Rakefet Online vs ShalomCloud (2026)
Two synagogue management options compared on verified pricing, Jewish-specific workflows, billing depth, communications, migration and independent evidence.
Quick answer
- Price: Rakefet Online: RakefetOnline-CRM Annual - NEW USERS (year 1) $149/mo; RakefetOnline-CRM Annual - EXISTING USERS $90/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 $1,080 vs $648 per year before processing and setup fees.
- Membership, dues and money: Rakefet Online leads (16.5 vs 10.0 of 20 points).
- Communications and engagement: Rakefet Online leads (9.5 vs 3.0 of 15 points).
- Data portability and migration: Rakefet Online leads (8.0 vs 5.0 of 10 points).
- Independent customer evidence: Rakefet Online leads (5 vs 2 of 10 points).
- Overall: Rakefet Online 78.0/100 · ShalomCloud 59.0/100
Pricing side by side
Rakefet Online
- RakefetOnline-CRM Annual - NEW USERS (year 1): $149/mo · not stated ('Unlimited seats for members, donors, admins and office') · Basic data migration (import/classify members, family relationships, donors, events, yahrzeits, journal entries, chart of accounts and opening balances); billed annually; 'On Year 2 Upgraded to an Existing User'
- RakefetOnline-CRM Annual - EXISTING USERS: $90/mo · not stated · Current RakefetOnline user plan; billed annually; 'Existing User Deal Options Available'
Setup: Homepage says sign-up involves a 'one-time setup fee & subscription' but no amount is published; the pricing page lists none. Basic data migration is included in the new-user plan.. Processing: Credit card and ACH processing with recurring payments via Member Portal; integrations named: Stripe, PayPal, PayQuiq, Venmo (two versions of the page list different ones). Processor 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 | Rakefet Online | ShalomCloud |
|---|---|---|
| Membership & household records | Yes Members, children, family relationships, committees, notes, attachments, profile pictures, new member/renewal forms. | Yes Families, households and members with demographics, attributes, roles; custom attributes per household and member (Capterra description). |
| Yahrzeit tracking & reminders | Yes Yahrzeits, mourners, memorial plaques, yizkor book reports, printed/emailed notices mixing Jewish and Gregorian dates. | Yes Reminders by email or surface mail, bimah lists; tracks Hebrew and Gregorian dates, observer chooses which. |
| Hebrew calendar integration | Yes Automatic Hebrew date conversion, weekly Torah portions and Haftarot, Google Calendar integration. | Partial Hebrew-date handling for yahrzeits ('dual-dating'); no congregation calendar or zmanim feature described. |
| Dues, billing & receivables | Yes Member/donor billing, global billing, recurring payments, member ledgers, receivables reports, printed or emailed statements. | 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 Credit card and ACH, recurring payments via Member Portal; Stripe/PayPal/PayQuiq/Venmo named. | Not verified Event registration allows purchases and donations are 'collected', but no processor, card/ACH support or fees are stated. |
| Donations, pledges & campaigns | Partial Donation payment forms and donor giving tracking; 'School and Fundraising' listed on rakefetonline.com. Pledges not explicitly mentioned. | Partial Donation tracking and reporting; pledges per Capterra text; no campaign pages described. |
| General ledger / fund accounting | Yes Full AR/AP, general ledger with restricted funds, check writing, journal entries, bank reconciliation, budgeting, P&L/balance sheet/trial balance/audit reports. | No Posts to QuickBooks rather than keeping its own GL. |
| QuickBooks integration | Not verified Not mentioned on current vendor pages; UJA 2018 guide noted some customers pair Rakefet with QuickBooks or Sage. | Yes 'Automatically create entries in QuickBooks as funds are received'; tutorial 'Connecting to QuickBooks'. |
| Religious school management | Yes 'School Management' listed; religious school classes tracked in the database. | Yes Students by grade, rosters, email/text parents; registration via form builder. |
| Events & registration | Yes Form builder for events and registrations; special event tracking. | Yes Member and non-member registration, item purchases, reminders, RSVPs. |
| High Holiday seating | Partial rakefetonline.com lists 'seating' among tracked data and 'High Holy Day planning' is cited; no dedicated seating-chart module described. | Not verified Not mentioned (honors are, seating is not). |
| Honors, aliyot & gabbai tools | Partial 'Aliyot' tracked in the database per rakefetonline.com; no gabbai workflow described. | Yes High Holiday honors: nominations, accept/decline tracking, reminders. Year-round gabbai scheduling not described. |
| Cemetery management | Not verified Not mentioned on vendor pages checked. | Yes Responsible party, reserved-for and occupant by plot; documents and pictures per plot. |
| Website / CMS | No No website builder; donation/payment forms embed in an existing website and API access is offered for external sites. | No No website builder offered. |
| Email & newsletters | Yes Email templates, quick messages, scheduled emails, contact lists. | Partial Email used for reminders, forms and parent communications; no newsletter/marketing tool described. |
| SMS / texting | Yes SMS templates and quick messages via Twilio integration. | Partial Text parents (religious school); general SMS campaigns not described. |
| Member self-service portal | Yes Members/donors view commitments, set up recurring payments, download receipts. | Not verified Capterra tags 'Member Portal' but the vendor site does not describe one. |
| Mobile app | No Described as 'mobile friendly'; no dedicated app mentioned. | No None described. |
| API / data export | Yes Import/export and API access for external processes or websites. | Not verified Rosters/bimah lists/reports; no export tool or API described. Audit trails exist. |
| Automation & workflows | Partial Scheduled emails and recurring billing; no general workflow engine described. | Partial Automated reminders and QuickBooks posting; no workflow builder. |
Evidence links for every cell are on the individual review pages: Rakefet Online, ShalomCloud.
Rubric scores
| Group | Rakefet Online | ShalomCloud | Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish-specific workflows | 14.0 | 14.0 | 20 |
| Membership, dues and money | 16.5 | 10.0 | 20 |
| Communications and engagement | 9.5 | 3.0 | 15 |
| School and events | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10 |
| Data portability and migration | 8.0 | 5.0 | 10 |
| Pricing transparency | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Independent customer evidence | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| Total | 78.0 | 59.0 | 100 |
Rakefet Online: strengths / limitations
- Built-in full double-entry accounting (AR/AP/GL, restricted funds, bank rec) rather than relying on QuickBooks
- Integrated Jewish calendar with Torah portions and Google Calendar sync
- API plus import/export; unlimited users
- Published pricing; basic data migration included for new customers
- Live US-based phone support with published hours
- Year-1 price ($149/mo) is substantially above the renewal price ($90/mo); both billed annually
- No website CMS; no dedicated mobile app
- Cemetery, QuickBooks integration and dedicated seating module not evidenced on current pages
- No independent review-site presence found
- Company location and ownership details not published
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: Rakefet Online · ShalomCloud · all comparisons