Congregation Connect vs ShalomCloud (2026)
Two synagogue management options compared on verified pricing, Jewish-specific workflows, billing depth, communications, migration and independent evidence.
Quick answer
- Price: Congregation Connect: Quote only. 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.
- Jewish-specific workflows: ShalomCloud leads (6.0 vs 14.0 of 20 points).
- Communications and engagement: Congregation Connect leads (8.0 vs 3.0 of 15 points).
- School and events: ShalomCloud leads (7.5 vs 10.0 of 10 points).
- Pricing transparency: ShalomCloud leads (5 vs 15 of 15 points).
- Overall: Congregation Connect 42.0/100 · ShalomCloud 59.0/100
Pricing side by side
Congregation Connect
No published price (quote).
Setup: not stated. Processing: 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 | Congregation Connect | ShalomCloud |
|---|---|---|
| Membership & household records | Yes Constituents, members, donors, groups, households with a '360° view'. | Yes Families, households and members with demographics, attributes, roles; custom attributes per household and member (Capterra description). |
| Yahrzeit tracking & reminders | Yes Yahrzeit listed in the 'Connected Synagogue' feature set. | Yes Reminders by email or surface mail, bimah lists; tracks Hebrew and Gregorian dates, observer chooses which. |
| Hebrew calendar integration | Not verified Not mentioned. | Partial Hebrew-date handling for yahrzeits ('dual-dating'); no congregation calendar or zmanim feature described. |
| Dues, billing & receivables | Not verified Billing/statements not described on the vendor page; donations tracked. Kesef can run AR as a service. | 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 | Not verified Online forms are an add-on; payment processing not described. | Not verified Event registration allows purchases and donations are 'collected', but no processor, card/ACH support or fees are stated. |
| Donations, pledges & campaigns | Yes Donations, fundraising, donor tracking. | Partial Donation tracking and reporting; pledges per Capterra text; no campaign pages described. |
| General ledger / fund accounting | No No native GL; QuickBooks integration offered as an add-on (2018 guide: QuickBooks and Sage 50). Kesef provides bookkeeping as a service. | No Posts to QuickBooks rather than keeping its own GL. |
| QuickBooks integration | Yes QuickBooks integration listed as an add-on. | Yes 'Automatically create entries in QuickBooks as funds are received'; tutorial 'Connecting to QuickBooks'. |
| Religious school management | Partial Classes and students tracked; no dedicated school/tuition module described. | Yes Students by grade, rosters, email/text parents; registration via form builder. |
| Events & registration | Yes Events listed; Planning Center Online Resources add-on for rooms/resources. | 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 | Not verified Not mentioned (no website builder described). | No No website builder offered. |
| Email & newsletters | Yes Marketing automation and email marketing add-on. | Partial Email used for reminders, forms and parent communications; no newsletter/marketing tool described. |
| SMS / texting | Not verified Not mentioned. | Partial Text parents (religious school); general SMS campaigns not described. |
| Member self-service portal | Yes Congregant portals listed as an add-on. | Not verified Capterra tags 'Member Portal' but the vendor site does not describe one. |
| Mobile app | Not verified Not mentioned (Salesforce mobile availability not claimed on page). | No None described. |
| API / data export | Partial Salesforce platform: 'extendable by Force.com admins'; standard Salesforce APIs/exports implied but not stated. | Not verified Rosters/bimah lists/reports; no export tool or API described. Audit trails exist. |
| Automation & workflows | Yes Marketing automation; Salesforce workflow customization. | Partial Automated reminders and QuickBooks posting; no workflow builder. |
Evidence links for every cell are on the individual review pages: Congregation Connect, ShalomCloud.
Rubric scores
| Group | Congregation Connect | ShalomCloud | Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish-specific workflows | 6.0 | 14.0 | 20 |
| Membership, dues and money | 9.0 | 10.0 | 20 |
| Communications and engagement | 8.0 | 3.0 | 15 |
| School and events | 7.5 | 10.0 | 10 |
| Data portability and migration | 5.5 | 5.0 | 10 |
| Pricing transparency | 5 | 15 | 15 |
| Independent customer evidence | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Total | 42.0 | 59.0 | 100 |
Congregation Connect: strengths / limitations
- Full Salesforce CRM extensibility and reporting
- Suited to large, staff-rich congregations
- Backed by Shulware/Togetherwork with Kesef bookkeeping available
- No published pricing; per-user Salesforce licensing on top of support packages (2018)
- Requires Salesforce-savvy staff
- Small installed base (~50 in 2018)
- Billing, seating, honors, cemetery not evidenced on vendor page
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: Congregation Connect · ShalomCloud · all comparisons