9 picks · Design Software
The media budget is zero, but Sunday still needs slides, a livestream and a Reel. Here's the best free tool for each job, and where each free plan stops.
Updated
You can run a church's weekly media for $0. Canva covers graphics, Pexels photos and video clips, and Google Fonts your type. FreeShow puts lyrics on screen, OBS Studio runs the livestream, DaVinci Resolve edits sermon video and CapCut makes Reels. Meta Business Suite schedules Facebook and Instagram, and Planning Center's free tiers plan Sunday for a small team.
None of these tools sends an invoice. They still cost something: time to learn, help that comes from forums instead of a phone line, and license rules someone has to read once. Know the catch before you build Sunday around a free tool.
Unsplash is free with no credit required and suits sermon series art. Presenter is the simplest free lyrics app, though free services cap at 15 items. OpenLP keeps an older booth computer working. Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels, including YouTube and TikTok, with 10 scheduled posts per channel.
Moving backgrounds are the gap. None of the worship background libraries we review has a free plan, so start with Pexels video clips behind your lyrics. For more, see our presentation software guide, free stock photos and Canva vs Adobe Express.
| App | Best for | Price | Free option | Works on | Learning curve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canva | For graphics | Free plan; Pro $144/yr; Business $250/yr per person (Oct 2026) | Yes | Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android | Easy |
| Pexels | For photos and video clips | Free | Yes | Web, iOS, Android | Easy |
| Google Fonts | For fonts | Free (open source) | Yes | Web | Easy |
| FreeShow | For lyrics and slides on Sunday | Free (open source) | Yes | Windows, Mac, Linux | Moderate |
| OBS Studio | For the livestream | Free (open source) | Yes | Windows, Mac, Linux | Moderate |
| DaVinci Resolve | For sermon and event video | Free; Studio $295 one-time (Oct 2026) | Yes | Mac, Windows, Linux, iPad | Advanced |
| CapCut | For Reels and Shorts | Free plan; Pro about $19.99/mo in the US, varies by region (Oct 2026) | Yes | Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, iPad, Android | Easy |
| Meta Business Suite | For scheduling social posts | Free | Yes | Web, iOS, Android | Easy |
| Planning Center | For planning Sunday with your team | Free tier in every app; paid tiers from $15/mo per app (Oct 2026) | Yes | Web, iOS, Android | Moderate |
01For graphics
A volunteer can make a decent sermon slide, social post or flyer in their first session, from millions of templates, in the browser or on a phone. Canva Free covers most weekly graphics, and eligible nonprofits can apply for Pro free for up to 50 people.
02For photos and video clips
Photos and videos are free with no credit required, and you can crop, edit and add text. One site covers the slide background, the small groups post and b-roll for the announcement video, and its clips can be cut into bumpers and countdowns.
03For fonts
About 1,950 open-source font families, free for any use, including your church logo, the bulletin, slides and video. Nobody has to check a license before the Easter flyer goes to print, and Noto fonts cover more than 1,000 languages.
04For lyrics and slides on Sunday
No paid tier and no subscription, yet it has stage displays, NDI output for the livestream and Planning Center sync. It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux and imports ProPresenter, EasyWorship and PowerPoint files, which makes switching easier.
05For the livestream
It turns a booth computer into a livestream switcher for camera shots, slides and lower thirds, with no subscription to renew. Studio Mode lets a volunteer preview the next shot before it goes live, and it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
06For sermon and event video
The free version edits, color-corrects and mixes audio in one app, and handles Ultra HD video at up to 60fps. That's enough for the baptism story, the Christmas Eve recap or the weekly sermon edit, on Mac, Windows, Linux or iPad.
07For Reels and Shorts
Templates and auto captions turn a Sunday moment into a vertical video in minutes, on a phone, a computer or in the browser. The free plan includes basic editing and free templates, which is plenty for a volunteer posting midweek.
08For scheduling social posts
Schedule Facebook and Instagram posts and stories, reply to messages and comments and check insights, free from Meta. If your church's social media lives on those two apps, the week's posts can be queued before Sunday without paying for a scheduler.
09For planning Sunday with your team
People, the member database, is free with unlimited records, and Services is free for one team of five or fewer. Build Sunday's plan so worship, tech and the preacher work from the same page, then schedule the slide and camera volunteers from it.
Is there a free plan or free software a church can use every Sunday, not a trial that runs out?
Can someone who serves once a month use it, or is there a clear path for the one person who will learn it?
Where does the free version stop: users, posts, features or licenses? We name the catch for every pick.
Every price, limit and license detail was checked on the vendor's own site in October 2026.
Most teams can cover the basics with Canva for graphics, Pexels for photos and video, FreeShow for lyrics, OBS Studio for the livestream, DaVinci Resolve or CapCut for video and Meta Business Suite for scheduling. Each has a free version you can use every week.
Yes. OBS Studio is free and open source on Windows, Mac and Linux. It sends one stream at a time, so reaching YouTube and Facebook at once takes a multistream plugin or a relay service.
DaVinci Resolve is the best free editor for sermons and event videos, with Ultra HD up to 60fps in the free version. CapCut is quicker for short vertical videos, but use your own licensed music outside CapCut and TikTok.
Yes. Free presentation software like FreeShow doesn't license the songs. Showing lyrics in worship still needs your church's own song license, such as CCLI.
