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Realm Reviews & Product Details

Realm Product Details

Realm is a cloud-based church management solution that combines administration, accounting, and community all in one tool. Users are provided with a mobile app to send messages to community members. The solution provides multiple security layers for financial transactions and registration payments. It allows role-based permissions to limit users that have access to edit financial documents. Realm helps church staff manage their jobs, run reports and accept all types of contributions from community members. Church staff can record and manage contributions via automatic posting of online gifts and donations. Users are able to maintain databases by connecting profiles for individuals, families and businesses. Realm provides automatic data backup to users at regular intervals. Other features include dashboards, self-managed profiles, custom fields, church directory, fund management, batch entry and group rosters. Pricing is per month and is based on weekly attendance. Support is offered via onsite visit, chat, phone and email.

Seller

ACS Technologies

Discussions

Realm Community

Languages Supported

English

Product Description

Realm is church administration, accounting, and community all in one.

Overview by

Rachel Ankers

Value at a Glance

Averages based on real user reviews.

Time to Implement

2 months

Perceived Cost

$$$$$

View More Pricing Information

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Realm Media

Give your members an easy and secure way to give, anytime they feel led.

Demonstrate solid financial discipline to your congregation and vendors.

The Realm Connect mobile app allows your members to connect with each other anytime.

Data is updated in real time.

G2 reviews are authentic and verified.

Here's how.

BL

BethAnn L.

Office Administrator

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2/7/2025

"Easy to learn- worth it!!"

5/5

What do you like best about Realm?

Realm puts all the ChMS into one place. Volunteers, schedules, calendars, groups, financials, giving, attendance, address, emails, works with constant contact, SO MUCH!! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

It takes some learning to set up but once you learn how, its easy to use and simple to maintain. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CM

Caroline M.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

9/28/2020

"Excellent Software for Church Management"

5/5

What do you like best about Realm?

I like that Realm connects me to other church members, especially when we cannot be physically near each other during the pandemic. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

The technology is sometimes difficult for older, less technology savvy, individuals at my church to use so it is harder to reach them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Realm solving and how is that benefiting you?

The website makes it easy to give a digital donation to the church while I am away or don't have cash or check. A huge benefit of realm is that I can access church members' contact information to use when I need it most and that it is always accessible by internet. The announcement feature allows for mass info sharing to keep members informed and engaged. Realm keeps all info private to the church and its members so no others outside the church can access private information such as contact info. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AJ

Alan J.

Technology Architect

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

12/29/2018

Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores.

"Good Product but Quirks and Congergrational Challenges"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Realm?

In general good product to keep your congregation connected. Breakout groups for various teams, small groups (Sunday School) etc. Works on Web, Android and Apple iOS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

The children's check-in Kiosk process seems to be way to complicated for the average volunteer that rotates though once a month. Setting up a laptop and maybe an ipad has challenges.

Last I looked the password requirements for the average member were to complex for an older person trying to type on their phone.

Should be able to attach more than one file to a message along with attach a file to reply to a message.

The direct messaging vs group posting seems do do funny things sometimes. Had cases where posts are made but don't get email notificatoin's unless you open app. Email notifications are all turned on.... seems to be quirky. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Realm:

If you need to do children's check-in, name badge and receipt printing then be very comfortable with needs before committing.

Need to make sure the majority of congregation will actually use the product on a regular basis. If the majority of long time members and new members don't use then it will be in effective. Internal survey's discussions with members, staff and pastors is critical for implementation success. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Realm solving and how is that benefiting you?

Church communication, event sharing. Children; check-in and name badge printing. Don't have to print and mail news letters saving related cost and can update make information flow both directions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

IR

Verified User in Religious Institutions

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

8/16/2019

"Moving in the right direction"

4/5

What do you like best about Realm?

Realm is continuing to morph their product that churches need. They give usable updates approx every quarter Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

I wish they would blend a service planning application with their personnel database. L Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CG

Chad G.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/14/2018

"Do Not Use Realm - Do Not Trust Their Sales People"

0/5

What do you like best about Realm?

We did like the Finance part of the software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

Lied to during the sales portion - Said They Had Features They Did Not- Some Feature were 5 YEARS in the making. Features were promised starting in 2015, will not be delivered until 2019 (maybe). Their communication with their customers is horrible. They do not respond to questions and request in a timely manner. Our biggest issue was that they lied to us during the sales process and even after we purchased their solution. I have talked to several churches who have used them and are now switching and investing additional dollars to recover from using this product. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Realm:

I would highly recommend looking at other products. While their sales presentation is very nice, you will find out, that a lot of the items they say they have, they in fact do not have. Plus items they have promised to deliver on, have taken 5+ years to develop and still haven't been delivered. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Realm solving and how is that benefiting you?

None - They don't deliver on their promises. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

JP

Jilliane P.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

6/18/2018

"Realm Makes Our Lives Easier"

5/5

What do you like best about Realm?

Realm is intuitive and easy to use. Our staff love the ability to access Realm from anywhere and on any device. The types of things needed as a church staff member are there, with other functionality being released regularly. The support is top-notch and works through any issue I have with positively and with a wealth of knowledge. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

There are still some areas that are not as built-out as I would like them to be. For example, there is a space to save files or links within a group. This is really helpful for leadership teams to save meeting minutes or volunteer groups to save training information. However, there is not an ability to organize the files into folders or to sort the files alphabetically. They simply are in a big list, sorted by the date uploaded. While this and other more advanced functionality are not there, ACS is continually seeking feedback on what to change and make better. They have an enhancement request portal where ideas like this can be shared and individuals can vote on what they want to see happen next. This portal allows ACS to see what changes we need, while also allowing the churches to weigh in on what is more important and what is a nice feature to have but that they can wait a bit for. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Realm:

Talk to an implementation specialist or a sales rep to let them know what you are currently doing with the system you have. There are some things that are coming soon that it may behoove you to wait for a few months before changing, to decrease stress on your staff with learning a new system. Or there may be no issues and you can move right away. The support staff is there to help as well, so empower your staff to call them for help - and then monitor the client portal to see what people called about. it is a great feature that allows you to monitor what's going on so you can see what retraining might be needed, without having to be so hands on. If you are the person in charge of the database, use the change as an opportunity to retrain the staff on database best practices, of which ACS can help with, as well as a chance to help your staff help themselves. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Realm solving and how is that benefiting you?

Tracking giving is easy in Realm for staff and for the congregation. With the Realm Connect level, the congregation can create their own accounts, see their giving history, and get giving statements. We now are able to send quarterly giving statements within 3 minutes, with little to no cost! And with the integration of online giving, our donations have increased without increasing any staff time in processing giving through an outside vendor. We also were looking for ways to communicate with the congregation better. The Realm Connect level also has an app so that the congregation can see their info via the app, as well as register for events, look up people at the church, and keep in touch with their groups. Realm has a church-wide group with everyone in the database in it. We use the church-wide group to send out all-church events and info. From there, people opt into other smaller groups like our men's group or our soup kitchen volunteer group. They get all the info they need, tailored to their interests. Realm has helped our communication be more targeted and less cluttered, increasing the engagement level of the congregation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

SP

Shelby P.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/19/2018

"A Fully Web-Based and Fully Integrated Solution for Your Church"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Realm?

I always recommend a church utilize a fully integrated solution. I do realize this increases the "switching costs" for churches that end up wanting to make a change. But I would expect the church to have done a significant amount of work up-front (i.e., before making a change in the first place). A fully-integrated solution reduces overall workload, thereby reducing man hours. Realm, with Vanco online giving, and when paired with Realm Accounting does so beautifully. There is ZERO work to be done for online giving batches, other than checking them off during the bank reconciliation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

I would love to see additional dashboards built into the reporting system. Don't get me wrong. I really like the ones that are currently available. As a "finance guy" I would love to see an accounting dashboard that provides a number of customizable sections, such as:

Chart for cash account balances for the past 90 days, six months, year-to-date, etc.

Revenue-expense (with net income) for 90 days, six months, year-to-date, etc.

Pie chart that breaks down expense categories Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Realm:

ACS Technologies is a people company that sells software. Their heart is to serve the local church. You will get phenomenal support through the entire process, from the first inquiry, to implementation, to years of service down the road. I have honestly answered that I have only used Realm for 1-3 years. It's actually been 2.5 years with Realm, but I have been a customer of ACS Technologies for 18 years. I use their People and Financial Suites in a denominational office and Realm for my church. You will have a very difficult time finding better people to work with. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Realm solving and how is that benefiting you?

Realm has provided a great tool for communicating with our people, whether that be the entire church or a specific small group. We have used it numerous times for event registration, which allows people inside and outside the church to register and pay online (if applicable). We also track numerous individuals through the steps of various pathways. This helps us stay on top first- and second-time guests. Even more, it helps us keep track of folks that might have begun fading into the background. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AN

Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/4/2018

"Realm has a lot of features, with more on the way!"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Realm?

Realm offers a lot of functions. I love that it is cloud based and can be accessed from anywhere. Being able to see the photo of the church member's profile is also very nice. As a new staff member it allowed me to become better acquainted with church members. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

Many church members are hesitant to create accounts, I'm not sure why. I wish there was a way to add photos to profiles in a mass update, rather than profile by profile. Lifetouch and PowerChurch plus (a program I have previously used) connect to one another. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AR

Verified User in Religious Institutions

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/19/2018

"Great for Small Church"

5/5

What do you like best about Realm?

The interface is very easy to use. Custom reports are easy to create. Pricing is appropriate for what you get Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

Not as flexible for multi-site location that are all small congregations -- the multisite license is way to expensive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Realm:

Give it a try you find it helpful for large and small congregations. The access from any computer is wonderful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Realm solving and how is that benefiting you?

Online way to maintain and access membership information for staff that do not work in a single office. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

KH

Kathy H.

Communications Coordinator

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/30/2018

"Realm--A Great Tool for Church Life"

5/5

What do you like best about Realm?

As a church member, I like being able to control and update my own settings and information. I also find the simplicity of Realm to be very refreshing. Posting to groups, messaging fellow church members--or all the members of my small group, checking out the latest church news and events, or giving my tithes and offerings are logical and super simple--and, with RealmConnect, available wherever I may be! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Realm?

As a Realm administrator, I also love the user-friendly aspects of the RealmConnect app. In addition, I know there a few things that are easier to do or only available on our Realm website and not yet available on the app. I am looking forward to more things being able to be accomplished via the app--for both my role as user as well as administrator.

Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Realm solving and how is that benefiting you?

Discipleship (helping people build relationships) and assimilation (helping people connect) are important parts of belonging to and growing in a church family. Realm pathways, groups, posting and messaging are tools that have helped "give life" to these concepts at our church. I have noticed that as members use Realm, other members are encouraged to participate--and the church family connections continue to grow and flourish. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.