Elvanto is built for Australian churches.
Not for yours.
AUD/USD pricing. No M-Pesa. No cess tracking. No PCEA, AIC, or ACK structures. Now owned by Pushpay — focused on US megachurches. ChurchFlow was built from the ground up for how Kenyan churches actually operate.
Elvanto was founded in Australia in 2010 and built decent church management features for Australian and some African churches. In 2019 it was acquired by Pushpay, a company whose primary business is digital giving for US megachurches. Since the acquisition, Elvanto's development focus has slowed and shifted toward Pushpay's US market. It has no M-Pesa integration, no cess or obligation tracking, no PCEA/AIC/ACK denomination structures, AUD/USD-only pricing, data on Australian servers, and support hours in AEST — 6 hours ahead of Nairobi. ChurchFlow is built specifically for African churches — M-Pesa-native, denomination-aware, priced in KES, and supported from Nairobi. Choose Elvanto if you're running an Australian-model church. Choose ChurchFlow if your church is in Kenya and needs software built for how you actually operate.
Why Kenyan churches look for an Elvanto alternative
Elvanto was built for Australian churches and is now owned by a US megachurch tech company. Neither context is Kenya.
What Elvanto lacks for Kenya
No M-Pesa integration. Elvanto uses Stripe for online giving — a Western payment gateway with no M-Pesa Paybill support. Kenyan churches using Elvanto are still reconciling M-Pesa manually in spreadsheets.
AUD/USD pricing — no KES. Elvanto charges in AUD or USD. Every invoice requires conversion to KES with exchange rate exposure, and payment requires a foreign currency card most Kenyan church treasurers don't hold.
Pushpay acquisition = US megachurch focus. Since Pushpay acquired Elvanto in 2019, product development has slowed. The parent company's roadmap is driven by US megachurch needs — not Kenyan parish management, cess, or M-Pesa.
No cess, no Holy Communion records, no PCEA/AIC/ACK structures. Elvanto has no concept of obligation tracking per member, denomination hierarchies for East African churches, or digital Holy Communion registers.
AEST support — 6 hours ahead of Nairobi. Elvanto support operates on Australian Eastern time. By the time your Sunday issue is logged, it's Monday in Australia and your service has already ended.
Data on Australian servers. Your church membership and financial data is stored in Australia. For Kenyan institutions subject to the Data Protection Act 2019, this raises data sovereignty questions worth evaluating with your leadership.
What ChurchFlow gives you instead
M-Pesa-native giving. STK push to your church Paybill, auto-reconciliation against member records, instant SMS receipts with scripture. One Paybill, every payment accounted for automatically.
KES pricing, payable via M-Pesa Paybill. From KES 8,000/month. No foreign card. No exchange rate risk. Your church treasurer pays just like any other M-Pesa bill — from any phone.
Actively built for Kenya, by a Kenya team. ChurchFlow is not a product that happens to work in Africa. It is built around Kenyan denominations, M-Pesa, Kenyan SMS infrastructure, and Kenyan church financial practices from day one.
Cess and obligation tracking built in. Auto-accrual per member, live balance reports, and arrears summaries. Your elders see who is current in seconds — not after a spreadsheet session.
Kenya-based support via WhatsApp. Real people, East Africa timezone. We configure your system, migrate your data, train your team, and go live with you — in person if needed.
Kenyan denomination structures built in. PCEA, AIC, ACK, SDA, Full Gospel — your hierarchy, Holy Communion records, presbytery rollups, and classification trees supported out of the box.
ChurchFlow vs Elvanto — feature by feature
For churches in Kenya. Honest comparison.
| Feature | Elvanto | ChurchFlow |
|---|---|---|
| M-Pesa giving & auto-reconciliation | ✗ Not available | ✓ Built-in, STK push |
| KES pricing | ✗ AUD/USD only | ✓ KES 8,000–30,000/mo |
| Subscription payable via M-Pesa | ✗ Foreign currency card required | ✓ M-Pesa Paybill |
| Cess / tithe obligation tracking | ✗ Not available | ✓ Auto-accrual, live balances |
| PCEA / AIC / ACK denomination features | ✗ Australian church structures only | ✓ Parish → presbytery → HQ |
| Holy Communion records | ✗ Not available | ✓ App-based, first in Kenya |
| Denomination hierarchy reporting | ✗ Not available | ✓ Presbytery rollup reporting |
| Paybill reconciliation | ✗ Not applicable (no Paybill) | ✓ Automated, per member |
| SMS via local Kenyan networks | ✗ No Kenya-local SMS | ✓ Included, Kenya SMS |
| Local support (WhatsApp, East Africa TZ) | ✗ AEST (6hrs ahead of EAT) | ✓ WhatsApp, Kenya-based |
| Data residency | ✗ Australian servers | ✓ Kenya / Africa region |
| Offline mobile mode | ✗ Requires internet | ~ Attendance offline mode |
| In-person setup & onboarding | ✗ Self-serve only | ✓ Dedicated Kenya-based onboarding |
| Volunteer scheduling | ✓ Good scheduling feature | ~ Roadmap — adding Q3 2026 |
Honest: who should choose what
Different tools fit different churches. Here's a straight answer.
Choose Elvanto if…
- Your church is in Australia or part of an Australian-linked network that pays in AUD
- Your primary need is volunteer scheduling and you can work within Australian or US support hours
- You have a foreign currency card and are comfortable with AUD/USD pricing and exchange rate exposure
- You don't use M-Pesa, don't need cess tracking, and your giving model is Stripe-compatible
Choose ChurchFlow if…
- Your church is in Kenya and uses M-Pesa Paybill for giving
- You need cess, welfare fund, or building levy tracked per member automatically
- You're in PCEA, AIC, ACK, SDA, or any denomination with East African structured hierarchies
- You want someone to configure, migrate, and train your team — not a self-serve setup from Sydney
- You want to pay in KES via M-Pesa at a price designed for Kenyan church budgets
- You want a product actively built for your context — not a legacy platform deprioritized by a US acquirer
Elvanto vs ChurchFlow — what you actually pay
AUD or USD pricing. No KES pricing option, no M-Pesa payment method. Every invoice exposes your church to currency conversion costs and requires a foreign currency card. Acquired by Pushpay in 2019 — a US company whose roadmap is driven by US megachurch needs, not Kenyan parish management.
KES 8,000–30,000/month depending on church size. Pay via M-Pesa Paybill — no foreign card needed. All-inclusive: M-Pesa integration, SMS, training, onboarding, and daily backups included. First month free after setup. Priced for Kenyan church budgets.
All plans include M-Pesa & SMS, training, onboarding, daily backups, and full support. Subscription begins when you go live — not from the day you sign. First month is free.
Prefer to pay per member? We also offer per-member and hybrid pricing models for churches that prefer that structure — speak to us and we will tailor a plan.
Frequently asked questions
Last updated: June 2026
Ready to see ChurchFlow in action?
30 minutes. We'll show you exactly what it looks like for a church your size — attendance, M-Pesa giving, obligations, finances. No sales pitch.