Planning Center is a great system. I'll say that up front. But it's priced one product at a time, and once a church turns on Services, Check-Ins, Giving and Groups, the bill can climb past what a simpler system charges. (I broke that down in Planning Center Pricing Explained.)
So if you're wondering whether something cheaper or simpler would serve your church just as well, here are the alternatives I'd actually look at, with prices from each vendor's own pricing page.
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The quick comparison
| Tool | Starting price | How it's priced | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChMeetings | Free (50 people) | By people count, up to $60/mo unlimited | Small churches on a tight budget |
| Flocknote | Free (0–40 members) | By member count | Churches that mostly need communication |
| Elvanto | $19/mo (50 active adults) | By active adults, plus $149 setup | Small churches wanting rosters and planning |
| ChurchTrac | $29/mo (75 names) | By names, up to $119/mo unlimited | All features at every size |
| Breeze | $72/mo | One flat price | Churches that want simple and predictable |
| Tithe.ly All Access | $119/mo | One bundle | Churches that want giving, ChMS and app together |
| Rock RMS | Free software | You pay for hosting and setup | Larger churches with tech staff |
| Planning Center | People is free | Per product, $15–$239/mo each | Comparison baseline |
ChMeetings: the best free starting point
ChMeetings is free forever for 50 people and 50 donations a month. After that, it's priced by people count: $12/mo for 100, $25 for 250, $40 for 500, $50 for 1,000 and $60 for unlimited (source).
For a 250-person church, that's $25/mo for the whole system. It's hard to beat on price. Read our ChMeetings review for the downsides before you switch.
ChurchTrac: every feature, priced by size
ChurchTrac charges by how many people you track: 75 names $29/mo, 125 $39, 250 $59, 500 $79, 1,000 $99, unlimited $119. Every size gets every feature, and paying yearly saves 10%. There's a 30-day free trial with no credit card (source).
I like that you never hit a paywall for a feature. If you've got 250 people, you know your bill is $59. If you're torn between these two, see ChurchTrac vs ChMeetings.
Breeze: one flat price, no surprises
Breeze is $72/mo flat, with no tiers based on church size, no contracts and no termination fees. Giving runs through Tithely Giving at $0/mo plus Tithely's processing (2.9% + $0.30 card, 1% + $0.30 ACH). Texting is 250 free a month, then $10 per 500. A worship tools add-on is $29/mo (source).
Breeze is the one I'd hand a church that has no tech person and wants something the office manager can learn in an afternoon. We did a full head-to-head in Planning Center vs Breeze.
Elvanto: low entry price, watch the setup fee
Elvanto is $19/mo for up to 50 active adults, $39/mo for up to 100 and $78/mo for the next tier, with 20% off if you pay a year upfront. Every plan has a $149 setup cost, which includes data migration help (source).
That setup fee stings for a tiny church, but the migration help is real value if you're moving off spreadsheets.
Flocknote: if communication is the main need
Flocknote's Starter plan is free for life at 0–40 members, $10/mo at 41–50, $17/mo at 51–70, and so on. Complete is Starter plus $75/mo. No contracts (source).
It's strongest at email and text communication. If your main pain is reaching your people, start here.
Tithe.ly All Access: the bundle
Tithe.ly's All Access is $119/mo with a 30-day free trial, and it includes data migration and onboarding. Their Free Online Giving plan is $0/mo, with U.S. processing at 2.9% + $0.30 per card gift and 1% + $0.30 per ACH gift (source).
Note that Tithe.ly's card rate is higher than Planning Center Giving's 2.15% + $0.30, so a church with heavy online giving should run the numbers. Our giving fees comparison shows what that means per gift.
Rock RMS: free, but not cheap
Rock RMS is free and open source. You pay for hosting yourself, and self-hosting needs Windows Server, SQL Server, IIS and SSL, or a hosting partner (source). Most churches also budget staff or partner time to roll it out.
It's powerful. It's also not a fit for a church without someone technical on staff.
Before you switch
Switching systems is real work, so be honest about why you're doing it.
- Price your Planning Center setup first. You might be paying for tiers you don't need. Drop unused products and see where you land.
- Count the hidden costs. Setup fees, giving processing and your staff's time to migrate.
- Check your giving rate. Leaving Planning Center Giving for a tool with a higher card rate can cost more than you save on software.
- Ask how you get your data out if you ever leave.
My honest picks
- Under 100 people and no budget: ChMeetings.
- Want every feature without surprises: ChurchTrac.
- Want the simplest system for a volunteer-run office: Breeze.
- Growing church with teams and a tech-minded staffer: Planning Center is probably still your answer. Just trim the tiers.
Browse every option in our church management software category, or take the 60-second finder quiz.