Comparison · Events and stages
ProPresenter alternatives (2026): free and cheaper church presentation software
By Blink Brief · Updated · How pages are made
ProPresenter costs $289 a year for one seat, or $29 a month, and has no free version. FreeShow, OpenLP and Quelea are free and open source on Windows, Mac and Linux; FreeShow adds 200+ Bible versions and a timer that counts towards a time to its stage display. WorshipTools Presenter is free on Mac and Windows until you need a stage display. Among paid tools, EasyWorship starts at $210 a year, Proclaim at $269.99 a year per church, and MediaShout sells a one-time licence from $499.
On this page
Quick picks
-
Free, every platform
FreeShow
Open source on Windows, Mac and Linux, with a stage display and 200+ Bible versions.
Free
freeshow.app -
Free, pay for stage display
WorshipTools Presenter
Free on Mac and Windows with a countdown to a time and 45+ Bibles; stage display comes with Pro.
Free; Pro $195/year
worshiptools.com -
Paid, unlimited seats
Proclaim
One price per church, with unlimited seats and installs on Mac and Windows and 60+ Bible versions.
$269.99/year
logos.com
Price and platform
| Software | Price | Runs on | Where free stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProPresenter | $289/year for seat 1, $189 each for seats 2–4, $149 each for seats 5–10; or $29/month per seat | macOS 13.5 or later, Windows 10 (version 1903) or later | 14-day free trial; no free version |
| FreeShow | Free: "FreeShow is and always will be free" | Windows, Mac (Intel and Apple silicon), Linux | Never; open source (GPL-3.0) |
| OpenLP | Free | Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.15 or later, Linux, FreeBSD | Never; open source |
| Quelea | Free | Windows, Mac, Linux | Never; open source (GPL-3.0) |
| WorshipTools Presenter | Free; Pro $19/month or $195/year; Pro Plus $29/month or $295/year | macOS 12 or later, Windows 10 or later | Stage display, the mobile remote and more than one output screen need Pro; free has 15 items per service |
| EasyWorship 8 | Basic from $17.50/month or $210/year; Premium from $27.50/month or $330/year, by attendance; one campus, several computers | macOS 14 or later, Windows 10 and 11 | 30-day free trial; subscription only |
| Proclaim | $269.99/year; Pro $399.99/year; Pro + Partner Media $999.99/year; per church, unlimited seats | Mac, Windows; Pro adds editing in a browser and on iOS and Android | 14-day free trial, no watermarks |
| MediaShout | Windows Site $599 once (unlimited computers); Mac Site $499 once; LE $198/year for 1 computer, Windows only | Windows (MediaShout 7), Mac | 14-day free trial, no watermark |
Prices in US dollars, read on each vendor's own page on 4 November 2026. EasyWorship's prices are for its smallest attendance tier. WorshipTools' paid prices come from the price data its pricing page loads.
Stage display and countdowns
| Software | Stage display | Countdown to a time of day | Lyrics and Bible |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProPresenter | Yes, "customizable Stage Screens" | Yes, Countdown to Time, to the audience or only the stage screens | 130+ Bible translations, "some translations sold separately" |
| FreeShow | Yes, in a browser or an output window | The app's timer types include "Towards a time"; the docs say only "custom countdown timers" | Lyrics search; 200+ Bible versions through API.Bible, free |
| OpenLP | Yes, a stage view in any browser, with the time of day | Not in the manual | Song and Bible import from several formats |
| Quelea | Yes, a stage view, and lyrics on phones in a browser | A countdown of minutes and seconds; a time of day not stated | Bibles in Zefania XML, imported |
| WorshipTools Presenter | With Pro | Yes, Countdown to Time | SongSelect and Loop Community import; 45+ Bibles free |
| EasyWorship 8 | Output to "confidence monitors" named; no stage display page | "Countdown to Service Start", in a 2019 post | CCLI SongSelect; 100+ Bible translations |
| Proclaim | Couldn't be read | Couldn't be read | SongSelect, Hymnbase; 60+ Bible versions included |
| MediaShout | Yes, except on LE | Not stated | Lyric library, SongSelect; 70 Bibles included |
Read on each vendor's own site and docs on 4 November 2026. "Not stated" means the vendor's pages don't say; Proclaim's support site refused the check.
Which one fits: 3 questions
Answer for the computer in your booth, and the list keeps the software from the tables above that fits.
Find the presentation software that fits your church
To pick by hand:
- On Linux, keep FreeShow, OpenLP and Quelea; nothing paid in the table runs there.
- With no budget, keep FreeShow, OpenLP, Quelea and WorshipTools Presenter's free plan.
- If the screen must count to the service's start time, keep ProPresenter, WorshipTools Presenter, EasyWorship and FreeShow.
Free and open source: FreeShow, OpenLP, Quelea
FreeShow says it "is and always will be free". Version 1.6.7 came out on 21 October 2026 for Windows, Mac and Linux. Its stage display is "content exclusive to the people on stage", shown in a browser or in an output window over HDMI or NDI. Scripture comes from "over 200 bible versions from API.Bible", or from Zefania, OSIS, Beblia and OpenSong files.
OpenLP is "Free to download, free to use, and free to give to all your friends", on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD. Its stage view opens "from any device with a web browser" and shows the time of day; its manual has no countdown to a time.
Quelea is "100% free", with a separate stage view and lyrics pushed "to any mobile device with a browser". Its timer counts down minutes and seconds you type, for example the minutes until the service starts.
WorshipTools Presenter: free until the stage display
WorshipTools Presenter is "free forever on macOS and Windows: unlimited installs, no expiring trial", with "Countdown to Time" and 45+ Bibles. The free plan holds 15 items per service. Stage display, the mobile remote and multiple output screens need Pro, at $19 a month or $195 a year.
Paid with support: EasyWorship, Proclaim, MediaShout
- EasyWorship 8 came out in June 2026 and runs on macOS 14 or later as well as Windows 10 and 11. It is subscription only, priced by attendance, from $210 a year for Basic. A licence covers several computers at one campus. Its countdown to the service start is the "Countdown to Service Start" token, last written up in 2019.
- Proclaim is priced per church: $269.99 a year with "unlimited seats and installs on Mac & Windows" and 60+ Bible versions. Pro, at $399.99, adds editing in a browser and on iOS and Android.
- MediaShout is the one with a one-time price: $599 for a Windows site licence on unlimited computers, $499 for Mac. Its LE plan, $198 a year for one Windows computer, has "NO Stage/Confidence Display"; there is no LE for Mac.
Staying with ProPresenter? Renewed Vision prices it per seat: $289 a year for the first, $189 for each of seats 2 to 4, $149 for each of seats 5 to 10, or $29 a month per seat. The church countdown guide has the steps for a Countdown to Time in ProPresenter, EasyWorship and WorshipTools.
Only the countdown: a browser timer
If the church needs software only to put a countdown on the screen before the service, presentation software is more than the job. Our free Stage Timer runs full screen in a browser with no sign-up: 5 to 45 minutes or your own time, a line of text under the time, amber at 2:00 and red at 0:00. It counts a number of minutes, not to a clock time, and it runs on one screen with no remote control. It shows no lyrics or scripture, so it replaces none of the software above.
Our product · in development
Blink Timer: control the timer from the booth on another device, show it on several displays, and send the speaker messages. Planned price $210/year or $29 per event.
Join the early listFor timer apps that the booth controls, see stage timer apps compared and Stagetimer.io alternatives. For translation and captions during the sermon, see live translation and captions for church.
Questions
What is the best free alternative to ProPresenter?
FreeShow, if you want one free app on Windows, Mac or Linux with a stage display, Bibles and a timer that counts towards a time. WorshipTools Presenter is free on Mac and Windows with a countdown to a time of day, but its stage display needs the Pro plan. OpenLP and Quelea are free and open source too.
Is there a free version of ProPresenter?
No. ProPresenter has a 14-day free trial, then $289 a year for the first seat or $29 a month per seat.
Which is better, ProPresenter or EasyWorship?
They cost about the same for a small church: ProPresenter is $289 a year per seat, EasyWorship's Basic plan starts at $210 a year for one campus on several computers. Both run on Mac and Windows now. ProPresenter documents stage screens and a Countdown to Time; EasyWorship's countdown to the service start is documented only in a 2019 post.
Is Proclaim or ProPresenter better?
Proclaim prices by church, not by seat: $269.99 a year with unlimited seats and installs on Mac and Windows, and 60+ Bible versions included. ProPresenter is $289 a year for one seat, less for each seat added. Proclaim's stage display and countdown pages couldn't be read for this comparison.
Sources
- ProPresenter: the seat selector: $289 a year for seat 1, $189 each for seats 2 to 4, $149 each for seats 5 to 10; $29 a month per seat. Read on 4 November 2026.
- Renewed Vision: ProPresenter system requirements. Read on 4 November 2026.
- Renewed Vision: Setting up Timers in ProPresenter 7. Read on 4 November 2026.
- FreeShow. Read on 4 November 2026.
- FreeShow docs: Stage. Read on 4 November 2026.
- FreeShow docs: Scripture. Read on 4 November 2026.
- FreeShow on GitHub: GPL-3.0; v1.6.7 of 21 October 2026; the timer types in public/lang/en.json. Read on 4 November 2026.
- OpenLP. Read on 4 November 2026.
- OpenLP manual: Stage view. Read on 4 November 2026.
- Quelea. Read on 4 November 2026.
- Quelea docs: Timer. Read on 4 November 2026.
- WorshipTools Presenter: paid plan prices from the pricing page's price data, in US dollars. Read on 4 November 2026.
- WorshipTools: Countdown (legacy version). Read on 4 November 2026.
- EasyWorship pricing: the smallest attendance tier. Read on 4 November 2026.
- EasyWorship blog: Using nursery and message alerts: February 25, 2019. Read on 4 November 2026.
- Proclaim pricing. Read on 4 November 2026.
- MediaShout pricing. Read on 4 November 2026.