Planning Center vs Rock RMS
By ChurchTechStack · Prices and facts from each vendor's own pages, with sources. Anything we couldn't confirm is left out.
Planning Center
People: Free; paid modules priced by usage
Rock RMS
Donation-based, no license feeThis matchup only shows up at larger churches, usually ones with an IT person who's asked, "Why are we paying license fees at all?" Rock is free and open source, and Planning Center is a hosted subscription you never have to maintain.
Both are powerful; they ask for completely different kinds of investment.
At a glance
| Planning Center | Rock RMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | People: Free; paid modules priced by usage | Donation-based, no license fee |
| Pricing model | modular | open source |
| Who it's for | Churches with real volunteer teams and a weekly service to plan, especially ones that want to start small and add tools over time. | Large churches with technical staff or a partner who can host and customize it. |
| Pricing source | official pricing page | official pricing page |
Pricing, in plain terms
Planning Center
- People, Calendar events and the basic Church Center app: free.
- Services, Giving, Check-Ins, Groups and Registrations: monthly plans per product, sized by your usage (team members, donations, check-ins, group members, event attendees).
- U.S. giving fees: 2.15% + $0.30 per card gift and $0.30 flat per ACH gift. International cards add 1.5%.
- No setup, cancellation or monthly-minimum fees on processing. You can upgrade, downgrade or cancel any time.
- New products include a 30-day free trial.
From Planning Center pricing, checked 2026-10-29.
Rock RMS
- The software is free and open source.
- You pay for hosting yourself. Self-hosting needs Windows Server, SQL Server, IIS and SSL, or a hosting partner.
- Most churches also budget for staff or partner time to roll it out.
From Rock RMS, Rock technical requirements, checked 2026-10-29.
Key features
Planning Center
- Free People database: Member records, reporting and communication tools at no cost.
- Services: Service planning and volunteer scheduling, tied to song arrangements and keys for the band and tech team. Music Stand is a $5/month add-on.
- Giving: Online and in-app giving, priced by the number of donations you get each month.
- Check-Ins: Kids and event check-in, priced by your Sunday check-in count.
- Groups: Small-group management with group chat, priced by the number of people in groups.
- Registrations and Calendar: Event sign-ups and payments, plus a free unlimited calendar. You pay only if you book rooms.
Rock RMS
- Church management: People, groups and check-in.
- Communication: Email and messaging tools.
- Digital publishing: A built-in website content management system.
- Workflows: Deep customization and automation.
- Open source: Free to use and modify.
- Check-in and giving: Kids check-in and online giving built in.
👍 What each does well
Planning Center
⚠️ Where each falls short
Planning Center
- Costs add up as you add more products and people source
- Giving subscriptions scale with the number of donations, not dollars, so a church with many small gifts pays more source
- The learning curve, and staff pushback, grow once the whole church is on it source
- Pricing isn't one simple number. You have to model each product on the pricing page to know your monthly cost. source
Rock RMS
- You almost need a full-time person or team to roll it out and maintain it source
- Self-hosting needs Windows Server, SQL Server, IIS and SSL source
- Steep learning curve. It works best with technical staff or a partner. source
- Self-hosting requires Windows Server, IIS, SQL Server and .NET expertise source
- Implementation, migration, training and hosting can add substantial cost source
Our verdict
Rock RMS fits a large church with technical staff or a hosting partner that wants total control. The license is free, reviewers rate it 4.9, and there's "little that Rock cannot do." The real cost is people: self-hosting needs Windows Server, SQL Server and IIS, and rollout often takes a dedicated person or team.
Planning Center is the right call for nearly everyone else. It's hosted, month-to-month, and strong at volunteer scheduling, and you pay per module instead of per staff hour.
Read the full reviews: Planning Center review · Rock RMS review