Best Church Website Builders in 2026: Which One Should Your Church Use?

There is no single best church website builder for every church.

For a small church that wants to build and update the site itself, Wix is one of the strongest choices. For a church that uses Planning Center for most of its weekly administration, The Church Co has one of the clearest church-specific connections. WordPress.org gives a church the most control over its hosting, site structure, and core content, but it also gives the church more responsibility. Tithely Sites is the lowest-priced church-specific option in this comparison at $19 per month.

I compared these platforms around the things churches actually have to manage after launch: weekly updates, sermons, events, integrations, cost, staff handoff, and what happens if the church eventually changes platforms.

The question I would keep coming back to is simple:

Who is going to maintain this website six months after launch?

The best church website builders in 2026 at a glance

Pricing was verified September 8, 2026. Prices can change. Taxes, payment processing, domains, outside services, and optional help may add cost.

Before you choose a website builder, ask who will maintain it six months from now

Church websites are often chosen during a redesign. Everyone is focused on the launch, the homepage, the colors, and whether the new site looks better than the old one.

I would look farther ahead.

A website can look excellent in week one and become outdated by month six because nobody has a clear way to keep it current. That is why I would put every platform through four practical tests.

The Weekly Update Test

Think about a normal Monday morning.

Who posts Sunday's sermon? Who adds the youth event? Who changes the Christmas service time? Who updates the homepage when registration closes?

The right platform should fit the person who will actually do that work. A pastor who enjoys technology may be comfortable inside WordPress. A church administrator may prefer Tithely Sites, ChurchSpring, or a simpler hosted builder. A trained volunteer may be perfectly comfortable in Wix.

The platform is only easy if it is easy for your team.

The One-Source Test

Church software connections matter most when they remove repeated work.

If your staff already enters an event in Planning Center, should someone have to type the same event into the website again?

The Church Co can pull Planning Center Calendar events, Registrations, Groups, and Publishing content into the website. Nucleus also connects with Planning Center, but its help documentation says part of the connection is a one-way push of contact information into Planning Center People.

Both connect to Planning Center, but they do not handle the same jobs.

Every extra place your team has to update becomes another place where old information can stay online.

The Handoff Test

Now assume the person who built the website is gone.

Can your administrator change the service time? Can the next volunteer find the sermon archive? Does somebody know which plugins need updates? Is the domain login stored somewhere the church controls?

WordPress gives a church broad control, but it also expects someone to manage updates and backups. Hosted builders such as Wix handle the underlying platform updates for you.

That is not a reason to avoid WordPress or choose Wix by default. It is a reason to match the system to the people who will inherit it.

If your current website already depends on one person, has stale information, or is difficult for staff to touch, those are also signs the problem may be the publishing system rather than the visual design alone. 7 Signs Your Church Website Needs a Redesign

The Exit Test

Before signing up, ask what happens if the church wants to leave in three years.

There are several different questions hiding inside "ownership":

• Who controls the domain?
• Can written content be exported?
• Can images and sermon information be moved?
• Can the actual website design move to another host?
• What has to be rebuilt?

Wix states that a Wix site must remain hosted and operated on Wix servers, even if the domain is managed somewhere else. Squarespace can export some content to a WordPress-format XML file, but several page types, video blocks, audio blocks, style settings, and custom CSS do not export. WordPress can export posts, pages, custom post types, comments, fields, categories, tags, taxonomies, and users.

Those are different levels of portability. A church should know which one it is accepting before launch.

The 8 best church website builders for churches in 2026

Wix: Best for churches that want to build the site themselves

Wix is my strongest general DIY choice for a small or medium church that wants a visual editor without managing hosting, software updates, or plugins. It supports church templates, events, donations, forms, sermon video, livestream embeds, and built-in SEO tools.

Current annual-plan pricing runs from $17 per month for Light to $159 for Business Elite. Core is $29 and is the first tier that accepts online payments.

The main limitation is portability. Your church can use its own domain, but Wix says the site itself must stay on Wix infrastructure.

Probably not for: churches that expect to move the same website to another host later.

Squarespace: Best for a clean church website with fewer moving parts

Squarespace fits a church that wants a polished public site without a large software system behind it. Plans start at $19 per month on annual billing. It supports donation blocks, video embeds, and calendar pages.

One detail matters for church calendars: Squarespace's native calendar does not support repeating events, so recurring events need separate entries.

Moving away can also take some work. Squarespace can export certain content, but calendar pages, video and audio blocks, style settings, and custom CSS do not export.

Probably not for: churches that need deep church-software connections or broad portability.

WordPress.org: Best for ownership and long-term control

WordPress.org gives a church the broadest ownership and hosting control in this list. The software is free and open source, can run on a host you choose, and can be extended with themes and plugins. It also has built-in tools for exporting core content.

With that freedom comes more upkeep. Hosting, domains, premium plugins or themes, backups, updates, and outside help can all add cost. WordPress itself recommends keeping plugins and themes current and maintaining backups.

Probably not for: a church with nobody assigned to technical upkeep and no plan to pay for managed help.

Tithely Sites: Best low-cost church-specific website builder

Tithely Sites costs $19 per month and starts with church work in mind. It supports sermons, events, livestreams, giving, and church templates. Tithely Giving connects automatically to a new Site.

Tithely does not directly provide paid site design. Its help center points churches to outside partners, whose fees are separate.

For a small church already using Tithely Giving, that can make the weekly workflow simpler.

Probably not for: churches that need a deep Planning Center website connection or highly custom design control.

The Church Co: Best for churches that use Planning Center throughout the week

The Church Co is one of the strongest fits for a church that already relies on Planning Center. Basic is $29 per month billed annually. Premium is $49 and adds Planning Center integration.

Its documentation covers Planning Center People, Giving, Calendar, Registrations, Groups, and Publishing. That means events, groups, and sermons can update on the website from Planning Center instead of being entered twice.

Setup ranges from a free simple option with an annual subscription to paid packages from $299 to $999.

Probably not for: churches that do not use Planning Center and mainly want an open, portable platform.

Nucleus: Best for churches focused on next steps and connection

Nucleus costs $99 per month and includes sermons, forms called Flows, hosting, SSL, page-level SEO, unlimited pages, custom CSS, staff permissions, and custom-domain support.

Its Planning Center connection needs a closer look than a simple "yes" in a feature table. Nucleus says its direct People connection is a one-way push for certain contact data. Planning Center forms can also be embedded, and calendars can connect by public iCal feed.

I would not describe that as a full Planning Center website sync.

Probably not for: churches looking for the lowest monthly price or broad two-way Planning Center content syncing.

Subsplash: Best for churches with a large sermon and media ministry

Subsplash makes the most sense when the website is part of a larger media system. Subsplash One can include websites, media hosting, livestreaming, apps, giving, events, groups, people management, and podcasting.

Pricing is based on church size and usage, so Subsplash asks churches to contact sales rather than publishing one fixed website price.

Its current Planning Center documentation is also specific. It connects Subsplash Giving with Planning Center People and Giving. That should not be read as a promise that every website feature syncs with Planning Center.

Probably not for: small churches that only need a simple public website.

ChurchSpring: Best for volunteer-led teams that want church tools together

ChurchSpring's current live pricing is $79, $129, and $159 per month, or $71, $116, and $143 per month on annual plans. There are no setup fees listed. Annual plans currently include migration of up to ten key pages plus domain setup, analytics connection, livestream setup, support, and training.

Grow is the more relevant plan for many churches because it adds sermons, events, podcast support, livestream tools, and Plan Your Visit.

I did not find current primary documentation confirming a native Planning Center connection, so a church that depends on Planning Center should confirm that workflow before buying.

Probably not for: churches mainly shopping on price or needing a verified Planning Center-first setup.

Church-specific builder or Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress?

A church-specific platform earns its place when it removes work your team already does every week.

If your events, sermons, giving, forms, and people information can move through one clear system, the higher monthly price may be paying for fewer repeated tasks. The Church Co is a good example for a church already centered on Planning Center. Tithely Sites makes more sense when Tithely Giving is already part of the church's system. Subsplash becomes more attractive when the church is already using its media, app, or giving tools.

A general builder may be enough when the church does not need all of that.

If your website mainly needs to explain who you are, show service times, introduce ministries, display a few events, share sermons, and send people to your existing giving or registration tools, Wix or Squarespace may do the job well.

WordPress sits in a different place. It gives the church more freedom to build around its own systems, but that freedom comes with more decisions and more upkeep.

Start with the software your church already uses. Then ask whether the new website removes work or creates another place to manage.

A five-question test for choosing your church website platform

1. Who will update it every week?

Name the person, not the role you hope to hire someday.

If the answer is your church administrator or a volunteer, let that person test the editor before you sign a long agreement.

2. Where do your sermons, events, forms, and giving already live?

Write those systems down.

A website that connects cleanly to what you already use may save more time than a cheaper platform that requires duplicate updates.

3. How much design freedom do you actually need?

Some churches need custom page structures, large sermon libraries, multiple campuses, or unusual integrations. Others need seven clear pages that work well on a phone.

Do not pay for complexity your ministry does not need.

4. What will you actually pay?

Separate the numbers.

Look at the platform subscription, the plan required for the features you need, domain cost, payment processing, setup or migration, paid plugins, and any outside help.

WordPress is a good example. The software is free, but the finished system is not automatically free.

For a fuller breakdown of build cost, recurring software, migration, and ownership, see How Much Should a Church Website Cost?

5. What happens if you leave?

Ask this before launch, not during a future redesign.

Know who controls the domain, what can be exported, what data can move, and what would need to be rebuilt.

Website builder or website designer: which does your church actually need?

A website builder gives your church the software.

A website designer helps decide what the site should say, how the pages should be organized, how a first-time guest moves through it, how sermons and events connect, how the mobile experience works, and how your team will maintain the site after launch.

Some churches do not need that help. If you have a capable staff member, a clear message, good content, and time to learn the platform, building the site yourself can be a responsible choice.

Other churches have already tried that route. The website becomes another job on a pastor's list or something one volunteer knows how to run.

That is where Steeple & Signal's Church Website Design work is meant to help. The goal is not simply to hand over a new homepage. It is to build a clear site around the ministry, connect the tools your church already uses, and give your team a workable path for updates after launch.

If you are not sure whether your church needs a rebuild at all, the Free Church Media Audit is a simpler place to start. It reviews the current website and wider digital experience and gives you practical next steps, whether you invite Steeple & Signal to help or handle the work internally.

Frequently asked questions about church website builders

What is the best website builder for a small church?

For many small churches, Wix is a strong DIY choice because hosting and software upkeep are handled for you, while Tithely Sites is a strong church-specific choice at $19 per month. If the church already uses Planning Center throughout the week, The Church Co may save more staff time even though its Planning Center features require the Premium plan.

The best answer depends on who will update the website and where your church already stores events, sermons, giving, and member information.

Is Wix a good website builder for churches?

Yes, especially for churches that want a visual DIY editor. Wix supports church templates, events, donations, forms, sermon video, livestream embeds, mobile editing, and SEO tools.

The main limit is portability. Wix states that the website itself must remain hosted on Wix, so a future move to another platform would involve rebuilding rather than moving the same site as-is.

Should a church use WordPress for its website?

WordPress.org is a strong choice when the church wants broad control over hosting, data, plugins, themes, and future development. It is also easier to move core content between WordPress sites through its export tools.

The church should also have a plan for hosting, backups, updates, security, and plugin care. If nobody owns those tasks, a hosted builder may be a better fit.

Can Planning Center replace a church website?

Planning Center's Church Center can serve as a simple public home for a church, but Planning Center itself notes that an independent website offers a custom domain and more design freedom. Church Center can also work alongside an existing website for giving, events, directories, sermons, and other Planning Center information.

For many churches, the cleaner setup is to let Planning Center handle the church data and next-step tools it does well, then use a public website that connects to it.

How much does a church website builder cost in 2026?

In this comparison, published church-specific website prices start at $19 per month for Tithely Sites. Nucleus is $99 per month, ChurchSpring ranges from $79 to $159 on monthly billing with lower equivalent monthly rates on annual plans, and Subsplash uses quote-based pricing. Wix paid plans currently run from $17 to $159 per month on annual billing, while Squarespace starts at $19 per month annually. WordPress.org software is free, but hosting and other costs are separate.

The subscription price is only one part of the decision. Check the plan needed for your actual features, setup or migration costs, payment fees, outside services, and who will maintain the site after it launches.

Sources and pricing notes

Pricing and platform details in this guide were checked against official platform documentation on September 8, 2026. Pricing, plan names, features, and integrations can change, so churches should confirm current terms with the platform before purchasing.

The research used official documentation from Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.org, Tithely, The Church Co, Nucleus, Subsplash, ChurchSpring, and Planning Center.

About the author: Timothy Wright is the founder of Steeple & Signal. He works with churches and ministries on websites and digital media, with an emphasis on clear systems that ministry teams can actually maintain.