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.
Risen Media
Risen Media is a cloud-based presentation software designed specifically for churches to create, edit, and stream worship services with integrated lyrics, scriptures, and multi-screen support from any device.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Planning Center | Risen Media |
|---|---|---|
| Website | planningcenter.com | risenmedia.io |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Subscription |
| Starting Price | Free | $20/month |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 30 days free trial | ✓ 14 days free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has free plan | ✘ No free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2006 | 0 |
| Headquarters | Carlsbad, USA | Fort Lauderdale, USA |
Overview
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.
Risen Media
Risen Media is a specialized presentation platform built to simplify how you manage church services and worship experiences. Instead of struggling with static slide decks, you get a dynamic, cloud-based environment where your entire creative team can collaborate on sermon slides, song lyrics, and announcements from any location. You can easily pull from massive libraries of worship songs and scripture translations to build your service in minutes rather than hours.
The platform solves the headache of multi-screen setups by allowing you to send different content to your congregation, your stage performers, and your online stream simultaneously. Because it runs in a web browser, you don't need to worry about expensive hardware or software installations. You can manage your entire production from a laptop or tablet, ensuring your message remains the focus without technical distractions.
Overview
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.
Risen Media Features
- Cloud Collaboration. Work on your presentation from home or the office while your team makes real-time updates that sync instantly.
- Multi-Screen Output. Send custom views to your main screens, stage monitors, and live streams all from a single presentation file.
- Song & Scripture Library. Access thousands of worship lyrics and multiple Bible translations to build your setlists and sermons with a few clicks.
- Mobile Remote Control. Control your slides from anywhere in the sanctuary using your smartphone or tablet for total freedom of movement.
- Planning Center Integration. Import your existing service plans directly to automatically generate your presentation slides and save hours of manual entry.
- Video Backgrounds. Enhance your worship environment by layering text over high-definition motion graphics and live video feeds effortlessly.
Pricing Comparison
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
Risen Media Pricing
- Unlimited presentations
- Multi-screen support
- Cloud storage for assets
- Song and Scripture libraries
- Mobile remote access
- Standard support
- Everything in Monthly, plus:
- Discounted annual rate
- Priority feature updates
- Full year of service
- Simplified billing
- All library integrations
Pros & Cons
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
Risen Media
Pros
- Intuitive interface is easy for volunteers to learn quickly
- Cloud-based access allows for remote sermon preparation
- Excellent multi-display capabilities for complex stage setups
- Seamless integration with popular church planning tools
Cons
- Requires a stable internet connection for cloud features
- Smaller feature set compared to legacy desktop competitors
- Limited advanced video editing tools within the app