Tool profile
Planning Center: cost, fit and limits
Planning Center is a modular church management suite made by Ministry Centered Technologies, Inc. that splits people records, service planning, giving, check-ins, groups and registrations into separate products, each with its own free plan and usage limits.
What to know first
Planning Center sells each area of church life as its own product, so a church can run People for free and add Services or Giving only when needed. Free plans carry hard caps, such as 5 Services team members, 10 monthly donations and 15 Groups members. Paid tiers appear in a calculator on the pricing page without printed figures. The privacy page mentions an AI Assistant for customer support.
Planning Center at a glance
| Maker | Ministry Centered Technologies, Inc., United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes |
| Entry price | $0 per product on the free plans, with usage caps |
| API access | No |
| Category | Best AI Church Management Software in 2026, rank 1 of 12 |
| Website | planningcenter.com/ |
Who Planning Center is best for
Churches testing software for the first time
The People database and reporting are unlimited at no cost, so a volunteer can import the member list and judge the interface before any budget is approved.
Small teams that need only one function
A church that only wants volunteer scheduling can use Services alone with up to 5 team members, without paying for giving, groups or registrations it never opens.
Congregations in Australia or the United States that give by direct debit
The pricing page lists ACH direct debit for United States Giving and BECS direct debit for Australia, which suits donors who avoid card fees.
Planning Center plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free plans (per product) | $0 | Unlimited People and reporting, Calendar with 1 room, Services with 5 team members, Registrations with 5 attendees, Giving with 10 monthly donations, Check-ins with 10 daily, Groups with 15 members. |
| Music Stand add-on | $5 per month | Digital sheet music and chord charts for worship teams, added on top of Services and billed monthly with the rest of the account. |
| Giving toll-free number | $5 per month | Gives donors Text2Give options through a toll-free number that is attached to the Giving product and billed monthly alongside it. |
| Text messages in People | $0.02 per text | Texts to the congregation are bought as credits in the People product and charged per message sent, not as a flat monthly fee. |
Checked November 2026.
What Planning Center does
- Unlimited people records
- The People product stores households, custom fields and reports without a record cap, and it is the shared base that the Services, Giving, Groups and Check-ins products read from.
- Church Center app
- Members reach their groups, giving history and sign-ups through a Church Center app and web platform; custom app design is a paid subscription with no listed price.
- Service planning
- Services handles team scheduling and service plans for up to 5 team members at no charge, with a $5 Music Stand add-on for chord charts and sheet music.
- Giving with direct debit
- Giving offers online donations plus ACH direct debit in the United States and BECS direct debit in Australia, alongside card payments, so donors can avoid card fees.
- AI Assistant for support
- The privacy page describes an in-product customer support assistant that Planning Center may offer, and the site navigation carries an AI section, though the pages we read give no detail on its tasks.
How Planning Center handles your data
The privacy page says third-party AI model providers behind the AI Assistant are contractually prohibited from using the information to train their models. Usage data, AI Assistant transcripts and feedback are kept for internal analysis, support and legal duties, then deleted or de-identified, with no fixed period named. Data of users outside the United States is processed in the United States. The footer shows an AICPA SOC logo, but the page does not say which report or scope applies.
Where Planning Center falls short in practice
- Hard usage caps on free plans. Ten monthly donations or five Services team members are tight for a real congregation. The pricing page says overages trigger upgrade emails, so a church should expect to pay within weeks of full use.
- Paid prices hidden in a calculator. The page shows no printed tier figures, so a treasurer cannot compare the cost of People, Services and Giving to a flat-rate vendor without running the calculator.
- Processing fees on money products. Giving and Registrations add card processing fees, for example 2.15% plus $0.30 per card in the United States, on top of any product subscription or add-on.
Works with
Alternatives to Planning Center
Planning Center: common questions
Does Planning Center have a free plan?
Yes. Every product has a free plan with limits, and the People database and reporting are unlimited. Examples include 5 Services team members, 10 monthly Giving donations, 10 daily check-ins and 15 Groups members. The pricing page also shows a first 30 days free note for paid use.
How much does Planning Center cost after the free plans?
The pricing page shows paid tiers only in a calculator and prints no figures for them. It does print add-ons: Music Stand at $5 per month, a Giving toll-free number at $5 per month and texts at $0.02 each. Run the calculator with your own numbers.
What AI does Planning Center have?
The privacy page says Planning Center may offer AI-powered features, including an in-product customer support assistant called the AI Assistant. The site navigation shows an AI section described as tools you control. The pages we read name no AI for planning, giving or reporting.
Does Planning Center let AI providers train on church data?
The privacy page says third-party AI model providers for the AI Assistant are contractually prohibited from using the information to train their models. Retention periods are not given, only that data is kept for analysis, support and legal needs before deletion or de-identification.
What fees does Planning Center Giving charge?
The pricing page gives 2.15% plus $0.30 per card as an example in the United States for Giving and Registrations, and lists ACH direct debit for United States Giving. A toll-free number for text giving is $5 per month. Check the live page for your country's rates.