Planning Center
Planning Center is a privately held church management software company offering eleven integrated modules—covering people, groups, calendar, registrations, check-ins, worship services, music, mobile apps, publishing, donations, and dashboards—used by congregations of every size in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2006
- HeadquartersCarlsbad, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Planning Center does
Planning Center (legally Ministry Centered Technologies, Inc.) is a privately held software company founded in 2006 and headquartered in Carlsbad, California, that builds an integrated church management platform for congregations of every size and denomination. The platform consists of eleven core modules—People, Groups, Calendar, Registrations, Check-ins, Services, Music Stand, Church Center, Publishing, Giving, and Home—alongside dedicated iOS and Android applications and a customer-facing mobile app (Church Center) that connects congregants to ministry activities such as check-in, volunteering, group chat, prayer requests, and giving. All modules share a single data layer so that signups, donations, and form submissions are automatically linked across the system, and the codebase is deployed on AWS infrastructure with SOC 2 Type 2 and PCI Level One compliance certifications.
The company generates revenue through a modular subscription model (customers select only the products they need and pay monthly or annually, with the People module offered free), usage-based donation-processing fees on the Giving product (2.15% + $0.30 per card transaction and 0% + $0.30 per ACH transfer), transaction fees on event registrations, and prepaid credit packages for text messaging. Go-to-market is product-led and community-led: a self-serve free signup funnel is combined with a 21,000+-member user community, 1,200+ help articles, 160+ training videos, and an advertised ~1 hour support response time. Distribution is direct-to-customer via the website, mobile app stores, and comparison pages targeting competitors such as Pushpay, Tithe.ly, Breeze, Subsplash, and ChurchTrac. The company has no outside investors, no funding history, and is publicly committed to remaining independent under founder and CEO Jeff Berg.
Planning Center firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Planning Center
- Legal name
- Ministry Centered Technologies, Inc.
- Website
- https://planningcenter.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2006
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Planning Center is a privately held church management software company offering eleven integrated modules—covering people, groups, calendar, registrations, check-ins, worship services, music, mobile apps, publishing, donations, and dashboards—used by congregations of every size in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Planning Center industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Church Management Software
- NAICS
- Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Professional Organizations (81392)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Building Information Modeling (BIM) & Digital Design Services (BPAHAKAK)
Keywords
Where Planning Center is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Carlsbad
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Planning Center business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription Software Licenses: Planning Center operates on a subscription model where churches pay based on selected products and usage levels. Plans are flexible—customers select only what they need (People, Groups, Calendar, Services, Giving, etc.) and can cancel anytime. Billing is monthly or annual with automatic credit card charges. Subscription cost is based on number of donations per month for Giving product.
- Donation Processing Fees: Transaction fees on donations processed through Planning Center Giving: 2.15% + $0.30 per credit/debit card transaction, and 0% + $0.30 per ACH bank transfer. The company emphasizes low giving rates to help churches save on processing fees.
- Text Messaging Credits: Prepaid credit packages for text messaging services at 1 credit per message segment. Credits expire 12 months from purchase. Available only to 501(c)(3) non-profits in compliance with US carrier requirements.
- Event Registration Fees: Churches can use Registrations product for event signups, tickets, and payments. The platform handles payment processing for events.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Hybrid | Monthly | Flexible modular subscription with free tier available |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Giving product processing fees |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Text messaging credit packages |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Planning Center product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Planning Center provides integrated church management software (ChMS) that combines a membership database, worship planning, volunteer scheduling, event registration, donation processing, child check-ins, and a custom church mobile app into one connected platform. Churches select only the products they need from a suite of 11 integrated modules (People, Groups, Calendar, Registrations, Check-ins, Services, Music Stand, Church Center, Publishing, Giving, Home) that share data automatically across ministry areas.
Product overview
Planning Center is a comprehensive church management software platform consisting of multiple integrated modules. The core product portfolio includes: People (membership database), Groups (community engagement), Calendar (scheduling and facilities), Registrations (event signups and ticketing), Check-ins (attendance tracking), Services (worship planning), Music Stand (digital sheet music), Church Center (custom mobile app), Publishing (website and media), Giving (donations), and Home (dashboard). Additional offerings include mobile apps for Planning Center, Check-ins, Music Stand, People, and Headcounts; Links (NFC tag creation); Community (user forum); Planning Center University (training videos); and PicoLabs (beta features). All products are designed to work together seamlessly, with Church Center serving as the congregation-facing mobile app that connects people to ministry activities managed through the administrative modules.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Church Center: Custom mobile app for churches enabling check-ins, volunteer schedules, group chat, event registration, prayer requests, and donations.
- Music Stand
- PicoLabs
Products and services
- People Free membership database for tracking church members, families, and contacts with customizable fields and profiles; serves as the core people management module.
- Groups
Quantifiable outcome
- ChurchLV saved over $26,000 per year in processing fees after switching to Planning Center Giving
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Planning Center
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Planning Center technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability4 records
Feature8 records
Planning Center partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- StripecoreStripe is Planning Center's payment processor for Handling credit card payments for donations and registrations. Stripe is described as 'one of the largest, most advanced payment processors in the world' serving companies like Kickstarter, Lyft, Shopify, and Twitter. Stripe is a certified PCI Service Provider Level 1 payment processor. Planning Center uses Stripe Connect for donation processing.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreAll Planning Center data is stored in AWS data centers, which use 'industry leading practices in physical security, redundancy, and availability.' AWS provides the underlying infrastructure for the entire platform.
- HackerOnecorePlanning Center runs an ongoing bug bounty program through HackerOne to provide penetration testing across all products. Security researchers can find vulnerabilities and responsibly disclose them. Average response time is less than one day. Program is open to anyone who finds a security vulnerability.
- CircleCo, Inc.coreCircleCo provides the technology platform for the Planning Center Community. Circle is a third-party beneficiary to the Community Terms of Service. The Community is powered by Circle's platform.
- Johanson Group (Johanson LLP)coreJohanson Group is an AICPA-approved auditor that conducted Planning Center's SOC 2 Type 2 audit. They critiqued Planning Center based on five areas: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Planning Center competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Planning Center social profiles
Digital presencePlanning Center compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Planning Center financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Planning Center leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Planning Center funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Planning Center M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Planning Center
What does Planning Center do?
Planning Center provides integrated church management software (ChMS) that combines a membership database, worship planning, volunteer scheduling, event registration, donation processing, child check-ins, and a custom church mobile app into one connected platform. Churches select only the products they need from a suite of 11 integrated modules (People, Groups, Calendar, Registrations, Check-ins, Services, Music Stand, Church Center, Publishing, Giving, Home) that share data automatically across ministry areas.
Is Planning Center a public or private company?
Planning Center is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Planning Center founded?
Planning Center was founded in 2006. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Planning Center based?
Planning Center is headquartered in Carlsbad, United States, in the North America region.
How does Planning Center make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription Software Licenses are the primary driver. The others are donation Processing Fees, text Messaging Credits and event Registration Fees.
Does Planning Center have an API?
Yes. Planning Center provides APIs and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows customers to connect Third-Party Services, including AI tools like Large Language Models, to their Planning Center accounts. Churches can connect LLMs to search through information within the Planning Center platform. Third-Party Services may only access or act on data within the scope of that customer's existing Planning Center permissions. Planning Center acts solely as a processor in responding to authenticated requests. Developer documentation is at www.planningcenter.com/developers.
What industry is Planning Center in?
Planning Center's product category is Church Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAK, Building Information Modeling (BIM) & Digital Design Services. Its NAICS code is 813 and its SIC code is 7370.