Choosing a church website builder is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your ministry’s online presence. The wrong choice wastes months of work and thousands of dollars. The right one gives you a site that actually brings visitors through your doors on Sunday.
We’ve tested every major platform on this list, built hundreds of church websites on WordPress at REACHRIGHT, and helped churches migrate away from builders that weren’t working. This guide covers 10 church website builders with honest pros, cons, and pricing so you can pick the right one for your church.
Quick Comparison: 10 Church Website Builders
| Builder | Starting Price | Church-Specific | DIY or Done-for-You | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| REACHRIGHT (WordPress) | $97/mo | ✅ | Done-for-you | Best overall: custom design, SEO, and ongoing support |
| WordPress (DIY) | Free / $4/mo | With plugins | DIY | Tech-savvy churches wanting full control |
| Nucleus | $49/mo | ✅ | DIY (guided) | Modern churches wanting a purpose-built platform |
| Squarespace | $16/mo | ❌ | DIY | Design-focused churches wanting polished templates |
| Wix | Free / $17/mo | ❌ | DIY | Small churches on a tight budget |
| Subsplash | Custom quote | ✅ | Done-for-you | Large churches wanting an all-in-one platform |
| The Church Co | Free / $49/mo | ✅ | Both | Churches wanting a free starting point |
| Clover Sites | $39/mo | ✅ | DIY (guided) | Small churches wanting affordable church tools |
| Ministry Designs | $57-97/mo | ✅ | Done-for-you | SEO-focused churches with upfront budget |
| Weebly | Free / $10/mo | ❌ | DIY | Bare-minimum budget sites (limited future) |
What to Look for in a Church Website Builder
Before diving into each platform, here’s what actually matters when choosing a church website builder. Not all of these are obvious.
Church-specific features. Sermon archives, online giving integration, event registration, and an “I’m New” visitor pathway are table stakes. Generic builders like Squarespace and Wix don’t include these natively, which means you’ll spend hours patching together plugins and workarounds.
Mobile-first design. Over 63% of church website traffic comes from phones. If the builder’s templates aren’t designed for mobile first, you’re losing the majority of your visitors before they even see your service times.
SEO capability. A beautiful website that nobody finds is an expensive business card. Your builder needs to support proper heading structure, meta descriptions, fast load times, and local SEO so your church shows up when people search “churches near me.”
Ownership and portability. Can you export your content if you leave? Some builders lock you in. WordPress-based sites give you full ownership. Proprietary platforms often don’t.
Ongoing support. Who helps you when something breaks at 10pm on Saturday night before Easter services? The answer matters more than you think.
The 10 Best Church Website Builders
1. REACHRIGHT (WordPress, Done-for-You)
If you want the power of WordPress without the headaches of managing it yourself, this is what we built REACHRIGHT to do. We handle design, development, hosting, security, updates, and ongoing support. You focus on ministry.
Every site we build is custom-designed for your church (not a template you tweak yourself), mobile-first, and optimized for local search from day one. We integrate your giving platform (Tithe.ly, Pushpay, Planning Center), build searchable sermon archives, and create a clear visitor pathway so first-time guests know exactly what to expect.
The difference between REACHRIGHT and a DIY builder: you get a dedicated team that understands church ministry. When you need to update service times before Christmas Eve, you call us. When you want to add a new ministry page, we build it. When your website needs to rank on Google, we know how to make that happen.
Pricing: $97/month. $2,000 setup fee waived with 12-month commitment. Custom sites quoted individually.
Pros:
- Custom design built specifically for your church
- All hosting, security, backups, and updates included
- Phone support from people who know your church
- Built on WordPress (you own your content)
- Local SEO and Google Grant services available as add-ons
- Ready in 1-2 weeks (tailored) or 8-12 weeks (custom)
Cons:
- Not a DIY platform (if you want to build it yourself, see WordPress below)
- Monthly subscription required (no one-time purchase option)
Best For: Churches of any size that want a professional website without the DIY learning curve. Especially strong for churches that also need SEO and digital marketing support.
See what we build
Browse real church websites designed by our team and hear from pastors about their results.
2. WordPress (DIY)
WordPress powers over 40% of all websites on the internet. It’s the most flexible website builder available, with thousands of themes and tens of thousands of plugins that can turn a basic site into anything your church needs.
For churches, WordPress offers two paths: WordPress.com (hosted for you, more limited) and WordPress.org (self-hosted, full control). We recommend WordPress.org for churches that want the flexibility to add church-specific plugins like SermonManager, GiveWP, or The Events Calendar.
The catch: WordPress requires more technical knowledge than drag-and-drop builders. Someone on your team needs to handle updates, security patches, plugin conflicts, and backups. If that sounds overwhelming, consider having a professional manage it for you (that’s exactly what REACHRIGHT does).
Pricing:
- WordPress software: Free
- Hosting: $4-25/month (Bluehost, SiteGround, or similar)
- Premium themes: $50-200 one-time
- Premium plugins: $0-300/year depending on needs
Pros:
- Massive theme and plugin ecosystem
- Complete design flexibility and customization
- You own all your content (fully portable)
- Huge community, documentation, and developer pool
- Best SEO capabilities of any platform
Cons:
- Steeper learning curve than drag-and-drop builders
- You manage updates, security, and backups (or pay someone to)
- No church-specific features out of the box (requires plugins)
- Can get expensive when you stack premium plugins and hosting
Best For: Churches with a tech-comfortable volunteer or staff member who wants full control. Also the platform REACHRIGHT builds on, so you can start DIY and upgrade to professional management later without rebuilding.
3. Nucleus
Nucleus is a purpose-built church website builder that has earned some of the highest customer ratings in the church tech space: 4.8/5 on Trustpilot and 4.9/5 on Capterra. Their platform is modern, clean, and designed specifically for ministry.
Nucleus stands out with their “Launcher” tool, a floating navigation element that gives visitors quick access to key actions (give, connect, watch) from any page. It’s a genuinely unique feature that solves a real usability problem for church websites.
Pricing:
- Essential: $49/month (website + sermons + prayer)
- Standard: $99/month (adds giving, messages, media)
- Premium: $199/month (full suite including ChMS and email)
- 15-day free trial. No contracts.
Pros:
- Purpose-built for churches (not adapted from a generic builder)
- Excellent customer support (consistently praised in reviews)
- Modern templates with free website rebuild for new customers
- Planning Center integration
- Transparent, no-contract pricing
Cons:
- $49/month starting price is higher than generic builders
- Add-ons push costs up quickly ($99-199/month for full features)
- Limited third-party integrations beyond Planning Center
- Smaller user base than older platforms
- You don’t own your content the same way you do with WordPress
Best For: Mid-size to large churches that want a modern, church-specific platform with strong support. Particularly good for churches already using Planning Center.
4. Squarespace
Squarespace is known for beautiful design. Their templates are consistently rated the best-looking in the industry, and the editor is clean and intuitive. For churches that prioritize visual aesthetics, Squarespace delivers.
The limitation: Squarespace wasn’t built for churches. There’s no native sermon management, no built-in giving integration, and no event registration beyond basic scheduling. You’ll need to embed third-party tools for everything church-specific, which can feel clunky.
Pricing (annual billing):
- Basic: $16/month
- Core: $23/month
- Plus: $39/month
- Advanced: $99/month
Pros:
- Best-in-class design templates
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth on all plans
- Built-in SEO tools and analytics
- 14-day free trial, no credit card required
Cons:
- No church-specific features (sermons, giving, prayer walls)
- Add-ons get expensive ($16-49/month for scheduling, $5-48/month for email)
- Less flexible than WordPress for custom functionality
- No free plan
- Content is harder to migrate away from Squarespace
Best For: Smaller churches or church plants that prioritize visual polish and don’t need complex church-specific features yet. Read our full Squarespace for churches review for a deeper look at pricing, limitations, and alternatives.
5. Wix
Wix is one of the most popular website builders globally, with a generous free plan and an intuitive drag-and-drop editor. With 900+ templates and a robust app market, you can get a basic church site up in a few hours.
Wix has matured significantly in recent years. The platform now includes solid SEO tools, built-in event management, booking features, and forms that churches find useful. It’s a solid option for churches on a tight budget that need something functional fast.
Pricing (annual billing):
- Free: Wix branding, 500MB storage
- Light: $17/month (custom domain, 2GB storage)
- Core: $29/month (50GB, e-commerce)
- Business: $39/month (100GB, advanced tools)
Pros:
- Very intuitive drag-and-drop editor
- Generous free plan for testing
- 900+ templates including some church/nonprofit options
- Built-in booking, events, and form tools
- Monthly billing available (no annual lock-in required)
Cons:
- No church-specific features built in (sermons, giving)
- Can’t switch templates once your site is live
- Free plan shows Wix branding prominently
- Light plan has very limited storage (2GB)
- Content portability is limited (hard to migrate away)
Best For: Small churches on a tight budget that want an easy-to-use builder with basic event and form features. Good for getting something up quickly, but plan to upgrade as you grow. Read our full Wix for churches review for details on pricing, pros, and cons.
6. Subsplash
Subsplash is an enterprise-level church platform that combines websites, mobile apps, giving, live streaming, and media management into one system. It’s comprehensive and powerful, but it comes with enterprise pricing.
For large churches and multi-campus organizations, Subsplash’s strength is integration. Everything connects: your website, your app, your giving platform, your streaming, your media library. No stitching together separate tools.
Pricing: Custom quotes only. No published pricing. Expect $200-500+/month depending on features and church size.
Pros:
- True all-in-one platform (website, app, giving, streaming, media)
- Seamless integration between all tools
- Strong media management for sermon libraries
- Multi-campus support
- Dedicated account management
Cons:
- No transparent pricing (must talk to sales)
- Likely the most expensive option on this list
- Overkill for small to mid-size churches
- Proprietary platform (you don’t own the underlying system)
- Long onboarding process
Best For: Large churches (1,000+ members) and multi-campus organizations that want every digital tool under one roof and have the budget to match.
7. The Church Co
The Church Co has gained popularity by offering a free church website builder alongside paid tiers with more features. They’ll even build your initial site for free, which makes them an attractive starting point for churches with zero budget.
Their platform is church-specific with sermon management, giving integration, and event tools built in. The free tier is genuinely usable, not just a teaser.
Pricing:
- Free: Basic website with The Church Co branding
- Starter: $49/month (custom domain, remove branding)
- Pro: $99/month (advanced features, integrations)
- They also build websites for free (you just pay monthly hosting)
Pros:
- Free tier that’s actually functional
- Church-specific features included
- They’ll build your initial site at no cost
- Modern, clean templates
- Growing platform with active development
Cons:
- Free tier includes The Church Co branding
- Newer platform with a smaller track record
- Limited customization compared to WordPress
- Proprietary (content portability is limited)
Best For: Churches with a very tight budget that want church-specific features without paying for a premium platform. Good starter option.
8. Clover Sites
Clover Sites (now part of Ministry Brands) is a church website builder with straightforward pricing and a section-based editor. It includes church-specific features like online giving, a prayer wall, and media management out of the box.
Pricing:
- Website Only: $39/month + $500 setup
- Website + App + Media: $55/month + $500 setup
- Full Suite: $164/month (setup fee waived)
Pros:
- Church-specific features out of the box
- Affordable monthly starting price ($39)
- Bundled giving, app, and streaming options
- Easy redesign with unlimited templates
Cons:
- $500 setup fee on most plans
- Now part of Ministry Brands conglomerate (less independent focus)
- Mixed customer support reviews
- Some users report technical reliability issues
Best For: Small to mid-size churches wanting an affordable, church-specific platform that bundles giving and media tools. Read our full review in 12 best church website design companies.
9. Ministry Designs
Ministry Designs takes an SEO-first approach to church websites. Their Omega platform provides pre-optimized templates and a drag-and-drop editor, and they offer a “first page of Google or your money back” guarantee.
Pricing:
- Omega Lite: $57/month
- Omega Plus: $97/month
- Setup fees vary by plan. Pricing is not prominently displayed on their site.
Pros:
- Strong SEO focus with a ranking guarantee
- Large template marketplace (1,000+ designs)
- 80,000+ free church graphics included
- Dedicated support rep
- Free content migration
Cons:
- At $57-97/month, pricing is comparable to done-for-you options like REACHRIGHT
- Multiple dashboards can be complex to navigate
- Pricing is not transparent on their website
- Not as modern or intuitive as newer competitors
Best For: Churches that prioritize SEO rankings and want a dedicated church platform. At similar pricing to REACHRIGHT, compare what’s included: REACHRIGHT offers custom design and bundled SEO services at the same price point.
10. Weebly
Weebly is a simple, affordable website builder now owned by Square. It offers a straightforward drag-and-drop editor and some of the lowest pricing in the market.
Fair warning: Weebly is widely considered to be in maintenance mode since the Square acquisition. Development has slowed significantly, and the platform is falling behind competitors in features and design quality.
Pricing (annual billing):
- Free: Basic site with Weebly branding
- Personal: $10/month
- Professional: $12/month
- Performance: $26/month
Pros:
- Very affordable ($10-12/month for a clean site)
- Simple, beginner-friendly editor
- Square integration for payments
Cons:
- No church-specific features
- Platform development has stalled
- Limited template selection
- 3% transaction fee on most plans
- Not a platform with a strong future
Best For: Churches on the tightest possible budget that need a bare-minimum web presence today. Consider this a temporary solution, not a long-term home.
DIY Builder vs. Done-for-You: Which Path Is Right?
This is the most important decision. It’s not about which builder has the prettiest templates. It’s about whether your church has the time, skills, and bandwidth to maintain a website alongside everything else you’re already doing.
Here’s the reality: most churches start with a DIY builder because it’s cheaper upfront. Then 6-12 months later, the volunteer who built it moves away, the site hasn’t been updated since Easter, and the church is back to square one. If you can budget $97/month, a done-for-you option like REACHRIGHT saves you from that cycle.
5 Things Every Church Website Needs (Regardless of Builder)
No matter which platform you choose, your church website needs these five elements to be effective. If your current site is missing any of them, that’s a sign it’s time for an upgrade.
1. Service times and location above the fold
The number one reason people visit a church website is to find out when and where you meet. This information should be visible within 2 seconds of landing on your homepage. Not buried in a menu. Not on an “About” page. Right there, front and center.
2. A clear “I’m New” or “Plan Your Visit” page
First-time visitors need a dedicated page that answers three questions: What should I expect? What do I wear? Where do my kids go? Churches that build this page well see significantly more new visitors on Sunday.
3. Online giving that works on mobile
Church giving apps should let members give in 3 taps from their phone. If your giving process requires more than one click to start, you’re losing donations. Tithe.ly, Pushpay, and Planning Center Giving all integrate with most builders on this list.
4. Mobile-first responsive design
Over 63% of your visitors are on phones. If your site isn’t designed for mobile first, the majority of potential visitors will bounce before they find your service times. Every builder on this list supports responsive design, but “responsive” and “mobile-first” are not the same thing.
5. Basic SEO so people can find you
A submitted sitemap, proper heading structure, meta descriptions, fast load times, and a claimed Google Business Profile are the minimum. Without these, your website is invisible to the 460,000+ people searching “church near me” every month. Read our full church SEO guide for a deeper dive.