AI sermon tools, compared honestly
There are a lot of "AI sermon" tools now, and they don’t all do the same thing. This guide — written by the pastor who builds Sermon Helper — sorts them by the job they actually do, with pricing verified from each vendor’s own page. Sermon Helper is one of them, and we’ll tell you plainly where another tool is the better fit.
How we keep this honest: every competitor fact below was re-checked on each vendor’s own site on July 24, 2026. We only compare things we could verify, we don’t repeat marketing claims we couldn’t confirm, and we don’t run down other people’s work — pastors built these tools too.
First, figure out your bottleneck
Most pastors’ week breaks into three jobs. Different tools solve different ones — the fastest way to choose is to name where you’re actually stuck.
- Prep — studying the text and getting a sermon written. (Sermon-writing editors and study workflows.)
- Print — the bulletin, liturgy, hymns, and children’s material for Sunday worship. (Bulletin/worship tools.)
- Promotion — clips, social posts, and email after Sunday. (Repurposing tools.)
Almost every tool on the market is strong at one of these. The thing that’s rare is a tool that carries a single sermon across all three — and does it for mainline, lectionary-following worship, with a real printed bulletin at the end. That’s the gap Sermon Helper is built for.
The tools in this guide
Sermon Helper vs Pulpit AI →
Pulpit AI is probably the best-known "sermon AI" brand. It is a post-sermon repurposing tool: you upload the recording or manuscript of a sermon you have already preached, and it turns that one sermon into a stack of content. It is now owned by Subsplash.
Sermon Helper vs Sermonary →
Sermonary is the "AI sermon writing" tool most pastors mean when they search that phrase — a dedicated sermon-writing editor with an AI assistant, a commentary research suite, and an illustration library, from Ministry Pass. Of the tools here it overlaps our writing side the most.
Sermon Helper vs SermonShots →
SermonShots is a done-for-you sermon-video tool: you upload Sunday’s service video and it produces short clips, a transcript, and (on higher tiers) written content. Like Pulpit AI it works on the sermon after it is preached.
Sermon Helper vs FaithStack →
FaithStack is a set of free, no-login AI generators — a sermon-outline generator, a devotional generator, a bulletin generator, and more. It is the tool most people find when they search "free AI sermon generator." It is the honest budget comparison: free one-off text versus an ongoing ministry workspace.
Where Sermon Helper is different
Rather than repeat it on every page, here’s the short version of what sets Sermon Helper apart from the tools above — all of it live on the product today unless noted:
Lectionary-native, built for mainline worship
Sermon Helper is tuned for PC(USA) / Reformed mainline pastors and works from the Revised Common Lectionary — Sunday by Sunday, with the season, liturgical color, and appointed readings. The other AI sermon tools are topical or evangelical-voiced and do not follow the lectionary.
It starts before the sermon, not after
Most "AI sermon" tools take a sermon you already preached and slice it into clips and posts. Sermon Helper walks you through the writing — a 7-phase study workshop, or a fast first draft from your Preaching Insights — then handles the week’s content once the sermon exists.
Trained on your own preaching
You upload your past sermons and the assistant learns your voice, your stories, and your tradition, so what it drafts sounds like you rather than generic AI prose.
Verified, not just generated
Scripture is looked up rather than generated; hymn numbers are verified across the common mainline hymnals (Glory to God, UMH, ELW, The Hymnal 1982); Greek and Hebrew come from a real interlinear with Strong’s and parsing; and a second, independent AI fact-checks every quote, statistic, and attribution (✓ verified / ⚠ couldn’t confirm / ⚠ likely fabricated).
The whole week from one sermon — including a real bulletin
One sermon produces the bulletin and liturgy (grounded in the Book of Common Worship and the confessions), a music handoff with real hymn numbers, a children’s moment, a midweek Bible study, daily devotionals, social posts, graphics, and a newsletter article — print-ready, not digital-only.
Founding price, and free for the Presbytery of the Peaks
$19/month is a founding rate locked for life (regularly about $39), with a 30-day free trial and no credit card to start. Pastors in the Presbytery of the Peaks get access at no cost.
Pricing: Sermon Helper is $19/mo — founding price, locked for life (reg. ~$39/mo) — with a 30-day free trial, no credit card. A Pro plan ($79/mo (or $790/yr)) is in active development — bulletin editor, auto-post to social/website/email, staff seats.
Frequently asked
What is the best AI tool for sermon writing?
It depends on what you actually need. Tools like Sermonary are strong topical writing editors; Pulpit AI and SermonShots repurpose a recorded sermon into clips and posts; free generators like FaithStack give you a quick outline. Sermon Helper is built for mainline, lectionary-following pastors who want help writing in their own voice and then need the bulletin, hymns, and the rest of the week produced too. Match the tool to whether your bottleneck is prep, print, or promotion.
Do any AI sermon tools follow the lectionary and make a bulletin?
Among the widely marketed "AI sermon" tools, most are topical or evangelical-voiced and focus on either writing help or post-sermon repurposing — not Revised Common Lectionary planning or a print bulletin. As of 2026, Sermon Helper is built specifically around the lectionary and produces a print bulletin and liturgy, which is the main gap it fills.
How much do AI sermon tools cost?
As of 2026-07-24: FaithStack has a free no-login tier (Pro $29/month); Pulpit AI starts at $39/month; SermonShots has a free 2-clip tier with paid plans from about $50/month; Sermonary is $49/month. Sermon Helper is $19/month as a founding rate locked for life, with a 30-day free trial and no credit card. Always check each vendor’s own page for the current number.
See it on your own sermons — free for 30 days
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