Overview

AltarDesk is church-management software built around membership administration and UK church governance. It suits churches that want members to handle routine profile updates and giving through a portal and app; its people-based plans make the member cap an important part of the buying decision.

Its strongest case is the combination of records, schedules, safeguarding and giving with UK-specific Gift Aid tools on paid plans. Churches needing a larger people allowance or more storage should compare the tier they will actually need, rather than judging the entry price alone.

Key features

Member administration and giving

AltarDesk brings member records, donor statements, schedules and safeguarding into one church-management platform. The member portal and app let congregants update their details, check rota duties, give and access giving statements. That can reduce routine administration for church staff, while giving members a direct role in keeping their own information current.

Paid plans add Gift Aid and GASDS management, direct HMRC claim submission and contactless giving. Bank statement imports support Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Monzo, and Stripe processes member card payments. These are practical additions for UK churches managing donations and claims in the same system; churches considering a free plan should note that these giving features are specified for paid plans.

Safeguarding and governance

AltarDesk includes safeguarding functions, renewal tracking and record storage, with UK Gift Aid and Charity Commission governance modules. That focus makes it more relevant to church administrators working with UK requirements than a general-purpose membership tool, though the plan details still matter: reaching a tier’s people cap means moving up before adding more people. AltarDesk says it does not charge surprise overage fees.

Data, security and support

Member and giving records are held in UK data centres, while sermon video and audio stay in the church’s own Google Drive. The split keeps media in an existing church storage environment, but means those recordings are not stored with the member and giving records.

AltarDesk says it uses TLS 1.3 for connections, AES-256 encryption for stored data and row-level security to isolate organisation records. It identifies itself as UK GDPR compliant and ICO registered under ZC117860, and says it does not sell church data, share it with advertisers or train AI models on it. Its pricing page says a real person usually answers questions the same day, with security support handled by the product-building team.

Pricing

AltarDesk has a free plan, a 30-day trial and paid plans starting at £17 per month. The plans are organised by the number of people managed; exceeding a tier’s cap requires an upgrade rather than an overage payment.

Plan	Price	Allowance
Free	Free	Up to 15 people; 500 MB storage
Up to 75 people	£17.00 per month	75 people; 2 GB storage; 1 giving device; 500 marketing emails per month
76–125 people	£25.00 per month	76–125 people
126–200 people	£35.00 per month	126–200 people
201–500 people	£69.00 per month	201–500 people
501–1,000 people	£99.00 per month	501–1,000 people
1,000+ people	£199.00 per month	1,000+ people

The free tier is a useful starting point for a church with no more than 15 people, but its 500 MB storage allowance is far below the 2 GB on the displayed up-to-75 tier. At £17.00 per month, that tier also specifies one giving device and 500 marketing emails per month. Larger tiers raise the people cap; the stated extra allowances for storage, devices and emails apply to the up-to-75 tier, so churches should choose based on the limit they know they need rather than assume those allowances scale. Paid plans can be paid monthly or annually.

Platforms

AltarDesk is available on the web, Android and iOS. That combination supports church staff using a browser and members accessing the portal and app on mobile devices.

Who it's for

AltarDesk is best suited to church administrators who need member records, schedules, safeguarding and giving alongside UK Gift Aid and Charity Commission governance functions. It is also a fit for churches that want members to update their own details and check rota duties. A small church can start free, while growing congregations can move through defined people-based tiers; churches that need more than the current tier’s cap must upgrade.

Pros and cons

Pros: The member portal and app cover profile updates, rota duties, giving and giving statements, reducing the need to route every member task through staff.
Pros: Paid plans include Gift Aid and GASDS management, direct HMRC claim submission and contactless giving, with bank imports from five named UK banks.
Pros: UK data hosting for member and giving records, stated encryption and organisation-level record isolation address important church data concerns.
Cons: The free plan stops at 15 people and 500 MB, so even a modestly larger church has to move to paid pricing.
Cons: The £17.00 per month tier caps membership at 75 people and includes just one giving device; growth requires a higher tier.
Cons: Sermon media remains in the church’s Google Drive rather than AltarDesk, leaving media storage separate from its records.

Alternatives

Church Background Check Software is a directory for comparing safeguarding-focused options. AlignMint is worth considering for an eligible organization with up to $100K in annual donations that wants a free web plan with 10 GB storage and one user. Planning Center may suit churches looking for separate free tools for areas such as room calendars, people records or service teams, and that want Android, iOS, web and API access.

POINT is another free option for volunteer signups and scheduling, event and contact management, messaging and time tracking. VolunteerReady may fit organizations prioritizing uncapped volunteer, opportunity and seat counts on its free plan. Faith Teams is an alternative with a free account for up to 100 active people, subject to activating online giving within 30 days of sign-up.

MosesTab Worship Planning is a web-based alternative with a free plan for unlimited members, though that plan is limited to one admin, one group and ministry, five events, three forms and 500 MB storage. ChurchTrac is a paid alternative with a 75-person plan at $29.00 per month and a free trial. VolunteerBadge may be a better fit when free volunteer-management tools with unlimited admin users matter most, though background checks cost extra.

Verdict

Choose AltarDesk if your church needs UK-focused administration that connects member records, safeguarding, schedules and giving, and you want members to handle routine updates through a portal and app. Its paid Gift Aid tools and defined people-based pricing are the clearest reasons to choose it. Look elsewhere if a 15-person free cap, the entry paid tier’s 75-person limit or its 2 GB storage allowance cannot cover your needs.

	AltarDesk	SafeVolunteer
Free plan	Yes
Free trial	Yes
Paid from	£17/mo
Platforms	Android, iOS, Web	Web
Free plan	Yes
Screening scope	both	both
Renewal tracking	Yes	Yes
Record storage	Yes
Mobile access	all	web
Multi-location support	Yes
Consent workflows		Yes

AltarDesk vs SafeVolunteer

AltarDesk

SafeVolunteer