PowerChurch alternative
A PowerChurch Plus alternative that syncs your giving
In March 2026, a church asked on PowerChurch's forum for advice on moving its online giving from Vanco to Subsplash. A long-time user answered that the gifts would need reformatting as a CSV file, and "you'll have to enter the expenses and the deposit through the Funds Accounting module by hand." Grain is a PowerChurch Plus alternative for that moment. It's church fund accounting that syncs gifts with their funds from Subsplash, Pushpay, Planning Center, Rock RMS, OnlineGiving.org and Overflow. Starter is free for churches spending up to $20,000 a month.
$244,570
Best PowerChurch Plus alternatives for church fund accounting in 2026
The first six rows follow one online gift from the giving platform to the fund report, in PowerChurch Plus and in Grain. Accounting basis, bills, payroll and price come after. Three more options follow the table.
Other PowerChurch alternatives churches compare
- AplosFund accounting and its own online giving, AplosPay, from one company. Plans start at $79 a month.Grain vs Aplos
- ChurchTracOne program for people and money: a church database with single-entry, cash-based bookkeeping in every plan.Grain vs ChurchTrac
- RealmACS's church database. Realm Accounting is added to a Realm plan. The Connect plan is priced by typical weekly attendance.Grain vs Realm
Price of the books, before and after
PowerChurch Plus is one Windows license for all 17 modules, membership and events included. Grain charges for the books alone, by what your church spends.
All 17 modules, Windows only. Support after the first 90 days: $330 a year
Up to $20k a month in expenses, 3 users
Up to $1M a year in revenue or expenses, unlimited users
Over $1M a year? Scale starts at $100 a month.
Why move the books with the giving
No deposit typed twice
When the giving platform changes, the extra work lands in the books. In Grain, you connect the new platform and map its funds once, and from then on gifts arrive in the books with their funds. If your counters enter cash and checks in Pushpay's Batch Entry, those batches come across too.
Deposits that tie to the bank
A giving platform pays out in deposits, not gift by gift, and processing fees come out along the way. Grain brings in Subsplash transfers, with their fee detail, and Pushpay settlements, then matches them to the bank deposits it pulls through Plaid. So your month-end close and your fund reports agree.
What replaces PowerChurch's money modules
Contributions: gifts come from your giving platform into Grain with their funds, and Grain produces annual giving statements with IRS disclosures.
Fund Accounting and Accounts Payable: Grain, with bills routed for approval before they're paid.
Payroll: Grain's payroll add-on, in the same ledger.
Membership, attendance, events and Check In belong in a church database. Grain syncs people and giving from Planning Center and Rock RMS, and giving from the other platforms.
Get your books out of PowerChurch first
Start with the export, since it decides how much history comes with you. On PowerChurch Plus, version 15's Export Data Utility saves raw data from any module to CSV, and Fund Accounting exports to Access MDB, XLS, CSV or DBF. On PowerChurch Online, export the database to an Access MDB file before you cancel: PowerChurch keeps the archived data for one year after the account is disconnected. Save the year's contribution statements while you still have PowerChurch open. Grain's team then helps map your funds, accounts and opening balances.
Common questions
- Is there a free alternative to PowerChurch Plus?
- Grain's Starter plan is free for churches with up to $20,000 a month in expenses, measured as the median of your last 3 months, so one heavy month doesn't move you off it. It isn't a trial, and it needs no credit card. Starter includes 3 users, unlimited funds, one bank account and the giving syncs.
- We give through Vanco. Can we use Grain?
- Yes. Vanco isn't one of the giving platforms Grain syncs, so its deposits reach Grain through the Plaid bank feed. If you're moving off Vanco anyway, pick Subsplash, Pushpay, Planning Center, Rock RMS, OnlineGiving.org or Overflow, and the new platform's gifts sync into Grain with their funds.
- Should we move the books before or after the giving switch?
- On the same date, or at least in the same month. If the books stay in PowerChurch after the giving moves, you're back to keying gifts and deposits by hand. If the books move first, the old platform's deposits come into Grain through the bank feed until the switch. Starting both on the same date means each deposit lands in one place, with its funds.
- Does Grain include payroll?
- Yes, as an add-on to any plan: $50 a month plus $10 per employee. It pays staff by direct deposit or check, prepares Form 941 and W-2s, handles state withholding and unemployment, tracks housing allowances for clergy and splits wages across funds. Payroll posts into the same ledger as your gifts and bills.
Switch the books when you switch the giving
Start free and give each fund its own balance. Or watch a short demo first.