ChurchTrac vs Breeze ChMS: a head-to-head comparison for 2026
By Sankalp Jonna · Last reviewed April 2026
If you're shopping for church management software in 2026, you'll narrow it to two tools fast — and odds are this is one of those moments. ChurchTrac and Breeze are the two budget-friendly ChMS names that small-church administrators consistently shortlist, and the comparison comes down to two questions: do you need built-in accounting, and how much does UI polish matter?
The meaningful difference: ChurchTrac includes real fund accounting at a sub-$25/month price point, which is essentially unique in the market. Breeze does not include accounting but ships with a more polished interface, free onboarding calls, and a flat $72/month price for unlimited members.
The trade-off is brutal in its clarity: pay 3x more for a nicer-looking tool that doesn't do accounting, or pay less than $25/month for a utilitarian tool that does. Most churches under 300 people who need accounting will be better served by ChurchTrac. Most churches that don't need accounting and value polish will be better served by Breeze.
TL;DR
- You need real fund accounting alongside ChMS — and at sub-$25/month, ChurchTrac is the only tool that delivers it.
- You're a sub-100-person church and want a free ChMS plan that includes accounting and giving.
- Budget is genuinely tight and saving $50/month over Breeze matters to your annual operating plan.
- You're comfortable with a utilitarian UI in exchange for capability and price.
- You're a single-administrator church where direct email support from a small vendor is fine.
- You don't need built-in accounting and you're happy running QuickBooks separately.
- Your office staff is non-technical and UI polish actually matters for adoption.
- You want free 1-on-1 onboarding calls included rather than figuring it out from documentation.
- You need a more flexible tagging system that replaces the rigid groups/lists model.
- You'd pay $72/month over $24/month for a tool that feels like a modern SaaS product, not a small-vendor utility.
Side-by-side
| Feature | ChurchTrac | Breeze ChMS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 8.1 / 10 | 8.7 / 10 |
| Starting price | Free tier available | From $72/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Transaction fees | Around 2.5% + $0.30 (credit) / 0.5-1% (ACH) on integrated giving | 2.5% + $0.30 (credit) / 1% (ACH) on Breeze Giving |
| Best for size | small, mid | small, mid |
| Built-in fund accounting | Real fund accounting included in every paid tier — unique at this price | None; pair with QuickBooks or Aplos separately |
| Monthly cost | $0 free up to 100 people; $9/mo to 300; $24/mo to 1,000 | Flat $72/mo (or ~$65 annual) for unlimited people |
| Free plan | Real free tier — up to 100 people, full features, no time limit | No free plan; trial only |
| UI polish | Utilitarian; functional but feels like a small-vendor product | Polished, modern SaaS UX aimed at non-technical staff |
| Onboarding | Self-serve docs and email support; no included onboarding calls | Free 1-on-1 onboarding calls included with every account |
| Tagging and member management | Standard groups and categories; functional | Flexible tagging system that replaces rigid groups/lists models |
| Mobile app | Web-based primarily; dedicated mobile app is functional but limited | Mobile-friendly web; no dedicated branded member app |
| Volunteer scheduling | Basic; won't satisfy a serious worship rotation | Functional team scheduling; no conflict detection |
| Integration ecosystem | Shallow; Zapier limited, fewer third-party integrations | Broader; Mailchimp, QuickBooks, Zapier, Tithe.ly Giving, Text-In-Church |
Setup & onboarding
Breeze is the smoother onboarding by a clear margin. The wizard is contextual, the UI is polished enough that a non-technical administrator doesn't get lost, and the free 1-on-1 onboarding call is genuinely useful — most Breeze churches go from sign-up to fully configured in a single afternoon.
ChurchTrac is functional but rougher. The setup process is documented, but you're working through a less polished interface and email support rather than a dedicated onboarding call. Plan on a full day for setup, more if you're configuring the accounting module. The trade-off is real: ChurchTrac's harder setup curve buys you a tool that costs less than a third of Breeze and includes accounting Breeze doesn't have. For an administrator who's comfortable with utility software, that trade is fine. For one who'll be frustrated by less polish, Breeze is worth the premium.
Core features
On membership, attendance, check-in, and basic groups, the two tools cover similar ground. Breeze's tagging system is more flexible and modern; ChurchTrac's groups are more traditional but functional. For day-to-day office work at a 200-person church, neither would leave you wanting on database management.
The gap opens on accounting. ChurchTrac includes real fund accounting — chart of accounts, AP/AR, fund balances, financial statements — at the $9-24/month tier. Breeze has none of this; you'd need to add QuickBooks Online ($30-90/month) or Aplos to cover it. For a small church that genuinely needs fund accounting, ChurchTrac is meaningfully cheaper even before you factor in the lower subscription price.
The gap closes again on the modern niceties. Breeze's mobile experience, communications tools, and member-facing features feel a generation ahead of ChurchTrac. If your members expect a polished experience and your administrator values UI quality, Breeze pulls back ahead.
Pricing breakdown
ChurchTrac is dramatically cheaper. The free tier supports up to 100 people indefinitely with full features. The Plus (300) tier is around $9/month. The Plus (1,000) tier is around $24/month — and that's with fund accounting included.
Breeze is a flat $72/month (or ~$65 annual) for unlimited members. There's no free tier and no free trial — only the trial period before billing starts.
For a 250-person church needing accounting: ChurchTrac costs $9/month. Breeze plus QuickBooks Online costs $72 + $35 = $107/month. That's a 12x cost difference for what is, on paper, a similar feature footprint.
The honest read: if you can live with a utilitarian UI, ChurchTrac saves real money. If you can't, Breeze's premium is the cost of polish, and most churches are willing to pay for it.
Support & community
Breeze has the larger and more responsive support operation. Free onboarding calls, fast email response, and a real customer success team mean a small-church administrator gets hand-holding without paying extra.
ChurchTrac is owner-operator small. Email support is direct and reportedly responsive — the founder is in the loop on tickets — but the company is small, and there's no phone support tier or dedicated CSM. For peer learning, ChurchTrac's community is thinner: fewer YouTube tutorials, fewer church-tech podcast mentions, fewer consultants who specialize in it. Breeze has a wider ecosystem of third-party tutorials and peer churches.
The nuance: small-vendor support isn't worse, it's just smaller. Some administrators prefer the direct-to-the-team feel of ChurchTrac. Others want the breadth of community Breeze offers.
Mobile experience
Both are mobile-friendly rather than mobile-first, but Breeze does it more elegantly. The web app on Breeze works smoothly on a phone or tablet for Sunday morning check-in or quick directory lookups.
ChurchTrac's mobile app exists and is functional, but it's more limited than the web product, and the web experience on mobile isn't as polished as Breeze's. For a church whose administrators primarily use a laptop and only occasionally use mobile, this gap won't matter. For a church where the admin runs Sunday morning from an iPad, Breeze is the better tool.
Neither has a branded member-facing app. If your members expect a polished app experience, neither tool delivers it — look at Subsplash or Pushpay instead.
Verdict
Choose ChurchTrac if you genuinely need fund accounting and budget matters. The price-to-capability ratio is unmatched in the category, and we've seen 400-person churches run on ChurchTrac's $24/month tier with a part-time bookkeeper for years without issue. The UI is the cost you pay; the savings are real and the accounting integration is genuinely unique.
Choose Breeze if you don't need built-in accounting and your staff would benefit from polish. The flat $72/month buys you a tool that an administrator can adopt without training, free onboarding calls, and a tagging-based member model that's more flexible than ChurchTrac's. For most non-accounting-driven small churches, Breeze is still the more comfortable home — the premium is real but it's the price of a smoother day-to-day experience.