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Church Center
Church Center is the member-facing app and website built by Planning Center for churches that use its tools. Congregants can give online, browse and join groups, register for events, check in their family, respond to volunteer scheduling requests, access the church directory, and take notes on sermons. Giving supports cards, Apple Pay, and ACH transfers.
It is made for church members and ministry teams, and the church account runs on Planning Center products such as Giving, Groups, Registrations, and Check-Ins. The app is free to members, while the church administers it through its Planning Center subscription. The developer is Ministry Centered Technologies.
Screenshots
Our verdict
Church Center is the free app and web portal that members use to plug into a church running Planning Center, and Planning Center is, for a lot of people, the gold standard in church management software. Through Church Center a member can give, register for events, sign up for groups, check their kids in, browse the calendar, and access the directory, all from one clean, well-designed place.
What makes it work is what sits behind it. Planning Center is modular, so a church turns on People, Services, Giving, Check-Ins, Groups, Registrations, and Calendar as needed, and Church Center automatically surfaces the member-facing side of whatever the church uses. The design is genuinely excellent, the reliability is high, and the whole system is a favorite of medium and large churches for good reason.
The honest caveats: the app is free to members, but the church pays for the Planning Center products behind it, and stacking several modules can climb into the low hundreds of dollars a month for a larger congregation. The member app's App Store rating sits around 3.9 stars, reflecting occasional gripes about notifications and navigation. Even so, for churches that want a modern, unified member experience, it is tough to beat.
How we scored it
Standout features
Online giving
Members give and manage recurring gifts from the app.
Event registration
Sign up and pay for events and camps in a few taps.
Child check-in
Fast, secure kids check-in tied to Planning Center.
Groups & directory
Find groups, join, and connect with the church community.
Church calendar
Browse and follow events across every ministry.
Free to members
No cost for the congregation to download and use.
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- Free to members, giving your congregation one polished app for everything
- Backed by Planning Center, a best-in-class modular church management system
- Members can give, register, join groups, and check in kids in one place
- Beautifully designed and highly reliable across web and mobile
- Church only pays for the specific modules it actually turns on
– Cons
- The church pays for Planning Center products, and stacked modules add up
- Member app rating around 3.9 stars reflects notification and navigation gripes
- Full value requires committing to the broader Planning Center ecosystem
Best for
Medium and large churches that want a modern, unified member app and are willing to run Planning Center's modular platform behind it.
Look elsewhere if
You're a small church on a shoestring wanting one flat low price, or you'd rather not pay per module and would prefer a single all-in-one tool like ChurchTrac.
Pricing
How it compares
| Church Center | ChurchTrac | Rock RMS | Subsplash | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our score | 8.8 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 7.6 |
| Ease of use | 9.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 7.5 |
| Feature depth | 9.0 | 8.0 | 9.5 | 8.0 |
| Pricing / value | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 6.0 |
| Member app experience | 8.5 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 8.5 |
FAQ
Is the Church Center app free?
Yes, Church Center is free for members to download and use. The church behind it pays for the Planning Center products that power its features.
What can members do in Church Center?
Members can give, register for events, join groups, check in children, view the directory, and browse the church calendar, all from one app.
Do we need Planning Center to use it?
Yes. Church Center is the member-facing front end for Planning Center, so a church configures the modules it wants and Church Center surfaces them automatically.
How much does the church pay?
Each Planning Center product has a free tier and paid plans that generally start near $15/month and scale with attendance, so a church using several modules can reach a few hundred dollars monthly.
Why is the app's rating around 3.9 stars?
Reviews are broadly positive on design and function, with the lower marks tied to occasional complaints about notifications, navigation, and features that vary by which modules a church enables.
