a church site, we found a wide selection of church themes (both free and premium) that will help get your website up and running quickly. For more information, you can check out our expert picks of the best church themes for WordPress.

You can also use popular WordPress page builder plugins like SeedProd, Divi, or Beaver Builder to create completely custom church websites without writing any code.

For additional features, WordPress has over 59,000 plugins. This means that you can add extra functionality like contact forms, photo galleries, image sliders, and more with just a few clicks.

During our research, we discovered the church-specific Sermon Manager plugin can help with uploading and organizing your church’s sermons.

Then, you can also easily accept online donations directly from your church website using a donation and fundraising plugin. We recommend WPForms Lite, a free plugin that lets you accept Stripe payments.

Or, if you can afford a few premium plugins, Charitable is a fantastic tool for managing donations or creating more advanced crowdfunding campaigns.

If you need to manage multiple users, WordPress lets you create as many user accounts as needed. You can assign different roles and permissions so you can limit full admin access to just one or two people.

On the other hand, you can add a member option to your site using a plugin like MemberPress. That way, your congregation can actively participate on your church website.

On top of all that, there’s a huge supportive community around WordPress, making it easy to get help when you need it. We even run our own free Facebook group called WPBeginner Engage where you can find lots of encouragement and support.

WordPress is free, open-source software, which means you have complete control over your website. But since it’s self-hosted, you will need a domain name and web hosting to make a WordPress site.

Once you have set up your domain and hosting, you can see our guide on how to make a WordPress website (step by step).

Pros of WordPress:

• Full ownership and control over your church website
• A wide selection of free and premium church themes (website templates)
• Customizable design with page builder plugins or intuitive built-in editing tools
• Access to tons of plugins for adding church-specific functionality (donations, crowdfunding, etc.)
• Supports multiple user accounts with customizable roles and permissions
• Massive, supportive community

Cons of WordPress:

• Requires a domain name and web hosting (self-hosted)
• You’ll need to handle updates, backups, and security yourself
• There’s a bit of a learning curve for beginners

Why we recommend WordPress: WordPress is the most flexible platform for building a church website. It’s easy to customize, and with over 59,000 plugins, you can add any feature you need, like sermon uploads and donation tools. Plus, it’s free to use and gives you full control over your site.

Pricing: WordPress itself is free, but you’ll need to pay for a domain name and web hosting. The cost of a domain name is normally around $9 – $15 per year, and web hosting normally starts around $7.99 per month.

2. Web.com

If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that lets you set up your website fast, then Web.com is a great option. It provides web hosting, so you don’t need to buy that separately. Plus, all plans also come with a free domain, business email address, free backups, security features, analytics, and more.

During setup, we really appreciated how quick it was to create a church website. We just typed in “church” for the type of website and then clicked a few options to finish creating the site.

We like that Web.com includes thousands of pre-designed templates plus a powerful drag-and-drop builder so you can customize any design. You also get access to thousands of stock images. This makes building a church website quick and easy.

In the editor, we learned that we can tweak the site layout and design in almost any way we can imagine. One downside is that there isn’t a specific donations feature.

However, you can easily create and sell products. So, a workaround for this is to create a product called “Donation” in different amounts.

If you ever need any help, there’s support available 24/7. You can contact the Web.com team by email or live chat. We found that the live chat team was helpful and quick to respond.

Pros of Web.com:

• All-in-one website solution (includes web hosting)
• Drag-and-drop builder for easy customization
• Thousands of customizable pre-designed templates and stock images
• 24/7 customer support via email and live chat

Cons of Web.com:

• No specific donations feature (requires a workaround)
• Limited customization options compared to WordPress
• Hard to switch to another platform (you’d need to rebuild the site)

Why we recommend Web.com: We chose Web.com because it offers an easy, all-in-one solution for building a church website. With its drag-and-drop builder, thousands of templates, and stock images, it’s quick and simple to get started.

Pricing: Web.com starts at just $1.95 per month. Their eCommerce plan starts at $3.95 per month, which could be useful if your church wants to sell products, event tickets, or anything else online.

3. Wix

Wix is one of the most popular website building platforms that doesn’t require any technical skills. Plus, it’s a fully hosted platform, so it’s a great option for small churches looking for an all-in-one solution.

When making websites, we strongly prefer website builders that work with WordPress. However, we signed up for a Wix plan in order to test it thoroughly.

During setup, we were happy to see that Wix’s interface is very user-friendly. You can just drag things around to build your site, so it’s perfect for beginners.

It offers a collection of templates designed specifically for churches, including features for events, service schedules, and more.

You can pick a template that fits your church’s style and then customize it from there.

Another good thing is that Wix provides a free SSL with plans. You just need to turn it on for your website, and it will help protect your visitors’ data. This feature is especially important if you plan to accept payments or have a contact form.

To accept donations on Wix, you can use the Wix Donations app on your site and create campaigns for each cause.

We also found that you can customize the donation form with options like donation amounts and frequencies.

To process donations, you’ll need a paid plan and a payment provider like Wix Payments or PayPal. However, it’s important to note that if you choose Wix Payments, they might charge a processing fee.

Pros of Wix:

• User-friendly drag-and-drop interface
• Fully hosted platform, eliminating the need for separate hosting
• Free SSL included in all plans for secure data protection
• Church-specific templates with features like events and service schedules
• Customizable donation forms with Wix Donations app

Cons of Wix:

• Free plan has limitations like branded domain and reduced storage
• Paid plan required to accept donations or payments
• Wix Payments charges processing fees for transactions

Why we recommend Wix: Wix is a great choice for beginners looking to create a professional church website with minimal effort. It offers easy customization, built-in hosting, and tools tailored for churches, like pre-made church-specific templates, donation campaigns, and event features.

Pricing: Wix offers a free plan, but it comes with limitations, like a branded domain name and reduced bandwidth and storage. The Light plan, which costs $17 per month, offers more features but does not support accepting payments. To accept payments, you’ll need to upgrade to the Core plan at $29 per month or higher.

4. Sharefaith

Sharefaith is a well-known website builder made specifically for churches. It offers a dedicated platform with tailored tools for sermon and event management. When we tested it, we were impressed by how quickly we could navigate the setup process.

One standout feature of Sharefaith is the extensive selection of church-focused templates. Unlike some platforms, all templates are designed specifically for churches, so you won’t have to sift through irrelevant options.

Plus, Sharefaith makes it easy to preview and test different templates before committing to one. The platform also shines when it comes to sermon management.

Uploading sermons to your church website, whether in audio or video format, is simple. We found it useful that sermons can be organized by preacher or series, making it easier for visitors to browse past messages.

Additionally, the built-in calendar feature was a breeze to use and felt like a great tool for keeping the congregation informed about services and events.

Another standout is Sharefaith Giving, which simplifies accepting donations and tithes directly through your site.

The included media library is also a huge plus. With over 90,000 graphics, videos, and images, we never felt limited in design choices. However, for those who prefer a personal touch, the ability to upload custom visuals is a nice bonus.

Lastly, Sharefaith’s advanced tools let you add extra users, and they also have free site migration for annual plans. This can be a lifesaver if you’re not familiar with technical processes.

Pros of Sharefaith:

• Church-specific templates and access to a vast media library with over 90,000 assets
• Easy sermon uploads with audio, video, and detailed categorization
• Built-in calendar for services and events
• Sharefaith Giving integration for donations and tithes
• Ability to add multiple users through advanced tools

Cons of Sharefaith:

• Not the most budget-friendly option, making it less ideal for churches with tight finances
• Limited functionality compared to WordPress (lacks access to a wide range of plugins and extensions)

Why we recommend Sharefaith: If you’re looking for seamless sermon management, a built-in event calendar, and donation tools, Sharefaith is a top contender. While it’s not the most budget-friendly choice, the cost may be worth it for churches looking for comprehensive support.

Pricing: Sharefaith costs $45/month if you pay annually or $50/month if you pay monthly for their “media + web” plan. That plan is the minimum you can purchase if you want to create a website. This could be worth it if you want to use lots of specialist functionality, like the ability to upload sermons.

5. WordPress.com

WordPress.com is based on the same underlying code as WordPress.org. It can be a good alternative if you don’t mind having a limited version of the WordPress software and you want an all-in-one option (where you don’t have to worry about finding separate hosting services).

We prefer having the flexibility of WordPress.org, but we also have tons of experience with WordPress.com since lots of our readers have asked us questions about it over the years. You can check out our complete WordPress.com review for more details.

It’s easy to get confused about the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. The key thing to know is that WordPress.com is a commercial offering, whereas the WordPress.org software is free and open-source.

There are restrictions on what you can do with WordPress.com, and the free plan is quite limited, which is why we normally recommend WordPress.org instead. However, WordPress.com can be the right choice in some situations.

The best thing about WordPress.com is that it’s hosted for you. That means you don’t need to worry about backups, updates, or security. It’s all handled on your behalf.

There are hundreds of different themes (designs) that you can choose from for your website. This includes plenty of options, both free and premium, that are suitable for churches.

We do appreciate that it’s quite straightforward to move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org in the future. This helps keep your options open.

Pros of WordPress.com:

• Fully hosted platform, handling backups, updates, and security for you
• Hundreds of themes, both free and premium, suitable for churches
• Easy migration from WordPress.com to WordPress.org in the future

Cons of WordPress.com:

• You can’t customize your site to the same degree as you can with many other website builders
• WordPress doesn’t have a drag-and-drop interface like some other website builders, so it can be harder to get to grips with
• The free plan is very limited and doesn’t provide any support.

Why we recommend WordPress.com: We chose WordPress.com for its convenience as a fully hosted platform that handles security, backups, and updates. It’s an ideal choice for those who want a simple solution with plenty of theme options, and the ability to easily migrate to WordPress.org if needed.

Pricing: The paid plans are fairly cheap, starting at just $4/month (billed annually) for a custom domain name and 24/7 support. However, you’ll need at least the Business plan ($10/month for the first year with our discount code WPB50) to be able to install plugins and themes.

6. Ministry Designs

Ministry Designs, a website builder specifically designed for churches, offers full hands-on support with a representative. So it can be a good idea if you expect you’ll need 1-1 attention. During setup, we found its features intuitive and highly relevant for managing a ministry’s digital presence.

With this platform, you can upload sermons, create a calendar, and even manage an email list, making it a comprehensive solution for church websites. When we tested the sermon upload feature, it was simple to use and allowed for easy categorization by series or preacher.

You’ll also find a variety of beautiful, fully responsive templates that look great on both mobile devices and desktops. During our trial, the templates stood out for their clean design and ease of customization. We are confident that even non-technical users could create a professional-looking church site.

Ministry Designs also offers unlimited training. Your assigned ‘Ministry Success Representative’ will guide you step-by-step using screen-sharing technology to help you build your site.

The process begins with an hour-long initial phone call, followed by ongoing support to ensure your website is up and running smoothly. We appreciate this personalized approach, as it makes the setup feel less daunting compared to other platforms we’ve tried.

We also learned that the platform allows for multiple user accounts, with 3 users included for free and the option to add more for an additional fee.

Regarding the support team, you can easily reach them via the live chat feature on their website, even without signing up.

Pros of Ministry Designs:

• Sermon uploads, calendars, and email list management tailored for ministries
• Personalized guidance from a “Ministry Success Representative” with screen-sharing support
• Responsive and friendly team accessible via live chat
• Allows up to 3 free users, with options to add more for larger teams

Cons of Ministry Designs:

• You’ll be paying a large upfront fee
• The templates aren’t necessarily any better or more advanced than those that you could use on other (much cheaper) website builders
• Extra charges apply for adding more than 3 users

Why we recommend Ministry Designs: We chose Ministry Designs because it’s built specifically to meet the needs of churches. It offers features that are highly relevant to ministries, like sermon uploads, calendars, and email list management. It stands out for offering 1-1 customer support for all users.

Pricing: Ministry Designs charges $1,000 upfront for their software and support. You’ll then be paying $20/month for ongoing hosting. We know that it’s a lot to pay, but you may find it’s worth it if your church doesn’t have a volunteer with the technical skills to create a website without a lot of hands-on support.

7. Nucleus

Nucleus is another all-in-one church website builder option. It’s designed to be the “central hub” of your congregation, so it may be perfect if you expect to have a lot of online members.

With a strong emphasis on signup forms, the platform can help you encourage more people to become online users. This can help streamline communication and encourage members to interact online.

When you sign up for Nucleus, you gain access to a library of video clips, though only a small selection is available during the free trial. We found the video clips helpful for creating engaging content on the site, but we would have loved more variety during the trial period.

The best feature we found was the pre-made social media posts with suggested captions. It not only simplifies content creation but can also help you stay consistent with our online presence.

Additionally, Nucleus provides helpful documentation, live chat support, and a Facebook group where users can exchange tips and advice.

You can try Nucleus risk-free with a 30-day free trial – no credit card required. This made it easy to explore the platform without any financial commitment, which we appreciated. If you need more time to decide, Nucleus will happily extend the trial period upon request.

And if affordability is a concern, it’s worth asking if your church qualifies for Nucleus’ “scholarships” for smaller churches and startups.

Pros of Nucleus:

• Strong focus on signup forms
• Pre-made social media posts with suggested captions
• Helpful library of video clips for creating engaging content (though limited during the free trial)
• Live chat support and access to a Facebook group for community tips and advice
• Scholarships for smaller churches and startups

Cons of Nucleus:

• Support is available only from 9 am to 5 pm EST, which may lead to delays
• Donations require an additional flat fee through RebelGive
• Multiple-user access is currently not available

Why we recommend Nucleus: As a church website builder, Nucleus stood out for its all-in-one approach, especially with its focus on signup forms and memberships. The pre-made social media posts with suggested captions can help you save time and maintain consistency. Additionally, the 30-day risk-free trial and affordability scholarships make it an easy and budget-friendly choice.

Pricing: Nucleus costs $125/month if you pay monthly or $99/month if you pay upfront for a year. You don’t need to pay more if your website grows. It’s a single flat fee that gives you access to all its features.

8. Weebly

Weebly is an easy-to-use website builder that is perfect for beginners. It also comes with built-in eCommerce features, making it a great option for churches that want to accept online donations or sell merchandise.

In our experience, the drag-and-drop interface made creating a site feel intuitive, and the variety of editable designs gave us plenty of creative freedom to customize the site.

The built-in eCommerce feature allows you to take donations, which is a great option for churches. However, it’s worth noting that Weebly charges a 3% transaction fee on donations or sales, which could add up over time if your church relies on online contributions.

We also liked the App Center, which offers various add-ons to enhance your site’s functionality. For example, there are audio players you can use to upload and share sermons. This feature was especially helpful for adding multimedia content easily.

Support is available 24/7 via email, and live chat is available during business hours. We found the support team to be responsive and helpful. Plus, if you’re on the Pro plan or higher, you can access phone support, which is an added bonus.

Lastly, if you need to create a membership area for church members to access exclusive content, Weebly offers this option on higher-tier plans. This feature can be useful for protecting sensitive information, ensuring only members can view specific pages.

Pros of Weebly:

• Beginner-friendly drag-and-drop interface with plenty of church-specific templates
• Built-in donation feature, though with a 3% transaction fee
• Add-ons like audio players for sermons enhance functionality
• Ability to create protected areas for church members on higher-tier plans.
• 24/7 email support, live chat during business hours, and phone support for Pro plan users

Cons of Weebly:

• The app selection is limited, and you may not find some features you need, such as a dedicated sermon app, which other website builders may offer.

Why we recommend Weebly: In our opinion, Weebly stands out for its ease of use and beginner-friendly drag-and-drop interface. The variety of customizable designs and built-in eCommerce support are also key benefits. The ability to add multimedia content and create a membership area for church members on higher-tier plans is also highly convenient.

Pricing: Their paid plans start from $6/month (billed annually), but this won’t let you remove ads. You’ll need to pay for the $12/month Professional plan if you want to remove ads and have unlimited storage.

9. Squarespace

Squarespace is a popular all-in-one website builder known for its user-friendliness and beautiful design. We found it particularly convenient for church websites, as it allows for multiple users, making team collaboration easy.

The platform’s block editor also simplifies adding images, videos, and audio files. You can take advantage of these flexible media options for uploading and sharing sermons.

We also appreciated the seamless image handling, ensuring that everything looked great on all devices. Plus, the ability to browse and select free images from Unsplash directly within Squarespace was a big bonus.

Another thing we loved about Squarespace was the large selection of fonts. It makes it easy to match the website’s typography to your church’s printed materials for a consistent look.

One more valuable feature was the flexibility to add contributors, especially on higher-tier plans. And, if you’re looking to accept donations, you can use Squarespace’s ‘Donations’ block, which is available on the Business plan or higher.

In addition, we appreciated the free trial with no strings attached, which didn’t require credit card details to get started.

Pros of Squarespace:

• User-friendly platform, great for beginners
• Flexible media options and large font selections
• Access to Unsplash for free images
• Accept donations directly on your website
• Free trial with no credit card required

Cons of Squarespace:

• Limited church-specific templates. While ‘Community & Non-Profits’ templates can work as a starting point, they often require significant customization to fit a church’s needs
• Limited third-party extensions compared to platforms like WordPress
• Transaction fees on donations. If you’re on the Business plan, Squarespace charges a 3% fee on donations, in addition to the payment processor’s fee.

Why we recommend Squarespace: We like Squarespace because it offers one of the most user-friendly designs with versatile features. You can add multiple users and get a variety of customization options, which is super convenient. Plus, the option to take donations on higher-tier plans adds valuable functionality for churches.

Pricing: The Personal website plan is $12/month (if you pay annually). We’d recommend going for the Business plan at $18/month (also billed annually). This gives you access to premium blocks and extensions, as well as the ability to take donations.

Expert Pick: What Is the Best Church Website Builder?

WordPress is hands down the best website builder for churches. There’s a reason why it’s the most popular website builder in the world, powering over 43% of all websites on the internet.

It comes with dozens of church templates and beginner-friendly editing options, so you can build your church website without writing any code.

From a cost perspective, it’s the most affordable with the Bluehost web hosting offer, which includes a free domain name and free SSL certificate. Plus, you can use our Bluehost coupon code to get a huge discount.

You can also quickly add any feature like donations, sermons, contact forms, photo galleries, membership, email marketing, and so much more with popular WordPress plugins.

If you want a WordPress alternative, then we recommend using the Web.com website builder. The starter plan lets you create a full website for your church, even if you’re on a very tight budget. It’s very easy to use even if you don’t have any technical skills.

We hope this article helped you learn about the best church website builders. You may also want to take a look at our expert list of the best WordPress plugins for non-profits and our comparison of the best business phone services for non-profits.

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