Subsplash calls itself the “Ultimate Engagement Platform” for churches, and that’s not just marketing. Strong media hosting, reliable giving tools, push notifications, and a mature all-in-one approach serving thousands of churches. For many ministries, Subsplash is the first name that comes up. Deservedly so.
But “default choice” and “best fit” aren’t the same thing. Subsplash is a template platform, every church gets the same app wrapped in different colors. You don’t own the code. Pricing scales with your congregation size. And when your ministry needs something the template wasn’t designed for, the answer is always “no.”
TL;DR
| Rehost | Subsplash | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Custom-built church app you own | Template platform you rent |
| Pricing | $250/mo flat | $99+/mo tiered by size |
| Setup fee | $0 | Varies |
| Data ownership | ✅ You own your data, domain, accounts | ❌ Locked in their platform |
| Contract | Month-to-month | Varies (some annual) |
| Primary focus | Custom church engagement | All-in-one template platform |
| Media hosting | ✅ Included | ✅ Industry-leading |
Bottom line: Subsplash is the strongest all-in-one template platform for churches. Rehost builds a custom app that looks, feels, and works like YOUR ministry, and you own your data, domain, and accounts so you can leave anytime with no penalty.
Pricing
Subsplash: $99+/mo (Tiered)
- Giving: $0/mo platform fee (2.3% + $0.30 card, 1% ACH)
- Subsplash One: Custom pricing by church size and features
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for larger ministries
- No free trial for the full platform
- Cost scales with congregation and feature tiers
Most churches report monthly costs of several hundred dollars for the full Subsplash One package, especially larger congregations.
Rehost: $250/mo Flat
- No setup fee
- No per-member pricing
- No annual contracts
- Everything included: custom app, sermons, giving, push notifications, support
- Cancel anytime, take your code with you
A 500-member church: Rehost is $1,800/year for a fully custom app. Subsplash ranges from $1,200 to several thousand depending on the plan, and with Subsplash, you’re renting a template.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Rehost | Subsplash |
|---|---|---|
| Custom branded app | ✅ Designed from scratch | ✅ Template with your branding |
| Sermon streaming | ✅ | ✅ (industry-leading media) |
| Online giving | ✅ | ✅ (free giving platform) |
| Recurring tithes | ✅ | ✅ |
| Push notifications | ✅ | ✅ |
| TV app | Not standard | ✅ |
| Website builder | Not standard (Creator plan) | ✅ |
| Small groups | ✅ | ✅ |
| Event management | ✅ | ✅ |
| Volunteer management | ✅ | ✅ |
| Child check-in | Via integrations | ✅ |
| Live streaming | ✅ | ✅ |
| People management | Via integrations | ✅ |
| Daily devotionals | ✅ | Content management |
| Prayer requests | ✅ | Via content tools |
| Code ownership | ✅ Full | ❌ |
| 24/7 human support | ✅ | Varies by plan |
Where Subsplash Wins
Credit where it’s due, Subsplash has earned its market position:
- Media hosting. The best sermon and media infrastructure in the church tech space. High-volume audio/video hosting and delivery, built specifically for churches. It’s not close.
- All-in-one breadth. Website builder, TV apps, giving, media, people management, events, all under one roof. One login, one vendor.
- Giving platform. $0/month giving with GrowCurve processing rate reduction. Hard to beat for budget-conscious churches.
- Track record. Thousands of churches. Proven reliability. Institutional knowledge that only comes from years in the space.
- TV apps. If your church needs Apple TV / Roku / Fire TV presence, Subsplash does this natively. Most competitors don’t.
If your church wants a proven template that works out of the box, with the best media hosting available, and doesn’t need custom features, Subsplash is a strong call.
Where Rehost Wins
- Your app looks like your ministry. Not a template shared with thousands of other churches wearing different colors. Unique design, unique navigation, built around how your church actually operates.
- You own the code. Full GitHub repo, documentation, IP rights. Leave anytime, take everything.
- $250/mo flat. No size-based tier escalation. A 200-member church and a 5,000-member church pay the same.
- No contracts. Month-to-month. Cancel anytime.
- Custom anything. Need a feature the template doesn’t support? Prayer wall, devotional flow, custom connect experience? Rehost builds it.
- 24/7 engineers. Real people, 15-minute critical response. Not a ticket queue.
The Template Problem
This is the trade-off that matters most.
Subsplash gives every church the same framework. Same layouts, same navigation, same feature set, with different logos and color palettes layered on top. It works. It’s efficient. It’s also why your app looks and feels identical to the church three blocks away.
When your worship pastor asks “can we add a feature for our midweek prayer movement?” the answer is: only if Subsplash already built it.
Rehost designs around how your church runs. Not how churches generally run, how YOUR church runs. The navigation reflects your ministry structure. The features match your programs. The design reflects your congregation’s personality, not a template’s best guess.
Media Hosting: Subsplash Has the Edge
No sugarcoating: Subsplash’s media infrastructure is better. Purpose-built for churches, handles sermon audio and video at scale, with advanced tooling for multi-series libraries, TV app distribution, and media analytics.
Rehost includes sermon streaming and media hosting in the Faith plan. Functionally complete for most churches, upload sermons, create series, deliver audio and video. Done.
But if your ministry produces high volumes of media content and needs enterprise-grade media management with TV app distribution, Subsplash’s specialized tooling goes deeper. That’s their moat, and they’ve earned it.
For most churches, Rehost’s media capabilities are more than enough. For media-heavy megachurches, Subsplash’s specialization is a real advantage worth weighing.
Code Ownership: Renting vs. Owning
With Subsplash: You’re renting. Your content, your design, your member data, all living on Subsplash’s infrastructure. Cancel, and you lose the app. The branding. The experience your congregation knows. Everything resets.
With Rehost: You own it. Source code on GitHub. Complete documentation. All IP rights. If you leave Rehost, another developer picks up exactly where things left off. Your app doesn’t disappear, it’s yours.
For church boards and finance committees, this turns a monthly operating expense into a digital asset on the books.
Who Should Choose Subsplash
- You want a proven template platform that works out of the box
- Media hosting is your top priority, especially high-volume content
- You need TV apps (Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV)
- You want free online giving with competitive rates
- Template branding (colors, logo) is sufficient, no need for custom features
- You’re fine with no code ownership and accepting platform dependency
Who Should Choose Rehost
- Your app should feel like your ministry, not a template with your logo on it
- Code ownership matters, your board wants to own a digital asset, not rent one
- You need custom features the template doesn’t offer
- $250/mo flat beats tiered pricing that scales with your growth
- No contracts, month-to-month, cancel anytime, keep your code
- You want 24/7 support from engineers, not a ticketing system
- Your ministry deserves an app that’s as unique as your congregation
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Subsplash’s free giving compare?
Subsplash’s standalone giving is $0/month with 2.3% + $0.30 card processing and 1% ACH. Competitive and real, if all you need is giving, it’s a great option. Rehost includes giving (one-tap mobile, recurring tithes, text-to-give, multiple processors) as part of the $250/month Faith plan alongside the full custom app, sermons, push notifications, and 24/7 support. The question: do you need giving-only or a complete engagement app?
Can Rehost match Subsplash’s media hosting?
For most churches? Yes. Rehost’s Faith plan includes sermon streaming and media hosting, upload weekly sermons, build series, deliver audio and video. For megachurches producing high volumes of multi-format content and distributing to TV apps, Subsplash’s specialized media infrastructure has deeper tooling. Know your church’s actual needs, not hypothetical ones.
What happens if we switch from Subsplash?
Subsplash is a closed platform, your app design, config, and code don’t transfer. Rehost builds the new app from scratch, custom-designed for your ministry, typically within 2–4 weeks. Media content (sermons, videos) can be migrated. Giving data transition depends on your setup. A phased rollout keeps your congregation’s transition smooth.
Does Rehost have a website builder?
Rehost’s Creator plan ($35/mo) includes a custom website with SEO, analytics, and a custom domain. Unlike Subsplash’s drag-and-drop builder, Rehost designs and codes the site from scratch. Churches needing both a website and a custom app can use both plans together.
Is Subsplash right for small churches?
Subsplash’s free giving works well for small churches focused on online donations. But the full Subsplash One platform gets expensive relative to what you get. For small-to-medium churches wanting a custom app at a flat $250/month, Rehost often delivers more value.
The Bottom Line
Subsplash is the strongest template church app platform available. Mature, reliable, with media hosting nobody else touches.
Rehost builds something different: a fully custom app designed for your specific ministry, with code ownership, flat $250/month pricing, and 24/7 engineer support.
The question your leadership team needs to answer: is the convenience of a proven template worth more than the ownership and identity of a custom-built app?
Already on Subsplash? Here’s how to leave cleanly.
Switching from Subsplash is the objection we hear most. Annual contracts, member re-download fears, giving history concerns, App Store transitions — all real. All solvable.
We built the Switch from Subsplash migration plan specifically for churches stuck on their platform. Highlights:
- 3-4 week migration — your new app runs parallel while you wind down your Subsplash contract
- Giving history migrates — recurring donors stay recurring, annual statements unaffected
- Members never notice — we time the switchover with a Sunday announcement so downloads happen while they’re thinking about it
- Free until you’re live — the Switch Guarantee: you don’t pay Rehost a dollar until the new app is live and your members are on it
→ See the full Subsplash migration plan
See what a custom church app looks like for your ministry. Get started with Rehost, $250/mo, no setup fee, code ownership, cancel anytime.
Comparing church platforms? See Rehost vs Pushpay, Rehost vs Tithe.ly, Rehost vs SecureGive, or the church app builder comparison.