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Church & Religious · head to head

Church Alive vs Planning Center

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Church Alive

Church & Religious

Church management and event software

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Planning Center logo

Planning Center

Church & Religious

Complete church management platform for services, volunteers, and giving

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Planning Center has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • They diverge on capability: Church Alive covers Member Management, Planning Center covers Service Planning.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Church Alive and Planning Center actually diverge.

Attributes where Church Alive and Planning Center differ
AttributeChurch AlivePlanning Center
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Mobile (Church Center app)
Founded20062003

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Church & Religious).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Church Alive

  • Member Management
  • Event Planning
  • Group Coordination
  • Volunteer Scheduling
  • Email Integration
  • Calendar Systems
  • Payment Processing
  • Giving Integration

Only in Planning Center

  • Service Planning
  • Volunteer Management
  • Check-in System
  • Accounting Software
  • PayPal
  • Stripe
  • Pushpay
  • IOS support

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Church Alive

  • Member managementnot Planning Center
  • Donation trackingnot Planning Center
  • Event planningnot Planning Center
  • Volunteer schedulingnot Planning Center
  • Communicationnot Planning Center

Planning Center

  • Integrated church management and schedulingnot Church Alive
  • Volunteer coordination and event managementnot Church Alive
  • Worship service planning and schedulingnot Church Alive
  • Online giving and donation trackingnot Church Alive

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Church Alive

Nothing recorded yet. See the Church Alive review.

Planning Center

  • Free tier limited to 5 team members and 10 daily check-ins per product
  • Pricing model requires customers to pay per product used; total cost scales with adoption
  • No monthly minimums but multiple product subscriptions can accumulate

Pricing, plan by plan

Church Alive

On request
  • Basic$49/month
    • Core management
    • Up to 200 members
  • Professional$149/month
    • All features
    • Unlimited members
    • Advanced reporting

Planning Center

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Planning Center review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Church Alive if

  • You need member management.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want event planning.
Church Alive review

Choose Planning Center if

  • You need service planning.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile (Church Center app).
  • You also want volunteer management.
Planning Center review

Questions people ask

Is Church Alive or Planning Center better?
Neither clearly leads. Church Alive starts at On request and Planning Center at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Church Alive or Planning Center?
Planning Center has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Church Alive and Free for Planning Center.
Does Church Alive or Planning Center run on more platforms?
Church Alive runs on Web, Mobile. Planning Center runs on Web, Mobile (Church Center app).
Can I use Planning Center for free?
Yes. Planning Center has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Church Alive starts at On request.
What is Church Alive best used for?
Church Alive is most often used for member management, donation tracking, event planning, volunteer scheduling. Of those, member management and donation tracking are not what Planning Center is typically brought in for.
What can Church Alive do that Planning Center cannot?
Church Alive covers Member Management, Event Planning, Group Coordination, Volunteer Scheduling. Planning Center covers Service Planning, Volunteer Management, Check-in System, Accounting Software. Both handle Web support.
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Related pages

More on Church Alive

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