Softwr

Religion · head to head

Planning Center vs Quelea

Planning Center logo

Planning Center

Religion

Complete church management platform for services, volunteers, and giving

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Q

Quelea

Religion

Simple free presentation software for churches and worship

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Planning Center free tier limited to 5 team members and 10 daily check-ins per product; Quelea quelea is 100% free open source software with no paid tier or vendor support contract
  • They diverge on capability: Planning Center covers Service Planning, Quelea covers Lyric Display.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Planning Center and Quelea actually diverge.

Attributes where Planning Center and Quelea differ
AttributePlanning CenterQuelea
Pricing modelfreemiumopen-source
PlatformsWeb, Mobile (Church Center app)Windows, Mac, Linux
Founded20032011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Religion).

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
  • Web support

Only in Quelea

  • Lyric Display
  • Bible Verses
  • Theme Support
  • Song Library
  • OpenLyrics Format
  • Web Remote
  • Theme Editor
  • Plugin Support

What people use each for

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

Planning Center

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

Quelea

  • 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

Quelea

  • Quelea is 100% free open source software with no paid tier or vendor support contract

Pricing, plan by plan

Planning Center

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Planning Center review.

Quelea

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • All features
    • No cost
    • Community development

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 Quelea if

  • You need lyric display.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Mac, Linux.
  • You also want bible verses.
Quelea review

Questions people ask

Is Planning Center or Quelea better?
Neither clearly leads. Planning Center starts at Free and Quelea at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Planning Center or Quelea?
Planning Center starts at Free and Quelea at Free.
Does Planning Center or Quelea run on more platforms?
Planning Center runs on Web, Mobile (Church Center app). Quelea runs on Windows, Mac, Linux.
Can I use Planning Center for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Quelea is typically brought in for.
What can Planning Center do that Quelea cannot?
Planning Center covers Service Planning, Volunteer Management, Check-in System, Accounting Software. Quelea covers Lyric Display, Bible Verses, Theme Support, Song Library.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Quelea: Is Quelea free?

Yes, Quelea is completely free church projection software with no paid tiers or premium features. It is 100% free and open source.

Source
Quelea: Are there any costs associated with using Quelea?

There are no costs, subscription fees, or feature limitations based on payment. All features including stage view, video backgrounds, mobile lyrics view, multilingual support, and Bible integration are free.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Planning Center

More on Quelea

Keep looking

Other head to heads