Culminate LifeChurch software you don’t have to run.
Rock RMS needs a server and someone to look after it. Culminate Life is hosted for you, with giving, texting, your app, and video built in.
5 reasons to choose Culminate Life over Rock RMS
Nothing to install or host
Culminate Life is hosted for you. Sign in at dashboard.culminate.life, with no server to install or update.
With Rock RMS
You run it on Windows Server with SQL Server 2022 or later, or pay a hosting partner whose price isn’t published.
Giving and texting, built in
Online giving and text messaging work out of the box, with payments processed by Stripe and texts from your own numbers.
With Rock RMS
Giving runs through a payment gateway plugin, and texting through your own Twilio account or a plugin.
Your own app, priced up front
White-label puts your church’s name and icon in the App Store and Google Play for $100 a month.
With Rock RMS
Rock Mobile is published through a hosted App Factory plan, with no price listed.
Video you host with us
Your sermon library and live stream play in your app, on your website, and on Apple TV.
With Rock RMS
Rock doesn’t host video. Syncing it from YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, or Resi uses plugins at $349 each.
Point of sale for your café and merch
Inventory, in-person, and order-ahead sales for $20 a month.
With Rock RMS
Not listed on their site.
Any size
From a church plant to a megachurch.
- Free tiers while you’re small, and prices that grow with each solution’s size.
- Every solution’s top tier is unlimited. Community has no member limit past 6,000 members, for $400 a month.
- Built to handle large non-profits and large to mega churches.
- More than one location? Each location runs as its own organization on Culminate Life.
Teams fills your schedule for you.
- Auto-fill drafts eligible volunteers and skips anyone who’s away, not cleared, or already serving.
- When someone declines, Teams asks the next best person. Leaders only hear about it if no one is left.
- Volunteers answer from a push, an email, or a text, without signing in.
- Blackout dates, cover for me, and trade dates let volunteers sort out changes themselves.
- Free for up to 50 people on teams.
Your church, in the app stores.
- Your app name and icon in both stores
- Your brand color throughout
- Giving, check-in, groups, events, podcasts, and your live stream under your name
- $100 a month, on top of your solutions
Your services, live and on demand.
- Live chat while you’re live, and the app shows people when you’re on
- Unlimited video storage, with captions from the audio or your own file
- Relay the same stream to YouTube and Facebook
- Any RTMP encoder works, including OBS, vMix, and Blackmagic ATEM
- Video on demand $65 a month; live streaming $10 more
Rock RMS and Culminate Life
Everything your church runs on, in one platform, starting free.
| At a glance | Rock RMS | Culminate Life |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Hosted for you, no server to run | No | Yes |
| Kids check-in | Yes | Yes |
| Online giving | Yes | Yes |
| Events and tickets | Yes | Yes |
| Rooms and facilities | Yes | Yes |
| Member app | Yes | Yes |
| App with your church’s name | Yes | Yes |
| Website | Yes | Yes |
| Text messaging | Yes | Yes |
| Hosts your video and live stream | No | Yes |
| Volunteer scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Point of sale | No | Yes |
Every detail, side by side
| What you need | Rock RMS | Culminate Life |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No license fee. Spark asks for a suggested donation of $4.45 per person a year, based on weekend attendance, plus hosting. | Yes. Every solution has a free tier, such as Community for up to 100 members and Check-in for up to 50 check-ins a month. |
| How pricing works | A suggested yearly donation, plus your own servers or a hosting partner’s fee. Partner prices aren’t published. | Turn on only the solutions you need. Each is priced by its own size, with 2–10% off when you pay for two or more. |
| Hosting and updates | You run it on Windows Server with SQL Server 2022 or later, or pay a hosting partner. Rock says self-hosting is for teams with technical experience. | Hosted for you. Sign in at dashboard.culminate.life, with no server to install or update. |
| Kids check-in | Built in, with security codes and custom labels, on an iPad app or a Windows client. Printing supports Zebra printers only. | Self check-in, two-color labels, digital checkout, and one-time pickup codes. |
| Online giving | Through a payment gateway plugin from the Rock Shop. Giving in the mobile app works only with the My Well gateway. | One-time and recurring gifts by card or bank, plus cash, check, and non-cash gifts in one record. Donors can choose to cover the fee when they give. |
| Events and tickets | Registrations with fees, discount codes, and payment plans, through your payment gateway. | Events with forms, free or paid tickets, and payments, in Community. No charge per event or attendee; card fees of 2.9% + 30¢ (2.1% + 30¢ for non-profits), with nothing added. |
| Rooms and facilities | Through Room Management, a plugin from BEMA Software Services. | Free: buildings, rooms, booking requests with approval, setups, and equipment. |
| Member app | Rock Mobile, published through a hosted App Factory plan. No price listed. | The Culminate Life app on iPhone and Android: give, check in, groups, and announcements. |
| App with your church’s name | Through App Factory, under your own store accounts or Triumph Tech’s. No price listed. | Yes, $100 a month: your name, icon, and colors in the App Store and Google Play. |
| Website | Built in, with drag-and-drop pages, landing pages, and a content manager. | Drag-and-drop website builder, free with Community. |
| Text messaging | Through your own Twilio account, or a texting plugin from the Rock Shop. | $2 a month per phone number, plus 2¢ per text sent or received |
| Live streaming | Doesn’t host video. Syncing from YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, or Resi uses plugins at $349 each. | Your sermon library and live stream, hosted by us, in your app, on your website, and on Apple TV. Video on demand $65 a month; add live streaming for $10. |
| Volunteer scheduling | Group scheduling for serving teams. Their pages don’t describe service planning. | Teams: plans from your services, auto-fill, automatic replacements, blackout dates, swaps, reminders, and no-show tracking. Free for up to 50 people on teams. |
| Point of sale | Not listed on their site. | Point of sale, $20 a month. |
| Moving your data | A simple CSV import, Slingshot for some systems (it needs substantial technical expertise), or a paid custom migration through a partner. | Tell us what you use today and we’ll help you bring your people and records across. |
Rock RMS details come from Rock RMS’s public pages, checked November 2026.
Run the café from an iPad.
- Products with options, like sizes, or hot, cold, and add-ins
- Inventory with a countdown, and mark items sold out in a tap
- Order ahead from the app, with pickup windows
- Gift cards, rewards, and sales reports
- Card readers, cash drawers, receipt printers, and Bluetooth scanners
Switching from Rock RMS
Start free
Set up the solutions you need on their free tiers. No demo needed.
Bring your people over
Tell us you’re coming from Rock RMS and we’ll help you move your people and records across.
Invite your people
Share the app and your website, then retire the old tools.
Switch one piece at a time
You don’t have to move everything at once. Start with check-in or giving, and add the rest when you’re ready.
Good questions
Isn’t Rock RMS free?
The software has no license fee. Spark asks for a suggested donation of $4.45 per person a year, and you either run your own Windows server with SQL Server or pay a hosting partner. Culminate Life is hosted for you, and every solution starts free.
Do we need our own server or IT staff?
No. Culminate Life runs at dashboard.culminate.life and in our apps, with nothing to install or update.
Do we need our own payment gateway or Twilio account?
No. Giving and text messaging are built in. Payments are processed by Stripe, and texts go out from numbers you pick in the dashboard.
Can non-profits use it?
Yes. Culminate Life is for churches and non-profits. Rock’s free license is for faith-based 501(c)(3) organizations; other uses need a commercial license from Spark.
Can we bring our data from Rock RMS?
Yes. Tell us you’re coming from Rock RMS and we’ll help you bring your people and records across.
Can Culminate Life handle a large church or non-profit?
Yes. Culminate Life is built for large non-profits and large to mega churches, and every solution’s top tier is unlimited. If you have more than one location, each location runs as its own organization on Culminate Life.
Do we have to switch everything at once?
No. Start with one solution, such as check-in or giving, and add the rest when you’re ready.
Sources
Rock RMS’s own pages, checked November 2026.
- Rock RMS pricing (opens in a new tab)
- Rock RMS get started (opens in a new tab)
- Rock RMS self-hosting (opens in a new tab)
- Rock RMS license (opens in a new tab)
- Rock RMS features (opens in a new tab)
- Rock Mobile (opens in a new tab)
- Rock Shop (opens in a new tab)
- Room Management plugin (opens in a new tab)
- Technical requirements (opens in a new tab)
- Internal hosting (docs) (opens in a new tab)
- Check-in printers (docs) (opens in a new tab)
- Finances guide (docs) (opens in a new tab)
- Mobile giving (docs) (opens in a new tab)
- Texting with Twilio (docs) (opens in a new tab)
- Rock RMS migration (opens in a new tab)
Comparing others? Planning Center, Tithely, Breeze, ChurchTrac, Subsplash, Church Community Builder.
Rock RMS is a trademark of its owner. Culminate Life isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by them.
Start free today.
Set up the solutions you need, then bring the rest over at your pace.