ChMeetings vs Planning Center
Which church management platform is right for your church? An honest, side-by-side comparison to help you decide.
Overview: ChMeetings vs Planning Center
ChMeetings and Planning Center both cover church management, giving, worship planning, volunteers and check-in. ChMeetings is all-in-one church management software with plans priced by the number of people. Planning Center is a set of products (People, Services, Check-Ins, Giving, Groups, Calendar, Registrations and the Church Center app), each priced monthly by usage.
This comparison sets out what each company says its products do, so you can check the details that matter to your church.
At a Glance
ChMeetings
All-in-one church management software
Strengths
- Every plan includes people management, groups, ministries, events and check-in, forms, a member portal and a church app
- Online giving by card, ACH, Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Worship planning, volunteer scheduling and fund accounting on the Small plan and above
- Email, SMS, voice and push messaging
- Automated welcome, birthday and new-giver follow-ups
- Available in languages including Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean and Arabic
Best for churches, ministries and dioceses; ChMeetings says it is designed to support churches at every stage
Free plan for up to 50 people; paid plans from $12/month (100 people) to $60/month (unlimited people). Annual billing: pay for 10 months instead of 12. 30-day trial.
Planning Center
A flexible system that brings ministry details together
Strengths
- Services for worship planning, volunteer scheduling, team communication and rehearsal tools
- People: church database with custom fields, forms, workflows and automated welcome emails
- Check-Ins with security labels, medical notes and self-check-in for parents
- Giving with recurring gifts, pledge campaigns, statements and text-to-give
- Church Center, a free mobile app and website for people in your church
- Open, documented API and an integrations directory
Best for churches that want to choose individual products for people, services, check-ins, giving, groups and events
Monthly pricing per product, based on usage. People and Church Center are free; Calendar, Services, Registrations, Giving, Check-Ins and Groups each have a free tier and paid tiers from $15/month to $239/month. First 30 days free.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
How ChMeetings and Planning Center compare across key church management categories.
ChMeetings includes member profiles, bulk management, an online or printed directory, a member portal and a follow-up management dashboard. Planning Center People is a church database with custom fields, forms, workflows and lists.
ChMeetings supports online giving by card, ACH, Apple Pay and Google Pay, through PayPal or Stripe. Planning Center Giving supports ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay, text-to-give, pledge campaigns and giving statements.
ChMeetings includes worship plans, a song library, templates and roles on its Small plan and above. Planning Center Services covers worship planning and rehearsal tools, with song transposition and imports from SongSelect, PraiseCharts and RehearsalPack.
ChMeetings offers volunteer scheduling with reminders on its Small plan and above. Planning Center Services schedules volunteers, lets them mark days they won't be available and sends reminder emails.
ChMeetings includes child check-in and check-out, family check-in and name tags. Planning Center Check-Ins includes volunteer stations, self-check-in for parents, security labels and medical notes.
ChMeetings has a Free plan for up to 50 people, and paid plans from $12/month (100 people) to $60/month (unlimited people). Planning Center publishes monthly per-product pricing with free plans and paid tiers from $15/month to $239/month.
Our Verdict
ChMeetings suits churches, ministries and dioceses that want people, giving, events, worship planning, volunteers and accounting in one system, priced by the number of people. It says it is designed to support churches at every stage.
Planning Center suits churches that want to choose individual products for people, worship planning, check-ins, giving and groups. It describes itself as made for churches of every kind and size.
Compare each product's current features and pricing directly before you decide.
Why Consider MosesTab?
Full disclosure: MosesTab is our product. We aim to keep this comparison honest and balanced.
MosesTab adds AI media generation, social media scheduling and a website builder to member management, giving and communications. Its plans are published on mosestab.com, with a free plan to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ChMeetings include worship planning?
Yes. ChMeetings includes worship plans, a song library, templates and roles on its Small plan and above.
Does Planning Center have free plans?
Yes. Planning Center People and Church Center are always free, and Planning Center's other products each have a free tier.
How does each platform price its plans?
ChMeetings has a Free plan for up to 50 people, and paid plans from $12/month (100 people) to $60/month (unlimited people). Planning Center prices each product monthly by usage, with paid tiers from $15/month to $239/month.
Can I export my data from Planning Center?
Yes. Planning Center's help centre describes a full People export to CSV, and Planning Center Giving reports can be exported to CSV. ChMeetings exports people lists to Excel from its People module.
ChMeetings and Planning Center are trademarks of their respective owners, used here for identification purposes only. MosesTab is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ChMeetings and Planning Center, and they have not reviewed or approved this page. Product information is based on publicly available materials and may change; to report an error, contact [email protected].