Parable vs MortarStone · updated 24 July 2026
Giving is one signal. Parable reads it beside all the others .
MortarStone does giving reporting properly, and its Basic tier costs nothing. Parable is not a giving tool — it is a reporting layer that happens to read giving alongside attendance, groups and serving on the same person.
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The short answer
If giving reporting is the whole job, MortarStone has a free tier and 60+ reports and we will tell you so on a call. Parable earns its price when the question spans more than money — the family still giving who stopped showing up is invisible in a giving tool at any price.
Who should choose which
Written honestly, because a pastor can tell when they're being sold to.
Choose MortarStone if…
- Giving is the only thing you need to report on.
- You want deep donor segmentation — first, second and third-time givers, lapsed, core.
- Free matters more than breadth. Their Basic tier genuinely costs nothing.
- You want fundraising coaching alongside the software.
- You need pledge tracking and campaign budgeting.
Choose Parable if…
- You want giving read beside attendance, groups and serving on one person.
- You want to spot the family that still gives but stopped attending.
- Your questions change and 60 fixed reports never quite have the one you want.
- You want plain-English questions rather than choosing from a report list.
- You want the same tool to serve your executive pastor and your data person.
Side by side
| Parable | MortarStone | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | ||
| Giving reporting | ✓ | ✓Deeper than ours |
| Attendance, groups and serving | ✓ | ✕Giving only |
| One record spanning all of it | ✓ | ✕ |
| Donor segmentation | ✓ | ✓First/second/third-time, lapsed, core |
| Pledge and campaign tracking | ✕ | ✓ |
| How you get answers | ||
| Ask in plain English | ✓ | ✕Pick from 60+ reports |
| Forecasting | ✓Giving forecasts | ✓Budget and pledge forecasting |
| SQL and warehouse access | ✓Scale plan and up | ✕ |
| Cost | ||
| Free tier | ✕Free trial only | ✓Basic Track, all reports |
| Price published | ✓From $79/mo | ✕Paid tiers quoted per church |
| Coaching included | ✕ | ✓On higher tiers |
Scroll the table sideways to compare →
Our own weak spots
Where Parable is the wrong choice
- Under about 200 people you probably don't need us. Planning Center's own dashboards will do.
- We don't count heads from a photo, and we don't pull YouTube or Instagram stats.
- If your Planning Center data is thin, Parable surfaces that fast. It reads what is there; it cannot invent history.
- We're a smaller company than the platforms we're listed beside. That's why you can book a call and get a founder rather than a support queue, but you should know it.
50+
churches using Parable
750,000+
people cared for
24M
data points synced weekly
Churches using Parable
“We’re all excited about the vision around this product and the results we’re already getting.”
Questions people ask us
Is Parable a MortarStone alternative?
Only if your need is broader than giving. MortarStone is a giving-analytics product with a free tier and more donor-specific reporting than Parable has. Parable is a reporting layer across all of Planning Center, so giving is one of several signals rather than the whole picture. Plenty of churches could reasonably run both.
MortarStone has a free tier. Why would we pay for Parable?
You would not, if giving reports are all you need — free is a good price and their Basic Track includes their reporting features. The case for Parable starts when the question crosses products: a household still giving but no longer attending, or whether the people who joined a group in January are still serving in April. A giving tool cannot see either.
Does Parable replace Planning Center Giving?
No. Parable reads Planning Center Giving and never writes to it. You keep your giving provider exactly as it is.
Can Parable do donor segmentation?
Yes — first-time givers, lapsed givers, recurring and core givers are all questions you can ask, and the answer comes back as a list of actual households. MortarStone ships more giving-specific reports out of the box; Parable lets you ask for whatever you want, including questions that mix giving with attendance or serving.
See it against your own data
Connect Planning Center tonight, run both for a month, and keep whichever one your staff actually opens.
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