Planning Center vs Pushpay
Which church management platform is right for your church? An honest, side-by-side comparison to help you decide.
Overview: Planning Center vs Pushpay
Planning Center and Pushpay both offer church management and giving. Planning Center sells separate apps, including People, Services, Giving, Check-Ins, Groups, Calendar and Registrations, plus the free Church Center app. Pushpay combines church giving across web, app, text and kiosk with Pushpay ChMS (formerly Church Community Builder) and custom church apps.
This comparison helps churches decide which platform to build their church software around.
At a Glance
Planning Center
A suite of separate church software apps
Strengths
- Services: worship planning, volunteer scheduling, a song library and key transposition
- People: church database with custom fields, forms, workflows, email and texting
- Giving with recurring gifts, pledges, statements, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay and text-to-give
- Church Center: a free member app and website for giving, event sign-ups and sermons
- An open, documented API and integrations including ProPresenter and Mailchimp
Best for churches that want to choose separate apps for people, services, giving, check-in, groups and events
Monthly plans per product. People and Church Center are always free. Calendar, Services, Registrations, Giving, Check-Ins and Groups each have a free tier, with paid tiers from $15/month to $239/month set by usage. Planning Center says there are no contracts and you can cancel anytime.
Pushpay
Church giving, ChMS and church app platform
Strengths
- Giving across web, mobile app, text and kiosk
- Pushpay ChMS (formerly Church Community Builder) for people, groups, events and check-in
- Custom church app in the app stores with push notifications
- Service planning with a song library and chord charts
- Multi-site giving management across campuses
Best for churches wanting giving, church management and a custom church app from one vendor
Pushpay does not publish pricing. It offers Core, Advanced and Complete packages and shares pricing through a demo.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
How Planning Center and Pushpay compare across key church management categories.
Planning Center Giving supports recurring gifts, pledge campaigns, fund management, statements, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay and text-to-give. Pushpay offers giving across web, mobile app, text and kiosk, with recurring giving, campaign pledging and giving statements.
Planning Center Services covers worship planning, volunteer scheduling, team communication and rehearsal tools, with song transposition and imports from SongSelect, PraiseCharts and RehearsalPack. Pushpay ChMS includes service planning with a song library and chord charts.
Planning Center's Church Center is a free mobile app and website where people can give, sign up for events and watch sermons, on iOS and Android. Pushpay offers a custom church app in the app stores with giving, push notifications and polls.
Planning Center People is a church database with custom fields, a directory, forms and multi-step workflows. Pushpay ChMS (formerly Church Community Builder) covers member profiles, groups, attendance and custom workflows.
Planning Center Giving reports by donor, fund, campus and payout, and Check-Ins and Groups include attendance reports. Pushpay offers system, custom and dashboard reports across attendance, giving and more.
Planning Center publishes monthly plans per product: People and Church Center are free, and each other product has a free tier and paid tiers from $15/month to $239/month. Pushpay does not publish pricing; it shares pricing through a demo.
Our Verdict
Planning Center suits churches that want to pick separate apps for people, worship planning, giving, check-in, groups and events, starting on free tiers and adding paid tiers as usage grows.
Pushpay is worth evaluating for churches that want giving, church management and a custom church app from one vendor. Because Pushpay does not publish pricing, request a demo to compare costs for your church.
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 brings giving, member management, events and communications together with AI graphic generation, a social media scheduler and a built-in website builder. Its plans are published on mosestab.com, with a free plan to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Pushpay pricing work?
Pushpay does not publish pricing. It offers Core, Advanced and Complete packages and shares pricing through a demo. Planning Center publishes monthly plans per product, each with a free tier.
Does Pushpay offer worship planning?
Yes. Pushpay ChMS includes service planning with a song library and chord charts. Planning Center Services is Planning Center's worship planning app.
Which platform suits a multi-site church?
Planning Center describes its multi-campus setup as 'one system, one church, multiple locations'. Pushpay's Complete package includes multi-site tools such as per-site branding, bank accounts and fund listings. The right choice depends on whether your priority is coordinating services or managing giving across campuses.
Planning Center and Pushpay are trademarks of their respective owners, used here for identification purposes only. MosesTab is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Planning Center and Pushpay, 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].