If your church has ever felt boxed in by its management software — limited features, closed systems, costly upgrades — Rock RMS was built to break that cycle. Created by Spark Development Network, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Rock is a fully open-source church management platform designed around relationships, not just records.^1
Rock handles the full spectrum of church operations: people management, check-in, giving and finance tools, event registration, automated workflows, and detailed metrics and reporting. On the communications side, it unifies email, SMS (with two-way conversations and keyword pipelines), push notifications, and drip campaign flows — all from one system. For digital publishing, Rock powers websites, mobile apps, and even TV apps with built-in personalization, content management, and media analytics.^2
What sets Rock apart is its engagement toolkit. Steps let you define discipleship pathways (baptism, membership, volunteering) and track spiritual milestones. A built-in LMS delivers training courses. Groups, scheduling, connections, and sign-ups round out a system that helps people find community and take their next step. Rock also features AI-powered prayer moderation with automated self-harm alerts.^2
The platform currently manages over 31.5 million people records and powers 10 of the 12 largest churches in the nation, including Life.Church, Church of the Highlands, Saddleback Church, and North Point Ministries.^1
Why Churches Love It"The Rock RMS platform is a ministry multiplier for Life.Church, enabling us to better know our people and equip our staff to guide people to their next steps in their faith journey." — Matt George, Central Team Leader, Rock RMS at Life.Church^1
"It's hard to believe that software can serve people to make their relationship with Jesus stronger, but that is exactly what Rock RMS does. It allows your staff to focus on ministry while Rock handles the administration." — Michael Mullikin, Lead Pastor of Operations, NewSpring Church^1
"We are so grateful to be a part of the Rock community. It's the first time in my 10+ years of being in church technology that the Church comes first. It's a product being shaped by men and women who love Jesus and His Church." — Scott Ballard, Director of Digital Strategy, Flatirons Community Church^1
Notable- Shepherded by Spark Development Network, a non-profit founded by Jon Edmiston after 13 years leading technology at Christ's Church of the Valley^3
- Life.Church is a strategic mission partner of Spark Development Network^4
- Thriving community with 5,000+ members, 751,000+ messages, regional hub meetups across the US, the Rock Cast podcast (212+ episodes), Rock U training library, and the annual RX conference^1
- Product roadmap through v21 with active deprecation of legacy features and modernization toward Obsidian framework^5
- Cloud hosting available through official partners (Rock Cloud and Cloud 9 by 9 Embers), or self-host on your own infrastructure^6
- Well-reviewed across platforms — highly rated on Capterra from 101 verified reviews (last updated March 2026)^7
- Case studies available from Trinity Fellowship Church and Purpose Church^1
Platforms: Web (cloud-hosted or self-hosted on Windows/.NET) Pricing: Free and open source; cloud hosting plans available through partners; donation-based funding model
