Planning Center

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.

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

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

• Church management software
• Worship planning software
• Donation processing services
• Ministry engagement platform
• Volunteer scheduling software

Headquarters

HQ city

Carlsbad

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Event Registration Fees: Churches can use Registrations product for event signups, tickets, and payments. The platform handles payment processing for events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core 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

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe 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)coreTechnology or IntegrationAll 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.
• HackerOnecoreTechnology or IntegrationPlanning 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.coreTechnology or IntegrationCircleCo 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)coreOthersJohanson 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

Market position

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/planningcenter

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Planning Center