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.
Tithe.ly
Tithe.ly is an all-in-one church management and giving platform designed to help your ministry increase engagement, streamline administration, and simplify digital donations through user-friendly mobile and web tools.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Planning Center | Tithe.ly |
|---|---|---|
| Website | planningcenter.com | tithe.ly |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Free | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 30 days free trial | ✘ No free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has 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 | 2006 | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Carlsbad, USA | Los Angeles, 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.
Tithe.ly
Tithe.ly provides a comprehensive suite of digital tools specifically built to help your church grow and manage its community. You can handle everything from recurring mobile giving and event registration to member communications and website hosting within a single ecosystem. By moving away from fragmented systems, you save time on administrative tasks and can focus more on your ministry's mission and outreach efforts.
The platform serves churches of all sizes, from small plants to multi-site congregations. You can choose to use the dedicated giving tools for free (paying only transaction fees) or upgrade to the full church management system (ChMS) for deeper insights into your congregation. It solves the common problem of declining physical offerings by providing your members with six different ways to give, including text-to-give and an intuitive mobile app.
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.
Tithe.ly Features
- Multi-Channel Giving. Give your members six ways to donate, including mobile app, text-to-give, and online forms, to ensure you never miss a contribution.
- Church Management (ChMS). Track member attendance, manage small groups, and organize your volunteer schedules from a centralized, easy-to-use digital dashboard.
- Custom Church Apps. Launch your own branded mobile app where you can share sermons, digital bulletins, and prayer requests directly with your community.
- Automated Messaging. Send mass emails and SMS updates to your entire congregation or specific groups to keep everyone informed about upcoming events.
- Event Registration. Create custom sign-up forms for conferences or camps and collect payments instantly without needing a separate third-party platform.
- Background Checks. Protect your ministry by running integrated background checks on volunteers and staff directly through your management console.
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
Tithe.ly Pricing
- No monthly subscription fee
- Mobile, Web, and Text giving
- Administrative reporting tools
- Donor-covered fees option
- Standard transaction rates apply
- Everything in Giving, plus:
- Full Church Management (ChMS)
- Custom Church App
- Church Website Builder
- Messaging (Email & SMS)
- Media & Graphics library
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
Tithe.ly
Pros
- Extremely easy for congregants to set up recurring donations
- Consolidates multiple tools into one affordable monthly subscription
- Excellent customer support tailored to church environments
- Clean and modern interface for both staff and members
Cons
- Transaction fees can add up for high-volume churches
- Website templates offer limited deep customization options
- Learning curve when migrating data from older legacy systems