Best Church Website Builders

So, you’ve been asked to create a website for your church. Whether you’re an expert coder and web designer or walking into all of this blindly, help is out there! Luckily, there are a number of website builders and web hosting providers out there now that you can find the right fit for you, no matter your skill level. 

Keep in mind that a lot of these site builders and web hosts aren’t necessarily church-specific companies, but most offer features perfect for church websites. 

How much does it cost to build a church website?

WordPress church website

WordPress.org with SiteGround hosting 

Features 

Some of the main features offered on WordPress.org are: 

• You own your website, so you don’t have to worry about random ads popping up on your site. 
• You are in control of all user accounts and can add as many accounts as you want. 
• WordPress free church themes
• There are hundreds of different templates specifically for church sites. Some you have to pay for, and others are free. 
• The church-friendly templates have all the plugins you would need for your site, including things like a Sermon Manager plugin and different fundraising and donation plugins. The site has over 58,000 plugins to choose from in total. WP even offers a WordPress church membership plugin, sermon plugins, banner plugins, design features, Bible plugins, live streaming, video conference integration, tithing plugins, app integration, and more. The features are endless with WordPress.

Pricing 

It doesn’t cost anything to use WordPress itself, but you will have to pay for your domain name and the web hosting fee. The average cost for a domain name is typically between $10 and $15 a year, while the web hosting fee is usually somewhere around $7.99 a month. Best Camera For Church Live Streaming

Fortunately, all major hosting providers are accepted on WordPress. SiteGround hosting is a highly recommended web hosting provider, which costs $4.99 a month for start-up sites. This is a discounted price from their typical $14.99 a month price, so now is the time to sign up!

Support

WordPress is known for having a large and supportive community of team members that are eager to help with any questions you might have. There is even a WordPress Beginners Facebook group where you can oftentimes find someone that went through the same struggles you might have and are there to offer encouragement and support whenever you need it. 

WordPress.com

History

WordPress.com is a commercial offering, compared to WordPress.org, which is open-source and free. It is hosted for you, so you don’t have to worry about paying a separate bill for your domain. Still, the site is overall has a bit more restrictions than WordPress.org. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing for those looking for a simplified way to make a quick website for their church!

Features 

Some of the main features offered on WordPress.com are: 

• You don’t have to worry about hosting backups, security, or updates. All of this is done for you. 
• Works wonderfully as a stepping stone to migrate your site seamlessly to WordPress.org when you feel you are ready. 
• Great for beginners!
• Hundreds of designs to choose from, including free and paid options. 
• Simple set-up makes website building a sinch

Pricing 

There is a free plan you can use when first starting out, but it is quite limited. You will most likely want to upgrade to the paid plan soon after activation. You can opt for the beginner plan at $4 monthly, paid upfront for the year. There is also a premium account for only $8 a month that is also billed annually.  

Support

They have a 24/7 live support option for their customers because they understand that most of their customers are beginners and will need the extra help and expertise. 

Constant Contact Website Builder

History

Founded out of a desire to level the playing field among small businesses and large corporations, Constant Contact is a leader in online marketing. Users can not only create the perfect website, but they can create an online store, leverage searches to gain more customers and learn tips to improve their emails to increase sales.

Features 

Some of the main features offered on Constant Contact are: 

• All site plans have an SSL certificate that allows the site to use the HTTPS protocol to ensure security. 
• Send a regularly scheduled newsletter by connecting the site to their email marketing service.
• It makes site creation easier with near completely customizable templates. Simply search the word “church” as your design type to find all things related to building a church website. 
• They have over 550,000 stock images to choose from, but you can also upload your own. 
• You can create and even sell products directly on the site builder even if you sign up for the free plan. 
• Simple, user-friendly design process to make site building easy even for beginners. 
• It is powered by AI to make website building fast and painless regardless of the person or company’s skill level.

Pricing 

Constant Contact has four pricing plans available. Most churches will make a perfectly fitting website for their church with the start-up package, which is conveniently priced at $10 a month. If you would like the ability to sell products on your site as well, then the second package – priced at $20 a month – is the right one for you. 

They also have a free plan for those that would like to check out their services without the hassle of entering in a credit card and remembering to cancel the plan before a trial period ends. 

Support

Constant Contact lives up to their name with their support team. Not only can customers reach customer service via email, but they can talk instantly via 24/7 live chat directly on the website. 

Wix church website

Features 

Some of the main features offered on Wix are: 

• The paid plans obviously offer more features, but their free plan is one of the most versatile and customizable free plans of any website builder.
• There are hundreds of customizable templates to choose from, 12 of which are dedicated to church-specific sites. 
• Drag and drop, easy-to-use interface
• Ability to accept donations
• You can even include things like a contact form, newsletter sign-up pop-up, calendar, and even a blog with just a few clicks of a button. 
• Wix Music feature allows you to add sermons and other audio to your site.

Pricing 

The free plan has so much to offer, but your site will have random ads on it. When you are ready to upgrade, the Combo Plan is highly recommended. You get more storage, a domain name for free for a year, and the ads will be removed, all for the moderate price of $14 a month. If you choose to pay monthly, you won’t get the perk of a free domain name and will be charged $18 a month. 

Support

The best way to contact the Wix support team is to call them. They have a convenient callback service that runs 24/7 for anyone in America, so you don’t have to wait on hold.

Weebly church website

Features 

Some of the main features offered on Weebly are: 

• Many different website designs to choose from that are all customizable with an easy-to-use drag and drop system. 
• Beginner-friendly 
• The premium plan has the ability to create a membership portal so you can protect information that is only viewable for church members. 
• An App Center and widgets allow you to add audio and different media to your site.

Pricing 

Their beginner plan is billed annually at $6 a month. However, if you would like to remove ads, you will have to upgrade to their $12 a month professional plan. This plan also comes with unlimited storage. 

Support

Their support team is available all day and night via email response. They also have a live chat, but it is only available from 6 to 6 PST every day. Premium plan users can call the support team for extra help. 

All plans come with a built-in eCommerce support team as well. This will help you accept any and all donations given. 

Gator website builder

History

Founded by a student at Florida Atlantic University in 2002, HostGator was awarded one of the fastest-growing companies in America by Inc. Magazine in 2008. They are a green hosting website builder now known for being one of the most trusted and recognized web hosts. 

Features 

Some of the main features offered on Gator are: 

• Over 200 templates available to help build your church site as quickly as possible. 
• Great for sites that expect a lot of traffic or need a lot of space because they have unlimited space, bandwidth, and pages. 
• When you purchase a plan, you get your domain name free for 12 months
• Their AI technology can design a website for you in minutes with just a few answers to some simple questions.
• Ecommerce features make it incredibly easy to add products to your website. 

Pricing 

Right now, Gator is offering their Introductory Plan at a 50% discount, for only $3.84 a month. The web host doesn’t offer a free plan, so this is their cheapest option. It comes with the free domain for 12 months, a free SSL certificate, three email campaigns per month, and more! 

Support

Gator has excellent customer support, with 24/7 live chat available on their website. Their customer service team is also available via phone and email to ensure all of your needs are met in a timely manner. 

GoDaddy Website Builder

History

GoDaddy is one of the largest and oldest website builders, with more than 20 million customers. The company was founded in 1997 but didn’t take the name GoDaddy until 2006. The hosting provider gained immense popularity after launching its TV adverts and now manages more than 80 million domains. 

Features 

Some of the main features offered on GoDaddy are: 

• A generous 250,000 files are allowed of storage per customer
• Unlimited bandwidth
• WordPress optimized shared hosting offered with a selection of themes available 
• They offer hosting as well as website building for those that aren’t as tech-savvy. 
• Web design services available 
• SEO consulting available 
• Completely customizable 

Pricing 

The pricing is where it can get a bit strange, confusing, and expensive. Essentially, the Economy plan is perfect for anyone that only needs one domain and requires less than 100 GB of storage. You will pay $2.99 a month for the first year and then $8.99 a month every year afterward. The downside is that none of their plans include backup. This is something you have to purchase as an add-on. 

Support

All plans come with 24/7 customer support because they understand that their immense product list and web design process may come with more than a few questions. However, the only way to contact their support team is over the phone. 

Sharefaith website

History

From church graphics and website templates to information regarding leadership, lifestyle, ministry, technology, and other resources, Sharefaith is the unofficial hub for all church website builders. Even if you don’t choose to use this site for your website building, it is a great resource for information and learning. 

Sharefaith serves God through its cutting-edge media and technology solutions to put people over profit.

Features 

Some of the main features offered on Sharefaith are: 

• Outreach tools that specifically help churches build their sites
• Pre-built mobile app
• More than 90,000 graphics to choose from 
• Perks like a year-long Sunday school curriculum, presentation software specific for worships, and other online platforms
• If you pay for the yearly plan, they will even migrate your old site for you
• Built-in calendar feature
• You also get Sharefaith Giving, which allows you to easily accept donations and tithes directly through your site. 

Pricing 

Their site claims to give you $5,000 in resources for only $93 a month. This is one of the more expensive site-building hosts, but they are your one-stop shop, so to speak. One company. One bill. Endless resources. 

They recently announced that all of their 17,500 members and all new subscribers would get a church website at no additional cost. So, now is a great time to sign up! If you aren’t ready to commit fully, they do offer a free plan on a trial basis. 

Support

All support questions via email are answered within 24 hours, but they can also be reached via phone Monday through Friday 8-5 pm CT. 

Duda Website Builder

History

Duda has partnered with big companies in the past, including GoDaddy, to ensure their customers always have the best experience and top-rated services. They dedicate most of their energy toward small businesses and those with little development experience. Not just so they can build the site of their dreams but the ability to scale their business in the process. 

Features 

Some of the main features offered on Duda are: 

• Flexible site-building that allows you to publish one page at a time
• eCommerce built-in with subscriptions now available 
• Local Business Schema for increased discoverability 
• Easily upload new fonts for increased customization 
• Easy-to-use drag and drop design feature
• Email integration built-in 
• Marketing and SEO tools built-in
• You can take courses on their site for helpful online sales tips and more!

Pricing 

Duda is currently offering 50% off some of their paid plans, including the Expanded Access Team plan. It is now priced at $14.50 a month with a 14-day free trial.

Support

You can either fill out a form, call their support line, or chat with a support member via live chat between midnight and 6 pm PST. Those on the Team plan can receive support 24/5 via email and live chat, Monday through Friday.

Strikingly Website Builder

History

Strikingly is used by millions of creatives and entrepreneurs. That’s saying something for an intuitive website builder that was only founded nine years ago. Strikingly provides an innovative experience to website building that enables people with zero development experience to create their own website “in minutes.” 

Features 

Some of the main features offered on Strikingly are: 

• It is one of the easiest interfaces to edit a design template. Everything on the template can be changed in seconds. 
• Built-in eCommerce
• Built-in blog
• Built-in SEO features
• Drag and drop widgets for nearly anything, including all forms of media and newsletter and membership sign-ups. 
• SSL certificate free with paid plans
• Password and data protection 
• It is seamlessly viewed on all types of devices with no layout issues.

Pricing 

Their VIP plan makes it easy for multi-site churches to create their websites all in one place. For $49 a month, you can create five professional sites with 10GB of monthly storage per site. However, the Pro Plan is ideal for those that want to make 1-3 sites. You don’t get as much storage but get unlimited bandwidth plus a long list of other features, all for just $16 a month. 

Support

Their Happiness Team is always around to answer your questions. They are available via email or live chat 24/7. 

1&1 IONOS

History

IONOS by 1&1 is one of the oldest web hosting companies still relevant today. The Germany-based United Internet company was founded in 1988. They specifically gear their services toward small and medium-sized businesses, managing more than 8 million customer contracts and 12 million domains. 

Features 

Some of the main features offered on 1&1 IONOS are: 

• Daily site backups and anti-spam protection included in plans
• Offers five types of hosting, including Cloud, WordPress, Dedicated, VPS, and Shared web hosting. 
• It has a 99.98% uptime, so you don’t have to worry about your site being down
• SSL certificate included
• Unlimited traffic
• Large storage 

Pricing 

1&1 IONOS is one of the cheapest hosting providers out there. Because 1&1 IONOS offers five different types of hosting, there are many different pricing packages. The WordPress pricing package is the best value for church-specific sites. This package starts at $9 a month, or you can try the professional plan for $15 a month. 

Support

Each customer gets a support assistant dedicated to their project. There is a support team available 24/7 via email or live chat. However, some users have complained that their issues took longer to resolve than they hoped. 

Nucleus church website

Features 

Some of the main features offered on Nucleus are: 

• Unlimited Photoshop and After Effects templates, worship backgrounds, stock footage, and so much more media with the purchase of a plan.
• You keep 100% of all donations and can increase your giving with their modern giving tools.
• Their ‘central hub’ website designer helps to increase your engagement and bring new people to your site and church. 
• Designed to be the only resource your church needs to grow.
• They offer scholarships for start-ups and smaller churches
• Social media posts you can use on your channels to help engagement 

Pricing 

Their plan costs $99 a month if you pay the annual fee upfront. Otherwise, you’ll be paying $125 a month. Compared to other church-specific website builders, this is one of the cheaper options for relatively the same value!

You can sign up for Nucleus today completely free, no strings attached! They offer a 30-day free trial that doesn’t require your credit card information to register, so you don’t have to worry about accidental charges. 

Support

They have live chat support on their site, but there is also an active Facebook group to help you connect with other churches and gain their knowledge and experience. 

Ministry Designs website builder

History

Founded in 2012, Ministry Designs now has nearly 30,000 churches currently trusting their expertise to build and grow their websites. They are known as the number one ranked website builder for churches and have been recognized by organizations like Church Tech Today, Christianity Today, Pro Church Tools, and Church Marketing University. 

Features 

Some of the main features offered on Ministry Designs are: 

• Their DigiGiv service gives you maximize donations with their powerful data, reporting systems, and interactive giving options. 
• Industry-low transaction rates combined with world-class customer support to give you everything you need
• Easy to use drag and drop design feature with church-specific, fully responsive designs
• Free email campaigns with your site
• Unlimited training 
• Unlimited storage and pages
• Latest security technology to keep your data protected

Pricing 

You pay $1000 upfront to activate your site, and Ministry Designs provides you with unlimited screen sharing support and training. You are also responsible for a $20 a month fee after activation. This price might not be within budget for smaller churches, but with their training and resources, you could grow your church size with your website alone. 

Support

You can talk to the site’s customer support team any time of day or night with their live chat without even signing up for a plan. 

What is the best church website builder?

There are several incredible church site builders. There are even some good companies that are not on this list such as Squarespace and Clover, but none are a match for WordPress.org.

Sharefaith is an excellent one-stop-shop resource for building church websites and learning more about the community in general. However, once again the best overall site builder for churches is WordPress.org, which is technically an open-source software.

The difference being that site builders are more formatted for beginners in web design. 

That said, even beginners can find their way around WordPress.org. With WordPress you don’t have to write any code to build your church website. And with WordPress powering more than 35% of the internet, how could this not be the best overall site builder? It’s budget-friendly, support-focused, and you can easily add donations, sermons, and email marketing with a couple of button clicks. Below I show you how to easily create a WordPress website with SiteGround hosting in 5 minutes.

How to build a church website?

7. Choose get WordPress preinstalled and proceed.

8. Enter the login information for your new WordPress application.

9. Choose a free WordPress theme!

10. You are done.

WordPress church website templates

WordPress users can choose from over 3000 free WordPress themes. However, I strongly recommend a premium WordPress for your church website. Having you have a large website or a simple and small church site, having an effective theme will help you to rank better in the search engines. Certain themes are faster and less bloated, which can help your Google and Bing search presence. I strongly recommend using the Genesis framewoek. There are a plethora of skins that you can choose from and this theme is easy to use.

Check out – Genesis by StudioPress.

Conclusion 

regardless of the path you take, one of these site builders or web hosting companies is sure to get your church online in no time. Not only that, but most of them will help you scale and grow your church in the process!