Overview

B1 Admin covers core church administration, from people and household records to attendance, groups, donations, volunteer plans, forms, reports, sermons, calendars, and permissions. That breadth makes it a practical starting point for churches seeking one place to manage several workflows rather than assembling separate tools. The tradeoff is that free access does not mean unlimited hosted files: church settings provide up to 100 MB, with external storage connections for additional capacity.

Live Church Solutions, the maker, is described as a volunteer-driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry building free, open-source tools for churches. B1 Admin’s stated approach is to make every feature free for every church.

Key features

Church operations and giving

People and household records, groups, attendance tracking, serving plans, forms, reports, sermons, calendars, and permissions give church teams a substantial set of operational tools. For giving, donation batches and funds support administrative organization, while year-end statements, Stripe imports, and online giving through Stripe and PayPal address common contribution workflows.

Website and connections

The no-code website builder lets churches create pages, adjust their appearance, manage media, and publish event calendars. That is useful for teams that want site updates alongside church administration, without writing code. Integration options include Slack, Discord, Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, a REST API, and webhooks, giving technically inclined teams several routes to connect other services.

Access, security, and storage

B1 Admin is browser-based, and the developer guide documents how to clone and run its app locally with a configurable API target. The privacy policy says data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS, database servers sit behind a firewall, passwords are one-way hashed, and ChurchApps does not store payment card or bank details. Platform data is hosted on AWS in the United States, in the us-east-2 region; churches with data-location requirements should consider that before choosing it.

The 100 MB of free hosted file storage is a meaningful constraint for churches that expect to keep substantial media in the platform. Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or an S3-compatible bucket can be connected for additional storage. Support is directed through email at support@churchapps.org.

Pricing

Plan	Price	What it means
Free	0.00 USD per free	Every feature is free for every church; no subscriptions or premium tiers.

There is no free trial because the product has a free plan, and no paid tier is described. The practical limit to account for is the 100 MB hosted-file allowance, rather than a subscription upgrade path. Churches needing more storage can connect an external provider or S3-compatible bucket.

Platforms

B1 Admin is available on the web and is categorized for API and self-hosted use. Mobile access is supported on both mobile platforms. The documented local-running option and configurable API target may suit teams that want to work with the app beyond its browser dashboard.

Who it's for

B1 Admin is a strong fit for churches that want records, groups, attendance, giving, volunteer coordination, and a basic website builder under one free church-focused offering. Its integration options also suit teams that need to connect church workflows to tools such as Google Sheets, Slack, or automation platforms. It is less suitable for organizations that cannot use U.S.-hosted platform data or that need more than 100 MB of included hosted file storage without relying on an external storage service.

Pros and cons

Pros

No subscription cost: every feature is free for every church, with no premium tiers.
Broad church workflow coverage: records, groups, attendance, donations, serving plans, forms, reports, sermons, calendars, and permissions sit within one dashboard.
Useful connection options: REST API, webhooks, Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, Slack, and Discord give teams several integration paths.
Website tools included: churches can create and publish pages and event calendars without writing code.

Cons

Limited included file storage: 100 MB may be restrictive for churches storing media, so additional capacity depends on connecting external storage.
U.S.-based hosting: platform data is hosted in AWS us-east-2, which may not fit every church’s data-location needs.
Support is email-directed: users seeking help are directed to email support@churchapps.org.

Alternatives

Planning Center is worth considering for churches that want a freemium option with separate free Calendar, People, and Services plans; its listed Services plan includes five team members.
Disciply is another freemium church platform with Android, iOS, API, and web access.
ChurchSuite may suit churches willing to pay for a paid product with a free trial; its Solo plan is 15.50 USD per month, billed monthly, for 0–99 active contacts and the Address Book module.
One Church Software is a paid option with a free trial and support for Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows.
Elvanto is a paid alternative whose 50 Plan is 15.20 USD per month, billed annually, for up to 50 active adults, with a US$19 monthly price and US$149 setup cost also stated.
GroupVitals is focused on group management, with a free 0–5 Groups plan that excludes text messaging and a 6–25 Groups plan at 49.00 USD per month, billed month to month.
Church Central Cloud offers a free plan capped at 10 members and one branch, with 500 one-time emails, 2 GB storage, and basic member profiles.
Flock offers a free Starter plan for up to 100 members and five leader accounts, including attendance tracking and a basic dashboard.
Explore more options in Small Group Management Software.

Verdict

Churches seeking a broad set of administrative, giving, and website tools without subscription fees should put B1 Admin on their shortlist. Its clearest reason to choose it is the combination of church-specific workflows and integrations at no subscription cost. Look elsewhere if the 100 MB hosted-file allowance or U.S.-based data hosting conflicts with your needs.

	Arbor	B1 Admin
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	Yes	No
Paid from	$5.83/mo	Free
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Android, iOS	api, self-hosted, Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	7.99 /mo	—
Member directory	Yes	Yes
Group messaging	Yes	Yes
Mobile access	both	both
Attendance tracking	—	Yes
Leader permissions	—	Yes

Arbor vs B1 Admin

Arbor

B1 Admin