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KerkBeamer vs OpenLP

KerkBeamer logo
KerkBeamer

Dutch online service for building church beamer presentations from a song and Bible database.

  • Subscription
  • Free Trial
OpenLP logo
OpenLP

Free, open-source worship presentation software for songs, Bibles, media and slides.

  • Open Source
  • Free

Summary

  • KerkBeamer is paid (From €17.50/month (excl. VAT)), while OpenLP is free.
  • OpenLP is open source (GPL-3.0-or-later); KerkBeamer is proprietary.
  • Both run on Windows and macOS.
  • Both support: Songs & lyrics: Song library · Slides & presentations: PowerPoint · Media: Video playback · Media: Audio playback · Media: Images.

Only in KerkBeamer

  • Runs on Web browser
  • Bible: Free translations included (partial in OpenLP)
  • Bible: Licensed translations (NIV, ESV, etc.) (partial in OpenLP)
  • Screens & outputs: Multiple audience screens

Only in OpenLP

  • Runs on Linux
  • Inputs & other sources: Live camera / capture card (paid add-on in KerkBeamer)
  • Multilingual: Interface in multiple languages
  • Automation & extensibility (partial in KerkBeamer)
  • Connectivity & collaboration: Works fully offline (partial in KerkBeamer)

Based on confirmed data only. Unknown values are not counted.

Side by side

  • Supported Supported
  • Partial Partial
  • Paid add-on or tier Paid add-on / tier
  • Not supported Not supported
  • Unknown Unknown
  • * Hover or tap for note
Product KerkBeamer logo KerkBeamer OpenLP logo OpenLP
Overview
Price From €17.50/month (excl. VAT)Free trialFree / Donation-supported
Open source NoYes (GPL-3.0-or-later)
Deployment Cloud / hosted, Desktop appDesktop app
Status activeactive
Platforms
Windows Supported Supported
macOS Supported Supported
Linux Not supported Supported
Web browser Supported Not supported
iOS / iPadOS Not supported Not supported
Android Not supported Not supported
ChromeOS Not supported Not supported
Content
Songs & lyrics Supported Supported
Song library Supported: Song database of 10,000+ songs from Dutch songbooks, shown as text or sheet music; billed €1 per songbook used each month. Supported
Import from other presentation software Unknown Supported: Imports songs from over 25 formats including EasyWorship, ProPresenter, MediaShout, SongShow Plus, SongBeamer, OpenSong, ZionWorx and VideoPsalm.
Paste or import plain-text lyrics Unknown Supported
Automatic lyrics import (e.g. SongSelect, online sources) Unknown Supported: Songs can be imported from CCLI SongSelect from within OpenLP; this importer has occasionally broken when CCLI changed its website.
Chord charts for musicians Unknown Supported: Songs can store chords (ChordPro-style), shown in the browser Chord View with transposition and printable via export.
Motion backgrounds behind lyrics Unknown Supported: Themes can use a looping video or a live stream as the background.
CCLI usage reporting Not supported: CCLI Auto Reporting is not available, so songs must be reported to CCLI manually. Partial: The Song Usage Tracking plugin records song usage and produces reports; submission to CCLI is manual.
Bible Supported Partial
Free translations included Supported: 11 Dutch and regional-language translations, including the public-domain Statenvertaling; each translation used costs €1 per month. Partial: No Bibles are bundled; free translations are imported from OSIS, Zefania, OpenSong, CSV, SWORD or WordProject files.
Licensed translations (NIV, ESV, etc.) Supported: Copyrighted translations such as NBV21, Herziene Statenvertaling and Bijbel in Gewone Taal are included, with no separate licence needed. Partial: Copyrighted versions can be downloaded on demand from BibleGateway, Bibleserver or Crosswalk; there is no licensed in-app catalogue.
Slides & presentations Supported Supported
PowerPoint Supported: .ppt/.pptx files are uploaded and converted; they cannot be edited in KerkBeamer and can loop with a set time per slide. Supported: Drives an installed PowerPoint or LibreOffice Impress to show the presentation.
Keynote Unknown Supported: Keynote presentations are controlled through AppleScript on macOS with Keynote installed.
Google Slides Unknown Unknown
Canva Unknown Unknown
PDF Unknown Supported
Plays slide animations & transitions Unknown Partial: Animations play because OpenLP drives PowerPoint, Impress or Keynote itself; PDFs are shown as static images.
Media Supported Supported
Video playback Supported: Uploaded videos are converted to MP4 and can be trimmed. Supported: In the 3.x series audio and video playback uses VLC; OpenLP 4.0 alphas switch to Qt Multimedia.
Audio playback Supported Supported
Images Supported Supported
YouTube / online video Not supported: The documentation states YouTube videos or URLs cannot be added. Unknown
Inputs & other sources Paid add-on or tier Supported
Live camera / capture card Paid add-on or tier: The paid TV broadcasts add-on (or the separate CameraRegie product) controls PTZ cameras and a Blackmagic ATEM switcher, so camera images can be put on the projector. Supported: Capture devices can be shown as a Device Stream media item, and network streams are also supported.
Screen sharing Unknown Unknown
Web pages Unknown Unknown
Countdown timers & clocks Unknown Unknown
On-screen messages & alerts Unknown Supported: The Alerts plugin overlays a scrolling message on the live display.
Audience interaction (polls, Q&A, Slido, follow along) Paid add-on or tier: The paid LiveBeamer add-on lets people follow the presentation on their own phone, tablet or laptop via a URL. Unknown
Languages
Multilingual Supported Supported
Interface in multiple languages Not supported: The interface and documentation are Dutch only. Supported: The interface is translated into about 30 languages.
Songs in other languages Unknown Unknown
Bibles in other languages Supported: Translations include Frisian, Twents and Gronings as well as standard Dutch. Unknown
Bilingual lyrics on screen Unknown Unknown
Bible translations side by side Unknown Supported: A second Bible version can be selected to show the same passage alongside the first.
Non-Latin & right-to-left scripts Unknown Unknown
Integrations
Software integrations Unknown Supported
Planning Center Unknown Supported: The PlanningCenter plugin imports service plans from the Planning Center Online v2 API.
ChurchSuite Unknown Unknown
WorshipTools Planning Unknown Unknown
Hardware control Unknown Supported
MIDI Unknown Unknown
DMX lighting Unknown Unknown
Stream Deck / Companion Unknown Supported: Bitfocus Companion has an OpenLP module that uses the OpenLP HTTP API.
Automation & extensibility Partial Supported
Network API (HTTP / WebSocket) Unknown Supported: HTTP REST (v2) and WebSocket API, used by the web remote and mobile apps.
Plugins / extensions Unknown Partial: Features are organised as built-in plugins that can be switched on or off; there is no third-party plugin store.
Built-in scripting / macros Unknown Unknown
Webhooks / triggers to other systems Unknown Unknown
MCP server for AI assistants Unknown Unknown
AI features (e.g. verse detection, lyric formatting) Partial: Live sermon captions from speech recognition can be shown through an integration with Preekondertiteling.nl, which needs its own subscription. Unknown
Presenting & control
Screens & outputs Supported Supported
Multiple audience screens Supported: Extra outputs for a church TV broadcast can be driven alongside the projector output. Not supported: OpenLP projects to a single display screen; the source notes multi-monitor output is not yet supported (a custom geometry can span screens).
Stage display / confidence monitor Unknown Supported
Lower thirds / alpha key for streaming Paid add-on or tier: The paid TV broadcasts add-on provides subtitles and text-over-video using a separate alpha (key) output or chroma key. Unknown
Output as a web page (TVs, OBS / vMix browser source) Paid add-on or tier: The paid LiveBeamer add-on shows the live presentation as a web page on any device. Partial: The browser Main View mirrors the projector using screenshots, without audio or video.
Broadcast video Unknown Unknown
NDI Unknown Unknown
SDI Unknown Unknown
Built-in streaming & recording Unknown Unknown
Stream to any RTMP destination Unknown Unknown
YouTube Live Unknown Unknown
Facebook Live Unknown Unknown
Record the output to a file Unknown Unknown
TV output Unknown Unknown
Apple TV app Unknown Unknown
Android / Google TV app Unknown Unknown
Fire TV app Unknown Unknown
Roku app Unknown Unknown
Chromecast / AirPlay Unknown Unknown
Connectivity & collaboration Supported Supported
Cloud sync of library Supported Unknown
Works fully offline Partial: Presentations are stored online and must be loaded over the internet; once loaded they play without a connection. Supported
Remote control from phone or tablet Unknown Supported: Built-in web remote plus Android and iOS remote apps.
Multiple operators at once Supported: Team members can work on presentations and templates at the same time. Unknown
Web native (runs in a browser) Partial: Presentations are prepared in the browser, but playback in church uses the KerkBeamer software for Windows or macOS. Unknown

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