Notebird vs Realm (ACS Technologies)

Care updates with custom types

Log a visit, call, or conversation in seconds. Attach photos and files. Restrict sensitive notes to the right people.

Follow-up tasks with owners

Every next step has a name and a due date. Open tasks roll up per person and per team member.

Milestones with reminders

Birthdays, anniversaries, baptisms, yahrzeits, and custom events, remembered every year.

Early Bird daily email

Who needs attention today, in your inbox each morning. No report to run.

Care reports and activity feed

Print a per-person care history. See the whole team's care in one stream, filtered by group.

Permissions and syncs

Volunteers see only their people. Syncs with Planning Center, Breeze, and Church Windows; free import from Realm (ACS Technologies) or anything else.

Notebird vs Realm (ACS Technologies): common questions

Does Notebird integrate with Realm?

Not with a direct sync. Realm does not offer a public API, so Notebird cannot connect to it the way it connects to Planning Center, Breeze, and Church Windows. Instead, export your people from Realm as a CSV file and use Notebird's free one-time import. After that, keep people records in Realm and care records in Notebird.

Does Realm have pastoral care features?

Yes. Realm has standard and private profile notes with tags, controlled by the Manage Notes and Manage Private Notes permissions. Pastors can also use the free Realm Shepherd app for iOS and Android to look up people and add pastoral notes on the go. Pathways let staff move people through defined steps, such as visitor follow-up, with notifications for leaders. There is no separate product called "Realm Care."

What is the difference between Notebird and Realm?

Realm is a church management system: member records, giving, check-in, groups, events, a congregant app, and an optional accounting add-on. Notebird is a pastoral care tool only: care updates, follow-up tasks, milestone reminders, care reports, and a team activity feed. Notebird does not do giving, check-in, or accounting, so most churches run it next to a ChMS like Realm.

Is Notebird cheaper than Realm?

It depends on your team size. Notebird charges per user: $12 per month for one user, then $8, $6, and $4 for each additional user, with every feature included. Realm charges per church; the online store lists Realm Inform at $49 per month, and larger plans are quote-based. A small care team on Notebird usually costs less than Realm, but they do different jobs, so many churches pay for both.

Can I use Realm to track pastoral visits?

Yes, at a basic level. You can add a note to a person's profile after a visit, mark it private, and tag it so you can find it later in a custom query. The Shepherd app lets pastors record visitation notes from a phone. Realm does not document follow-up tasks with due dates, milestone reminders, or a per-person printed care history, which is where Notebird goes further.

Can I use Notebird and Realm together?

Yes. Keep Realm as your system of record for members, giving, and check-in, and use Notebird for care conversations, tasks, milestones, and reports. Import your people into Notebird once by CSV. Because Realm has no public API, updates to names or contact details in Realm do not flow to Notebird automatically; you can re-import when you need to.

Does Realm have a pastoral care app?

Yes. Realm Shepherd is a free iOS and Android app for pastors and pastoral staff at churches that subscribe to Realm. It gives access to the directory, groups, Pathways, and pastoral notes, and lets you create and edit notes tied to a person. Congregants use a separate app, Realm Connect. Notebird is one mobile web app for the whole care team, added to the phone's home screen with no store download.

Should I switch from Realm to Notebird?

Usually not a switch, because Notebird does not replace a church management system. If Realm handles your giving, check-in, and records well but your care team wants tasks, milestone reminders, care reports, and a shared activity feed, add Notebird next to Realm. If you only need occasional notes on a profile, Realm alone may be enough.