# Page 11 | Planning Center Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Page 11 - Is Planning Center the right Church Management solution for you? Explore 1137 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/76708/Planning-Center/reviews

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Planning Center

4.7 (1137)

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Page 11 - Reviews of Planning Center

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 251-275 of 1137 Reviews

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Frequency of Use

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Pastoral Intern  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "A Must-Have for any Church"

March 13, 2018

5.0

We are able to manage a huge amount of people. Whenever anyone in leadership has any questions as to what the plan in for the next 3 months, they can immediately jump online see. We are able to manage and track giving. This is the backbone of our children's security The extra things like the Music Stand app is incredible (though it can be unstable at times)

Pros

The integration across all church ministries is hugely helpful. We have a church of around 350 members and I don't think we would be able to manage one week without this software. We use planning center for tracking all our members, giving, scheduling, and worship. Being able to keep everything in one place makes things so much easier, and is incredibly beneficial from an organisational standpoint.

Cons

This software is not cheap. We pay for it because it is worth it, and because there isn't really anything that compares. If there was some semblance of competition, I don't think we'd feel that loyal to Planning Center.

Review Source

RF

Roger F.  
Church Manager  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Extremely well designed, stable, and user friendly church management system"

February 22, 2019

5.0

The best up and coming church management system available. Not clunky and hard to use like some CMS on the market. Volunteer management is the foundation for Planning Center and it has successfully edged into the kids checkin, building management, people management, and now the giving markets extremely successfully. The software's user interface is exceptional and the ease of use is unmatched.

Pros

Huge features that are independently well designed: volunteer management, donation management, events, customer relationship management, workflows for attendees, and especially kids checkins.

Cons

I have very few cons. Planning Center has grown to include a lot of features that have solved cons that I've had in the past. The church center app (attendee facing and giving app) could use some work and is in its infancy. I fully expect improvements based on Planning Center's track record.

Review Source

GJ

Greg J.  
TD  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great Product"

June 20, 2023

5.0

Pros

Ease of use for all the applications and all the functionality.

Cons

Getting phone support quicker however they still have great support via email and phone support if you wait.

Review Source

Response from Planning Center

June 21, 2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, Greg! We appreciate your kind words and feedback!

Bill B.  
Worship Leader  
Music  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Best organisation software"

November 28, 2018

5.0

We are managing 50+ people across five worship teams, plus the tech teams. We just could not do it without PCO. PCO makes communication and scheduling a breeze. PCO tracks for CCLI usage and song history. The Matrix view is an awesome tool!

Pros

From managing the flow of service to communicating with five worship teams PCO is the best! Links with Song Select.

Cons

It would be great if their presentation module didn't require Apple TV and was more robust.

Review Source

Mark T.  
Account Manager  
Internet  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The Quintessential Church Event Organization Software"

November 5, 2018

5.0

We use Planning Center at my church for all the music planning, and it a powerful tool for communication, especially for Sunday worship services. It has also allowed our band to stay in constant communication and share important information in a simple format so everyone stays on the same page by listening to and looking at the same thing.

Pros

It's a great centralized location for communication, planning, scheduling, and sharing. For music teams, it has some great resources for sharing sets, songs, and music sheets, and allows easy communication to everyone participating in the event.

Cons

For administrators, there is a LOT to learn. What should seem like an easy process takes multiple steps, and it's easy to make a mistake or forget the specific area of the application you went to last time to complete a task.

Review Source

SF

Stephen F.  
Pastor  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Plan to get Planning Center "

September 25, 2018

5.0

Our experience has been overwhelmingly positive. As I said, it is an efficient timesaver. If you try on your own to do everything that this service offers, you’ll add many unnecessary hours of work to your week.

Pros

The software is really easy to use. It’s a matter of creating an event, selecting the people that are going to participate in the event, and then creating an order/agenda for that event. Since I am a pastor of a church, we put our worship services in this program. So we are able to select the songs, upload them for the worship team to listen to and practice, and then every single participant that we selected will receive an email reminding them they are on the agenda, and it gives them the ability to accept or decline the request. I am able to upload my sermon notes and PowerPoint for the sound team to download in prep for the main service. The fact that we are able to coordinate an entire worship service in this one place allows for efficient planning, and it saves a lot of time.

Cons

The only con that I can think of is that when we first signed up, we had the cheapest package, and eventually we ran out of space. We had to then go back and start deleting previous worship services because of all the files that were previously uploaded. That was an inconvenience that led us to upgrading. Now we don’t have to worry about that.

Review Source

Andrew H.  
Planner  
Architecture & Planning  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Excellent for Detailed and Specific Church Management"

March 12, 2019

5.0

Our church uses Planning Center to manage many aspects, including small groups, services, giving, and check ins. We have found it to be the most comprehensive church management solution available, and it fits our needs very well. Scales well with a growing church.

Pros

Wide variety of church functions can be managed (Security, Giving, Services, Groups, etc). Relatively simple administration for admins makes it easy to get an overall picture of church functions. Makes it easy to involve volunteers within the church in the administration process, such as managing small groups.

Cons

Somewhat confusing for users within the church who are older. Different products offered do not exist together, but in their own silos. This can be confusing for users at first.

Review Source

Ricky M.  
Director of Operations  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### ""Meh" is a good description for this necessary evil"

August 22, 2019

3.0

We have been using it for years to schedule volunteers for our very volunteer-heavy church...but mainly only because we can't find anything better/cheaper.

Pros

Gets the job done. Helps schedule volunteers and sends auto-reminders to them. As a church director, I love having something that helps me plan services and schedule volunteers. But it is NOT user-friendly and could be much much better with a few changes.

Cons

Not intuitive at all. Not easy to get used to using effectively; hard to add and edit a person's profile; hard to find the button to send emails; hard to navigate to the correct week; hard to add positions onto your current schedule; just harder than it needs to be in general (and I am a tech guy.)

Reason for choosing Planning Center

Planning Center is priced okay, and it works.

Review Source

AH

Angela H.  
Prep & Planning Administrator  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Planning Center for weekend events!"

March 8, 2022

5.0

Pros

We use Planning Center on a daily basis to schedule ALL our music and media volunteers for our weekend services! It's easy to navigate and plan all of our services via the service outlines. Then we schedule our weekly volunteers - it's all automated so once we plan a schedule, we send a mass notification (that can be personalized) off to all volunteers. Then they accept or decline their availability. It's such a great way to keep track and schedule our weekend services and any other "service" type events that need volunteers and media!

Cons

Honestly, it's been great for our needs so no complaints at the moment!

Review Source

Lauren L.  
Creative Coordinator  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great Software for your Worship Team"

November 27, 2018

5.0

Planning Center has been great for our team. I would definitely recommend it to any Worship Pastor of a church of any size.

Pros

I'm big on details and making sure that everyone is on the same page. With Planning Center, our Worship Team is able to have all the details on the upcoming Sunday set list. It's so helpful to just log in and see what songs we'll be sing with attached music sheets. Planning Center allows worship planning to be super organized and detailed so that nothing is lost in translation.

Cons

The only thing I can say about what I don't like about the software is that when you want to view attachments, it's a direct download onto your computer and that's kind of annoying to me. I'd rather a popup appear or the file open in a different tab.

Review Source

LS

Lisa S.  
Worship Leader  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Must Have for Worship Leaders"

October 29, 2022

5.0

I think this is such an amazing product! It makes my job 10x easier!

Pros

I love that my music is stored here for future use. I love the ease of connecting with my worship team. They can see/hear the music that is chosen! It is perfect for us!

Cons

Sometimes I struggle with different features. There are a few things that aren’t intuitive. Fortunately, the help department has great articles to help!

Review Source

JR

Josh R.  
Pastor  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The only choice in church organization software"

July 26, 2019

5.0

Planning Center has allowed us to keep a record of all of our services, how we’ve done things in the past, plan for the future, and stay organized administratively. 5/5 stars for functionality and the $$ for subscribers.

Pros

Planning Center has everything a church needs to plan services and organize church attendance. They continue to release more and more options for better functionality.

Cons

There is a learning curve in using the interface. The site functions well but sometimes it can be tricky to walk new users through the site until they can learn it well.

Reason for choosing Planning Center

There really hasn’t been anything for churches to use. Worship Planner was a software used for a time but it was one-dimensional when PC came around. PC has broadened what’s possible as a church planning software company.

Review Source

ZW

Zach W.  
Pastoral Resident  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Far and Away the Best at What It Does"

July 18, 2019

5.0

Almost all communication happens through Planning Center. We couldn't work without it.

Pros

Planning Center makes it so easy to plan schedule and disseminate information to all of my teams. I love being able to set notifications to go to different team leaders and keep track of everything from one place. Integrations with MailChimp and Song Select are invaluable.

Cons

Spotify has removed support for integrations and I'd like to see the option to set a default browser in the mobile app.

Reason for choosing Planning Center

Planning center has the best support and industry leading features. Everyone else is playing catchup.

Review Source

Response from Planning Center

July 23, 2019

Hey Wallace, thanks so much for the love and feedback. If you have any suggestions on how we can continue to improve the software for you and your Team, you can reach us at support@planning.center Hope you and your team have a blessed one.

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Worship Pastor  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Must have for worship planning"

February 19, 2019

5.0

Overall experience is fantastic. I recommend it to anyone.

Pros

What I like most is that it is an easy-to-use software and phone app that allows me to communicate regularly and with clarity to my team.

Cons

There is little to not like about it. I have used it for over 10 years, and it has never been down or laggy, and is regularly updated to keep up with the demands of worship technology.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Member  
  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "I really love this application, and I can't imagine our worship team functioning without it!"

July 27, 2018

5.0

Pros

Planning Center is a really well-thought out and user-friendly site that pretty much provides the end user/musician the tools needed to prepare for the upcoming worship dates. I don't handle the administrative side, but the scheduling & reminders is great at keeping you up to date with your commitments. You can block out times you won't be able to play, and easily respond to the emailed notifications for requests to play. It also does a great job at showing you the teams you would/will be serving with, and the music files & inline music player to practice. I especially like the ability of the music player to continually wrap a song segment for trying to master parts at a time without constantly hitting the back button. The mobile app also functions nicely when needed instead of the desktop version.

Cons

I really don't have any cons at all. If forced to offer a suggestion, I would say that it would be nice to know that the mobile app files are not repeatedly downloaded when on your mobile data plan. I don't think that shown but I could be wrong.

Review Source

BM

Barb M.  
Administrative Assistant  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Planning Center is great"

June 27, 2019

5.0

Pros

We use it for scheduling teams, and planning services. It is very user friendly for the "viewers", to update their info, put in block-out dates, view their schedule and accept/decline assignments . I like that there are many options for reports and they are even editable. I like that edits occur immediately and can be seen by all schedulers simultaneously, which makes group scheduling useful.

Cons

Of course, the cost is always an issue, but the functionality makes up for it.

Reason for choosing Planning Center

we had been using Word Tables for scheduling and Orders of Service, and always had issues with incorporating scheduling conflicts. With block-out dates in PCO, it is easier to see conflicts. changes to Plans are much easier than in the past.

Review Source

RA

Rachel A.  
Accounting Manager  
Oil & Energy  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Planning Center - Great for Organizing Recurring Events"

September 29, 2022

5.0

Takes the hassle out of wondering where or when an event is coming up. It leaves you feeling reassured that you are scheduled or not scheduled as the case might be. It gives you one place to track that's easy to use and easy to review the details.

Pros

Easy to use. Has all the features you need to track separate teams. Easy to schedule or decline availability. Log in is quick.

Cons

At first, it was a little confusing as to where to view information, as the view looked a little busy. Lots of information on screen. It would have been nice to be able to see which sections were available and then drill down from there.

Review Source

Response from Planning Center

October 4, 2022

Hi Rachel, Thank you so much for your review. You noted that we do offer a bit of info on screen and it would be nice to see it broken down. 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! Thank you!

KS

Kyler S.  
Worship & Creative Director  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The Best Way To Keep Your Volunteers Organized And Prepared"

November 5, 2020

5.0

Planning Center has been the greatest thing as a church we have implemented to connect with everyone on our teams and make sure they are prepared and informed.

Pros

It makes scheduling and getting resources to volunteers a lot easier than typical email communication.

Cons

The mobile access version of Planning Center has a few kinks that can only be done on desktop versions.

Alternatives considered

[ChurchStaq](https://www.capterra.com/p/211982/ChuchStaq/)

Reason for choosing Planning Center

More functionality as far as including worship, building schedules and volunteer needs and congregation organization.

Review Source

Response from Planning Center

January 8, 2021

Thanks for that review, Kyler! Let us know if you have any questions. We're happy to help at support@planningcenteronline.com!

AJ

Adam J.  
Campus Support Team Director  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "It's the standard for church software for a reason"

October 8, 2019

5.0

We are fully invested into the Planning Center software as an organization and we couldn't be happier with it.

Pros

Planning Center is incredible for churches to manage people, services, groups, registrations, giving, etc. We use the full suite of Planning Center software and love all of it. It's not always perfect, but their customer service is usually quick to respond and takes product feedback well.

Cons

It is a bit pricey, but it's worth the cost. Really that's the only downside.

Alternatives considered

[ChurchStaq](https://www.capterra.com/p/211982/ChuchStaq/)

Reason for choosing Planning Center

Better overall product and more software offerings that integrate with each other natively.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Electrical Engineer  
Automotive  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Planning Center Review"

March 29, 2020

5.0

My church has been using this software for a long time now. I used to do the slides for songs and messages. It is a great tool to navigate through and so user friendly and easy to use for people of any age.

Pros

It is a great software to use for weekly worship organisations in Church. You can make slides for songs, messages, announcements etc. You can also set when you wanna air certain slides. You can edit as many times you want. It does not change the font size when projected. It also saves previous slides, so you can go back to previous weeks and used saved slides of songs or announcements.

Cons

It does not have a free trial version and also the free version has less features. Also you cannot set timimg on the slides when do you want to project it and change.

Review Source

Bethany G.  
Communications Specialist  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Good on desktop, not as good in the app"

August 29, 2019

4.0

Overall this tool is helpful to organize my schedule and my husband's schedule for service opportunities at church. It's also helpful for our admins at the church to streamline the overall volunteering process.

Pros

Planning Center is super helpful to organize volunteers for events. We use it at my church, and as a volunteer, I'm able to easily accept or decline serving opportunities, as well as see who will be serving in various spaces.

Cons

I am not a big fan of the mobile app for this software. I often struggle to find what I'm looking for. It's difficult to navigate and can be frustrating at times.

Review Source

Response from Planning Center

August 30, 2019

Hi Bethany! Thanks for your kind and honest review! If you are having issues navigating the mobile app, let us know! Email me at support@planning.center and we are more than happy to help clarify any navigation questions. Have a wonderful day! - Clay

Nicholas S.  
Student Pastor  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The only ministry software you'll need"

December 4, 2018

5.0

Pros

This software offers a wide variety of tools and programs that are incredibly easy to use and useful. My favorite aspect of this product is the simplicity of function combined with an overall attractive and clean interface.

Cons

Back-end customization is limited, but customer support is always able to answer questions and help with back-end changes you'll need made!

Review Source

Ahmed S.  
Planning Engineer  
Civil Engineering  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "A new and unique experience"

April 28, 2023

4.0

Overall, a good experience, although it needs some updates to make it easier for any user to use

Pros

There are some many features that I did not find in other applications, and I can easily access it through the phone and do everything I want

Cons

It is somewhat difficult to use and needs time to understand and deal with it

Review Source

TB

Tiffany B.  
Owner  
Human Resources  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great solution for small to mid-size churches"

March 19, 2020

4.0

Overall, for the price, this software is a fantastic solution for small to mid-size churches.

Pros

Planning Center is easy to set up and use as a basic ChMS. It has everything you need under one roof. They also provide fantastic support articles and videos.

Cons

There are nuances throughout the system that make it evident that we will need to switch to another platform once we grow to a particular size. Reporting is not always user friendly and we often find ourselves having to export large amounts of data and sort it ourselves in Excel to get what we want (especially in regards to Giving data). Additionally, the inability to get support personnel on the phone is a pain at times. Having to run support strictly through email can be a huge barrier and waste of time.

Review Source

Teddy O.  
Worship Pastor  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "PLANNING IS GENIUS"

October 15, 2019

5.0

Communication is easy. Scheduling Teams is easy. Updating information​ is easy. That is what is needed. You can also communicate through texts. Beautiful!

Pros

It is simple, intuitive and does what a planning software for churches should do. The apps are great too that comes with it. I love it that team members can update their information and block out dates they are not available to serve. For a planner,​ this is a dream come true. It helps the team communicate very well and it has revolutionized how our team works.

Cons

On the music part, I wish they had preloaded music like other software​ that do the same. Loading songs can be cumbersome and costly especially buying matching MP3s

Reason for choosing Planning Center

The simplicity of use and great customer support.

Review Source

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