If you've ever opened Planning Center's pricing page and walked away still not knowing what you'd pay, you're not alone. There's no single price. You build your own bill one product at a time, and each product has its own tiers based on how much you use it.
That's actually good news for a lot of churches. It just means you have to do a little math. So let's do it together, with the real numbers from Planning Center's own pricing calculator (checked November 3, 2026).
📘 Free: the Church Software Savings Guide
14 pages, pastor to pastor, on cutting what your church spends on software and giving fees. Includes a savings scorecard and a five-day plan.
The parts that are always free
Before we talk money, here's what costs nothing, no matter your size:
- People, the member database, with reporting and communication tools. Unlimited, free.
- Calendar events. You can create as many as you want. You only pay if you want to manage room bookings.
- Church Center essentials: the member app and web platform, home page and engagement analytics.
Every paid product also has a small free tier, so a church plant can run a surprising amount of ministry on $0.
Every paid module, tier by tier
Here's the whole price list. Each product is priced on its own, and you only pay for the ones you turn on.
| Product | What sets the price | Free up to | $15/mo | $32/mo | $69/mo | $115/mo | $179/mo | $239/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Services | Team members | 5 | 20 | 50 | 150 | 400 | 1,000 | Unlimited |
| Check-Ins | Check-ins on Sunday | 10 | 30 | 75 | 200 | 500 | 1,000 | Unlimited |
| Giving | Donations per month | 10 | 75 | 200 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,500 | Unlimited |
| Groups | People in groups | 15 | 75 | 200 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,500 | Unlimited |
| Registrations | Attendees at your largest event | 5 | 20 | 50 | 150 | 400 | 1,000 | 5,000 |
| Calendar (rooms) | Rooms you book | 1 | 5 | 15 | 30 | 50 | 75 | Unlimited |
Source: Planning Center pricing.
A few extras:
- Publishing (custom Church Center pages, sermon notes, audio and video channels): Essential is free, Plus is $15/mo, Premium is $32/mo.
- Music Stand, the digital sheet music add-on for Services, is listed at $5/mo on the pricing page.
- Texting through People costs $0.02 per text. A toll-free Text2Give number is $5/mo.
The tier ladder is the same for every product: $15, $32, $69, $115, $179, $239. Once you know that, the page gets a lot less confusing.
Giving fees are separate
Planning Center Giving has two costs: the monthly tier above, plus processing on each gift. In the U.S. that's:
- Cards: 2.15% + $0.30
- ACH bank transfer: 0% + $0.30
- International cards add 1.5%.
There are no setup fees, monthly minimums or cancellation fees on processing. The same rate applies to event payments through Registrations. If you want to see how that stacks up, I compared it against Tithe.ly, Givelify, Vanco and others in Church Giving App Fees Compared.
What a 150-person church might pay
Let's make it concrete. Picture a church running about 150 on a Sunday. Your numbers will differ, but here's a realistic setup:
| Product | Your usage | Tier | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| People | Whole congregation | Free | $0 |
| Services | 45 volunteers on teams | 50 team members | $32 |
| Check-Ins | 60 kids and volunteers checked in | 75 daily check-ins | $32 |
| Giving | 150 gifts a month | 200 donations | $32 |
| Groups | 70 people in groups | 75 group members | $15 |
| Calendar | Events only, no room booking | Free | $0 |
| Total | $111/mo |
That's $1,332 a year in subscriptions, plus giving processing. Drop Groups and Check-Ins and you're at $64. Add room booking for 5 rooms and you're at $126. That flexibility is the whole point.
Ways to pay less
- Only turn on what you'll use this year. You can add products later.
- Watch your tiers. If you go over your limit, Planning Center says nothing breaks. They'll email you a suggestion to upgrade if you go over more than once.
- Drop Registrations between big events. Planning Center itself says many churches bump Registrations up for VBS or a Christmas concert, then go back to free.
- Push ACH giving. At $0.30 flat, a $100 bank gift costs a fraction of a card gift.
- Church plants: Planning Center has an application for 12 months of free Giving.
- Use the 30-day free trial on any new product before you commit.
The honest downsides
- It adds up. Each product is reasonable on its own, but turn on five of them at mid-tiers and you're past what some all-in-one systems charge. Reviewers say the same thing about costs adding up as you add products.
- You pay to grow. Every tier is sized by usage, so a healthy, growing church moves up the ladder.
- Giving has a subscription on top of processing. Many giving apps charge $0/mo. Planning Center's lower card rate usually wins anyway once you're past a handful of gifts, but run your own numbers.
So is it worth it?
For most churches with real volunteer teams and a Sunday worth planning, yes. You start free, you pay only for what you use, and there are no contracts. If the total for your setup comes out higher than you'd like, look at Planning Center alternatives that charge one flat price.
Want the full review, features and watch-outs? See our Planning Center review.