Planning Center Review 2025

What Is Planning Center?

Planning Center is a suite of modular church management apps built in Carlsbad, California and launched in 2006. Today it serves over 60,000 churches worldwide, making it one of the most widely used church software platforms in the world. Unlike competitors that bundle everything into one product, Planning Center lets churches subscribe to only the modules they need.

Planning Center Pricing (2025)

A church using People + Services + Giving would pay approximately $28–$100/month depending on congregation size. The modular approach is flexible but requires careful selection to avoid bill creep.

Key Features

Planning Center Services (⭐ Best in Class)

Planning Center Services is widely considered the gold standard for worship service planning and volunteer scheduling. Create service templates, assign volunteers to positions, send automated schedule requests, track acceptances/declines, share chord charts and lyrics, and build detailed order-of-service runsheets. Worship leaders and tech directors love it.

Planning Center People

A comprehensive member database with custom fields, household management, list segmentation, automated workflows, and detailed engagement tracking. More powerful than Breeze but with a steeper learning curve.

Planning Center Giving

Solid giving module with 2.3% + $0.30 card processing (slightly lower than competitors), recurring gifts, fund management, pledge campaigns, and detailed donor reports. Giving is free to start — you only pay transaction fees.

Groups Module

Manage small groups, life groups, and ministry teams with sign-up pages, attendance tracking, messaging, and leader tools. One of the better small group management systems available.

Pros and Cons

✅ What We Love

• Best volunteer scheduling and service planning in the category
• Generous free tiers across most modules
• Used by 60,000+ churches — strong community and integrations ecosystem
• Constantly updated with new features and improvements
• Excellent mobile apps for volunteers and service leaders

❌ Watch Out For

• Learning curve — not the easiest ChMS for first-timers
• Modular pricing adds up quickly when using 4+ apps
• Customer support is primarily self-serve documentation
• No custom mobile app (unlike Tithe.ly)

Who Is Planning Center Best For?

• Churches with active volunteer and worship teams needing structured scheduling
• Mid-size to large congregations (500–2,000 members)
• Multi-campus churches needing scalable systems
• Tech-savvy admins who can invest time in setup and training
• Churches wanting to start free and scale gradually

Our Verdict

Planning Center is the most powerful and flexible church management platform available. For churches where volunteer coordination, service planning, and ministry organization are top priorities, it's unmatched. The free tiers and modular pricing make it accessible, though the learning curve and potential for bill creep are real considerations.

Frequently Asked Questions