How we rank synagogue software
Every score on this site is computed by the rubric below from the published vendor records. Nobody assigns a number by feel. Change a record, rebuild, and the score changes; the records and the rubric are public so anyone can check the arithmetic.
What we are trying to measure
A synagogue administrator choosing software needs to know four things: does it do the Jewish-specific work, does it do the money correctly, what will it really cost, and can we leave if it goes wrong. The rubric weights those questions in that spirit: 20 points for Jewish-specific workflows, 20 for membership and money, 15 for communications, 10 for school and events, 10 for data portability and migration, 15 for pricing transparency and 10 for independent customer evidence.
What we deliberately do not measure
We do not score interface polish, because we would be scoring our taste. We do not score vendor claims about customer counts, because they cannot be checked. We do not include vendor-written comparison pages as evidence about a competitor. We do not use star ratings from review sites as a primary signal, because in this niche the counts are small enough to be moved by a handful of reviews; they get at most 10 points.
How a record is built
Each vendor has a JSON record with twenty feature fields. A researcher fetches the vendor's public pages and records each capability as yes, partial, no or unknown, with the URL of the page that supports the answer. Pricing is recorded from the vendor's pricing page with the date. Where the only figure available is on a third-party listing, it is recorded with confidence "third-party" and earns fewer points. The records are published at /data/vendors.json under CC-BY 4.0.
Why "not verified" is not "no"
A vendor that does not document a feature on its public site may still have it. We say so on every review, we list the open questions for the buyer to put to the vendor, and we keep that product out of the ranking when too much is unknown. The confidence badge is as important as the score.
Re-verification and corrections
Ranked platforms are re-verified at least quarterly; any product is re-verified when a reader or the vendor reports a change. Corrections are made in the data, the site is rebuilt, and the review's verification date updates. We do not silently edit prose about a vendor without a data change behind it.
The 100-point rubric
| Group | Points | What earns them |
|---|---|---|
| Jewish-specific workflows | 20 | Yahrzeit tracking & reminders (6), Hebrew calendar integration (4), Honors, aliyot & gabbai tools (4), High Holiday seating (4), Cemetery management (2) |
| Membership, dues and money | 20 | Membership & household records (4), Dues, billing & receivables (5), Online payments (3), Donations, pledges & campaigns (3), General ledger / fund accounting (3), QuickBooks integration (2) |
| Communications and engagement | 15 | Email & newsletters (3), SMS / texting (2), Member self-service portal (4), Mobile app (2), Website / CMS (3), Automation & workflows (1) |
| School and events | 10 | Religious school management (5), Events & registration (5) |
| Data portability and migration | 10 | API / data export (5); Inside Data portability: +3 if migration assistance is documented on a vendor page, +2 if supported source systems are listed. |
| Pricing transparency | 15 | 8 pts: a full price schedule on the vendor's own site (6 if a single starting price); 3 if the only figure is on a third-party listing; 1 if historical. +2 household/user limits stated; +2 processing fees stated; +2 onboarding/setup cost stated; +1 contract terms stated. |
| Independent customer evidence | 10 | Volume: 20+ rated reviews 6 pts, 10+ 5, 3+ 3, 1+ 2, discussion only 1. Sentiment: weighted average 4.5+ adds 4, 4.0+ 3, 3.5+ 2, 3.0+ 1. |
| Total | 100 |
Feature credit
- Yes, with a vendor page we can link: full points.
- Yes, but we could not find it on a page (a sales claim, a review mention): half points. We do not take anyone's word for a feature.
- Partial (limited, add-on, via third party): half points.
- No or not verified: zero. Not verified is not the same as absent, which is why we publish confidence separately.
Evidence confidence and who gets ranked
- High: >=80% of the 20 feature fields have a known status.
- Medium: >=55%.
- Low: <55% -- profiled, not ranked. A low-confidence product appears with a full profile and no score. Scoring it would punish thin documentation as if it were missing capability.
Only actively sold products in these categories are ranked: chabad, enterprise, platform. Legacy systems, fundraising tools, accounting packages and general nonprofit CRMs are profiled, not ranked, because they are not substitutes for a synagogue management platform.
Current scores and their inputs
| Product | Jewish-specific | Membership, | Communications | School | Data | Pricing | Independent | Total | Verified fields | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easyshul | 10.0 | 18.5 | 12.5 | 10.0 | 7.5 | 15 | 7 | 80.5 | 90% | High confidence |
| ShulCloud | 16.0 | 12.0 | 12.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 15 | 8 | 78.5 | 100% | High confidence |
| Rakefet Online | 14.0 | 16.5 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 8.0 | 15 | 5 | 78.0 | 90% | High confidence |
| MyShul | 8.0 | 18.5 | 10.5 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 15 | 10 | 75.0 | 75% | Medium confidence |
| Temple Tools | 10.0 | 13.5 | 11.5 | 10.0 | 5.0 | 15 | 1 | 66.0 | 70% | Medium confidence |
| GabbaiPro | 14.0 | 17.5 | 8.0 | 2.5 | 7.5 | 15 | 1 | 65.5 | 85% | High confidence |
| Benevolate | 10.0 | 17.0 | 11.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 5 | 0 | 63.0 | 85% | High confidence |
| ShulHub | 9.0 | 10.5 | 14.0 | 7.5 | 5.5 | 15 | 1 | 62.5 | 95% | High confidence |
| ShalomCloud | 14.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 5.0 | 15 | 2 | 59.0 | 80% | High confidence |
| Cardova | 7.0 | 15.0 | 10.0 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 15 | 1 | 58.5 | 70% | Medium confidence |
| Shulspace | 16.0 | 15.0 | 13.0 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 5 | 1 | 52.5 | 80% | High confidence |
| Shul Software | 10.0 | 9.5 | 9.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 5 | 0 | 38.5 | 60% | Medium confidence |
| Chabad Suite | 10.0 | 16.0 | 14.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 15 | 0 | 68.0 | 80% | High confidence |
| ChabadOne CRM | 10.0 | 15.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 15 | 0 | 52.0 | 55% | Medium confidence |
| Shluchim (Donarius Synagogue Edition) | 14.0 | 13.5 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 7.5 | 5 | 3 | 46.5 | 70% | Medium confidence |
| Go Shliach | 10.0 | 16.5 | 7.5 | 5.0 | 7.5 | 15 | 0 | — | 65% | Medium confidence |
| Congregation Connect | 6.0 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 5.5 | 5 | 1 | 42.0 | 55% | Medium confidence |
Frequently asked questions
Can a vendor improve its score?
Yes, in exactly one way: by documenting the capability or price on a public page and telling us. A feature we can link earns full credit; a feature asserted in an email earns half. That rule is the same for every vendor.
Do you accept vendor demos or trials?
We accept demos and trial accounts to understand a product, and we may note what we observed, but observations do not change the score. Only public documentation does, because only that can be checked by a reader.
Why is pricing transparency worth 15 points when it is not a feature?
Because an administrator choosing software with a board budget needs the number before the sales call, and because a vendor that publishes its prices is making a commitment a reader can hold it to. Quote-only vendors can still rank well on everything else.