Aplos alternative for church accounting
An Aplos alternative for church fund accounting
Aplos is real fund accounting, so the ledger usually isn't why a church leaves. The rest is: no free plan listed, no budget by fund on the $129 Core plan, and no Planning Center, Pushpay, Rock RMS or Subsplash on its partners page. Grain budgets by fund, syncs all four, and is free for churches spending up to $20,000 a month.
$244,570
Best Aplos alternatives for church accounting in 2026
Aplos's accounting is one product in Velora, a nonprofit suite that also sells fundraising and a donor CRM. Here's that accounting next to Grain's. Three more options follow the table.
More Aplos alternatives to compare
- QuickBooksGeneral accounting software. Churches track funds with classes, which start on QuickBooks Online Plus.Grain vs QuickBooks
- ChurchTracA church database with single-entry, cash-based bookkeeping included in every plan.Grain vs ChurchTrac
- PowerChurch PlusWindows software with membership, contributions and accounting in one package, plus payables and payroll modules.Grain vs PowerChurch Plus
What a year of Aplos costs a church
Aplos charges by plan, then adds $20 a month for each user past two and for each 1,000 contacts past 500. Here's a church on Core with three people in the books and 1,200 contacts in Aplos.
$129 a month for Core, plus $20 for a third user and $20 for contacts past 500, billed monthly. Yearly billing takes 10% off
Up to $20k a month in expenses, 3 users
Up to $1M a year in revenue or expenses, unlimited users
Aplos's price also covers its donor records and online giving. Grain connects the giving platform and church database you already use. Bigger than $1M a year? Scale starts at $100 a month.
What churches leave Aplos for
A budget for each fund
A budget for the whole church can't tell you if missions is on plan, and 7 in 10 churches track at least one donor-restricted fund (anonymized Grain data, 2026 so far). As of October 2026, Aplos's help center says Core budgets now live in Velora Budgeting, and that "budgeting by fund or tag isn't available yet. Velora Budgeting is organization-level only today." A budget by fund needs Advanced Budgeting, which the pricing page puts in the Advanced plan, by quote. In Grain, you budget by fund or department and see budget vs. actual for each one.
Giving from the platform you already use
68% of churches with a connected giving platform use Planning Center Giving (anonymized Grain data, 2026 so far), and Planning Center isn't on Aplos's partners page. Neither are Pushpay, Rock RMS or Subsplash. Grain connects the giving platform a church already has instead of pushing it into a bundled one. Gifts sync with their funds, and each deposit matches the Plaid bank feed.
Accrual books on every plan
Aplos enters transactions on a cash basis by default, and its help center says accrual comes through the Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable modules, which start on Core. Lite has neither, so on the $79 plan, the roof repair you owe isn't in the books until you pay it. Grain runs accrual or cash on every plan, the free Starter plan included, so the board sees what's owed before it's paid.
Payroll in the same books
Aplos's help center points you to Gusto for payroll, and Gusto's pay runs come into Aplos as journal entries. That's one more login and one more thing to tie out each month. Grain's payroll add-on runs inside the same ledger: direct deposit or checks, Form 941 and W-2s, with the youth pastor's wages split across funds automatically.
Using AplosPay for online giving?
AplosPay is Aplos's own online giving, so it lives where the old books do. Grain isn't a giving platform or a donation form. It connects the giving platform you choose and posts each gift to its fund.
So plan the giving move first. Pick a platform Grain syncs, like Planning Center Giving, Pushpay, Rock RMS, Subsplash or OnlineGiving.org, and the gifts arrive with their funds. Donor records stay in that platform or your church database, and Grain builds giving statements from the synced gifts.
Bringing your funds over from Aplos
Aplos already keeps every fund as a balance, so your funds come across as they are. Pick a month-end you've already reconciled and export the General Ledger and the Balance Sheet by Fund as CSV or Excel. Grain's team maps your funds, accounts and opening balances with you at no extra cost, and churches are often up and running within a few weeks.
Common questions
- How much does Aplos cost?
- Aplos has four plans. Lite is $79 a month, with fund statements and bank reconciliation but no payables, no budgets and only the Administrator role. Core is $129 and adds payables, receivables, basic budgeting and user roles. Advanced starts at $229 by quote and adds budgets by fund. Custom has tailored pricing for organizations with $1 million or more in annual revenue.
- Does Aplos integrate with Planning Center?
- Planning Center isn't on Aplos's partners page, and Aplos's own article says "PCO does not integrate with Aplos." Its suggested route is to export a CSV of contributions from Planning Center and import it. Grain syncs Planning Center Giving directly, so there's no CSV to export and import.
- What does Grain's free plan include?
- Starter costs nothing for churches with up to $20,000 in monthly expenses, measured as the median of the last 3 months, so a big December doesn't push you onto a paid plan. It includes unlimited funds, a bank connection, giving statements, ChMS integrations and 1 active budget. There's no credit card.
- How hard is it to switch from Aplos to Grain?
- Easier than leaving most systems, because Aplos already keeps double-entry books with real funds, so the shape of your books doesn't change. Grain's team maps your funds, accounts and opening balances with you at no extra cost. The bigger decision is giving: if you use AplosPay, choose the platform Grain will sync before the switch date.
Bring your Aplos funds to Grain
Start free and give each fund its own balance. Or watch a short demo first.