Cardova vs ShalomCloud (2026)
Two synagogue management options compared on verified pricing, Jewish-specific workflows, billing depth, communications, migration and independent evidence.
Quick answer
- Price: Cardova: Starter plan ('Popular') $80/mo; Pro plan $160/mo. ShalomCloud: Small — Standard Support (homepage) $36/mo; Small — Premium Support (homepage) / Small Plan (/pricing) $72/mo; Medium — Standard Support (homepage) $54/mo; Medium — Premium Support (homepage) / Medium Plan (/pricing) $108/mo; Large — Standard Support (homepage) $72/mo; Large — Premium Support (homepage) / Large Plan (/pricing) $144/mo. For a 150-household congregation that is roughly $864 vs $648 per year before processing and setup fees.
- Jewish-specific workflows: ShalomCloud leads (7.0 vs 14.0 of 20 points).
- Membership, dues and money: Cardova leads (15.0 vs 10.0 of 20 points).
- Communications and engagement: Cardova leads (10.0 vs 3.0 of 15 points).
- School and events: ShalomCloud leads (5.0 vs 10.0 of 10 points).
- Overall: Cardova 58.5/100 · ShalomCloud 59.0/100
Pricing side by side
Cardova
- Free plan: · up to 100 community members/contacts; 1 administrator · Essential features, basic reporting/analytics, basic chat and email support
- Starter plan ('Popular'): $80/mo · up to 500 members/contacts; 2 administrators · $80/mo billed monthly or $72/mo billed annually ($864/yr); free data transfer to Cardova, advanced reporting/analytics, priority chat and email support
- Pro plan: $160/mo · unlimited members/contacts; 5 administrators · $160/mo billed monthly or $144/mo billed annually ($1,728/yr); advanced custom fields, audit log and data history, high-priority chat/email support
Setup: None stated; 'free data transfer' on annual paid plans.. Processing: Pricing table shows 'Platform fees 0% to 5%' on all tiers; processor and card fees not stated.. Source: vendor page, 2026-10-12 (vendor-page).
ShalomCloud
- Small — Standard Support (homepage): $36/mo · Up to 125 member families · Full platform; support by ticket/email only, ~2 business day response.
- Small — Premium Support (homepage) / Small Plan (/pricing): $72/mo · Up to 125 member families · Full platform; priority triage, phone/email, minutes-to-hours response.
- Medium — Standard Support (homepage): $54/mo · 126 to 250 member families · Full platform; email/ticket support.
- Medium — Premium Support (homepage) / Medium Plan (/pricing): $108/mo · 126 to 250 member families · Full platform; priority phone/email support. Labelled 'Most Popular'.
- Large — Standard Support (homepage): $72/mo · Over 250 member families · Full platform; email/ticket support.
- Large — Premium Support (homepage) / Large Plan (/pricing): $144/mo · Over 250 member families · Full platform; priority phone/email support.
Setup: Conflicting on the vendor's own site: homepage says 'Conversion fee $200 for all levels'; /pricing says 'One-time conversion fee $400'.. Processing: Not stated anywhere on the site. No payment processor named; Capterra tags 'Payment Processing Software' but the site describes donation 'collection' only.. Source: vendor page, 2026-10-12 (vendor-page).
Feature by feature
| Capability | Cardova | ShalomCloud |
|---|---|---|
| Membership & household records | Yes Individual profiles, households/family units, lifecycle from prospect to alumni, community groups, member self-updates. | Yes Families, households and members with demographics, attributes, roles; custom attributes per household and member (Capterra description). |
| Yahrzeit tracking & reminders | Partial Directory page: tracks 'lifecycle events with native support for the Hebrew calendar'; yahrzeit lists/notices not described explicitly. | Yes Reminders by email or surface mail, bimah lists; tracks Hebrew and Gregorian dates, observer chooses which. |
| Hebrew calendar integration | Yes 'Native support for the Hebrew calendar' for lifecycle events. | Partial Hebrew-date handling for yahrzeits ('dual-dating'); no congregation calendar or zmanim feature described. |
| Dues, billing & receivables | Yes Memberships with automated renewals, reminders, tiered access and reports; invoicing/AR ledger not described. | Partial Capterra description: track pledges, payments, contributions; monthly statements and annual tax letters. Vendor site itself describes 'Financials' only as recording payments and categories; invoicing not described. |
| Online payments | Yes Donations, membership and ticket payments online; platform fee 0-5%. | Not verified Event registration allows purchases and donations are 'collected', but no processor, card/ACH support or fees are stated. |
| Donations, pledges & campaigns | Yes One-time and recurring donations, dedicated funds, giving reports, campaigns; pledges not mentioned. | Partial Donation tracking and reporting; pledges per Capterra text; no campaign pages described. |
| General ledger / fund accounting | No No accounting module described. | No Posts to QuickBooks rather than keeping its own GL. |
| QuickBooks integration | Not verified Not mentioned. | Yes 'Automatically create entries in QuickBooks as funds are received'; tutorial 'Connecting to QuickBooks'. |
| Religious school management | Not verified Not mentioned. | Yes Students by grade, rosters, email/text parents; registration via form builder. |
| Events & registration | Yes Events & ticketing with attendance and reporting. | Yes Member and non-member registration, item purchases, reminders, RSVPs. |
| High Holiday seating | Not verified Not mentioned. | Not verified Not mentioned (honors are, seating is not). |
| Honors, aliyot & gabbai tools | Not verified Not mentioned. | Yes High Holiday honors: nominations, accept/decline tracking, reminders. Year-round gabbai scheduling not described. |
| Cemetery management | Not verified Not mentioned. | Yes Responsible party, reserved-for and occupant by plot; documents and pictures per plot. |
| Website / CMS | Yes 'Community website' tooling. | No No website builder offered. |
| Email & newsletters | Yes Communication hub: announcements, event updates, automated occasion messages. | Partial Email used for reminders, forms and parent communications; no newsletter/marketing tool described. |
| SMS / texting | Partial Pricing table row 'Text individual community members' (plan-dependent); no bulk SMS described. | Partial Text parents (religious school); general SMS campaigns not described. |
| Member self-service portal | Partial Members can update their own profile and household information; full portal scope not described. | Not verified Capterra tags 'Member Portal' but the vendor site does not describe one. |
| Mobile app | Not verified Not mentioned. | No None described. |
| API / data export | Partial Pricing comparison table includes 'API' and 'Export' rows; details not published. | Not verified Rosters/bimah lists/reports; no export tool or API described. Audit trails exist. |
| Automation & workflows | Yes Automatic receipts, renewal reminders, weekly reports; 'Automated workflows' row in plan table. | Partial Automated reminders and QuickBooks posting; no workflow builder. |
Evidence links for every cell are on the individual review pages: Cardova, ShalomCloud.
Rubric scores
| Group | Cardova | ShalomCloud | Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish-specific workflows | 7.0 | 14.0 | 20 |
| Membership, dues and money | 15.0 | 10.0 | 20 |
| Communications and engagement | 10.0 | 3.0 | 15 |
| School and events | 5.0 | 10.0 | 10 |
| Data portability and migration | 5.5 | 5.0 | 10 |
| Pricing transparency | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Independent customer evidence | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Total | 58.5 | 59.0 | 100 |
Cardova: strengths / limitations
- Free tier and transparent low pricing
- Modern directory with household and lifecycle modelling, Hebrew-calendar support
- Automation of renewals, receipts and reports
- Free data migration on annual plans
- Very new vendor with no reviews, customer counts or published location
- No accounting, QuickBooks, school, seating, honors or cemetery features evidenced
- Platform fee of up to 5% on top of processor fees
- Boilerplate copy on pricing page suggests an early-stage site
ShalomCloud: strengths / limitations
- Lowest published price of the five ($36-$144/mo by size and support level) with a two-month no-card trial.
- Covers several synagogue-specific records the cheaper competitors skip: cemetery plots, HH honors workflow, dual-dated yahrzeits with bimah lists.
- Direct QuickBooks posting; audit trails documented.
- No website builder, no member mobile app, and no clearly described member portal or online dues billing/invoicing.
- Payment processing, data export and security practices are not described on the site.
- Vendor's own pages conflict on price and conversion fee ($200 vs $400; two-column vs single-column pricing).
- No usable third-party reviews (0 on Capterra, 1 unverified on G2); company location and team undisclosed.
- Standard-support tier is email-only with ~2 business day response.
Full reviews: Cardova · ShalomCloud · all comparisons