Reaching your congregation shouldn't mean breaking your budget. Gloo Communications is a text messaging platform built specifically for churches and ministries, offering a free tier to help ministry leaders stay connected with their people through SMS.^1 With texting open rates far outpacing email, your weekly updates, event reminders, and prayer requests actually get seen.^2
Gloo Communications goes beyond basic broadcasting. It includes automated Workflows triggered by keywords, a centralized Prayer Inbox for your prayer team, one-to-many Broadcasts to your whole church or specific groups, messaging analytics, and an Explorer program that connects churches with people in their community who are actively seeking faith.^1 Gloo+ subscribers unlock additional features like video messaging, polls, and expanded group capabilities. The platform integrates with Planning Center and sits inside the broader Gloo Workspace — a suite of tools designed to help ministry leaders manage communication, outreach, and engagement in one place.^3
Built by Gloo, a technology company in Boulder, Colorado, founded by Scott Beck — who previously scaled Blockbuster, Boston Market, and Einstein Bagels before devoting his career to serving the Church through technology. Pat Gelsinger, former CEO of Intel, joined as executive chairman in 2025, and the company went public later that year, raising $72.8 million in its IPO.^4 With partnerships spanning Cru, American Bible Society, The Chosen, and Outreach Magazine, Gloo serves over 450,000 churches and faith-based organizations.^6
Why Churches Love It"Email is dead — broadcasting a text to our church is more effective. We use the memo feature and create email-quality info, plus in the text we add short videos and links to our worship music with lyrics. It is now super easy to get prayer requests, feedback, and a lot more."^3
"As a pastor, I have spent a considerable amount of time searching for the right church texting app, and after trying several options, Gloo stands out as the best. Even the free version covers 90% of what other paid apps offer."^3
"Having texting at no cost is a huge benefit to us. Not everybody checks their email — it gets pushed into the junk folder. But everybody has the time to quickly check their phone."^2
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android Pricing: Freemium (free tier with monthly message credits; Gloo+ subscription available with additional features including video messaging, polls, and expanded groups)
