Buy Chimes once. Run it for as long as you like.
One licence fee for the standard deployment, with no per-member, per-seat or per-transaction fee on top. The costs that remain are paid straight to the providers you choose, at their rates.
Compare Chimes with Planning Center, Breeze, Tithe.ly and others arrow_forwardAll of Chimes, with nothing held back for a higher tier
- check_circle Every feature of the member app, the church website and the staff console
- check_circle The JSON:API for your other systems
- check_circle Unlimited people, households, funds and gatherings
- check_circle As many staff, volunteer and member accounts as you need
- check_circle The standard deployment, on a server you own or rent
- check_circle No per-member, per-seat or per-transaction platform fee
Base Software Package
One-time licensing fee for the standard Chimes deployment.
Customization: $30/hr
For bespoke features, custom integrations, data migration, server maintenance or specialized training.
The running costs, and who bills them
Chimes runs on accounts in your institution's name. Each provider bills you directly, so there is no mark-up and no middleman holding your money.
Server and domain
Billed by your hosting provider and domain registrar. Chimes is sized for a $12-a-month DigitalOcean droplet with 1 vCPU and 2 GB of memory, or a server you already pay for.
Stripe processing
Stripe's fee on each card or bank payment, taken by Stripe at its published rates. Donors can choose to cover it when they give, and nothing is added on top.
Postmark email
Postmark's charge for the email Chimes sends: sign-in links, notifications, statements, reminders and announcements.
Twilio texts
Only if you offer text-to-give: Twilio's monthly charge for the church's number and its per-use rates for number lookups, verification codes, gift texts and replies.
Stripe's rates, with no platform markup
Most church giving platforms take gifts through their own processing account and set their own rate. Chimes uses your institution's Stripe account instead, so you pay Stripe's published rate and nothing else, and every discount Stripe offers is yours to claim.
Stripe's US rates as published in October 2026. Rates differ by country; see stripe.com/pricing .
Cards online
2.9% + 30¢
Stripe's standard rate on each card gift, once or recurring. Donors can choose to cover it.
Nonprofit discount
2.2% + 30¢
The rate reported for US cards once Stripe approves a registered nonprofit whose Stripe payments are at least 80% tax-deductible donations. Apply to Stripe directly; it is offered in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and much of Europe.
Bank transfers
0.8%, capped at $5
Gifts from a US bank account by ACH Direct Debit. A $1,000 tithe costs $5 to process, not $29.30.
In person
2.7% + 5¢
Stripe Terminal card readers for the foyer, from $59 (the Reader M2) to $299 (the S700 countertop), or Tap to Pay on a phone. Connecting readers to Chimes is customisation work.
Customisation at $30 an hour
When your congregation needs something the standard deployment does not cover, the work is billed by the hour.
- build Moving records from another system, beyond the built-in directory import
- build Adapting member records, milestones and request types to your tradition
- build Integrations with your accounting package or other software
- build Stripe Terminal card readers for gifts taken in person
- build Server maintenance: updates, upgrades and keeping an eye on backups
- build Bespoke features, and training beyond the handover
Common questions
Is there a per-member or per-seat fee? expand_more
No. Register five hundred people or five thousand, and give accounts to every staff member and volunteer who needs one: the licence does not change.
Do you take a share of the donations? expand_more
No. Gifts go through your own Stripe account and settle in your bank. Stripe charges its processing fee — and registered nonprofits can apply to Stripe for a lower one — with no platform fee on top and no one holding your funds in between.
What does Chimes cost to run each month? expand_more
Your server — from about $12 a month — your domain and Postmark plan, plus Stripe's fee on each gift, each billed by that provider. There is no monthly fee for Chimes itself.
Do we still need our current website? expand_more
No. Every Chimes deployment includes your church's public website, on your domain and the same server, with its certificate set up at deployment. The pages and features of your current site can be brought into Chimes, as the plan from the consultation sets out, and then the separate website host, site-builder subscription and SSL certificate can be cancelled.
Can we bring our existing records? expand_more
Yes. Chimes imports a directory from a CSV file, so a spreadsheet of members comes straight in. Records in another system are looked at during the consultation, and the plan says what moving them will take.
How can people give? expand_more
By card or US bank account, once or on a schedule, split across funds. Members give from the member app; visitors give on the church website without an account. Cash and cheques are entered by the office in batches. Card readers for the foyer can be added through Stripe Terminal as customisation work.
Who looks after the server? expand_more
Whoever you choose. The handover leaves your team a runbook for backups and upgrades, and if you would rather not do it yourselves, I can look after the server for you at the customisation rate of $30 an hour.
Is Chimes only for churches? expand_more
Gatherings and the calendar suit any congregation. Member records, milestones and request types follow church practice out of the box; adapting them to a temple, a mosque or another tradition is customisation work.
Get a deployment plan for your congregation.
Tell me how many people your congregation keeps records for, how you keep them today and where you would like Chimes hosted. I will come back with a plan and a straight answer on what it will take.