Planning Center review (2026)
A modular church management suite where People is free and each product (Giving, Registrations, Check-Ins, Groups, Services, Calendar) is priced by usage tier.
Quick facts
- Published price
- Music Stand add-on $5/mo
- Est. annual, 150 hh (billing tier)
- $60
- Est. annual, 400 hh (billing tier)
- $60
- Setup / onboarding
- 'No start-up or cancellation fees'
- Payment processing
- US: 2.15% + $0.30 cards; 0% + $0.30 ACH; +1.5% international cards; Text2Give toll-free number $5/mo; texting $0.02/text
- Target size
- Any
- Region
- US, Canada, Australia, NZ
- Company
- Not verified · since Not verified
Not ranked
We could verify fewer than 55% of the feature fields from public pages, so a score would be a guess. The profile below shows exactly what is and is not documented.
Documented strengths
- Free People database; lowest processing rate among those checked (2.15% + 30c)
Documented limitations
- Modular costs add up; church-specific vocabulary
Planning Center pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annualized | Limit | Includes | Excludes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| People | — | — | Unlimited | Database, reporting, communication | |
| Each paid product (Calendar rooms, Services team members, Registrations attendees, Giving donations/mo, Check-Ins, Groups members) | — | — | 7 steps per product | Step prices: $0 (free tier), $15, $32, $69, $115, $179, $239 per month. Free tiers: 1 room / 5 team members / 5 attendees / 10 donations per month / 10 daily check-ins / 15 group members. Giving steps: 10, 75, 200, 500, 1,000, 1,500, unlimited donations. Services: 5, 20, 50, 150, 400, 1,000, unlimited team members. Registrations: 5, 20, 50, 150, 400, 1,000, 5,000 attendees. Calendar: 1, 5, 15, 30, 50, 75, unlimited rooms. | |
| Publishing | — | — | — | Essential free; paid steps $15 and $32 | |
| Music Stand add-on | $5 | $60 | — |
Pricing model: tiered (per product). Terms: No contracts; cancel anytime; first 30 days free. Dollar amounts are not in the page's static text; they were read by stepping the calculator sliders. Source: https://www.planningcenter.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-12 (vendor-page). Prices exclude payment-processing fees unless stated.
Feature coverage, with evidence
"Yes" means we found the capability described on a vendor page (linked). "Partial" means limited, add-on or third-party. "Not verified" means we could not find it documented; it may exist. Ask the vendor.
| Capability | Status | Notes and evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Membership & household records | Yes | People: households, free source |
| Yahrzeit tracking & reminders | No | No yahrzeit/Hebrew-calendar capability found; unverified beyond absence in searches source |
| Hebrew calendar integration | No | Same source |
| Dues, billing & receivables | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Online payments | Yes | source |
| Donations, pledges & campaigns | Yes | Giving source |
| General ledger / fund accounting | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| QuickBooks integration | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Religious school management | Partial | Check-Ins for children's programs source |
| Events & registration | Yes | Registrations source |
| High Holiday seating | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Honors, aliyot & gabbai tools | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Cemetery management | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Website / CMS | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Email & newsletters | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| SMS / texting | Yes | $0.02/text source |
| Member self-service portal | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
| Mobile app | Yes | Church Center app free source |
| API / data export | Yes | Public API exists (not on pricing page) source |
| Automation & workflows | Not verified | Not stated on the pages fetched. source |
Migration
No migration documentation found on public pages. source
Support & security
Channels: support team. source
What independent sources say
Individual experiences, not survey data. Review platforms are sparse in this niche; treat counts under 20 as anecdotes.
- Capterra: 4.7/5 from 1138 reviews. Cost of add-ons main complaint (snippets) source
Alternatives to Planning Center
| Product | Published price | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easyshul | Standard (congregations with more than 150 families) $349/mo | 80.5/100 | |
| ShulCloud | Standard ('ShulCloud without Financials') $161.99/mo; Premium ('ShulCloud with Financials') $313.99/mo; Enterprise ('The Complete ShulCloud') $464.99/mo; Small-shul Premium rate (signup checkbox) $97.99/mo | 78.5/100 | |
| Rakefet Online | RakefetOnline-CRM Annual - NEW USERS (year 1) $149/mo; RakefetOnline-CRM Annual - EXISTING USERS $90/mo | 78.0/100 | |
| MyShul | Standard $179/mo; Premium $310/mo; Enterprise ('most popular') $460/mo | 75.0/100 |
Sources
Spotted an error? Vendors and users can request a correction; we re-verify and note the change.