Free calculator
Add up what your tools really cost.
Groups, check-in, giving, events, volunteers, email, forms, your app: most organizations pay for each one separately. Add yours up at published prices and compare it with one platform you own, year by year.
Your numbers
Your organization
What you pay for today
Pre-filled as an example: a church of about 1,000 people, on the most common tool for each job at its published price for that size (checked September 2026), plus 8 hours a week of admin between tools. Change anything to match what you actually pay.
Not counted: Mailchimp, Text In Church, Jotform, Planning Center Publishing (Church Center app). A Community build connects to your email tool; texting and custom forms are add-ons you can scope, and your own app is the Full Platform build.
Hours a week your team spends moving data, chasing follow-ups and building reports
Copying lists, re-entering sign-ups, reconciling giving with attendance, pulling numbers together for a report. Your own estimate; count only the time you’d expect one platform to take off your team, or leave blank if you’d rather not count it.
Your stack today
$17,724 a year
$437/mo in subscriptions + $12,480/yr in platform fees and staff time
Your own assumption. Leave it at 0% to compare at today’s prices.
Custom build investment
Annual stewardship / maintenance
Monthly hosting, paid to your cloud provider
Break-even
Year 4
Ownership cheaper after this
Foundation
Year 3
Community
Year 4
Full Platform
Year 7
5-year
Save
$22K
with owned platform
10-year
Save
$98K
with owned platform
In this example, owning breaks even in Year 4. Change any number to see yours.
Your stack vs owning, year by year.
| Year | Your stack | Custom total | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $17,724 | $57,400 | -$39,676 |
| 2 | $35,448 | $59,800 | -$24,352 |
| 3 | $53,172 | $62,200 | -$9,028 |
| 4★ | $70,896 | $64,600 | +$6,296 |
| 5 | $88,620 | $67,000 | +$21,620 |
| 6 | $106,344 | $69,400 | +$36,944 |
| 7 | $124,068 | $71,800 | +$52,268 |
| 8 | $141,792 | $74,200 | +$67,592 |
| 9 | $159,516 | $76,600 | +$82,916 |
| 10 | $177,240 | $79,000 | +$98,240 |
★ Break-even year · Difference = your stack total − custom total (positive = custom is cheaper)
How the numbers work
Your stack is the subscriptions you enter, compounded at the increase you choose, plus any platform fees charged on top of payment processing (a share of your revenue, a per-ticket service fee) and the staff time you enter. Payment processing itself isn’t counted: card fees on gifts and tickets are paid to a processor whatever you use, including on a custom build. Prices were checked on each vendor’s own pricing page in September 2026; plans change, so check yours. The custom side is a one-time build, plus the stewardship plan you choose, plus hosting at the size you pick (paid to your own cloud provider, not to us).
Read our full community platform cost guideSee the numbers for your organization.
The calculator gives you a directional view. A strategy call gives you a price range for your scope; you get a scoped estimate after discovery, and the price is fixed before the build starts.
Rooted. Not Rented.