--- title: "MinistryPlatform Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is MinistryPlatform the right Church Management solution for you? Explore 49 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/110437/MinistryPlatform/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-19" --- MinistryPlatform 4.5 (49) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/110437/MinistryPlatform/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated October 19th, 2026 # Reviews of MinistryPlatform Ease of use 4.1 Customer Service 4.6 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews Christopher H Director of Data & SystemsReligious Institutions, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “We love how PocketPlatform is directly integrated with Ministry Platform so we can tailor the user experience perfectly to what we know about them in regards to how they are engaged with our church.“ April 25, 2022 JP Janet P Manager, Church Management SystemsReligious Institutions, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Event Rooms and Groups has a very confusing display and its not intuitive. “ April 19, 2022 CF Christine F Data LeadReligious Institutions, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “A bonus, and now we have come to expect, is how MP actively engages customers with community platform, ticket platform, idea boards and yearly events. “ November 10, 2020 JS Joshua S Director of TechnologyReligious Institutions, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I do miss the integration Shelby has between their Membership programs and their finance programs. Because ThinkMinistry does not have their own Financials software they have to integrate as best they can with what's available.“ January 15, 2021 JS Joshua S Director of TechnologyReligious Institutions, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The community is good with other software packages, but ThinkMinistry attempts to foster a lot of inter-church communication and collaboration and it shows.“ January 15, 2021 CA Christopher A IT DirectorReligious Institutions, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The back-end interface is also difficult to train new staff on and it does not have many user-friendly interfaces for our non-technical staff. Because of this, some staff don't want to use the system.“ November 11, 2020 JP Janet P Manager, Church Management SystemsReligious Institutions, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “The interfaces these tools look antiquated and are confusing to use. “ April 19, 2022 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 49 available reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use R Reviewer HR Coordinator Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Ministry Platform for Mega Church" December 22, 2025 4.0 Overall it functions and does what I need it to do. My primary role is inputting and tracking background check information and ensuring that when records expire we are notified and that function works really well. We have not lost any information and find that when it comes to holding the info we put it, it does really well. Pros We currently utilize Ministry Platform to house all people data for volunteers as well as employees. It has been helpful is communicating important information to select groups of people as we decide. When it comes to the big church events that we put together, we use MP to blast the information to all volunteers for updates and information. Cons There are multiple steps to complete different tasks and sometimes it can become cumbersome or confusing which way to choose and what is the better option. When it comes to sending out email blast - you have to create a group to send it to first and from the training that I received you can't delete someone from that group because it would effect something else. Rather it is better to create a whole new group or choose an end date for that specific person. We've had a person that was separated involuntarily that was still receiving manager information directly from MP because their profile wasn't end dated. Review Source R Reviewer Director of Data & Systems Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "We love MP!" April 28, 2022 5.0 Overall, the software is so powerful and the staff at Ministry Platform are GREAT. Pros We love how customizable the software is. It has a ton of available integrations, as well as an open API, which makes it great to integrate with other platforms, when needed. Also, it seems like we can always & endlessly customize/create the Platform to our needs. We love how PocketPlatform is directly integrated with Ministry Platform so we can tailor the user experience perfectly to what we know about them in regards to how they are engaged with our church. Cons I don't know that I would necessarily mark this is a con, especially since the Next Gen platform is out, but MP is so powerful, that sometimes the power of the system overshadows the need for a really easy user experience. It can be a bit tough or cumbersome to navigate/use without training...we do try to tailor the user roles so they don't see more than necessary. The only other thing would be event registration. There have been many improvements to this software in the event space, but would love it to function more like the ease (& overall aesthetic) of Planning Center Registrations. Review Source Jo M. Director for HR Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "MinistryPlatform" July 2, 2025 4.0 Overall, it has served us well enough. It has more capabilities than we use so we have room to grow. Pros It is very flexible, allowing us to set up to meet the most of our needs possible. It can be paired with other tools to keep workload down. Cons It's flexibility can make it hard to set up. Also, it can feel like multiple databases, with data in each that isn't always easy to find. Review Source R Reviewer Senior Pastor Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Does Everything If You're an IT Guru" January 14, 2022 2.0 My overall experience with Ministry Platform was not positive. It was a terribly difficult program to learn, to teach, and to implement. Ultimately, my former church stopped using it and moved to Planning Center. Pros Ministry Platform is an ideal church management software if you are an IT expert. It can do whatever you want if you have the know-how and patience to make it work. The developers would work with our church on whatever we wanted, but it came at the cost of being terribly user-friendly and nearly impossible to roll out. Still, the software proved to be able to do anything. Cons At the time that I used Ministry Platform, I was a a pastor at a megachurch and the verdict on Ministry Platform was pretty unanimous. It was terribly hard to to use and difficult to implement. The program felt like I was using DOS again. I had to remember certain commands and functions that if were not followed perfectly, nothing would work. The simplest functions like check-in required our IT team to be present to trouble shoot. Review Source JS Josh S. Director of Technology Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Amazingingly Customizable, but sometime to a weakness" January 19, 2021 5.0 We used to have another Church Management System, and after decades of use our actual utilization stayed pretty much stagnant (to the point where our business manager who had much experience with it strongly believed that ChMSs were glorified address books). Since moving to Ministry Platform we have been continuously integrating systems moving our staff away from data entry to ministry. We are a church of around 1,000 and have no dedicated or volunteer computer programmer. Your story with Ministry Platform could be more glowing than ours if you do. If you are in the same boat as us, as long as you have someone interested in expanding your use and can run with it you can be greatly successful. Pros There are several things that are pros about this software, and in most regards superior to other packages on the market: 1. Customization: This software is almost entirely customizable to the needs of your church. This is a major selling point for Ministry Platform. If you can dream it, you can pretty much do it. 2. Integrations: This software has many out of the box integrations with other packages from mail services, to background check systems, and has a full REST API for custom integrations that many have done or are doing (a few I've seen or used are digital signage, church app integrations with several app companies and authentication for Church Online Platform). 4. Community and Staff: The community is great. The community is good with other software packages, but ThinkMinistry attempts to foster a lot of inter-church communication and collaboration and it shows. We were a church that has used Shelby software for many decades and our experience with community under thinkministry has been superior. The staff are very very friendly and will do whatever they can to fulfill you needs in the situation you church finds you in. Sometimes they cant, but if they can they usually do. A++. 5. "The Grid." Being able to view all related data in a birds eye view without have to run reports saves you time. It isn't always pretty, but the power behind it is immense. 6. Full Access to "Your Data." I'll leave a quote from an employee friend of another ChMS... "We'd never do that." Cons There are probably a few more pros, but I ran out of space... There are a couple things I wish were better about Ministry Platform: 1. I do miss the integration Shelby has between their Membership programs and their finance programs. Because ThinkMinistry does not have their own Financials software they have to integrate as best they can with what's available. That being said, they have done a great job and work to build most anything your church needs to accomplish your work. 2. Some effects of being extremely customizable software: Some Church Management Systems have better out-of-the-box reports and views. If you are a smaller church with no staff that have a basic understanding of a computer language in their past it may present some difficulties in customizing views and SQL queries. However, this can be overcome by interacting with their Professional Services department who can build pretty much anything you need, and the community interacts at a level that much can be done just in that. Review Source R Reviewer Database Administrator Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "We love Ministry Platform" November 26, 2020 5.0 From what I said above, in addition they have an extensive Knowledge Base that is regularly updated and tons of coaching videos and webinars. They support from Ministry Platform is nothing like I have experienced anywhere. They have really come up with what I think is a brilliant plan to do support by assigning each organization 3 single points of contact and those SPoC's are able to do chat support or support tickets and get almost immediate responses. You can also request one on one coaching, we have also hired a coach to physically come to us and meet face to face. They allow the organizations to give feedback and post on an idea board with dreams of upgrading the software and they read EVERY SINGLE ONE and allow other org's to vote on the ideas. I may change my mind and say that their staff and support system are my favorites. They also offer a once a year User Conference that is above and beyond and I always leave so excited for what is coming and also empowered to do my job better - or sometimes even do parts of my job at all that I thought I couldn't figure out with my level of expertise. Pros I love that it is easy to learn almost everything about Ministry Platform. I say "almost" because I do not know how to write SQL and that has been a lot harder for me to learn but the database is designed with my kind of user in mind. There are short cuts and "easy buttons" for those of us who need to do more complicated tasks but don't know that depth of technology. Cons That there are no group registration products yet - to make events such as conferences easier to reserve seats. But really that is probably my biggest struggle. Review Source R Reviewer Systems Director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Flexible and Powerful" November 20, 2020 5.0 We have integrated MinistryPlatform into several other key systems and processes that used to be completed separated from our church database, such as our website. This has allowed us to remove multiple silos of data and consolidate down to a single source that gives us far more visibility into key processes. We have made many modifications to MP that are specific to our church, and this has allowed us to do our ministry the way we want to do it, rather than conform to a particular approach that our software expects. Pros There are several things that I love about MinistryPlatform--its almost endless customizability, its ability to integrate with other systems, its long list of useful features--but probably the most significant is the team of dedicated servants of the Kingdom who create and support it. They are a genuine partner in ministry, and we definitely feel like they have our back and understand what we care about, and it shows in their hard work and consistent achievements in improving their product. Cons MinistryPlatform's primary user interface is not as pretty as most staff users would like; and although for me as a power user it gives me great flexibility to dig deep into our data, it can be overwhelming for more casual users whose objectives are more task-oriented. This is getting much better, however, and I am looking forward to the next major release to improve things even further. Review Source chris A. IT Director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Beyond a standard ChMS, making it difficult to fully understand at first" November 12, 2020 5.0 Overall, we are very happy with what we are able to accomplish because of Ministry Platform. It is easily extended to accommodate the most creative and complex requests. We even made custom apps that generated Apple Wallet boarding passes and receipt-paper boarding passes for our airline themed sermon series and used those to check congregants in and award frequent flyer miles. All of the data was stored in Ministry Platform and the apps accessed the data through their robust and easy to use API. We also made thousands of phone calls during the onset of COVID in 2020 to pray with our congregation and see if there were any needs we could help meet. We were able to track those calls and escalate them to prayer requests or pastoral care cases easily because of Ministry Platform. This calling tool was not a native feature of MP, but because it is so easy to customize and extend we were able to get a working reliable system tailored to our specific needs up in a matter of days. It isn't the prettiest system under the hood, but it is the most feature rich and customizable congregant care and engagement system I have worked with in my 14 years in Church IT. Pros It is the most flexible system we have found, and gives us the ability to accommodate the various creative ideas our staff and ministry leaders dream up. Despite the flexibility, the interface is the same for every record type, so once you understand how it works on one page in the back-end, that translates to every other page of the app. It also has so many automation and notification options that we rarely need to run reports because the information goes to the right people at the right time. There are now charts and graphs that we can add to staff member's dashboards, and when they click a bar or slice of a pie it actually goes to the records that made up that portion of the graph, whether it was number of kids attending that weekend, or number of people who filled out a custom form on the website. Ultimately, the biggest pro is you not only get an overall picture of your congregation's engagement, you can actually do something about it in the form of sending emails, text messages, prompting staff or ministry leaders to reach out to specific individuals, etc. Cons Although I've heard it has improved, our on-boarding was a little rough and we required additional training once we were live. We also made some poor decisions during on-boarding that I wish we had more help with at the time. The back-end interface is also difficult to train new staff on and it does not have many user-friendly interfaces for our non-technical staff. Because of this, some staff don't want to use the system. Review Source R Reviewer Worship & Arts Administrator/Database Administrator Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "A Powerful Resource for Doing the Work of Ministry" November 11, 2020 5.0 With MinistryPlatform, we now have powerful resources for supporting our congregation and feedback on their engagement, which allow us to make informed decisions for helping to create disciples and empower our membership to do the same. Plus, I've never seen a company work so hard to be responsive to user needs, to continually improve itself, and to offer more benefits to its users. This is truly a stellar company and product. Pros MinistryPlatform is comprehensive, flexible, and solution- & ministry-oriented. - We did not lose one byte (35+ year's worth) of data from our previous church database program, and it was seamlessly integrated into a useable format. - MinistryPlatform was simple enough that all our staff members now engage with our database. (Our previous system was too complicated and frustrating for most of them.) - It's possible to empower our lay leaders to communicate with group participants, track attendance, and add new group members. - Registrations and volunteering are easy to facilitate. - It's simple to setup processes for reviewing data and notifying responsible parties of updates to events or groups. - Getting useful information out in a variety of formats is easy, and when we have encountered any question or problem at all, we have found their support to be unparalleled. Cons What surprised me was that it took a bit more time to manage, but that was actually for an excellent reason: MinistryPlatform took our previously stagnant data-holding pot and made it a living, breathing resource for helping people and supporting the work of the church. Review Source R Reviewer Administrative Assistant Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Ministry Platform meets all your church data needs" November 11, 2020 5.0 We now have all of our data in one place from contact information to care needs to financials. It's all in one spot. We are able to limit the security roles for each user so that only those that need access to personal data has it. We are very pleased with our Ministry Platform experience. Pros I love how customizable this software is. It's great right "out of the box" and so easy to use. The initial training and set up was awesome! Once you learn more about how the database works and what your church needs they are more than willing to help you customize the product. Their customer service is amazing. The community of users feels like a family, they are so helpful. Cons It's hard to say anything I don't like about this software. I was totally new to the world of managing a database. I knew nothing about coding. But you really don't need to. They help you learn what you need to know and provide opportunities to learn more. Review Source R Reviewer Ministry Assistant, Data Support Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "CFBC - Ministry Platform Review" November 11, 2020 5.0 Ministry Platform is dedicated to their software. They are constantly making improvements and listening to customers (even encouraging customers to submit enhancement requests) to evolve this product and keep up with the times to be top class. Because we can easily keep our data clean and run accurate and reliable reports on anything we have in our system, we have been able to identify areas of weakness/gaps like we never have before. Pros I love that we have access to all of the data that has been entered into the system at our fingertips. We are not limited by canned reports. It is an impressively customizable database with the ability to write reports that fit our needs. Cons For users who are not technically inclined, the expansiveness of the software can be overwhelming. With practice they quickly adapt, but the initial learning process can be intimidating. Review Source Verified Reviewer Database Administrator - Events Logistics, Facilities IT Management Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Database" November 15, 2018 3.0 Pros The software is robust with a lot of different add ons and functionality. Cons Requires extensive training for non tech savvy folks. Requires really knowledgeable admins who can make modifications and change management strategies on the fly, without knowledge it will be a struggle Review Source R Reviewer Director of Campus Services Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Good Church Management Software" December 11, 2019 5.0 I primarily use the software to provide important information on individual church members for administrative purposes throughout the week. Pros Ability to quickly look up important resources and information related to church members as well as information related to groups in areas such as volunteers, department statistics, etc. Cons The software could be more robust in the area of facilities management, as it lacks appropriate features related to proper and efficient management of large facilities. Review Source Jenny B. Registrar Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Somewhat overwhelming but a good tool" November 25, 2020 3.0 We've had great success using this as a collective database for all of our church's ministries. I love that we're able to have guests check in at events (and print a nametag!) so we immediately have data at our fingertips to track attendance and follow up with attendees. Pros There are so many functionalities of Ministry Platform! Check-in for events is my favorite. And the ability to print nametags eliminates the need to stockpile blank nametags and sharpies, and ensures we can actually read the names of our attendees. Cons Some of the navigation is a little clunky. I haven't found a simple way to move between individuals or events or households without being taken all the way back to the dashboard. Review Source R Reviewer First impressions coordinator Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Ministry Platform" November 25, 2019 4.0 Pros I love that this software could hold so much detailed information. It is so nice to have everything we need for events, participant info, purchase requests, etc in one database! Cons Some features can be hard to find/finicky like opportunity responses. I don’t like how I can’t export opportunity responses within an event. Review Source R Reviewer technology solutions ### "excellent, excellent, excellent!" March 31, 2013 5.0 highly recommend think ministry for anyone needing a ChMS! Pros the support is literally bar-none (i feel so strongly about this that this should count as more than one difference. haha!!! :D). the searching and view capabilities are as hefty as you want them or as easy as you need them so it's a great product for everyone on our staff no matter their depth of knowledge or desire to go deeper. this has CHANGED our promotion sundays for children's ministry it is no longer an event to be feared. and for the first time ever we have people signing up for their groups online right into the database. yum! Cons the custom forms/registration need some work. right now we are still using serviceU for most registrations. Review Source R Reviewer Director of Data Systems ### "Great Product!" March 21, 2013 5.0 I would highly recommend this product to any church large or small that is looking for a user friendly option to get pertinent information into the hands of its users. Pros Ministry Platform is user friendly and very intuitive. All of my users are able to quickly find and report on the information they need. This is a powerful tool for administrators with customizability in everything from security roles, page views, and additions to the database itself. Cons This is honestly a great product. It is only going to get better as time goes on. Review Source R Reviewer Database Admin ### "Review from Celebrate" March 31, 2013 5.0 Great system! Pros Support is amazing and constantly looks for and develops enhancements to the system. Cons It's maybe not super "pretty" but it gets the job done and that's the important thing! Review Source R Reviewer C.T.O. Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "From the first Catholic Diocese in North America to have all parishes using MinistryPlatform" May 24, 2022 5.0 We have more parishes using Groups and Event functionality for tracking Religious Education since w3e moved to MP. We are tracking Safe Environment compliance in MP; eliminating a separate database previously used to do that. We were very aggressive in our migration from another system and while that was difficult for our team, the MP staff worked with us to make that happen. We have been very pleased with the new tools and enhancements that are being rolled out frequently. MP was a good product when we signed on - now it's even better! Pros The power of the database. The people with whom we work to adjust the features to best suit our needs. The commitment by ACST to growing a better tool for our end users. That it's truly web-based. Cons I feel we are still struggling with Sacramental reporting. Review Source R Reviewer IT Systems Analyst Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "The most robust church management system on the market" May 23, 2022 5.0 Our former CMS platform was outdated and was no longer being developed. After looking at many other companies we chose Think Ministry due to the fact that it was already a robust database with many ways to present data to end users in the form of views and reports. Their development team has worked with us to customize many of our unique needs. Finally, we LOVE the continuous support of staff, especially \[SENSITIVE CONTENT\] ! Pros Administering the platform is mostly painless when you get used to roles and permissions. Donation management for our parishes is simple to train them on and get them to use regularly. Keeping track of individuals and families is also easy for our church users. End-to-end it's better than any CRM/CMS. Cons They have made improvements to the UI this past year. This presented a bit of a new learning curve for IT and for end users as many items were moved, some unintuitively. Review Source KG Kate G. HR Administrator and Database Specialist Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Very satisfied customer!" March 8, 2024 5.0 Our team is very pleased overall. Trace worked at Christ Fellowship when we initially jumped on the MP bandwagon. She set us up well, and created several processes in place that have made our job so much easier and more efficient over the years. I am grateful for the time and dedication she put into this database. Pros I absolutely love the ACST team and how amazing they are. The database is super user-friendly and innovative. Our team is very pleased with Ministry Platform overall. Cons Occasionally, we run into minor hiccups that keep us from pulling data as efficiently as we would like. However, when I reach out to MP support I typically find that the development team is already navigating a solution! Review Source R Reviewer Operations Support Manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Ministry Platform is a great choice!" November 11, 2020 5.0 Very very positive. The quality of the software is excellent. The support is timely, accurate and the team is friendly. Pros I like how it covers most all of the bases you need right out of the box, and what you may need specifically for your organization is usually available through their professional services department. Don't let the learning curve dissuade you from selecting Ministry Platform. It's SO worth it in the long run. It's very flexible and they are always adding features to make it easier to use and even more comprehensive. Cons The only challenge is the learning curve. It's very logical and methodical. Non-admins will have that difficulty no matter what software you choose. Even people who are slower catching on in the beginning find out they love it when it's accomplished something for them and they see the power of it. Review Source R Reviewer Manager, Church Management Systems Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Thanks for all you do MP Team." April 22, 2022 4.0 MP is loaded with functionality. There are features that you may not love 100% (no system does this) but you can work with what is offered or customize it. Don't expect to just sit down and start using MP without training, you will not get the most out of it. Take time to get to know it, it will be worth it. Pros The product has many features and I still have yet to uncover them all. The flexibility makes this all possible. Cons Tools and Reports need revamping. The interfaces these tools look antiquated and are confusing to use. Event Rooms and Groups has a very confusing display and its not intuitive. Reports are equally outdated. Review Source R Reviewer Administration Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "We LOVE MinistryPlatform" May 11, 2022 5.0 Our overall experience with MinistryPlatform has been amazing. The customer service is fantastic. It's easy to use and easy to customize. We are seeing more and more ways to connect information between ministries making its value grow daily. Pros One of the features of MP is that it is super customizable. We can make the user experience valuable for any of our users by removing or adding features that are specific to their ministry while being able to connect that same information across multiple ministries. Cons It would be nice to have an integration with MinistrySafe. Review Source R Reviewer Database Administrator Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Great product! Customizable and easy to add on." May 3, 2022 5.0 It has been wonderful. They have a GREAT product and a wonderful support team. Their team will be as hands-on as you want them to be and they continually look for ways to make things even better. Pros The fact that you can customize so many things, from specific quick pages, views, and data. Helps us see trends and focus on reaching out to the right people to make the biggest impact. The tools are easy to use, and they make Ministry Platform way more than "just a database". Plus MP is compatible with so many 3rd party add-ons that can add even more value to the data you have (giving platforms, app/website developers). Cons Default contacts, when contacts come in Ministry Platform does not even try to match form answers, event registrations, or group inquiries with the correct participant unless 100% of the info matches that person. Even if 98% of their info entered matches a participant it won't assign it to that person, which makes it a more manual entry process still has to be going on 7 days a week to keep up with the info coming in. Instead of being more intuitive, realizing it is the right person with an updated phone number, updating the phone number and assigning to the contact that matches in all other areas. On the plus side, when there are things that we don't like about the platform (excluding this issue), their team does a great job of finding solutions or fixing the issues when reported. They work quickly as well. 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