# Page 3 | Planning Center Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 3 - Is Planning Center the right Worship solution for you? Explore 1138 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/76708/Planning-Center/reviews --- 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 March 13th, 2026 # Page 3 - Reviews of Planning Center ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 51-75 of 1138 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Kaylee R. Worship leader Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Very useful for all Departments!" June 5, 2023 5.0 Pros The design, the backend ease of accessibility, the layout. The ease of use for both users and administrators, the amount of features that could be used each week, and also the ability to store files and songs into it. Cons It was a bit pricey, and also the financial organizing side wasn't ideal. When it came to service flow layout, it seemed a bit awkward looking, like the agenda needed to be updated to streamline and match the rest of the platform. Reason for choosing Planning Center It is so common, especially in church groups, so it just made organization easier for everyone involved. We were able to easily get everyone on the same page with multiple teams. And even if someone volunteered in 2 or more roles, they were able to see their schedule and access materials easily. Review Source Christopher H. Director of Data & Systems Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great software!" May 20, 2022 5.0 Overall, we love . It's easy to use & the team there is super friendly and helpful when needed. We wish it was more customizable, but overall, we love all of their products and use them frequently. Pros We love how intuitive PCO is. It's easy to navigate & use, with very little extensive training required. It's the "Apple" of software. It is seamless for volunteer & attendee management, and it makes sign ups, giving, groups, etc. a breeze. Cons It's not quite a customizable as we would like. All solutions are out of the box, and there's not the option to really change or amend things (functionality, reporting, etc.). I also wish the API, specifically for registrations, was open to developers so we could connect that into our main church database. Alternatives considered [MinistryPlatform](https://www.capterra.com/p/110437/MinistryPlatform/) Reason for choosing Planning Center Ease of event registration & seamless integration into the People database of PCO. Volunteer scheduling/maintenance is robust. Review Source Response from Planning Center July 13, 2022 Hi Christopher, Thanks for your kind words! You mentioned feedback regarding our lack of customization and API concerns for Registrations specifically. 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! We welcome feedback and feature requests, too. Thanks! SL Sean L. Executive Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A great and versatile solution for churches and non-profits" January 27, 2023 5.0 People management, scheduling, donation management all became greatly simplified through . This is a solid all-around product. Pros One of the best features of is the ala carte ease of use. Choose the products and the level you need and that's all you pay for. Great functionality, data management, and giving options are included and ready for use with minimal set up. Cons There are some '' focused features that are difficult to personalize; web-based giving pages and the app, that could allow for more organizational personalization. However, the value for the money is overall present. Reason for choosing Planning Center Price, Ala-carte functionality, and actually used in conjunction with Tithely (for mobile app and additional giving options) Review Source Response from Planning Center January 31, 2023 Hi Sean, thank you for your kind words. You mentioned having a bit of trouble with web-based Giving. Our Support Team is a great resource for help in that area. Hit the '?' icon in the upper-right of the screen. Send us a message and our team will jump in to help! JV Jennifer V. Office Admin Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Planning Center is an all in one software that makes management easier." March 21, 2022 5.0 is easy to learn and manage. It has helped our church navigate managing over 200 members. This includes using online giving, member database, scheduling, music, emailing members, managing attendance to events and conducting background checks. Planning Center certainly has made our life easier in the office! Pros I like how it is versatile and allows us to plug in other services that help us navigate our business efficiently. Cons I wish we could have access to a live person quickly if assistance with the program is needed. Alternatives considered [Church Windows](https://www.capterra.com/p/2670/Church-Windows-Software/) Reason for choosing Planning Center They had more to offer for a great price. Switched from [Churchteams](https://www.capterra.com/p/103773/Churchteams/) had more options to use and they were more cost effective. Review Source Response from Planning Center July 14, 2022 Hi Jennifer, Thanks for your kind words! You mentioned wishing you could have access to a live person. We are here in the wings ready to support you. You may be surprised how quickly we respond! 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! LP Luke P. Ministry and Marketing Coordinator Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Exactly what we needed to take our organization to the next level" February 12, 2020 5.0 has been a dream for our church. Before we made the move we had a different system for everything and none of them talked to each other in any way. We were scheduling 200+ volunteers 8 weeks out in an Excel spreadsheet. Our previous database software did almost nothing useful and we avoided even using it. Now with Planning Center we're more organized, automated, and streamlined than ever. I know we're not yet using it to it's full potential, there's so much more we can do still and we're excited to see how Planning Center will continue to change, grow, and get better. Pros apps more than make up for their cost by the time, headache, and agony they save us. They are well designed and regularly adding new features. Planning Center listens to user feedback and is very friendly. They want to see churches empowered and so they listen to users for direction as they're implementing new features. Their help docs are great. The apps themselves are powerful. They may not always do what you want in the way you want it, but there's always a way to get it done. The integrations – Lists, Automations, Workflows, Forms – transform People from a database app into a powerhouse of tracking and automation. Cons Some more complicated tasks are not alway simple for PC novices to figure out; they do require some problem solving and hoop-jumping at times but it's still better than going without. Better training docs for getting users or volunteers up to speed for the first time are currently missing. I find myself having to create these based on existing help docs and my own material. Alternatives considered [FellowshipOne](https://www.capterra.com/p/230779/Fellowship-One/) Reason for choosing Planning Center FellowshipOne is owned by Ministry Brands, which if I'm not mistaken is a for profit company that has been buying up church software companies. While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, we were much more comfortable with and their model. We quickly got to know the people and their heart to help churches. Switched from [Elexio Community](https://www.capterra.com/p/117170/Elexio-Database/) Elexio was terrible to work with and was basically useless in comparison. No one wanted to use it. It was clunky and only did a couple of the things we now do with . Elexio also had cost us as much or more than we now pay for Planning Center while providing a fraction of the value. 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! 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! 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, 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 JA Jonathan A. Tech Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The best option for church database management" October 11, 2022 5.0 Since we switched to entirely managing our church database through , we have much better buy in for online sign ups and registrations and all our data is linked and much more accurate and up to date. Young and old learn how to use it quickly. Pros Professionally developed platform with advanced features that are also well thought out and user friendly for both back end and front end users. They are regularly adding features and developing their host of apps. Cons Some of their products are more basic, but they focus on where it counts. Reason for choosing Planning Center They were the only product that had solutions for what we needed. Switched from [FellowshipOne](https://www.capterra.com/p/230779/Fellowship-One/)[Subsplash](https://www.capterra.com/p/177932/Subsplash/) We had too many separate tools and databases (email lists, form registrations, Services, website, App, etc.) 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 MH Mitchell H. Worship and Families Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Incredible Software to help Manage your team!" November 9, 2023 5.0 Pros We love how easy it is to add people to the program, how intuitive it is to create services plans and items and adding people into various positions, and we love how you can upload the music and chord charts for each song so that volunteers can easily rehearse and practice on their own! Cons It is a little more on the expensive end of the market; however the features they include mostly off set this. We also wish it could do more. Reason for choosing Planning Center has much more features and much more integration options. Plus it is easier to use! Review Source NT Nathaniel T. Associate Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Industry Standard for a reason" March 29, 2024 5.0 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 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 WHS William Hernando S. Musica Teacher Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Para Servicios con excelencia" September 14, 2022 5.0 Quedamos muy satisfechos usando . Como músico líder y co-pastor es muy importante ese nivel de flexibilidad y control sobre información clave de la congregación Pros Me gustó la integración de los servicios. El Conocimiento que tienen de las necesidades de una Iglesia. Cons Viviendo en Colombia el cambio a dólares hacen que el precio oscile bastante. El servicio no es costoso pero para una congregación no muy grande que quiere escalar en opciones, puede ser no tan accesible. Alternatives considered [Microsoft Excel](https://www.capterra.com/p/176574/Excel/) Reason for choosing Planning Center Por el nivel de integración de características y las Apps Review Source Response from Planning Center September 26, 2022 We appreciate your feedback, William! Hearing how we can make our products more efficient and affordable is always important to us! Thank you! Cameron M. Technology Coordinator Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great Church Management System for Small - Medium Sized Churchs" June 17, 2021 5.0 My title says that it is a great ChMS for a small - medium sized church, that is just because that is the size of the church that volunteer. also has the potential to be great for a large church as well. So far we have been very happy with the transition to planning center, my next project is going to be integrating our website with their API so that we can sync the events and other features of Planning Center. Pros I like that has all of the features that we need integrated into a single suite. Previously, we had 2-3 tools for membership management, communication, and online giving. We have been able to consolidate that down to a single system and saved money. Cons The member directory in the mobile app can be a little confusing for some of our members that are not tech-savvy. To overcome this, our technology team has been promoting our digital outreach and making ourselves available to the congregation to assist with getting them setup in the directory and using the mobile app. Alternatives considered [SimpleChurch CRM](https://www.capterra.com/p/131549/SimpleChurchCRM/)[Tithe.ly](https://www.capterra.com/p/154664/Tithe-ly-Church-Giving/) Reason for choosing Planning Center We were already using the Worship Planning features and the rest of the suite integrated really well. Switched from [Churchteams](https://www.capterra.com/p/103773/Churchteams/) Churchteams was having issues delivering communications to our members, the interface also had some issues. We wanted a more robust system. Review Source Response from Planning Center June 21, 2021 Hi, Cameron! Thank you so much for your kind review. We're delighted to hear that you've had a successful switch and that you're able to use Planning Center as a unified system. Should you soon venture into using our API and have questions navigating through that process, please don't hesitate to reach out to our team for help. All the best! NL Nicholas L. Finance Director & Dinner Groups Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "It's core programs are stellar" February 22, 2018 4.0 All in one stop shop for Church Database Management Pros is a great all in one suite for a church database. Their customer support is really good. They will respond to your email within an hour. They've had a slack channel that is also helpful for you to learn from others how they are using the software. The majority of their products are great. People, Services, Check-In are best in class in my opinion. Resources and Registrations are good they get the job done. One of Planning Centers best features is that they are constantly making quality improvements. Their updates keep them at the top of the ChMS game. I've witnessed others get the lead and they play it safe or drop the ball. Or they just built such a large product that its too big to update. People -Easy to import and export (this is a must feature in my opinion for any database) -Customizable (again another dealbreaker for me if a database doesnt have that) -F R E E Service - The best volunteer management software in any industry Check-In -Simple to use and straightforward -Beautiful UI Cons Groups and Giving are what I like least about . We had to move on from PC Giving because after 2 years of using it they never added the ability to mass import donations or work with outside vendors. I would have loved to have been able to integrate PushPay with Planning Center. It would have saved us H O U R S. I would have loved to have our members see their entire history of giving. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to manually re-enter every gift. That would take months to complete and we are only 10 years old as a church! Reporting could be much improved too. You can really only search by one category at a time. So if you want to look at everyone who has given to a certain fund by check you'd have to export the info to get that. Groups is still in beta in my opinion and have been since they launched in June of 2016. It's not complete or usable in my opinion. All it does is take attendance. Our groups are more than just taking attendance. Every group's system has a span of care (coaching structure) but groups don't have anything to assist you with that. It also doesn't receive many updates. The team that works on giving also works on groups so giving naturally gets all the priority. Finally, one thing that scares me about Planning Center is that some of the staff can be really arrogant. I don't know if it's because of how many users they have and managing all the requests but they don't listen well enough. Review Source Response from Planning Center February 28, 2018 Hi Nicholas, Thanks for your review. We've had a lot of changes to our teams in the past two months, and the Giving/Groups team has been split in to two separate teams to help advance both of those products faster. It still might be awhile before Giving has a way to bulk-import payments, but adding the ability to track external payments in September was a step in that direction. It's definitely concerning that you feel our staff is arrogant, so if you would like to contact me directly about experiences that contributed to this feeling, I'll gladly look into it with you. Reagan Helms Support Team Lead Planning.center Tyler H. Executive Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "So. Much. Better." May 2, 2020 5.0 I was the XP at a church that used . I went to another church that used one of their main competitors. After 18 months, we are on Planning Center. I'm much happier and the rest of the staff is much happier. I think that pretty well sums it up. Pros When we switched from our previous software to , I worked with our staff to see how it was going. The responses I got were always akin to "well, it is frustrating learning a new system...but this is better than what we were on." Basically, in one or two days our staff was less frustrated with Planning Center than they were continually with a system we had been on for three years. As we've been on it longer, the frustrations have decreased and the benefit to our church has increased. Moving to Planning Center has been the best organizational choice we've made in a long time. Oh, and it is about $100 (33%) cheaper each month. And that's on month-to-month vs an annual contract with the old guys. And when our online giving agreement runs out and we switch the Planning Center giving, we'll save another $200 or so a month. And their support is incredible, typically responding within an hour (vs 2 business days on the old platform). Cons To my understanding, set out to make a great stand alone tool for Check Ins, a great tool for Registrations, a great tool for Giving, etc...to do this, they set up separate development teams for each module. I understand this, having worked with some tools that started as a great online director or great giving tool or great event tool and tried to expand to do much more. The result is often complicated bloat. I do think Planning Center's model largely avoided this because each thing has to stand on its own. In my estimation, I'd like to see some tweaks to certain modules, but overall each of them accomplishes what I need. The one drawback to this, though, is that the tools don't integrate quite as tightly as I'd like. Everything talks back to their People module, but sometimes it would be good to have them talk to each other a little more. E.g., when we set up an event in Check In, we also have to go into the Calendar module to set up the event to request the room. This can be a bit of a hassle. To be fair, it does seem like they are moving in this direction with new features, so hopefully their biggest weakness (to me) will continue to shrink! But, again...this is minor compared to the frustrations I've had with other systems. I've been on ones that I hated even logging into because I knew I was going to get mad. I genuinely like using Planning Center. Switched from [ChurchStaq](https://www.capterra.com/p/211982/ChuchStaq/) PC was a much better experience and more functional for our needs 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, 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 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 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 Timothy H. Lead Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Our Virtual Assistant" July 18, 2019 5.0 Our team has come to a place of embracing this product and using it well for planning worship events. Early on, it was a bit of a learning curve. Having been use to software having phone support with programs. Over all, this product has become a virtual part of our team. We like the ability to update it on the fly, even in the middle of an event. We have also used the "groups" portion of the app, but not a lot. Our next adventure with this product is to be implementing the "check-in" portion of the app. The PlanningCenter portion is great for setting up teams to serve and for bringing our sheet music library into the 'plan.' Pros This app/program has become a great aid in planning worship services and events for our Sunday Services and other events. It helps us get all of our information into one spot. Secondly, in planning our worship services and other events, it has become a template that leads us to our 'finished product,' a well planned and detailed event. Cons All support is done through tutorials and through email contacts. There is no phone support, at least that I have found. Reason for choosing Planning Center We were originally using a pen and paper listing or a typed list that was purely based on talking it out and writing it down. The problem before was that we would often miss out on key items. With PlanningCenter, we are often primed by the template on activities to include or people needed to serve in roles for that portion of the plan. PlanningCenter is constantly updating their product and tutorials. Review Source Response from Planning Center July 23, 2019 Hey Timothy, thanks so much for your feedback and sharing how the software helps your Team get to the finished product for your events. As for phone support, you are able to schedule a call via the (?) on the top right of the app you have questions in. While email support is the fastest most efficient way to receive support. You can still schedule a call via the (?) via the "open a ticket" modal. Hope you have a blessed one! HR Hunter R. Media Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "My favorite ChMS" May 4, 2021 5.0 has helped our church get back to focusing on people. We used to focus on managing people and administrative tasks, but with the ease of use Planning Center offers, it's allowed us to get back to the people on a more personal level. Pros has many apps, all centered around a common database that serves as the backbone for the entire ecosystem. All the apps reference People, the database app, to add users and administrators to each app. Apps include: Groups: Create and manage small groups. Services: Create service line-ups, worship setlists, and manage volunteers for every team your church has all from one platform, so nobody can ever be double booked. Registrations: Create and accept registrations for events, whether registration is free or you have to pay to register. Calendar: Manage events on a calendar, and have a place for end users to add events and reserve rooms. Giving: Online giving with an available add-on to your website, and text-to-give features. Check-Ins: Check in kids and print tags for them, and even create tags for volunteers and special events. Publishing: Edit and manage content for Church Center, and link sermons to your YouTube archives. Church Center: A free app for your church, available for mobile and browser use. Enables mobile giving and allows church members to access the membership-facing side of Planning Center. Cons There's so much flexibility with this ChMS that it's hard to know where to start. It's like trying to write a book, and you're staring at a blank page. You know you have something good to write, something worthwhile to say, but you don't know where to start because of the endless possibilities of starting an amazing new journey. Reason for choosing Planning Center There was no other option for us. was too easy and flexible. Just an amazing software all the way around. Switched from [KidCheck](https://www.capterra.com/p/84428/KidCheck/) There was no organization to our church management before. Now there is. It's really as simple as that. And I don't mean the church staff was disorganized, I mean there was no management to our events and groups. And there was certainly no automation. Now we're getting there. Review Source Response from Planning Center May 6, 2021 Hi, Hunter! Thank you for your kind words. So glad to hear you're enjoying Planning Center! VR Verified Reviewer Owner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent church planning software " May 23, 2022 5.0 Pros I love all the databases and features available. Its great at capturing duplicates, setting workflows and generating reports. Cons Only drawback is the separate module apps, but it makes total sense why it's setup that way because it allows for optional enrollment and cost savings so you only pay for what you need. Review Source Response from Planning Center July 13, 2022 Hi there! Thanks for your kind words! You mentioned concerns or questions regarding pricing and our separate products. 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! 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 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 Chris S. Student Minister Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The standard for church management software" February 15, 2021 5.0 Having used almost every product, there is nothing else that I would recommend. Our entire team uses it weekly for worship, planning, check-ins, de-briefing through reports, congregant database, volunteer team emails, and so much more. Planning Center does a fantastic job and only keeps improving. Pros The ease of use is its best feature. Ease in adding people, features, reports, etc. is unmatched in the industry. Also, has a modern look and feel that many of its competitors lack. The worship software with the SongSelect integration, planning tools, database, key management, ability to add various media, etc. it is a must-have product for any church that values communication, strategic planning, and excellence. Every Planning Center Product that I have and continue to use remains the standard for church management software. Cons Running reports in "People" is cumbersome and time-consuming to get to the exact information you are looking for. It takes a thorough amount of trial and error to extrapolate the intended data by getting the variables just right. Alternatives considered [Rock RMS](https://www.capterra.com/p/141654/Rock-RMS/) Reason for choosing Planning Center The wide-span options of use in made it a clear winner. The overall look, feel, and functionality was an added bonus. Switched from [Servant Keeper](https://www.capterra.com/p/276838/Servant-Keeper/) The ease of use and enhanced options of made it a no brainer. The modern look, feel, and functionality was a welcome change, as well. Review Source Response from Planning Center March 5, 2021 Hey Chris, thanks for the review! If you're willing, we'd love to see if we can help make pulling reports simpler for you. Shoot some details to support@planningcenteronline.com and we'll take a look! CM Candice M. Volunteer Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Check it out! It's worth the try!" December 12, 2022 4.0 Overall my experience has been very positive, as I continue to use and get more familiar with the features - I like it even more. Pros The ease in scheduling volunteers and sending reminders through . Additionally, the email notifications for volunteers and ease for them sending accept/deny instantly keeps things on track. Cons The difficulty using the mobile app has proven challenging. Not being able to sign in and schedule volunteers, and not being able to accept/decline a service time when scheduled through the mobile app can be very frustrating. I don't always have time to pull out a laptop to manage my scheduling. Many times, I have to schedule for my church activities while at sporting activities for my 3 children. Review Source Response from Planning Center December 20, 2022 Hi Candice! Thank you for your kind words. It sounds like you are not able to log in. We can help you with that! Send an email to support@planningcenter.com and let us know you are having login issues. Our Support Team will help smooth this process out for you. We look forward to hearing from you! 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 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 . 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 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! ## 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.