Realm Reviews & Product Details

I like that Realm connects me to other church members, especially when we cannot be physically near each other during the pandemic. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The technology is sometimes difficult for older, less technology savvy, individuals at my church to use so it is harder to reach them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

In general good product to keep your congregation connected. Breakout groups for various teams, small groups (Sunday School) etc. Works on Web, Android and Apple iOS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The children's check-in Kiosk process seems to be way to complicated for the average volunteer that rotates though once a month. Setting up a laptop and maybe an ipad has challenges.

Last I looked the password requirements for the average member were to complex for an older person trying to type on their phone.

Should be able to attach more than one file to a message along with attach a file to reply to a message.

The direct messaging vs group posting seems do do funny things sometimes. Had cases where posts are made but don't get email notificatoin's unless you open app. Email notifications are all turned on.... seems to be quirky. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Realm is continuing to morph their product that churches need. They give usable updates approx every quarter Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I wish they would blend a service planning application with their personnel database. L Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

We did like the Finance part of the software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Lied to during the sales portion - Said They Had Features They Did Not- Some Feature were 5 YEARS in the making. Features were promised starting in 2015, will not be delivered until 2019 (maybe). Their communication with their customers is horrible. They do not respond to questions and request in a timely manner. Our biggest issue was that they lied to us during the sales process and even after we purchased their solution. I have talked to several churches who have used them and are now switching and investing additional dollars to recover from using this product. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Realm is intuitive and easy to use. Our staff love the ability to access Realm from anywhere and on any device. The types of things needed as a church staff member are there, with other functionality being released regularly. The support is top-notch and works through any issue I have with positively and with a wealth of knowledge. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are still some areas that are not as built-out as I would like them to be. For example, there is a space to save files or links within a group. This is really helpful for leadership teams to save meeting minutes or volunteer groups to save training information. However, there is not an ability to organize the files into folders or to sort the files alphabetically. They simply are in a big list, sorted by the date uploaded. While this and other more advanced functionality are not there, ACS is continually seeking feedback on what to change and make better. They have an enhancement request portal where ideas like this can be shared and individuals can vote on what they want to see happen next. This portal allows ACS to see what changes we need, while also allowing the churches to weigh in on what is more important and what is a nice feature to have but that they can wait a bit for. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I always recommend a church utilize a fully integrated solution. I do realize this increases the "switching costs" for churches that end up wanting to make a change. But I would expect the church to have done a significant amount of work up-front (i.e., before making a change in the first place). A fully-integrated solution reduces overall workload, thereby reducing man hours. Realm, with Vanco online giving, and when paired with Realm Accounting does so beautifully. There is ZERO work to be done for online giving batches, other than checking them off during the bank reconciliation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I would love to see additional dashboards built into the reporting system. Don't get me wrong. I really like the ones that are currently available. As a "finance guy" I would love to see an accounting dashboard that provides a number of customizable sections, such as:

Chart for cash account balances for the past 90 days, six months, year-to-date, etc.

Revenue-expense (with net income) for 90 days, six months, year-to-date, etc.

Pie chart that breaks down expense categories Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Realm offers a lot of functions. I love that it is cloud based and can be accessed from anywhere. Being able to see the photo of the church member's profile is also very nice. As a new staff member it allowed me to become better acquainted with church members. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Many church members are hesitant to create accounts, I'm not sure why. I wish there was a way to add photos to profiles in a mass update, rather than profile by profile. Lifetouch and PowerChurch plus (a program I have previously used) connect to one another. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The interface is very easy to use. Custom reports are easy to create. Pricing is appropriate for what you get Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Not as flexible for multi-site location that are all small congregations -- the multisite license is way to expensive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As a church member, I like being able to control and update my own settings and information. I also find the simplicity of Realm to be very refreshing. Posting to groups, messaging fellow church members--or all the members of my small group, checking out the latest church news and events, or giving my tithes and offerings are logical and super simple--and, with RealmConnect, available wherever I may be! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As a Realm administrator, I also love the user-friendly aspects of the RealmConnect app. In addition, I know there a few things that are easier to do or only available on our Realm website and not yet available on the app. I am looking forward to more things being able to be accomplished via the app--for both my role as user as well as administrator.

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Realm is web based so I’m never away from the information I need and there is no complicated software to install. All of our important church database information is in one place hat I can get to from any browser. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are just a handful of features that I have struggled with. One being registration events. For someone to sign up for an event they have to create and use their realm account. I’ve been told this is a feature that will be updated shortly so outsiders can sign up for events.

I also have had issues with pulling reports. Their queries are powerful but still have limits. I’d give examples but it would get very technical. Basically, I wanted to get some information and their queries made it so I had to see a lot more info than I wanted. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.