StarFor anyone tired of the laptop at the back of the room
Run your whole service from a tablet
No laptop. No dedicated media machine. Design the slides, present them, and stream the same view to everyone on the team — from whatever device you already own.
One setlist. Four ways to read it.
Nobody in the room is looking at the same page. Star sends each of them the version they can actually read, from the same setlist — and puts the words on the wall while it does it.
The singers
Words only, large enough to read from a stand.
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
The guitarist
Transposed to whatever the singer needs, on the fly.
GA-ma-zing grace! G7how Csweet the Gsound
Capo 0 · G → A♭ · A · B♭
The organist
The hymnal engraving, or a PDF you already own.
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound
Every presentation app makes you bring a computer
You can already control the slides from your phone. You just cannot be the slides.
- ProPresenter, EasyWorship, Proclaim, MediaShout, OpenLP, Quelea and FreeShow all run their presentation engine on Windows or macOS only.
- Their mobile apps are remotes, stage displays and viewers — never the presenter.
- Every one of those remotes needs a computer running the show somewhere else in the room. The tablet is already on the stand. No vendor lets it drive.
- When the machine at the back fails on a Sunday morning, there is no fallback.
What you get
- The device is the presenter
- Star renders the presentation itself, on tablet, phone and web. Nothing to install on a dedicated machine and nothing to pair before the service starts.
- Design the slides in the app
- Backgrounds, media and custom layouts live with the setlist — so the slides are built once, alongside the songs, rather than rebuilt in a separate deck every week.
- Stream it and let others join
- Share the running presentation with the band, the sound desk and the stage display. Everyone follows the same slide without a cable or a second licence.
- Scripture and songs in one flow
- Pull Bible passages and songs into the same running order, so a reading and a chorus are the same kind of slide instead of two different tools.
What actually runs where
Checked against each vendor’s own system-requirements or support pages, 14 Aug 2026. “Remote only” means the mobile app controls a computer running the presentation — it does not present. Star’s figure is the Solo plan: one person builds the setlist and runs the service, and nobody else needs an account. If several people need to edit and share setlists, the shared workspace holds up to 5 and the first 3 seats are free.
Scroll the table sideways for every column.
| Windows / Mac | Android | iPad | Mobile app does | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star | Yes (web) | Yes | Yes | Presents | Free · $39/yr |
| ProPresenter 7 | Yes | No | No | Remote only | $289/yr |
| EasyWorship 8 | Yes | No | No | Remote only | $210–330/yr |
| WorshipTools Presenter | Yes | No | No | Remote / stage display | Free |
| Proclaim | Yes | No | No | Remote only | $269.99–999.99/yr |
| MediaShout 7 | Yes | No | No | None found | $499–798 + $199–299/yr |
| OpenLP · Quelea · FreeShow | Yes | No | No | Remote only | Free |
Where Star is not the right answer
If you already run a dedicated Windows machine and need broadcast-grade output — NDI, multi-screen edge blending, SDI capture, deep video playback control — ProPresenter is a more capable product than Star and it is not close. Star is for groups who want the set to run from a device they already own, not for production teams building a video control room.
Questions
How do the slides get to the projector or TV?
Cast to a smart TV or a Chromecast, or connect the tablet directly to the projector. The presentation renders on the device, so anything that can mirror or receive that display works.
Does it work if the Wi-Fi drops mid-service?
The presenting device keeps running its own presentation. Streaming to other devices needs the network, but the screen the congregation sees does not depend on other people staying connected.
Can the band see something different from the congregation?
Yes. The band follows the setlist with lyrics and chords while the presentation shows the congregation view.
We already own ProPresenter. Is this a replacement?
For most groups doing songs, scripture and announcements, yes. For a production team using NDI, multi-screen blending or heavy video work, no — see the comparison above.
What happens if it does not survive a real Sunday?
We give the year back. Run four Sundays on Star, and if the service did not go the way you needed it to, email us within five weeks of the charge for a full refund — no form, no reason required, and your setlists stay where they are. None of the paid products in the table above will do that, checked 18 Aug 2026: ProPresenter declines refunds outright, since their store treats a licence as an open-box item; EasyWorship prorates the refund, stops at 90 days and voids it once someone has downloaded media; Proclaim and MediaShout publish no refund policy we could find. The free ones have nothing to refund.
Try it on next Sunday’s service
Build one show, present it from a tablet, and see whether the laptop was ever necessary.