--- title: "Planning Center Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is Planning Center the right Church Management solution for you? Explore 1138 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/76708/Planning-Center/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" --- Planning Center 4.7 (1138) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated August 26th, 2026 # Reviews of Planning Center Ease of use 4.4 Customer Service 4.6 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews AH Andy H Associate Pastor of WorshipReligious Institutions, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Planning Center is the most robust, powerful, intuitive, and helpful way to plan worship services, organize team members, and communicate across ministries in our church.“ February 25, 2026 JB Jami B Guest ExperienceReligious Institutions, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “There is one tiny feature that I can't edit (all forms require an email address) and that is the only, admittedly very tiny, thing.“ July 22, 2025 PG Paula G AdminReligious Institutions, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It allows me to complete administrative tasks in a timely, organized way, allowing me to be most effective. When I've encountered issues, they respond quickly and thoroughly.“ May 14, 2026 Amber M OwnerDesign, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “It is hard to find where you're scheduled to serve in the Church Center app/website.“ March 6, 2026 PG Paula G AdminReligious Institutions, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It's also great because users can customize which level they want for each module of Planning Center, giving a greater ability to cut back on potential product costs.“ May 14, 2026 AN Alicia N TeacherEducation Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Probably how inconsistent song edits can be. If I want to change a key of a song, it is sometimes more of a hassle to even try.“ August 3, 2025 SG Steven G PastorReligious Institutions, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “We love it and use it for our service planning, church database, forms, giving, app, communication, sign-ups, and registrations.“ June 19, 2025 Victoria W Volunteer AdministratorReligious Institutions, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “It appears an integration with our donation platform is not available, so we may have to switch providers.“ October 14, 2024 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 1138 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Amber M. Owner Design Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "The GOAT of Church Management Software!" March 6, 2026 5.0 Planning Center is a highly effective tool for church management. It is easy enough that attendees can use it, while also being complex enough that the administrative team can do many things with it. Pros Planning Center is the GOAT of all church administration software. There is a reason nearly every church or ministry uses them, and it's because it's highly functional, has many useful add-ons, and keeps things organized. On another note, the customer service team has always been helpful and kind in my experience. That goes a long way when you're stuck on a problem! Cons Would love to see more forward-thinking design. It is hard to find where you're scheduled to serve in the Church Center app/website. That design could be more effective, as well, having a calendar showing or something. I'd like to see my confirmed dates more prominently displayed. Review Source PG Paula G. Admin Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Highly Recommend Planning Center" May 14, 2026 5.0 Overall, my experience with Planning Center has been very positive! It allows me to complete administrative tasks in a timely, organized way, allowing me to be most effective. When I've encountered issues, they respond quickly and thoroughly. Pros Planning Center has a very user-friendly interface. It integrates well with other programs (i.e. MailChimp), which enables users to be more effective in administrative tasks. There are several modules in Planning Center, which allows users to pick and choose what they desire to utilize the program for, including donations, emails, CRM database + member management, scheduling events (including volunteer schedule/event timeline and room/resource requests), and event registration for attendees. They have great customer support, providing timely answers to specific questions, as well as a database of videos and articles on specific topics. There is even an app for the admin-side of the program, as well as an app for the customer-side (event signup, etc.). It's primarily designed for churches, although I'm sure other non-profits could utilize it as well. When a user understands the options available, it can be a powerful program in comparison to the monthly cost. When compared with other programs, Planning Center seems to have great value for the cost, with the abilities it includes. It's also great because users can customize which level they want for each module of Planning Center, giving a greater ability to cut back on potential product costs. Cons Sometimes specific features aren't available that I would like. They are open to feedback for future updates, but don't always incorporate feedback. For instance, I've asked about including a "signature" feature on their forms (for parental consent, for example), but the still haven't updated for this feature. Also, while the cost is not unreasonable, each module only has specific levels available for each cost. Moving from the each level seems to have a large increase in capacity (i.e. number of attendees allowed) and somewhat high jump in cost. For instance, the Registration Module allows for 150 registrants at $69/month, but then jumps to 400 registrants at $115/month. It would be helpful to have more options in-between 150 and 400. Switched from [ACTIVE Network](https://www.capterra.com/p/221947/ACTIVE-Network/)[FellowshipOne](https://www.capterra.com/p/230779/Fellowship-One/) Previous products were outdated, not user friendly, and segmented. Planning Center integrated across ministries and the abilities were much more user friendly and powerful. Review Source sS sandra S. Administrative Assist. and Database Admin Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "rating of PC" January 9, 2025 3.0 overall it has been good. No major issues Pros the wireless printing of the name tags/mobile check in Cons probably tech support. hard to get answer rt away Alternatives considered [Realm](https://www.capterra.com/p/146265/Realm/) Reason for choosing Planning Center we use both. we kept PC for the kids check in bc of the ease Switched from [Servant Keeper](https://www.capterra.com/p/276838/Servant-Keeper/) uh servant keeper! lol so out of date..... Review Source Response from Planning Center January 13, 2025 Hi Sandra! Thank you for your kind review. We are glad you are enjoying our Check-Ins feature. Regarding support, we do our best to reply via email within one business hour, although it can look slightly different on holidays and weekends. We would love to learn more and get your feedback on your most recent tech support experience. If possible, send us a message here - support@planningcenter.com. We look forward to hearing back from you! DD Duane D. Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent Church Software" September 18, 2025 5.0 A wonderful cloud-based software that accurately keeps all records of our church membership. Our staff love it and use it regularly at church or on the go! Pros Planning Center is a great resource for our church. It is easy to use, has many great features, and is cloud based meaning it can be used anywhere. The apps that accompany it are just as intuitive and user friendly! Cons Planning Center sometimes doesn’t recognize a name or email and will create a new profile. We’ve had several duplicates - some are easy fixes and others are more complicated if they are using the giving feature. Switched from [Shepherd's Staff](https://www.capterra.com/p/10027639/Shepherds-Staff/) The other software just wasn’t doing all we needed it to do Review Source Response from Planning Center September 30, 2025 Hi Duane! Thank you for your kind words! You mentioned having a bit of trouble with logs in and duplicate profiles. Our Support Team is a great resource for help in that area. Hit the '?' icon in the upper-right of the screen when you are looking at your List. Please send us a message and our team will jump in to help! SG Steven G. Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The Best All In One Church Software " June 19, 2025 5.0 We love it and use it for our service planning, church database, forms, giving, app, communication, sign-ups, and registrations. Pros The user interfaces for all of their apps are intuitive, and it makes managing and communicating with our members quick and easy. Cons There are certain tasks in the services app that feel a little redundant, but fortunately, they have videos that walk you through them. Alternatives considered [ShelbyNext Membership](https://www.capterra.com/p/71788/ShelbyNext-Membership/) Reason for choosing Planning Center Ease of use and scalability. All the different apps and features are easily scaled up. Switched from [Pushpay](https://www.capterra.com/p/142580/Pushpay/) Ease of use and great scalability options. Review Source HM Hannah M. Creative arts coordinator Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The one-stop shop for church data management" May 15, 2025 4.0 I am very glad they decided to expand beyond programming management. The interface is very user-friendly (unlike almost any other data management for churches). It integrates with messaging apps and giving platforms as well Pros I appreciate the wholistic nature of planning center’s capabilities. It is a church data management software that does it all Cons There are times when it feels like it’s doing too much, like it can’t keep up with the demands of certain capabilities. Through the many functions, programs and people are my most used, but I have access to all of its functions. Calendar is helpful but can get very jumbled when dealing with a large church and all of the events we have Switched from [ACS](https://www.capterra.com/p/2668/ACS/) ACS was very outdated and retrieving any data for any useful purpose was very difficult Review Source KA Kylee A. Communications Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A GREAT resource for small-medium sizes Churches" August 3, 2025 5.0 Overall it’s a helpful tool for our church with a lot of great features. It’s much more user friendly than other software’s we’ve tried. The database includes more profiles than we would like. Pros I like how many features it has to be fully customizable for your church’s needs. Every staff members can find it helpful in their area of ministry. Cons It is difficult to keep the people database under control due to the automatic creation of profiles anytime anyone downloads the app, fills out a form, registers for an event, etc. Switched from [Pushpay](https://www.capterra.com/p/142580/Pushpay/) We switched from CCB (church community builder) to Planning Center because it’s more user friendly and provides more features Review Source JB Jami B. Guest Experience Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "The switch was worth it" July 22, 2025 5.0 Their online university has helped our whole team stay informed and well educated about the capabilities and usefulness of these tools Pros We switched to Planning Center from a similar product because of the intuitive ease of use and the availability of constant support. We appreciate the value to help our church manage everything well. Cons There is one tiny feature that I can't edit (all forms require an email address) and that is the only, admittedly very tiny, thing. Other than that our experience is stellar. Switched from [ChurchStaq](https://www.capterra.com/p/211982/ChuchStaq/) Frustration with the previous product and countless glowing reviews and recommendations for Planning Center Review Source TS Travis S. Communications Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "All in One Place and it Works" June 9, 2025 4.0 Overall, I love working with the system, and anytime I have questions, I receive relevant and clear answers very quickly. Pros I like that we can have all event registrations, giving, and people database management in the same place. Cons For what I do, learning the best way to pull reports (Lists) was a little tricky. To overcome this and other challenges when we made the full transition to PCO, we worked with a paid professional team to transfer and set us up. Switched from [ShelbyNext Membership](https://www.capterra.com/p/71788/ShelbyNext-Membership/)[ShelbyNext Financials](https://www.capterra.com/p/224954/ShelbyNext-Financials/) Our version of Shelby was out of date and we needed a more flexible solution that would also work with our volunteer team management. Review Source CN Crystal N. Children’s Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Planning Center is best Church Management Software" March 11, 2025 5.0 Has been extremely helpful in streamlining our systems and helped us become more efficient. Pros Ability to integrate several modules together. Cons The services module is not very kids ministry friendly. Alternatives considered [FellowshipOne](https://www.capterra.com/p/230779/Fellowship-One/) Reason for choosing Planning Center Less expensive since we were a smaller church. Switched from [Realm Accounting](https://www.capterra.com/p/249047/Realm-Accounting/)[Realm](https://www.capterra.com/p/146265/Realm/)[ACS](https://www.capterra.com/p/2668/ACS/) Needed integration and something that was church management friendly for our growing congregation. Review Source Response from Planning Center March 12, 2025 Crystal, thank you for such a great review! We're glad that you've been able to streamline your systems with Planning Center. Anytime you need anything, reach out to support at support@planningcenter.com. We'll be glad to help! NO Nathaniel O. Senior Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great platform for church management " March 7, 2025 4.0 Overall it has been pretty good. Wish the cost was a little lower. Pros The name tags that we use for church each week when people check in makes it easier to greet and get to know others. Cons The cost is a little high. And the worship planning platform is really confusing and cumbersome. Integration with constant contact would be great! Alternatives considered [Servant Keeper](https://www.capterra.com/p/276838/Servant-Keeper/)[Tithely Church Management](https://www.capterra.com/p/132513/Breeze-ChMS/) Reason for choosing Planning Center Came recommended by colleagues compared to these others. Servant keeper was more expensive. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Worship Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best service planning software around" October 26, 2020 5.0 Around Services and Check ins, Planning Center has been exceptional with customer service and helping us sort through issues. Their tutorial videos are also great. We didn't have great luck with customer service around the financial module, hence the choice to go another direction with our overall database while continuing to use Services. Pros Planning Center Services automates really helpful admin and communication work and allows teams to learn and grow with all of the resources they need. From an administrator's perspective, the ability to schedule and view services in matrix mod and keep track of multiple teams of volunteers with various limitations and requests using the preferences and blackouts is easily worth the monthly cost. Services is the backbone of planning center, and there's good reason that it's the standard in mid-sized and larger churches. The interface is intuitive and easy for volunteer users to figure out, and they do a great job of continuing to innovate features and usability. Cons While the other modules across planning center have great integration, our church found that the finances side lacked necessary features, meaning we are now running a separate database/CRM while still running planning center services. We wanted to be able to add financial information (givings) into the database without the person entering the data seeing previous data - essentially the ability to enter data blindly. I suspect many other churches are running different databases as well as planning center services, and the multi-system approach isn't ideal, so it would be nice to have a more responsive development team as planning center's interface is generally well built and user friendly. Alternatives considered [Realm](https://www.capterra.com/p/146265/Realm/)[ChurchStaq](https://www.capterra.com/p/211982/ChuchStaq/) Reason for choosing Planning Center Services fit all of our needs well when it came to service planning and Sunday morning volunteer management, and there didn't seem to be any other products that could compete in terms of functionality and ease of use. Review Source EA Edwin A. Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Planning Center.. Leaps above Fellowship One.. Still wishing we went with CCB." January 10, 2023 5.0 It's been really good! The reporting and volunteer management options have really helped us a ton. Pros The Services product is incredible. We could not imagine better.. after getting it setup that is. The reporting you can do is incredible. Cons The giving isn't great and the integrations leave something to be desired. We really wish they would build an actual robust email software so we could stop paying squarespace for this. Switched from [FellowshipOne](https://www.capterra.com/p/230779/Fellowship-One/) F1 really became limiting in a lot of factors. Review Source Response from Planning Center January 11, 2023 Hi Edwin! Thanks for a solid 5 stars in every category - that's super kind of you! We're also so glad that you're enjoying the Services product. That said, we do want to help with any questions you have about Giving or about Emailing through People/using Mailchimp. You can reach our support team at support@planningcenter.com or by using the "?" in the top right corner of any page where you're logged in. We'd love to hear from you and see how we can help further! Thank you again! JMC John Marc C. Assistant Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Planning Center for Churches" February 13, 2023 5.0 Overall, we enjoy using Planning Center and the apps work extremely well. Everything is customizable and extremely flexible with any kind of organizational system that you may have. They have a great Slack community as well where you can ask for help with any questions you may have. Pros We really enjoy using Planning Center. It is easy to use, fast, and very intuitive. The different apps help to keep the data separate and they work together really well. We use like how the apps are quick and easy to find the information that we need. Cons The only downside that I find is the cost. I feel that it is slightly overpriced. Everything works great but they charge you for for each app separately. In some ways it could keep costs down but it would be nice if there was an option to save when you are using every app they offer. They also charge to track donations which many companies do not. Alternatives considered [ChurchStaq](https://www.capterra.com/p/211982/ChuchStaq/) Reason for choosing Planning Center The ease of use and ease of teaching our volunteers and staff to use it was a huge selling point. Also, the lack of a contract played into our decision. Switched from [Tithely Church Management](https://www.capterra.com/p/132513/Breeze-ChMS/) The ease of use was a huge selling point for us. Breeze is slow compared to Planning Center and lacks some of the functionality that Planning Center has. Review Source Response from Planning Center February 14, 2023 Hey there, John Marc! We're glad to hear that you're enjoying our products and that our Slack Community has been helpful to you and your team. If you have any questions or other comments you'd like to pass along, you can always email us at support@planningcenter.com. We're glad to hear from our customers! Thanks again for the great review! TS Taylor S. Students Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Planning Center is the Gold Standard for Church Management Software" April 24, 2025 5.0 Overall, I whole-heartedly recommend PCO. Once you learn the software, it is easy to use. Their support is quick to respond to any bugs I've encountered. Pros Planning Center offers a great one-stop shop Church Management Software with great features for Members Database, Events Management, and Calendaring. Cons Planning Center has a lot of features, so it can come with a steep learning curve for those who haven't used it before. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Associate Pastor Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great product - could be optimized more for portable church" January 16, 2025 5.0 Pros I appreciate that many of the lowest level uses for their products are free. This gives a chance to test and use before full implementation. The best part of these products is the full integration between all the different apps. Cons Sometimes the updates happen a bit to frequently on particular apps. This is normally not a problem, but for a setup and take down church, it proves to be difficult as the new workflow needs to be figured out day off. Review Source Response from Planning Center January 17, 2025 Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! We appreciate this feedback on the frequency of our app releases! If you run into questions about any feature release, our Support Team would love to help. Send us an email at support@planningcenter.com! AC Andy C. Minister of Recreation Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great product that we use for lots!" January 30, 2025 5.0 Pros It is very easy to use and functional for all of the needs we have. Cons There really isn't anything that I like the least about it. Switched from [Arena](https://www.capterra.com/p/186809/Arena/) Just needed updated features and usability. Review Source Response from Planning Center January 31, 2025 Andy, thanks for the great review. We're always glad to hear why people appreciate what we provide! MP Marta P. Director of Operations Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Covers all the bases" October 31, 2024 4.0 Overall we enjoy using Planning Center. The few downfalls are highly outweighed by all of the benefits. Pros It's a great place to keep track of and keep in contact with the individuals in our church. Many capabilities Cons There can be a bit of a learning curve if you're new to the program or teaching others how to use it. Review Source Response from Planning Center November 7, 2024 Marta, thank you for that high review of our products! We're glad that you are enjoying using them, and we're glad to help with anything you run into as you continue to use the product. Thank you! MB Marissa B. Volunteer Church Admin Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Robust yet specific for church management" December 2, 2022 5.0 Without Planning Center, churches wouldn't be even 10% as effective at communicating and organizing themselves. This software is invaluable, and as far as I know, the only one of its caliber and kind. I'm so thankful for what the team has done and continues to do to make this software robust and simple for both the mega church and church plant. Thank you Planning Center team!! Pros This product seems to think of everything. From making email lists, sign-up sheets, events for the website, volunteer coordination, and giving, Planning Center takes care of all our admin needs for church, as long as we leverage the tools correctly. There is a learning curve for those who are technologically challenged, but there is a big focus on good documentation, so if you wanted to know how to do things right, you can learn. Planning Center does a good job of simplifying as much as possible very complex admin activities that need to be customizable. Coming from someone who knows about databases and information integration, I can be nothing less than highly impressed at what Planning Center has done. Truly, you won't have anything you need to do manually outside of this software for your church which is so good for quality assurance and integrity of records. Invaluable invention! Cons Walking the line of customizable and simple is very difficult. Sometimes, I find a limitation of the system that gets in the way of what I want to do, especially in list queries. But in most cases, the option is built in somewhere; I just need to find the way to do it. This can be challenging if you don't know how to search for the help. A college course in this software would honestly be so useful. Review Source JH Jason H. Worship and Arts Pastor Arts and Crafts Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Interface" July 16, 2019 4.0 I would also take a moment and think through the basics of the site. If the goal is to do something basic like add a song, or even to rehearse a song \[Which is difficult to do, or at least not clear to my older choir members\], then it should be easy to see, and easy to execute. I love the fact that things are customizable, and that I can plan my service down to the second, but the moment I go to show someone else how to run basic things especially within the app, I am painfully aware that the interface could be tweaked to help make things a little bit easier for the users who are using your products the most. Most churches are less than 50 people. Most church members are baby boomers. Do your market research with that demographic in mind and I bet you will quickly see what works and does not work with regards to your interface. That being said, anyone outside of that demographic is willing to find out how to do things from youtube tutorials, so keep those up to date and looking nice and you will remain at the top of the church-planning food chain. Pros The things that Planning Center does well, it does very well. It always delivers notifications and I feel that it is reliable. Every single time that one of the people on my team have had an issue with the software, it was incredibly simple to resolve, and usually was a case of user preferences that needed adjustments. For the majority of the people that benefit from the software, the experience is seamless and professional. Due to the fact that most of the people who use Planning Center are not directly paying for the software, it has set itself apart as the crown of church planning resources. It is certainly my first suggestion to new worship pastors or churches that are trying to become organized. The fact that it can take care of so many different church needs from one platform is also worth mentioning. My church uses another system for online giving, but it is comparable to what Planning Center offers. We are in the process of transitioning all of our check-in systems to Planning Center and it is significantly cheaper and easier to use than ANYTHING else on the market right now. Cons My experience with Planning Center is not limited to, but mostly within the realm of "Services" so that is where I will spend most of my time. Before that, however, I will mention that while I know of a number of people who enjoy the "Music Stand" app, Planning Center does not offer the best deal for the service. Apps like Onsong, while expensive up-front, are not a monthly expense and allow for many file types and importing formats, including the ability to download the music straight from "Services." This allows for some freedom in set design and application as many of my musicians are playing during the week and not at the church. If they could pay once for "Music Stand" and also import the secular music into their setlists, they would use the app outside of a Sunday morning context. Now for the interface. One of the best tools in "Services" is the REPORTS section. And while I love the way it looks now, it has lost a lot of versatility. It is difficult to select the date for the reports, not to mention, hard to find the reports to begin with. Now, if I want to find songs from last Christmas, I really have to hunt to find the reports, find the right drop-down bar, and select "custom" on the display. Why not keep the custom option in the bar to begin with, and have the presets in the drop down bar? There is just a lot of unused real estate on that particular page, and I have spent too much time trying to relearn something that wasn't much easier in the last edition. Review Source JE Josiah E. Young Adults Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Is Planning Center the way to go?" October 17, 2019 4.0 Overall, I think Planning Center is a good product...when you figure something out and it does what you want it to do, it's amazing. It's just getting to that point which is the pain for the majority of the time. Because there's a different "Platform" for each area Planning Center has, "Services" "People" "Groups" "Registrations" "Check-in's" so forth...they are similar but not 1 platform. Pros There is so much that Planning Center can do. I love that there is a way to get pretty much anything I want to do done. It's also the major giant when it comes to church systems and platforms. Cons The reason I chose this software to speak to is because of a major issue I've had with planning center which is, duplicating what I'm able to do with other people. It's quite difficult replicating ALL that Planning Center can do. In my line of work, getting multiple people to do what I do is GOLD...with Planning Center, I spend a lot of my time looking at tutorial videos and in the help menu trying to figure out how to do something that I'm almost positive it can do. So, when raising up other leaders to use Planning Center, they are often left frustrated and decide to just not. Not to mention, when I have somebody in charge of Planning Center for our ministry, they usually last no longer than a year, before they burn out. The reality is, planning and working directly with volunteers is an ANIMAL in itself. Dealing with people cancelling, forgetting, double booking, or complaining is no fun job for any scheduler...so dealing with certain frustrations with Planning Center is the last thing that individual wants. So what's the solution? Perhaps share the work-load with multiple people doing the scheduling...however, we never get to that point because of the difficulty of the program to the average volunteer. It's not impossible...but it's also not easy. I consider myself pretty computer savvy and every now and again during big events I assist the scheduler for that specific event and even though I've used Planning Center off and on for years...I'm always left frustrated. Review Source Response from Planning Center October 22, 2019 We certainly don't want you to have stress when it comes to training others using our products. Something we've done recently to help with this is to make our Planning Center University courses more accessible. We recommend that you have new leaders/volunteers to review these courses. It will help set in all on the path to success! https://planning.center/university Jake T. Worship Leader Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A game-changer for any church to spice up their worship planning!" August 24, 2021 5.0 Overall, Planning Center has been a game changer for our church. It has allowed us to be more prepared, planned and efficient when practicing and performing our worship services. There are a lot of features that we don't use simply because we are a small church but there are a lot of features. Pros The music database has never not had a song we were performing. If it ever doesn't, not worries because you can add custom songs and lyrics that are automatically converted to a viewable PDF. The worship planning feature is pretty great as well. I love the drag and drop arrangement. I also love how you can add times to each song and item so you can estimate a total duration of your set. The member planning is pretty great as well. I love that you can see in real time which members invited have accepted, declined or have not responded to invitations. You can also add audio files (pads, backing tracks) that you can play on the child application Worship Stand. Cons The learning curve for this software is pretty high. After a year of using it, I still find it difficult to add songs on the iPad version. I also find that the program crashes frequently when trying to add music. Battery optimization could be worked on as well as it drains battery pretty quickly. Review Source LH Laura H. Business Administrator Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Planning Center Makes Church Management Easy" June 23, 2022 5.0 This is fabulous software for a new church. Priced to help you get organized at an affordable price. Lots of opportunities to grow into the various components offered. Pros The software is priced to let you only purchase the parts you need and priced according to the size of your church and how much you use it. It is such great software to start organizing a church's volunteers, donors, and calendar and can be expanded as your church and your needs grow. Cons Because components can be purchased separately the communication between the components is not seamless. If you add an event to the calendar and then add a registration for the event both with show up on the calendar as duplicate entries, for example. The price and flexibility are worth figuring out some of the quirks. Also, the ability to create a report for about anything is great but I wish there were some more pre-made reports for beginner users. For example, I have figured out how to create a deposit slip for a giving deposit but I wish there was just a one step button to create a deposit slip from a giving batch. Review Source Response from Planning Center July 8, 2022 Hi Laura, Thanks for your kind words! You mentioned having a bit of trouble with figuring out pricing and using our reporting features. Our Support Team is a great resource for help in that area. Hit the '?' icon in the upper-right of the screen when you are looking at your List. Send us a message and our team will jump in to help. Thanks! NT Nathaniel T. Associate Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Industry Standard for a reason" March 29, 2024 5.0 Planning Center is great, don't get me wrong. If your church has the funds to invest in Planning Center, or if you are already using their other software, it is likely the best solution out there for you. HOWEVER, (and that is a big however) if your church has a ChMS that already offers worship planning, it is likely just fine! I am with a different church now, and we just switched to Pushpay. Their worship planning is very simple and offers SongSelect integration. If you are a small to medium-sized church, looking for worship planning software, I would HIGHLY encourage you to make sure you do not already have access to this in your ChMS, and if you do not, consider switching to a solution like Pushpay where it is integrated. I know ShelbySystems offers this too. But if your budget and situation allows you will be thrilled with the functionality and user interface you find in Planning Center. It is simple enough for volunteers to use and the optional Music Stand app is great for getting music into the hands of your musicians early in the week, and allowing them to have their music on their phone or more preferably iPad/tablet. But if your current system offers an alternative, it is probably not worth the extra to have Planning Center as well. Pros The simplicity to plan services and schedule volunteers help make it the best! Cons Planning Center is the leader in worship planning software and they know it! Planning center is expensive an may not be worth it for your church. Especially if you have another ChMS that already offers worship planning. Review Source CK Crystal K. Finance Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Planning Center is the CMS you need! " April 22, 2022 5.0 5 stars. I recommend it to everyone that is in my same field. ! Pros I love that it integrates with Stripe for giving and to the church center app so we are able to host all of our events that way. It's seamless to use, easy to navigate, and has great reliability. Cons I would love it if via their giving portion, they also allowed selling. For instance, our church has a bookshelf and we sell Bibles, etc but planning center only accepts donations and registrations, not payments for things we sell. Alternatives considered [Tithely Church Management](https://www.capterra.com/p/132513/Breeze-ChMS/) Reason for choosing Planning Center Our Senior Pastor was familiar with it. Review Source ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Talk to a Capterra advisor for free and get results within 15 minutes.