About
Planning Center is an integrated church management software suite designed to help churches of every kind and size run more efficiently. Rather than juggling multiple disconnected tools, Planning Center unifies all ministry operations into a single, flexible platform. The platform includes a robust set of products: People & Communication for managing your membership database; Services for worship planning, volunteer scheduling, and real-time music annotation; Groups for community engagement and chat; Events for calendar and facility management; Registrations for signups, tickets, and payments; Check-Ins for attendance tracking; Giving for tithes, offerings, and reporting; and Publishing for custom pages, video, and audio libraries. Church Center, Planning Center's branded mobile app, gives congregation members a seamless way to check in kids, view volunteer schedules, chat with group members, register for events, submit prayer requests, and give—all synced in real time with admin tools. Churches can customize it with their own theme, forms, and content. Planning Center is especially valued for its low giving processing fees (as low as 2.15%), weekly product updates, and the fact that it operates without outside investors. It offers a free membership database, a free trial period for Giving, and special programs for church planters. Integrations with a wide range of third-party tools make it adaptable to most church tech stacks.
Key Features
- Worship Planning & Volunteer Scheduling: Build service plans, assign roles, coordinate rehearsals, and annotate digital sheet music in real time so every team member knows exactly where to be and what to do.
- Church Center Mobile App: A fully branded mobile app and web portal that connects congregation members to check-ins, volunteer schedules, group chats, event registrations, prayer requests, and online giving.
- Integrated Giving & Donation Reporting: Collect tithes and offerings online with one of the lowest processing fees in the industry (2.15%), plus detailed reporting and a 12-month free trial for new churches.
- People & Groups Management: Maintain a free membership database, track engagement, manage community groups with built-in chat, and ensure no one falls through the cracks with automatic connection tracking.
- Events, Facilities & Registrations: Manage your church calendar, schedule facilities and resources, and handle signups, tickets, and payments for any event or ministry program.
Use Cases
- A worship director uses Planning Center Services to build weekly service plans, assign songs, schedule musicians, and share annotated sheet music with the band before rehearsal.
- A children's ministry coordinator uses Check-Ins and Church Center to manage kid check-ins on Sunday mornings and keep parents informed about volunteer schedules.
- A church administrator uses People and Groups to maintain a complete membership database, track attendance, and facilitate small group communication and engagement.
- A church planter uses Planning Center's free tools and 12-month Giving trial to launch ministry operations without heavy upfront software costs.
- A multicampus church uses Planning Center to synchronize events, registrations, and giving across all locations while giving each campus its own customized Church Center experience.
Pros
- All-in-One Platform: Replaces multiple disconnected tools with a single integrated system covering every aspect of church operations, from worship planning to giving.
- Low Giving Processing Fees: At 2.15%, Planning Center's giving fees are among the lowest available, meaning more donations stay in the ministry budget.
- Generous Free Tier: The People (membership database) product is free, and new churches can access Giving free for 12 months, making it accessible for small and new congregations.
- Continuous Improvement: Weekly product updates and an active user community mean the platform evolves quickly in response to real church needs.
Cons
- Cost Adds Up Across Products: While individual products have free options, using the full suite of tools requires subscribing to multiple products, which can become costly for smaller churches.
- Learning Curve for New Staff: The breadth of features across all products means new administrators may need significant onboarding time, though Planning Center University and support resources help.
- Designed Primarily for Churches: The platform is purpose-built for Christian church organizations, making it less suitable for other types of nonprofits or faith communities with different operational needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Planning Center free to use?
Planning Center offers a free People product (membership database) and provides new churches with 12 months of free Giving access. Other products are paid on a subscription basis, with pricing typically based on the number of people in your database.
What is Church Center?
Church Center is Planning Center's mobile app and web portal for congregation members. It allows members to check in kids, view schedules, chat with groups, register for events, give online, and more — all synced automatically with your admin tools.
Does Planning Center integrate with other software?
Yes. Planning Center offers a range of integrations with third-party tools and services, allowing it to connect with other products your church may already use.
Is Planning Center suitable for large or multi-campus churches?
Absolutely. Planning Center is built to scale and includes specific features and support for multicampus churches, helping staff reach and resource every campus from a single platform.
What giving processing fees does Planning Center charge?
Planning Center charges as low as 2.15% for online giving processing in the US, which is lower than many competitors. Rates may vary by country (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand are supported).
