# ShelbyNext Membership Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is ShelbyNext Membership the right Church Management solution for you? Explore 158 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/71788/ShelbyNext-Membership/reviews --- ShelbyNext Membership 3.9 (158) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/71788/ShelbyNext-Membership/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of ShelbyNext Membership Ease of use 3.8 Customer Service 3.8 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews MS Matthew S PastorReligious Institutions, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The forms feature is well designed and can be imbedded on a website, used as a direct link, or generate a QR code.“ November 8, 2022 AH Angela H Music/Media CoordinatorReligious Institutions, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “While we could run reports, we weren't able to get custom things that we needed to be able to track volunteers and schedule volunteers for serving.“ May 10, 2022 MK Michelle K Office AdministratorNon-Profit Organization Management, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Overall, I thought this product served us well to maintain our database, and communicate well with our members. “ October 7, 2022 AH Angela H Music/Media CoordinatorReligious Institutions, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “There were many other things that our staff got frustrated that Shelby couldn't do to help with day to day task that we needed.“ May 10, 2022 BC Bettina C Events and PublicationsReligious Institutions, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “I created a registration form for our VBS in a matter of minutes and was able to share on our website.“ June 30, 2021 AH Angela H Music/Media CoordinatorReligious Institutions, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The overall look and use of Shelby wasn't super user friendly either.“ May 10, 2022 MS Matthew S PastorReligious Institutions, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “ShelbyNext is a good solid church management software if that's all you need.“ November 8, 2022 PM Pam M Office ManagerReligious Institutions, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “We almost always have to leave messages and wait for call backs and a good majority of the time when you call you get a recording saying they are in a meeting or away at training or closed for some reason. “ March 11, 2021 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 158 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Darrell T. Director Of Operations Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Amazing capabilities" October 3, 2018 4.0 Able to categorize people and then mass contact them via text or email. Maintains an easy to use web based people search. Pros I love the ease of navigating through information. Cons It can be overwhelming at first. Sometimes managing groups isn't the easiest to navigate. Review Source CR Christina R. Assimilation & Membership Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Shelby Next Membership" August 23, 2019 4.0 We've cleaned up our database during the migration from Shelby V5 and Realm, so that has been a plus. It's been easy to teach other employees how to use Shelby Next. I like that I can work from home since it's web based. Pros I like the ease of use. It is similar enough to Shelby V5 that the learning curve was not as steep in learning the new software. I like the help sections for each area. The videos and step by steps are very helpful. Like that ShelbyNext is web based so I can work from home when needed. Cons The Check-in part of this software is very limited in what it does compare to what was available in Shelby V5. Configuring the printed tickets to include the information needed is not easily accomplished. Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership Because the integration with the Shelby Financial software was what we needed. Switched from [Realm](https://www.capterra.com/p/146265/Realm/) The Finance part of Realm was not where we needed it to be for the migration of data. Review Source LD Laura D. Receptionist Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ShelbyNext: A "love/hate" relationship" August 26, 2019 2.0 It seems that ShelbyNext is somewhat a step backwards from V.5. Pros Like the Check-In, but it's frustrating not to be able to customize font sizes or to choose to print only first names. There is much white space on the name tags but it's not possible to make the name larger. I also like being able to search for a name by putting in only part of the name, either first or last, or both. I, personally, have had pretty positive experiences with support, but others in my organization have had rude responses. Cons Several things: It's not possible to add an entire family at one time. Instead, each person must be added & then linked as a family which is more time-consuming. When running reports, inactive people show up even if "active" is selected. Also, when running reports, the only choices are labels or a list with no addresses, no phone numbers, etc., unless it's exported as a CSV file. When one does that, every field in the record is exported & then needs to be weeded out if not needed in the report data. When searching for an individual, one can enter just a part of the name, but what comes up doesn't always match what's been entered. Even when a match does show, it's not always the top choice. Review Source CD Christina D. Accounting Specialist Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Shelby review" August 16, 2019 4.0 Overall I am satisfied with ShelbyNext and the customer support is always available to assist us when we get in over our heads. Some of the bugs that we encountered in our first years have subsided and no longer do we see the same issues such as timing out, etc. Pros The overall look of it and ease . The ability to export/import transactions into excel, which cuts down on a lot of work having to re-enter Cons Wish that creating special reports would be easier Switched from [QuickBooks Enterprise](https://www.capterra.com/p/174984/QuickBooks-Enterprise/) We wanted something a bit more complex and the ability to assist with our donation system as well. Review Source DF Donna F. Director of Mission & Outreach Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ShelbyNext Membership" August 19, 2019 4.0 Keeping our membership database organized, tracking contributions, creating ways to track interactions and streamline our pastoral care process. Pros It is user friendly and allows our congregation to access needed information. Cons Would like to have more flexibility with tracking interactions. Wish you could reassign interactions or assign them to more than one person. Alternatives considered [Servant Keeper](https://www.capterra.com/p/276838/Servant-Keeper/) Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership We had been using Shelby for quite some time and liked the cloud based features of ShelbyNext. Review Source DJ Douglas J. Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Needed items" August 16, 2019 3.0 I am between Luke warm and warm Pros I like the connectedness between membership and the financials. This is why we went with the membership. I also like the calendar. Cons I don't like the absence of some items. E.g. it doesn't email me when a staff member requests time off through the portal. This is not user friendly. Alternatives considered [ACS](https://www.capterra.com/p/2668/ACS/) Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership Cost and our experience with the financials Switched from [ChurchStaq](https://www.capterra.com/p/211982/ChuchStaq/) CCB did not have a financially feasible financial module. Review Source DR Debbie R. Finance Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Membership" September 6, 2019 4.0 Pros Easy to navigate. Pastors can easily find information and can access the app from the their phone. Life Groups can take attendance on their phones which eliminates the need to manually input the information. Cons We have 3 separate Shelby softwares to perform the duties that Shelby v5 did. We use Shelby Giving, ShelbyNext Membership and ShelbyNext Financials. The systems are integrated but you have to use each of the three softwares to process offerings or add giving funds. It all works really well, just wish we didn't have to log in to 3 separate systems with 3 separate userids and passwords. Alternatives considered [Realm](https://www.capterra.com/p/146265/Realm/) Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership Realm did not have an integrated financial package Review Source LT Landon T. Network Administrator Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Very happy with our choice..." August 16, 2019 4.0 I’m happy with it, and the training we got leading up to implementation was excellent. Pros Ease of use for the end user. Wanted something more simple than what we had before. Cons What’s “in the box” is what you can do. We didn’t want anything as complicated as we’d had in the past, but there are a few things we wished we could tweak. Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership We demoed several products, but as a team we felt Shelby Membership was the way to go. Our prior relationship with Shelby was an important factor as well. Switched from [Shelby Arena](https://www.capterra.com/p/175655/Arena/) Not user friendly. Needed database admin to maintain. Review Source AH Annetje H. Administrative Assistant & Membership Secretary Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Best so far" August 16, 2019 5.0 Overall, it's the best software I've used for churches. Pros I love the ease of making workflows to send automatic emails. I also like the layout and user interface. Cons Child Checkin has been a nightmare getting the software to work with the printer. Also, mobile checkin for attendees is so cumbersome to use, no one will use it, especially our older folks. It takes 7 steps per person to checkin. That is a lot to remember. I wish it was more like taking attendance for groups. Switched from [FellowshipOne](https://www.capterra.com/p/230779/Fellowship-One/) To streamline our processes and connect better with our members. Review Source Jeffrey G. CEO & Chief Consultant Financial Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Membership decent" March 9, 2019 4.0 After a year of implementing we went with another solution. The membership piece I am less than 50-50% on it and it could work if we had more staff, but the software required more attention that we could put towards it. Pros The church was able to add fields and sublists easily. You could also create unlimited groups. Cons You were able to order the fields and sublists, but compared to other software, similar price points, the GUI, graphical user interface, wasn't as clean to the volunteers that were entering info nor the members who would be "interfacing" with it. We had 30+ groups (baptized, confirmed, etc) but there was minimal reconciliation between the groups. Review Source TF Tabitha F. Church Secretary Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ShelbyNext | Membership Review" August 16, 2019 4.0 ShelbyNext | Membership is my "baby" at work (minus the financial keeping of Shelby). Whenever someone needs training or needs help, they come to me. I love explaining the simple and effective way either through their problem or to understand the system. Thank you for making Shelby incredibly user-friendly. This is the perfect system for church membership/record keeping. I have worked with ChurchTrac on two different levels, and they do not compare to Shelby. Pros I love using Shelby. The ease and accessibility is user-friendly. I love the many options I have when printing reports. Cons We utilize the send email/text/voice option several times a week. One problem that we have run into is sending texts to our Spanish speaking ministry. Spanish involves many accent marks and symbols. An accent mark in one word can completely change the word. In the past when we have sent a mass text from the Shelby app in Spanish, it never goes through properly. There will be a "?" where there was supposed to be an accent or symbol. I have called the support number listed and talked with a representative. He had never encountered this problem and said he would call me back. I never received that call, and that's ok. I know this is a minor issue and not an immediate issue to be addressed. This would be a huge help to our ministry if there could be a Spanish option for Shelby. Review Source NT Nathaniel T. Associate Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good not great" March 25, 2024 5.0 I used ShelbyNext at my previous church. It was great. The UI is a little less modern than some of the other systems I have used. Pros The CHMS is highly functional and does everything a church of any size would need it to do. Cons The mobile experience is less than great. Review Source MD Michael D. Senior Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "I use it primarily for directory information when I'm away from the office or making home visits. " May 22, 2018 4.0 Addresses of church members quickly when I am away from the office and a good map interphase that helps me quickly find members' homes. Pros I find the app very easy to use and appreciate it's interface with other map programs. \[It is interesting that I could not submit this survey because the comments in the "Pros" section is too short. I guess that's one way to hear what you want. I don't know what else you want me to say about your program: You use a nice font? It hasn't crashed yet? Cons What I like least about the Shelby products we have is the lack of training my staff received (and told they would get) plus the long wait my staff has to endure whenever they have issues with the Shelby Membership Program and the Shelby Financial Program and call for technical help. The time spent on hold is interminable. I suspect that there are just one or two people answering the phones. Last week a staff member was on the phone with Shelby when another called and was told she was next in line. After more than thirty minutes, she finally hung up. (Interestingly, my other staff member was still on the phone talking to the Shelby Rep. I wonder if her colleague would have talked to the same rep had she remained on hold because there was only one person answering calls on a weekday? ) Review Source TR Trish R. Office Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The Church and Social Media Challenge" August 19, 2019 5.0 I have had a good experience when working with membership Pros The ease of use. If I don't know how to do something, there is a tutorial for whatever issue I'm facing. If I can't find something, I can always put in a help request. I do not feel alone and stuck when I am faced with a challenge. Cons I struggle with the separation of financial data vs. membership data. I have to check membership once yearly and have to monitor attendance and giving status. I've not yet created a report that shows attendance and giving within one year for church members. Still a work in progress. Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership This product was purchased before I came on board, but I am pleased with the database. Review Source LC Liz C. Discipleship Ministry Assistant Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Customer Support" August 29, 2019 4.0 We have been struggling with forms created duplicate Shelby membership profiles when payments are made through online giving. Can't get a straight answer on why it happens or how to fix it. Pros I feel Shelby Membership is user friendly, not difficult to navigate. Most features are self-explanatory. Cons Support. We have been trying to resolve an issue since August of 2018. I have emailed with 4 different people. The name I was given never responded to me after emailing on 10.4.18 and 11.18.18. Customer service lacks when trying to resolve 'large issues' over long periods of time. I'm disappointed not one person has bothered to take ownership of our issue and work with us to resolve it. Need more tutorials for those beyond basics. Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership Shelby was chosen before I started working for Grove. Review Source DC Denise C. Music Associate Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ShelbyNext Usage" August 21, 2019 4.0 Pros It is quick and easy on most things. Calendar entry is fast. Looking up names is fast. However, you should not have to look at ALL NAMES, even the people who have moved on. Cons The Calendar - it is easy to add new things, but could use some more sorting, editing options. It would be nice to select optional dates for events. At the present time, if you put an event to happen every week, but would like to skip a week or two, you cannot do that in the initial entry. We have contacted about this many times. They seem to ignore calendar fixes! Also, we need to be able to print a calendar list that includes dates, times and room numbers. Again, we have asked several times to no avail. Review Source MT Marcy T. Ministerial Services Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Still needs improvement " September 2, 2019 4.0 Better than v5 but has room for improvement. After our initial set up, support was non existent Pros Of the choices out there this was the best option for us because the financial piece was attached. Cons Had to create too many basic church membership criteria. Attendance input has some glitches and there’s is not a check out system for check in’s.(important for Children’s Ministry). Calendar has had glitches resulting in”disappearing rooms” Alternatives considered [Planning Center](https://www.capterra.com/p/76708/Planning-Center/)[FellowshipOne](https://www.capterra.com/p/230779/Fellowship-One/) Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership The Financial piece was “attached” Review Source Response from Ministry Brands September 4, 2019 Please reach out to our support team at support@shelbyinc.com. We are here to help you with any of your support needs. KG Kimberly G. Ministry assistant - Membership Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Upgrade from V5" August 26, 2019 5.0 I am very satisfied with the rate of updates continually made on this product to improve the user experience. Pros If you are a Shelby user, currently using V5, you will love this newer version. The cloud based product is incomparable in ease of use. Our congregation loves having the church directory in an app. Cons The reporting is completely different from V5 and takes a while to get used to. Alternatives considered [FellowshipOne](https://www.capterra.com/p/230779/Fellowship-One/) Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership We were already a Shelby user. Review Source HH Heather H. Stewardship Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good product on its way to being great" August 19, 2019 4.0 I feel like we came in on the newer end of the software upgrade and have had to work through a lot of changes and upgrades. That being said, I do feel that the company is always listening to its users and strive to continue to upgrade, making this the best software out there! Pros The web accessibility and easy of use are a big improvement from the v.5 version of Shelby. There are also so many ways to use and implement this software. It is a one stop shop. Cons There are a few things this upgrade did not bring over from the older version which are highly missed. Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership Keeping with what we knew, and being able to put everything "under one roof". Review Source VW Virginia W. IT volunteer Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ShelbyNext for small churches is perfect" September 7, 2019 5.0 The support has always been outstanding -- every individual I've worked with is friendly and super helpful. And the crowdsourced support (online) gets good answers to your questions too. The software is easy to use -- only a few things I needed to train the secretary to use it effectively. The most complex part is maintaining groups using automated rules (like the church directory, or recent attenders, recent givers, etc.) Pros SaaS (hosted in the cloud), smart phone App available, easy to train church staff, strong functionality and great support Cons When we went live (I haven't had a chance to check lately) there were a few limitations: 1) the integration with ShelbyNext Financials for Giving, 2) user-friendliness/ease of doing sunday school check-in or congregation attendance, 3) cost of connecting with and using on-line giving service. Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership Most full featured for the price (best value for money) -- AND we were switching from old Shelby and they migrated our data. Review Source KS Koko S. Administrative assistant Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Shelby next review" September 7, 2019 4.0 There are a lot of great things about the ShelbyNext membership software but unfortunately there are still quite a few things that need to be worked out. Pros When there are no glitches I love the forms and the calendar side of shelby next . Cons The poor customer service. I rarely ever receive any feedback after I have either made a phone call or emailed. It also appears that they are still working out a lot of glitches and it’s very frustrating when you depend on a software and it doesn’t work properly at least 99% of the time. Review Source KC Kelly C. Director of Children's Ministry Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "the good, bad and ugly" August 16, 2019 3.0 It's okay, once you set it up. the hard part is setting everything up and making sure it works and then hoping no one can undo what you have done. Pros I love the check in system! it is simple and easy to use Cons I hate the fact I was promised that we could use Android on the check in and you can't. You can only use Iphones and I pads. Alternatives considered [Planning Center](https://www.capterra.com/p/76708/Planning-Center/) Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership Easy to upgrade. Review Source CP Carol P. Finance Assistant Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "ShelbyNext / Membership Review" August 19, 2019 5.0 Pros What I like most about this software is the consistency and ease of use. The searching for a member is easy and the advanced search comes in handy when you don't have enough information to locate exactly who you are looking for. Cons The least thing about the software I do not like is linking family members. I will admit is it easier than what I was used to in V5 but I think there should be an easier way to link family members. Review Source MR Martha R. Membership Secretary Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "ShelbyNext Membership for Churches" August 31, 2019 5.0 We previously used Shelby V. Both products have a great deal of advantages in our congregational needs. ShelbyNext seems to be more user friendly that Shelby V. Pros This is an easy to use software for tracking membership, attendance and giving for the church. It is used almost daily. It can be shared with members of the congregation if so desired. Cons I would prefer an ease of doing reports/directories that can be manually edited. The current form is PDF which is not the easiest to edit without purchasing additional software. Reason for choosing ShelbyNext Membership We did a transition from Shelby V to ShelbyNext. It was a natural after using Shelby V. Review Source BG Becky G. Info Assistant Religious Institutions Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "ShelbyNext Review" August 28, 2019 3.0 Pros We have had ShelbyNext since November, 2018 and I am just now feeling comfortable using it. Since I am not a computer person, I was not involved in choosing the software or setting it up for our church. I work with what I have. I do like viewing a family unit. Making changes to each record is easy to do. Overall it is fine for my responsibilities. Cons Promoting children was a much longer process than in Shelby v5. In the old Shelby version, each service could be submitted for promotion versus ShelbyNext where each group has to be promoted for each of our 4 services. Our groups per service ranged from 16 - 23 so it was a challenge and very time consuming to "move" each group to their new group. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Church Management](https://www.capterra.com/church-management-software/)