Question 1

What is Altarflow?

Accepted Answer

Altarflow is an AI-powered, all-in-one church management platform built specifically for small and mid-sized churches. It combines donation tracking, expense management, financial reporting, member management, and custom landing pages into a single platform—eliminating the need for spreadsheets, QuickBooks, Tithe.ly, and multiple disconnected tools.

Built bilingual from the ground up, Altarflow currently works fully in English and Spanish, with additional languages in development. We believe churches shouldn't have to choose between affordability and functionality—so we built a platform that gives you enterprise capabilities at a price small churches can actually afford.

Our mission is twofold: First, automate the administrative work stealing your time so you can focus on what matters most—shepherding your people and growing your ministry. Second, transform generosity into structured growth and global impact—helping your church turn donations into sustainable operations and mission expansion.

Question 2

Is Altarflow good for small churches?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Altarflow was built specifically for small and mid-sized churches with 50-300 members.

Whether you're just getting organized or have been running on spreadsheets for years, Altarflow gives you professional tools without the $5,000-10,000+ annual price tag of platforms like Planning Center or Church Community Builder.

Perfect for:
• Solo pastors wearing all the hats
• Bilingual Hispanic congregations
• Churches with limited budgets but unlimited calling
• Growing churches ready to scale operations

You pay one price ($99/month) whether you have 50 members or 500. No per-member fees. No surprise charges.

Question 3

Does Altarflow work in Spanish?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Altarflow is fully bilingual with native English and Spanish support throughout the entire platform.

Every feature works in both languages:
• Donation pages (Spanish donors see 100% Spanish experience)
• Expense tracking and receipt scanning
• Member management and forms
• Financial reports
• Landing pages and web portals
• Admin interface (staff can work in their preferred language)

You can switch between English and Spanish in your settings anytime. This isn't Google Translate—it's professional translation built from the ground up specifically for bilingual church operations.

More languages coming soon as part of our mission to serve churches globally.

Question 4

What features does Altarflow include?

Accepted Answer

Altarflow includes everything your church needs to manage operations:

Donation Management:
• Manual donation entry
• Digital giving (credit card, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay)
• Donation campaigns with tracking
• Donor profiles with complete giving history
• Automated receipts and year-end statements
• Banking integration showing all donations received
• Detailed payout tracking (fees, donors, amounts)

Expense Management:
• Manual expense entry
• AI-powered receipt scanning (snap a photo, it categorizes automatically)
• Expense tracking by fund, ministry, or vendor

Financial Reporting:
• Donation reports (giving trends, donor retention, campaign performance)
• Expense reports by category or fund
• Financial analysis and summaries
• Exportable to PDF and Excel

Member Management:
• Member database with complete profiles
• Visitor tracking and follow-up
• Custom forms for new member registration
• Prayer request collection
• Member CRM capabilities

Landing Pages & Web Portal:
• Custom landing pages with your church logo and branding
• Donation page links
• Member forms and new member registration
• Event announcements
• Banner and announcement management
• Fully customizable with your church's information

Platform Features:
• AI-powered automation throughout
• Fully bilingual (English/Spanish, more languages coming)
• Granular user permissions (admin, editor, viewer)
• Custom themes
• Mobile access
• Secure data backups
• Priority email support

Coming Soon (Currently in Development):
• Plaid bank integration for automatic expense retrieval
• Enhanced CRM view for members
• Fully customizable form builder
• Fully agentic AI agents capable of running tasks automatically—including account reconciliations, report generation, donor follow-ups, and any other programmed tasks your church needs. These agents will work on autopilot, handling administrative workflows while you focus on ministry.

All features included at one price—no add-ons, no tiers, no surprises.

Question 5

How long does it take to set up Altarflow?

Accepted Answer

Most churches are operational in under 2 hours.

Self-Service Setup:
After you sign up and pay the $100 setup fee + first month, you'll immediately access our guided onboarding flow:
• Church Profile Setup (10 minutes) - Add your church name, logo, contact information
• Financial Infrastructure (20 minutes) - Connect Stripe for digital donations, configure funds
• Member Import (15 minutes) - Upload your member list via CSV
• Landing Page Builder (20 minutes) - Customize your church's web portal
• Settings & Permissions (15 minutes) - Add staff users, set language preferences, configure themes

Assisted Setup (Optional, Included):
We also offer 1 hour of personalized onboarding with our team via video call. We'll walk you through the entire setup, answer questions, and configure everything to match your church's needs.

Data Migration:
If you're coming from QuickBooks, Tithe.ly, spreadsheets, or other tools, we'll help you migrate up to 5 years of historical data. Email us your exports at hola@altarflow.com and we'll handle the import (usually 1-2 business days).

Most churches see value within 24 hours of starting.

Question 6

Can I cancel Altarflow anytime?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Altarflow has no contracts and no cancellation fees.

You can cancel anytime directly from your account settings—no phone calls required. If you cancel:
• Your access continues through the end of your current billing period
• You can export all your data in standard formats (CSV, PDF, Excel)
• No penalties, no retention pressure

About the setup fee: The $100 promotional setup fee is non-refundable as it covers your onboarding, financial infrastructure creation, and initial configuration. However, if you're not satisfied within your first 30 days, contact us directly at hola@altarflow.com and we'll work with you to make it right.

We want churches that love Altarflow—not ones trapped by it.

Question 7

How is Altarflow different from other church management software?

Accepted Answer

Three key differences:

1. AI-Powered from the Ground Up
Altarflow is built with AI automation at its core. From receipt scanning to expense categorization to automated donor receipts, our AI handles the busywork so you don't have to. Coming soon: fully agentic AI agents that can run account reconciliations, generate reports, and execute follow-ups automatically—transforming your administrative burden into autopilot operations.

2. Built for Bilingual Churches
Most platforms treat Spanish as an afterthought (if they support it at all). Altarflow is natively bilingual throughout—donation pages, forms, reports, communications, admin interface. Your Spanish-speaking and English-speaking communities get equal excellence. More languages coming soon.

3. All-In-One at Small Church Pricing
• Planning Center: $5,000+/year for comparable features
• ChurchTrac: $2,400+/year with limited functionality
• Altarflow: $99/month ($1,188/year) with everything included

We give you enterprise capabilities (digital donations, AI receipt scanning, custom landing pages, financial reporting) at a price small churches can actually afford.

The result: You get Planning Center's power, with bilingual support no one else offers, at a fraction of the cost—all while AI handles the administrative work you hate.

Question 8

How much does Altarflow cost?

Accepted Answer

Altarflow is $99/month or $828/year with annual billing (saving you $360 annually).

Beta Launch Special:
Get your first 3 months at 50% off ($49.50/month instead of $99). Both monthly and annual pricing are part of our promotional beta launch and may be subject to change as we introduce additional tiers in the future.

To get started:
• $100 promotional setup fee (one-time, part of beta launch—may change in the future)
• $49.50 for your first month (50% off)
• $49.50/month for months 2-3 (50% off)
• Then $99/month starting month 4 (or switch to $828/year to save $360)

What's included:
• Everything listed in the features section
• Unlimited donations, expenses, and members
• 1 hour of personalized onboarding (optional)
• Priority email support
• All future updates and improvements

Transaction processing:
• Digital donations are processed via Stripe, our financial infrastructure partner
• Standard processing fee: 4% per transaction
• This covers all credit card, ACH, and digital wallet payments

Pricing transparency:
• No per-member fees
• No hidden costs beyond the 4% transaction processing
• No feature tiers or add-ons (currently)
• Cancel anytime with no penalties
• Beta pricing and setup fees are promotional and subject to change as we introduce new tiers

Question 9

What are my payment options?

Accepted Answer

Altarflow accepts all major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) processed securely through Stripe.

Billing options:
• Monthly: $99/month (first 3 months at $49.50/month during beta)
• Annual: $828/year (save $360 vs. monthly)

You can update your payment method or switch between monthly and annual billing anytime in your account settings.

About the setup fee:
The $100 promotional setup fee is charged once at signup and covers:
• Your onboarding and initial configuration
• Financial infrastructure creation with Stripe for digital donations
• Access to our setup assistance and support

This $100 setup fee is part of our beta launch promotional pricing and may be subject to change in the future as we introduce additional tiers and features.

Question 10

Is there a free trial?

Accepted Answer

We don't offer a traditional free trial, but we do offer something better: your first 3 months at 50% off.

This gives you 90 days to fully implement Altarflow with your real church data at half the cost. If it's not the right fit, you can cancel anytime with no penalties.

Your investment:
• $100 promotional setup fee + $49.50 first month = $149.50 to start
• Then $49.50/month for months 2-3
• After 90 days of testing, decide if you want to continue at $99/month

This approach is better than a 14-day trial because you get real time to implement, migrate your data, and see actual results before committing to full price.

Question 11

Can I upgrade or change my billing?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You have complete flexibility.

Switch billing frequency anytime:
• Monthly → Annual: Save $360/year immediately
• Annual → Monthly: Takes effect at your next renewal date

If you're on the beta discount:
• Your 50% discount applies for your first 3 months regardless of billing frequency
• After month 3, standard pricing kicks in ($99/month or $828/year)

No penalties for changes: Update your billing preferences anytime in account settings. We'll prorate charges fairly.

Question 12

What happens if I'm coming from another platform?

Accepted Answer

We'll help you migrate your data—free of charge.

What we can transfer (up to 5 years of historical data):
• Donation history
• Member and contact records
• Historical financial data
• Fund and category structures

The migration process:
1. Export your data from your current tools (we provide exact instructions for QuickBooks, Tithe.ly, Planning Center, Excel, etc.)
2. Email your files to us at hola@altarflow.com or upload to our secure portal
3. We import and format everything (usually 1-2 business days)
4. You review imported data and we fix any issues

Timeline: Most migrations complete within 3-5 business days depending on data volume.

Your data is always yours—export everything anytime in standard formats.

Question 13

What does "beta" mean for Altarflow?

Accepted Answer

Altarflow is in active beta, which means the core platform is fully operational but we're still building some advanced features.

What's working today (fully operational):
• Complete donation pipeline (manual + digital giving)
• Donation campaigns and donor tracking
• AI-powered receipt scanning for expenses
• Member management and CRM
• Custom forms (new member registration, prayer requests)
• Financial reporting (donations, expenses, analysis)
• Banking integration (view all donations and payouts)
• Landing page builder with full customization
• Bilingual support (English/Spanish)
• User permissions (admin, editor, viewer)

What we're actively building (coming soon):
• Plaid bank integration (automatic expense retrieval)
• Enhanced CRM views for members
• Fully customizable form builder
• Fully agentic AI agents capable of running tasks automatically—including account reconciliations, report generation, donor follow-ups, and any other programmed tasks. These agents will work on autopilot to handle administrative workflows while you focus on ministry.

Why we're in beta:
• We're limiting the number of churches we onboard to ensure quality support
• Your feedback directly shapes our roadmap
• You get 50% off for 3 months because you're helping us improve
• You have direct access to our team

Beta pricing guarantee: All beta users keep the 50% discount for the full 3 months, then transition to standard pricing ($99/month or $828/year).

Question 14

How many churches are using Altarflow?

Accepted Answer

We're currently serving 50+ churches in our beta program, with new churches joining weekly.

We're intentionally growing carefully to ensure every church gets the attention and support they deserve. As a beta user:
• You'll have direct access to our team
• Your feedback influences what we build next
• You get priority support as we scale

Question 15

What support do I get as a beta user?

Accepted Answer

Every beta customer gets:

During setup:
• Guided self-service onboarding flow
• 1 hour of optional video call support
• Free data migration assistance (up to 5 years of data)
• Email support throughout setup

Ongoing support:
• Priority email support (response within 24 hours)
• Access to help documentation and tutorials
• Direct feedback channel to our product team
• Early access to new features as they launch

Community:
• You're helping shape the future of Altarflow
• Your real-world usage informs our roadmap
• Direct line to founders and product team

Question 16

Is my church's data secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Security and data privacy are core to everything we build.

Data protection:
• All data encrypted in transit (SSL/TLS) and at rest
• Hosted on enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure
• Daily automated backups
• SOC 2 compliance standards

Financial security:
• All payment processing through Stripe (PCI-DSS Level 1 certified)
• We never store credit card numbers
• Bank-level encryption for all transactions

Access control:
• Granular user permissions (admin, editor, viewer)
• Multi-factor authentication available
• Audit logs of all data changes

Your data is yours:
• Export everything anytime in standard formats
• 90-day grace period after cancellation to download data
• No vendor lock-in

Question 17

Can I export my data?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your data is always yours.

What you can export:
• Donation records (CSV, Excel, PDF)
• Expense records (CSV, Excel, PDF)
• Member lists and contact information (CSV)
• Financial reports (PDF, Excel)
• Giving statements (PDF)

How to export:
Go to Settings → Data Export → select what you need → download

After cancellation:
You have 90 days to export all your data before we permanently delete it from our servers (as required by data privacy regulations).

Question 18

Do you offer discounts for church planters?

Accepted Answer

Yes! We have a Church Planter Partnership Program.

Eligibility:
• First-time church plant (not a satellite campus or denomination-sponsored launch)
• Church is under 1 year old
• Fewer than 100 members

What you get:
• Up to 6 months of free Altarflow usage
• Full platform access (same as paying customers)
• Priority support as you build your foundation

How to apply:
Visit our Contact Us page and fill out the form. In the message section, mention that you're applying for the Church Planter Partnership Program and include:
• Your church name and location
• How long your church has been operating
• Current member count
• Brief description of your ministry

Our team will review your application and contact you within 3 business days.

Our mission: Help new churches start with real infrastructure—not spreadsheets.

Question 19

What if I have questions during setup?

Accepted Answer

We're here to help.

Contact options:
• General Support: hola@altarflow.com (setup questions, technical support)
• Sales & Partnerships: sales@altarflow.com (pricing, demos, church planter program)
• Onboarding call: Schedule your included 1-hour setup session
• Help docs: Searchable knowledge base with step-by-step guides
• In-app chat: Contact us directly from your dashboard

Response time: Within 24 hours for all support emails.

Common setup questions we help with:
• Connecting Stripe for digital donations
• Importing member lists
• Configuring funds and categories
• Setting up landing pages
• Adding staff users with permissions
• Migrating historical data

Don't hesitate to reach out—we want you to succeed.

Question 20

Can Altarflow handle multiple church locations?

Accepted Answer

Currently, Altarflow is optimized for single-location churches.

If you have multiple campuses or locations, contact us at sales@altarflow.com. We're building multi-location support and would love to understand your specific needs to ensure we build it right.

For now, if you have 2-3 small campuses, you can track them within one account using custom funds or categories—but this isn't ideal for complex multi-site operations.

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