Tithely is one of the most widely used church giving platforms in 2026. Used by 100,000+ churches worldwide for online giving, donation kiosks, mobile apps. Church management.
But is it the right platform for your church or as a giver?
This complete review walks Tithely's features, pricing, fees, alternatives. A clear framework for choosing the right giving platform. Whether you are a pastor evaluating tools or a member deciding how to give.
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After choosing a platform, run your giving math with our Tithe Calculator. Open it now →
What Tithely is
Tithely is a faith-based donation and church management platform headquartered in the U.S. It offers online giving (web), mobile giving (app), text-to-give, donation kiosks, recurring giving, church website builder, ChMS (church management system), live streaming, events. Giving analytics.
Pricing and fees (2026)
- Setup — free for the basic giving plan.
- Transaction fees — typically 2.9% + $0.30 for credit/debit cards; ~1% + $0.30 for ACH bank transfers (varies by plan and country).
- Premium plans — $89-$199/month for Tithely Pro, ChMS, or website builder add-ons.
- "Cover the fees" feature — donors can opt to add the processing fee on top of their gift, so 100% of the intended donation reaches the church.
Strengths
- Wide adoption — 100,000+ churches; mature platform with strong support.
- Multiple giving channels — web, mobile app, text, kiosk, recurring.
- "Cover the fees" option — net giving to the church can be 100% of intended.
- ChMS integration — donations, members, attendance, groups in one system.
- Faith-aligned company — explicitly Christian, founded to serve the Church.
- Easy setup — most churches go live within a day.
- Mobile app — strong donor experience.
Weaknesses
- Card fees still take 3% off the top — encourage ACH or fee-coverage.
- ChMS is functional but not best-in-class — Planning Center, Breeze, and others may better suit large or workflow-heavy churches.
- Customer service quality varies — generally well-rated but not universal.
- Reporting can feel basic for finance teams used to enterprise tools.
Common Tithely complaints (and what is actually behind them)
Search for "Tithely complaints" and the same handful of themes come up again and again. Here is what church finance teams and donors most often raise, and how much weight each one deserves.
- "The fees are higher than we expected." The processing fee is per transaction, so a church running mostly card gifts loses roughly 3% of every dollar. Moving recurring givers to ACH is the single biggest fix — see our Tithely fees breakdown.
- "Payouts took longer than promised." Deposits typically land in a couple of business days, but new accounts and flagged transactions get held for review. This is a payment-processor reality, not something unique to Tithely.
- "Support was slow to respond." The most frequent complaint by volume. Email tickets during peak giving seasons (December, Easter) are where waits stack up; urgent payout issues are best escalated by phone.
- "Refunding or correcting a gift is awkward." Refunds are possible from the admin dashboard, but processing fees on the original gift are not returned.
- "The ChMS side feels bolted on." Fair. Giving is the strong product; church management is adequate for small and mid-size churches and thin for large ones.
- "Donors get confused by the fee-coverage checkbox." Churches that leave it on by default see fewer complaints than churches that surprise donors with it at checkout.
None of these are dealbreakers on their own. The pattern that should concern a church is the combination of card-heavy giving plus slow support during a payout issue — that is when the fee math and the service gaps compound.
Top alternatives to Tithely
- Pushpay — strong enterprise option, larger churches; comprehensive ChMS; higher cost.
- Givelify — donor-first mobile experience; very simple; widely used among Black church congregations.
- Planning Center Giving — integrated with the rest of Planning Center (popular ChMS).
- Breeze ChMS Giving — flat $66/month for everything including giving; strong for small/mid churches.
- Subsplash — bundles app, giving, streaming, and ChMS.
- Easy Tithe / Vanco — long-standing church donation processors.
- Direct ACH/bank transfer — zero-fee option for cost-sensitive churches that have donors comfortable with bank-routing setup.
See our broader Tithing App Reviews guide.
How to choose for your church
- Small church (<100 attendees) — Tithely free plan or Breeze; minimize cost.
- Mid-size church (100-500) — Tithely Pro, Planning Center Giving, or Breeze.
- Large church (500+) — Pushpay, Subsplash, or enterprise Tithely.
- Multi-site / multi-fund — confirm fund-tracking and campus-attribution features.
- Heavy ChMS need — choose a platform whose ChMS you actually want, then add the giving module from the same vendor.
For givers: how to give wisely on Tithely (or any platform)
- Use ACH bank transfer when possible — fees are ~1% vs. ~3% for cards; more of your tithe reaches the church.
- Cover the fees — opt in if your church enables it, so the church receives 100%.
- Set up recurring giving — automates firstfruits; never relies on memory or mood.
- Tithe gross income — see Tithe on Gross or Net.
- Run the math — Tithe Calculator.
- Save end-of-year giving statements — for tax deduction documentation.
Theological framing
Online platforms are not biblically required, but they enable consistent firstfruits giving (Proverbs 3:9) and remove the friction of cash-only Sunday collection.
The principle Paul commends in 1 Corinthians 16:2 — "on the first day of every week each of you set aside a sum in keeping with your income". Is structurally easier with automated recurring digital giving than with a once-a-week paper-check workflow.
Bottom line
Tithely is a strong, mature, faith-aligned giving platform. Well-suited to small and mid-size churches. Larger churches with heavy workflow or enterprise reporting needs may prefer Pushpay or Planning Center. Whatever platform a church chooses, the more important question is the giver's heart and consistency, not the tool.
Set up firstfruits giving
Automate the tithe this week.
Whatever giving platform your church uses, automate your recurring tithe for payday. Firstfruits, every paycheck, before any other transaction. Open the Tithe Calculator to set the right amount.
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