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Church & Religious · head to head

Planning Center vs Church Alive

Planning Center logo

Planning Center

Church & Religious

Complete church management platform for services, volunteers, and giving

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
C

Church Alive

Church & Religious

Church management and event software

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

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

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Planning Center and Church Alive differ
AttributePlanning CenterChurch Alive
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Mobile (Church Center app)Web, Mobile
Founded20032006

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 Planning Center

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

Only in Church Alive

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

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

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

Church Alive

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

Where each one falls short

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

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

Church Alive

Nothing recorded yet. See the Church Alive review.

Pricing, plan by plan

Planning Center

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Planning Center review.

Church Alive

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

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Church Alive if

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

Questions people ask

Is Planning Center or Church Alive better?
Neither clearly leads. Planning Center starts at Free and Church Alive at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Planning Center or Church Alive?
Planning Center has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Planning Center and On request for Church Alive.
Does Planning Center or Church Alive run on more platforms?
Planning Center runs on Web, Mobile (Church Center app). Church Alive runs on Web, Mobile.
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 Planning Center best used for?
Planning Center is most often used for integrated church management and scheduling, volunteer coordination and event management, worship service planning and scheduling, online giving and donation tracking. Of those, integrated church management and scheduling and volunteer coordination and event management are not what Church Alive is typically brought in for.
What can Planning Center do that Church Alive cannot?
Planning Center covers Service Planning, Volunteer Management, Check-in System, Accounting Software. Church Alive covers Member Management, Event Planning, Group Coordination, Volunteer Scheduling. Both handle Web support.
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Related pages

More on Planning Center

More on Church Alive

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