Free Church Accounting Software That Tracks Funds
By Gibson Brueher, Founder of Grain LedgerSeven free church accounting plans checked against one $150,000 church. Only Grain Ledger's lists fund balances, giving statements and a bank connection.
Grain Ledger's Starter plan is free church accounting software with fund accounting built in, for churches with up to $20,000 a month in expenses. Of the seven free plans below, it's the only one whose page lists all three: a balance for each fund, year-end giving statements and a bank connection.
Vestrybooks' free plan tracks funds too, but sending statements and matching the bank cost $25 a month. Wave, GnuCash, Zoho Books and ZipBooks are free, but their pages don't list fund accounting, so restricted gifts end up in workarounds.
We compared each one with the same example church: a $150,000 annual budget with a missions fund and a building fund.
What a free plan has to do for a church
A business asks whether it made a profit. A church also has to show the board that the missions money went to missions and the building money is still there. That's the job fund accounting does, and it's where most of the free plans below come up short.
ECFA's standard on giver intent spells it out: "Statements made about the use of gifts by an organization in its charitable gift appeals must be honored. A giver's intent relates both to what was communicated in the appeal and to any instructions accompanying the gift, if accepted by the organization." Church Law & Tax, reporting a Mississippi Supreme Court ruling, is blunter: "Churches cannot use donor-designated funds for purposes other than those explicitly stated without donor consent."
It's rarely one fund, either. Among churches using Grain, 7 in 10 track at least one donor-restricted fund, and a typical church tracks about 6 funds (anonymized Grain data, 2026 so far).
That leaves four questions for any free plan:
- Does the church fit under the free limit? Products draw the line in different places: monthly expenses, yearly revenue, yearly giving or number of people.
- Does the free plan track funds? A separate balance for each fund, not a tag on a transaction.
- Does it handle giving records? Donor records and year-end giving statements.
- Does it connect to the bank? So deposits and card charges come in without retyping.
Seven free plans, checked against one $150,000 church
Our example church spends $150,000 a year, about $12,500 a month, and takes in about the same in giving. It keeps a general fund, a missions fund and a building fund.
| Free plan | Fits our example church? | Fund tracking | Giving records | Bank | Next step up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grain Ledger Starter | Yes: $12,500 a month is under the $20,000 limit | Yes, unlimited funds | Giving statements and donor insights | 1 bank connection | Growth, $70 a month |
| Vestrybooks Free | Yes, no limit listed | Yes | Donor list; year-end statements are a preview, sending them is paid | Bank matching is paid | Core, $25 a month |
| Wave Starter | Yes, no limit listed | Not listed | Not listed | Automated bank connections need Pro | Pro, $19 a month |
| GnuCash | Yes, free software | Not listed | Not listed | Imports bank files (QIF, OFX) | None, it's free |
| Zoho Books Free | No: free only up to $50,000 in yearly revenue | Not listed | Not listed | Bank reconciliation; bank feeds are paid | Standard, $15 a month billed yearly |
| ZipBooks Starter | Yes, no limit listed | Not listed | Not listed | 1 bank account | Smarter, adds more bank accounts |
| AlignMint Free | Probably not: free is the "best fit" for giving up to $100,000 a year | No, fund accounting starts on Plus | Donor records and giving pages | Bank feeds start on Plus | Plus, $142 a month billed yearly |
"Not listed" means the product's own pricing or feature page doesn't mention it. It doesn't prove the feature is missing, but a treasurer shouldn't have to guess.
The seven free plans
1. Grain Ledger Starter
Cost: $0 for any church spending up to $20,000 a month. We measure that as the median of the last 3 months, so a big December doesn't push you onto a paid plan. It isn't a trial, and you don't need a credit card.
On the free plan: unlimited funds, giving statements, donor insights, 1 bank connection through Plaid, 3 users, 1 active budget and standard GAAP reports, on accrual and cash basis, plus One-Click QuickBooks Migration and ChMS integrations. Grain also connects the giving platform or church management system you already use (Planning Center, Pushpay, Rock RMS, Subsplash or OnlineGiving.org) and posts those gifts into the same fund-aware ledger.
How funds work: each fund keeps its own balance, so fund balances, activity by fund and the board packet come from the same books the treasurer posts all month. There's no side spreadsheet to reconcile. See how fund accounting works in Grain.
Best for: a church that accepts designated gifts and wants giving deposits, the bank and the board report in one ledger. Our example church fits with about $7,500 a month to spare.
When you outgrow it: the Growth plan is $70 a month ($840 a year) for churches with up to $1 million a year in revenue or expenses, with 3 bank connections, unlimited users and unlimited budgets. See all plans or the church accounting software overview.
2. Vestrybooks Free
Cost: "$0 forever."
On the free plan: recording money in and out, fund tracking, a donor list, online giving with no platform cut where available, and a preview of year-end statements.
The limit: sending IRS-ready year-end statements and matching bank transactions across accounts are on the Core plan, $25 a month or $250 a year. A treasurer who sends statements every January pays for Core.
3. Wave Starter
Cost: $0.
The limit: Wave's accounting page doesn't list fund accounting or restricted funds. Wave says "Automated bank connections and advanced receipt matching require a paid Pro Plan subscription." Pro is $19 a month or $190 a year.
4. GnuCash
Cost: free and open source under the GNU GPL. It's a desktop program for Windows, macOS and Linux, not a web app.
The limit: GnuCash describes itself as "personal and small-business financial-accounting software," and its feature list doesn't include fund accounting, donor records or giving statements. On its mailing list, one user's answer to a treasurer asking about restricted funds is to use a sub account of the bank account, set up by hand.
5. Zoho Books Free
Cost: free "as long as your revenue for the financial year does not exceed the threshold of $50K," for 1 user plus 1 accountant and up to 1,000 invoices a year.
The limit: our example church is over the revenue limit, so it would start on Standard, $15 a month billed yearly or $20 a month if you pay monthly. Zoho's pricing page doesn't list fund accounting on any plan.
6. ZipBooks Starter
Cost: $0.
On the free plan: unlimited invoices, unlimited vendors and customers, and 1 connected bank account.
The limit: the pricing page lists no fund, donor or giving features. The paid tiers add more bank accounts.
7. AlignMint Free
Cost: $0 for eligible organizations, described as the "best fit for up to $100K in annual donations." You request access rather than sign up.
On the free plan: donor records and a donor CRM, giving pages and basic reporting.
The limit: fund accounting and bank feeds start on the Plus plan, $142 a month billed yearly ($1,704 a year), and more if billed monthly. Our example church's $150,000 in giving is $50,000 over that range.
What the example church would pay for fund tracking
A free plan that can't track funds isn't the cheap option. It just moves the fund accounting into the treasurer's evenings. Here's what our example church would pay in year one for a plan that does track funds, at each product's listed price:
| Product and plan | Year-one cost | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Grain Ledger Starter | $0 | Unlimited funds, giving statements, 1 bank connection |
| Vestrybooks Core | $250, or $0 for fund tracking alone | Fund tracking is free; sending year-end statements and bank matching need Core |
| ChurchTrac | $348 to $1,428 billed monthly | Fund accounting in every size; price depends on how many people you track ($29 to $119 a month) |
| AlignMint Plus | $1,704 billed yearly | Fund accounting and bank feeds; the free plan is the best fit for giving up to $100,000 |
Wave, GnuCash, Zoho Books and ZipBooks don't appear here because none of their pages lists fund accounting.
Often called free, but a trial or a paid plan
These come up in "free" lists and AI answers. Their pricing pages offer a trial or a paid plan instead.
- ChurchTrac: the pricing page lists a 30-day free trial and plans from $29 a month for 75 names up to $119 a month for unlimited names. Every size includes fund accounting. See Grain vs ChurchTrac.
- Aplos: a 15-day free trial, then the Lite plan at $79 a month. Aplos describes itself as "true fund accounting." See Grain vs Aplos.
- MoneyMinder: $299 a year. Its free edition covers budgeting and tracking people, but entering transactions needs the paid subscription.
Can a free ledger or spreadsheet track funds?
Yes, with discipline. Funds go into classes, tags or subaccounts, and the treasurer keeps them straight by hand. An Intuit community moderator describes the same approach in QuickBooks Online: "QuickBooks Online can be used for fund accounting by setting up classes or locations to segregate funds and transactions."
The catch is that a label isn't a balance. A class or tag can filter a profit-and-loss report. It can't make sure a designated missions gift stayed in missions, and it doesn't show the board what's left in the building fund. That depends on one careful person coding every transaction the same way, every month, and on the next treasurer learning the system. When it slips, it can show up the Tuesday before the finance committee meets. See Grain vs QuickBooks Online for how the two models differ.
Free spreadsheets are the other route. Aplos's guide to free church accounting templates links Excel and PDF downloads, including a general ledger workbook, a chart of accounts and a budget versus actual report. A spreadsheet is enough for a church plant that takes almost no designated gifts. Once the church accepts restricted gifts or reports to a finance committee, a spreadsheet gets hard to keep balanced by fund, and hard to turn into the same board report every month. That's the point where a free plan with real funds, like Grain's Starter, beats a free template.
For a full walk-through of the fund model, read fund accounting for churches. If you run a nonprofit that isn't a church, our list of free accounting software for nonprofits covers more general tools.
Sources
Grain Ledger pricing, Vestrybooks pricing, Wave pricing and Wave accounting, GnuCash, Zoho Books pricing, ZipBooks pricing, AlignMint pricing, ChurchTrac pricing, Aplos pricing, MoneyMinder pricing, ECFA Standard 7.2, Church Law & Tax on donor designations, the Intuit community thread and Aplos's free templates.
Frequently asked questions
Is there completely free church accounting software?
Yes. Grain Ledger's Starter plan is free, with no trial period, for churches with up to $20,000 in monthly expenses, and it includes unlimited funds and giving statements. Vestrybooks, Wave, GnuCash, Zoho Books and ZipBooks also have free plans. Of those, only Vestrybooks lists fund tracking on its free plan.
Can a church with a $150,000 budget use Grain for free?
Yes. $150,000 a year is about $12,500 a month, under the Starter plan's limit of $20,000 in monthly expenses. Grain measures that limit as the median of the last 3 months, so one big month, such as December, doesn't force an upgrade. Starter includes 1 bank connection and 3 users. The Growth plan, $70 a month, has 3 bank connections and unlimited users.
Is there a QuickBooks for churches?
QuickBooks is general accounting software, and churches that use it track funds with classes. Church fund accounting software such as Grain Ledger keeps a separate balance for each fund instead. Grain's free Starter plan includes One-Click QuickBooks Migration.
Does a small church need fund accounting?
If it accepts gifts for a stated purpose, yes. ECFA's standard says statements made in gift appeals about how gifts will be used must be honored, and a balance for each fund is how a treasurer shows they were. Among churches using Grain, 7 in 10 track at least one donor-restricted fund (anonymized Grain data, 2026 so far).
Ready to simplify your church finances?
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