Aplos
Aplos is a comprehensive fund accounting and donor management software designed specifically for nonprofits and churches to streamline financial tracking, donation processing, and member engagement in one integrated platform.
Planning Center
Planning Center is a comprehensive church management software suite providing modular tools for attendance tracking, donation processing, volunteer scheduling, and worship service coordination to help ministries stay organized.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Aplos | Planning Center |
|---|---|---|
| Website | aplos.com | planningcenter.com |
| Pricing Model | Subscription | Freemium |
| Starting Price | $79/month | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 15 days free trial | ✓ 30 days free trial |
| Free Plan | ✘ No free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2009 | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Fresno, USA | Carlsbad, USA |
Overview
Aplos
Aplos provides a specialized suite of tools designed to handle the unique financial needs of nonprofits and churches. You can move away from generic spreadsheets and use a true fund accounting system that tracks every dollar by its specific purpose or restricted fund. This ensures your financial reports are always audit-ready and transparent for your board or congregation.
Beyond accounting, you can manage your entire community from a single dashboard. The platform lets you track donor relationships, automate recurring giving, and send professional email communications to your supporters. Whether you are a small plant church or a growing national nonprofit, you can centralize your operations to save time on administrative tasks and focus more on your core mission.
Planning Center
Planning Center is a modular software suite designed to help you manage every aspect of your church's daily operations. Instead of a rigid, all-in-one system, you can choose specific applications for check-ins, giving, registrations, and worship planning. This flexibility allows you to build a custom toolkit that fits your ministry's unique size and specific workflow requirements without paying for features you don't use.
You can track member engagement, coordinate complex volunteer schedules, and process digital donations through a unified interface. The platform simplifies communication with your congregation through automated emails and a dedicated mobile app. Whether you are a small plant or a multi-site campus, you can scale your tools as your community grows while keeping your data synchronized across all departments.
Overview
Aplos Features
- True Fund Accounting Track restricted funds and generate specialized nonprofit financial statements like Statement of Activities and Statement of Functional Expenses automatically.
- Online Donation Tracking Accept one-time or recurring donations online and have them automatically sync with your accounting ledgers and donor profiles.
- Donor Management (CRM) Maintain detailed records of your supporters, track their giving history, and segment your list for more personalized outreach.
- Contribution Statements Generate and email professional, tax-compliant annual giving statements to all your donors with just a few clicks.
- Budgeting by Fund Create specific budgets for different programs or departments to monitor your spending against your actual income in real-time.
- Email Marketing Design and send beautiful newsletters and donation appeals directly from the platform using built-in templates and your donor data.
- Bank Integration Connect your bank accounts to automatically import transactions, making bank reconciliation faster and reducing manual data entry errors.
- Member Portal Provide your members with a secure login where they can manage their own profiles, view giving history, and make payments.
Planning Center Features
- Services & Scheduling. Plan your worship sets and schedule volunteers with automated requests so your weekend services run without a hitch.
- People Database. Organize your member information in one central hub and track engagement levels to ensure no one falls through the cracks.
- Online Giving. Accept donations via credit card, ACH, or text-to-give and automatically generate year-end tax statements for your donors.
- Secure Check-Ins. Keep your children's ministry safe with fast label printing and secure pickup codes that give parents peace of mind.
- Event Registrations. Create custom sign-up forms for camps or conferences and process payments directly through your church website.
- Church Center App. Give your congregation a mobile home where they can join groups, register for events, and manage their own profiles.
Pricing Comparison
Aplos Pricing
- Fund accounting for 1 user
- Donor management (CRM)
- Online donation tools
- Standard financial reports
- Automated bank reconciliation
- Email support
- Everything in Lite, plus:
- Automatic recurring giving
- Budgeting by fund/tag
- Customizable reports
- Bulk contribution entry
- Check printing
Planning Center Pricing
- Free versions of all apps
- Up to 5 Service members
- Up to 15 Check-ins/month
- Up to 10 Registration signups
- Unlimited People profiles
- Community support access
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Up to 25 Service members
- Unlimited service plans
- File storage for charts
- Volunteer scheduling tools
- Rehearsal pack integration
Pros & Cons
Aplos
Pros
- True fund accounting specifically built for nonprofit needs
- Intuitive interface that is easy for non-accountants to navigate
- Excellent customer support with deep nonprofit expertise
- Seamless integration between the donor database and accounting
- Simplifies the creation of year-end tax statements
Cons
- Pricing is higher than generic small business software
- Limited customization options for advanced reporting needs
- Occasional slowness when processing very large datasets
- Mobile app features are limited compared to desktop
Planning Center
Pros
- Modular approach lets you pay only for needed features
- Highly intuitive interface requires very little staff training
- Excellent mobile app for both staff and congregation
- Seamless data syncing between different ministry modules
- Regular feature updates based on direct user feedback
Cons
- Costs can add up quickly when using multiple modules
- Limited customization for some automated email templates
- Reporting features can be basic for complex data needs