Choosing the right church presentation software is crucial to making your services a technical breeze. From ease of use to design options to integrated scripture lookup, the right software can make engaging your church congregation easier than ever. In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the top 3 church presentation softwares, along with my number 1 choice, so you can pick the best one.

In our introduction, we’ve explored the importance of church presentation software in enhancing the worship experience and engaging congregations.

As we delve into the main review portion of this blog, we’ll examine the top contenders in the market, comparing their features, ease of use, and pricing to help you make an informed decision for your ministry.

With an array of options at your fingertips, it’s time to dive into the details and discover the best church presentation software that will elevate your services to new heights.

What is the best church presentation software?

Here are my top choices for church presentation software to look at this year:

1. Proclaim

Best overall being super easy to use, has cloud integration, and low cost of entry.

Ben’s Take:

In my experience with Faithlife Proclaim, I have found it to be an outstanding church presentation software that truly stands out from the competition. Its user-friendly and intuitive interface makes it remarkably simple for anyone to create engaging and visually appealing presentations, even without prior experience in design.

One of the most attractive aspects of Faithlife Proclaim is its affordable monthly pricing, which provides a low barrier to entry for churches of all sizes. This cost-effective solution also offers a generous, full-featured trial, allowing you to thoroughly explore the software before committing to a subscription.

Faithlife Proclaim’s built-in media library and backgrounds further simplify the process of creating stunning presentations, eliminating the need for any design expertise. This vast collection of resources ensures that your presentations always look polished and professional.

Additionally, the software boasts a range of advanced features tucked away for those who require more sophisticated functionality. These options cater to the needs of both novice and experienced users alike, making Faithlife Proclaim a versatile and adaptable solution for any ministry.

I wholeheartedly recommend it (and am still currently using this program today in my church) to any church seeking a powerful and user-friendly presentation software to enhance their worship experience.

Key Features:

• Designed for collaboration. Cloud based editing (still use a downloaded program) allows multiple team members to work on a service, build slides, etc. at the same time.
• Works on both Windows and Mac. I’ve personally used it on both without issue.
• Built in media library. Prebuilt designs that are beautiful and instantly apply to your songs. Optional paid upgrade to unlock even more graphics.
• Support for confidence monitors and lower thirds for live streaming.
• Built in library of hymns and contemporary music. Saves a ton of time versus having to type everything in.
• “Easy” mode so a volunteer can run the presentation without any knowledge of the program.
• Live technical support available on Sunday mornings. Included at no extra cost.

User Experience:

As a competitor to ProPresenter, Proclaim focuses on simplicity and ease of use, making it an attractive option for organizations with less complex needs. Although it may not offer as many advanced features as ProPresenter, Proclaim delivers a seamless user experience that many users will appreciate (I know I do).

The intuitive interface of Proclaim allows volunteers and staff to quickly create and manage presentations, even with minimal training. It includes essential features such as lyric and scripture display, customizable templates, and support for various media types, all without overwhelming users. This streamlined approach ensures that users can focus on crafting engaging presentations rather than navigating complex software.

For churches and ministries looking for a straightforward, user-friendly presentation tool, Proclaim is an excellent choice. By prioritizing simplicity and ease of use, Proclaim effectively caters to the needs of smaller organizations or those who may not require the more advanced capabilities of ProPresenter.

Pricing:

The pricing for Proclaim is what initially got me to start a trial with them.

They offer monthly pricing based on your average service attendance. For example, if you’re a new church or a smaller congregation, pricing starts at $19.99/month

And if you’re growing or are a very large church with 2500+ attending your services, pricing starts at $79.99/month. Which may initially seem steep but that’s around 3 cents per person.

What I like most is that with Proclaim, they have a very low barrier to entry, they understand churches are different in size, and they don’t price gouge you as you grow.

Not to mention that if you decide you want to get started with Proclaim today, you don’t even need to select a plan. They offer a fully functional trial that will let you test this LIVE during a church service or two. No watermarks unlike some other software.

What I Like/Dislike about Faithlife Proclaim?

Like:

• Very simple and intuitive to use.
• Affordable pricing.
• Built in media library filled with professionally designed graphics.
• Made specifically for ministries and churches.

Dislike:

• Upgrading to Pro/Partner media for more graphics can get expensive.
• Adding team members can be confusing at first.
• Cloud-based program so although it works without internet you’ll be missing a lot of features. Internet is needed for the initial install.

Product Updates:

• Support added for M1 and M2 Macs.
• CCLI auto reporting feature for easy copyright compliance.
• You can see all updates and release notes for Proclaim here.

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2. ProPresenter

Most advanced option. Professional grade live production software.

Ben’s Take:

Before I switched to Proclaim as my primary driver for my home church, I was an avid user of ProPresenter. And there’s a lot to like.

However, my church size and overall needs being simpler meant that any service I was gone, it was challenging for someone else to run the presentation. You need training to use ProPresenter – especially if you’ll be making any on-the-fly edits.

However, if you’re a larger church with multiple screens, you want different content displayed on each screen such as multilingual projections, and you’re doing live-streaming then ProPresenter may be one of the best options for you. Just make sure you have the team in place to manage it.

I would not recommend this for smaller churches or solo media/tech workers as it will burden anyone who has to use it when you’re gone.

Key Features:

• Multi-screen support: ProPresenter allows users to display content on multiple screens simultaneously (can be different languages too), catering to various audience sizes and locations.
• Works on both Windows and Mac.
• Layering support. Background and foreground concept allows for easy on-the-fly changes once you understand how it works.
• Support for confidence monitors and lower thirds for live streaming.
• CCLI SongSelect integration to pull in lyrics easily.
• “Easy” mode so a volunteer can run the presentation without any knowledge of the program.
• Real time editing let’s you change content on a slide without having to stop the presentation.

User Experience:

While the software boasts a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for volunteers to operate, its extensive feature set may be overwhelming for smaller churches or ministries with simpler needs. There are alternative, more straightforward presentation tools available that cater to less complex requirements.

However, for larger organizations seeking a comprehensive solution to create engaging and visually appealing presentations, ProPresenter remains an ideal choice.

Pricing:

Pricing for ProPresenter starts at $399 for a single seat and goes up to $999 for a campus license which covers unlimited installations and use throughout your church and ministry.

This pricing includes 1 year of ProPresenter+ which is their updates and support plan.

You’ll want to renew it each year otherwise you’ll be missing out on bug fixes, compatibility upgrades, and of course new features.

Renewal costs $179/year for the single seat license and $449/year for the campus license.

It is cheaper to renew if you want the upgrades every 2 years. If you’re willing to wait 3-5 years then it may be cheaper to not renew and stick with the current version.

ProPresenter does offer a 2-week trial. You register for this once you’ve downloaded and installed the app. The trial does not have a watermark.

What I Like/Dislike about ProPresenter?

Like:

• Layering ability. Backgrounds are not attached to specific songs/items. Makes for easy changes on the fly.
• Real-time editing of content without having to leave presentation mode.
• Multilingual bible display options. Show two translations at the same time.
• Mobile app for controlling presentation and for viewing the confidence monitor.

Dislike:

• Higher upfront cost than some of the other options.
• Can be advanced and has a steeper learning curve. Of course, more power once you get past that.
• Doesn’t allow for team editing in app like Proclaim. Does have integration with other tools like The Planning Center.

Product Updates:

• Just recently released “ProContent” which is a media library similar to what Proclaim offers.
• CCLI auto reporting feature for easy copyright compliance.
• You can see all updates and release notes for ProPresenter here.

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3. MediaShout

A middle ground between Proclaim and ProPresenter. More advanced features while maintaining simplicity.

Ben’s Take:

Having used MediaShout versions 5 and 6, and playing around in the trial of version 7 – I can confidently say that MediaShout is a powerful tool that sits somewhere between ProPresenter (for its advanced features and multi-Bible support) and Proclaim for its ease of use.

However, in my experience and opinion, I would choose Proclaim or ProPresenter over MediaShout in most cases for the following reasons.

• Proclaim and ProPresenter both feel more “polished”.
• Proclaim and ProPresenter both have larger parent companies than MediaShout. Faithlife and RenewedVision respectively.
• Proclaim and ProPresenter have public changelogs/updates and release constant bug fixes and improvements – where MediaShout still doesn’t have support for version 7 on macOS.

The one instance I would recommend MediaShout over the other options is if you’re already familiar with it and are considering upgrading to the latest version.

Something has to be said about using a familiar tool vs. learning something completely new. We have to remember these tools are a means to an end – and whatever accomplishes it the easiest for you is what you should choose in the end.

Key Features:

• Simple but powerful slide editing and designer built right into the program.
• Works on both Windows and Mac. However only version 6 works on Mac right now.
• Keep a library of your songs and media as usual.
• Support for confidence monitors for your musicians, choir, etc.
• Built in support for displaying multiple Bible translations at the same time.

User Experience:

In terms of actually building your presentation and service, MediaShout is closer to ProPresenter than it is Proclaim. It has a lot of options which allows for greater control and creativity, but at the expense of being easy.

That’s not to say it’s actually hard. Just not as dead easy as Proclaim. Granted, with Proclaim you don’t have as powerful of an editor.

Presenting or using MediaShout during a live service is straightforward. As with most of these softwares, once the presentation is actually built, it’s generally a matter of just clicking through everything.

There are different options you can choose from that control how the presenter’s view is laid out. One of them is extremely similar to Proclaim and PowerPoint. I’m confident that a volunteer with 5 minutes of training could run through the presentation.

Pricing:

MediaShout’s pricing is reasonable and in-line with other paid presentation software like we’ve already seen. It starts on the cheapest upfront cost of just $29/month for their MediaShout LE version.

That’s where the confusion begins. What is LE, why does it only include “Basic Features” and what are “Plus Member Benefits”? These were all questions I asked when looking at this page trying to understand how much this actually would cost.

Clicking on see details took me to this graphic which did clear up the differences between the plans.

You’ll have to look at the feature list and determine which plan is the best fit for you. Comparatively, the Site license ($499) is the most direct competition with Proclaim and ProPresenter feature-wise.

What I Like/Dislike about MediaShout?

Like:

• Modern interface with a clean layout. Both dark and light modes.
• Monthly pricing option (although limited in features).
• Made specifically for ministries and churches.

Dislike:

• No version 7 for macOS. Limited to version 6 which is several years old.
• No cloud features. Will need to save the service to a USB, email it, or make the presentation at home and bring it to church.
• Support on Sunday and holidays costs extra (through a plus membership) when it’s included in tools like Proclaim for free.

Product Updates:

• MediaShout version 7 released for Windows. MacOS still version 6.
• CCLI auto reporting feature for easy copyright compliance.
• MediaShout does not appear to have public release notes or a list of brand new features at this time.