Planning Center vs. Rock RMS

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Planning Center
Score 9.5 out of 10
N/A
Planning Center in Carlsbad offers modular church management applications, providing CRM, tithe management, event registration and attendance, and volunteer resource scheduling.
$14
per month
Rock RMS
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Rock RMS is an open-source Church Management System (ChMS) designed to help churches and parishes deepen relationships, streamline operations, and support spiritual growth. More than just a database, Rock offers integrated tools for people management, sacrament tracking, communications, online giving, event registration, volunteer scheduling, and discipleship engagement. Built by churches, for churches, Rock's open architecture and workflows allow it to adapt to any unique ministry…N/A
Pricing
Planning CenterRock RMS
Editions & Modules
Calendar
14+
per month
Check-ins
14+
per month
Giving
14+
per month
Groups
14+
per month
Registration
14+
per month
Services
14+
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Planning CenterRock RMS
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsPrices increase based on the number of members and attendees.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Planning CenterRock RMS
User Ratings
Planning CenterRock RMS
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Planning CenterRock RMS
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are a music/worship leader in a local church, Planning Center will be your absolute best friend. It changed the way I interact with my team, our songs, and our order of worship each week. If you are involved in a small church with a limited budget or you have very few volunteers, Planning Center may offer more than you need
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Rock RMS is a great CMS for churches passionate about technology and innovation. It requires advanced developing skills to operate, which can be a challenge - but there are several partners available for contracting work. Successful usage of Rock RMS opens up the door for endless possibilities - from dynamic and beautiful websites, automations that serve both internal (staff) and external (customer) needs, and unending possibilities for innovative solutions!
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Pros
  • Easy to use app
  • Helpfully displays order of services/events
  • Provides instant collaboration among several users
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  • Very customizable
  • Content channels are powerful
  • Web and mobile app integration
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Cons
  • Groups' Communication Tool
  • Giving app scaled access for volunteers
  • Church-wide communication tool
  • Song-reporting integration with CCLI
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  • Group Scheduler is missing some key features
  • Event registrations aren't the most user friendly
  • Security permissions are a challenge as we grow
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Usability
No answers on this topic
In my opinion, you will need to have developers on your team, or partner with contractors in order to get Rock RMS set up properly and keep in maintained. I think you will also need to have Rock RMS Super Users who can troubleshoot bugs and handle basic requests from internal staff. There are also several functions that every day staff use which are very user friendly (i.e. Group Viewer, content channels, Group Scheduler, communication templates.)
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Support Rating
I've not needed to use Planning Center support. In the few instances that I would have thought would "require support," tips and notices popped up on screen letting me know what was happening. There are very VERY few issues that I've found with Planning Center. The interface has been intuitive and powerful, so I've not needed to use their support service.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
At one point, I was presented with both Asana and Trello as helpful tools to facilitate teamwork and collaboration amongst a large group of people. However, when it comes to putting on productions/services/events, Planning Center just seemed to have everything we need. I have never really once given thought to moving on from Planning Center. I'm sure Asana and Trello have much to offer, and I did briefly consider the, but Planning Center (for what we needed) was a grand-slam, home run.
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In my experience, Rock RMS is much more customizable, robust, and community focused than PCO. Planning Center's sweet spot is music management and volunteer scheduling, but I think Rock RMS outshines PCO with its integration of web sites and mobile apps, automations and jobs, workflows, and its focus on community. There are tons of free and paid plugins for Rock RMS, as well as multiple Rock RMS partners to choose from.
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Return on Investment
  • Reliable and consistent scheduling options for volunteers. Keeps them happy and us staffed.
  • Better communication makes for a better planned and executed service.
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  • Fosters amazing data insights!
  • Fast and efficient!
  • New innovative solutions always being added!
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