Planning Center Reviews & Insights

Score9.4 out of 10

34 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Planning Center are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Easy to use and navigate: Users find Planning Center easy to use and navigate, making it simple to respond to scheduling requests and block out unavailable days in advance. Many reviewers appreciate the platform's intuitive and user-friendly interface, which allows them to easily donate, schedule volunteers, and access all desired tasks through mobile devices.

Robust options in planning categories: Planning Center offers robust options in all planning categories, allowing small teams to easily keep track of volunteers, kids, donations, visitors, and more. Reviewers highlight that the comprehensive suite of features offered by Planning Center is a major advantage for event management, with almost every feature necessary for a church available regardless of one's position.

Seamless integration and accessibility on mobile devices: Users appreciate the seamless integration between different components of Planning Center as well as its accessibility through mobile devices. They praise the modern tools provided by Planning Center and acknowledge the deep understanding of the unique environment that churches operate in. This makes it convenient for users to access and perform all desired tasks while on the go.

Reviews

3 Reviews

Indispensable Tool for Ministry

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 29, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Planning Center for scheduling and managing all volunteers in music ministry, children's ministry, student ministry, and our security team. We also use Planning Center's Giving app for charitable giving management, their People app for database management, their Groups app for our small group ministry, their Registrations app for event management, and their Check-Ins app for children's ministry check-in each week. These products are an integral part of our interaction with congregants and volunteers on a weekly basis.

Pros

Volunteer Management
Scheduling
File Hosting
Communication tools
Automated reminders

Cons

Groups' Communication Tool
Giving app scaled access for volunteers
Church-wide communication tool
Song-reporting integration with CCLI

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.

David Calvert

Pastor for Creative Arts at Grace Community Church (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

12 years of experience

View profile

Planning Center - Great for Coordinating Church Services!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

July 14, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

As a church, we use Planning Center on a weekly basis. It helps our Worship Pastor coordinate with the entire Sunday service team about song selection and the timing of events within services, and it clarifies responsibilities of who is doing what during a worship service. Though it is predominately used by our Worship Team and Sound Crew, others use it as well (such as myself, the Youth Pastor). It is especially helpful in our annual Youth Conference, wherein we have several sessions and we need to clearly state who is doing what during these sessions.

Pros

Easy to use app
Helpfully displays order of services/events
Provides instant collaboration among several users

Cons

Could improve the "timing" tool (as in, adjusting the time when events start)
Could add personalization options (as in, the ability to upload a logo for an event)
Could add a "copy and paste" feature (maybe there is one, but I haven't seen it)

Likelihood to Recommend

Planning Center is incredibly helpful if you are in the business of putting on events, performances, or productions. In such situations, Planning Center will help you coordinate with a large group of people, clearly showing who is expected to do what during the order of a service. If you are planning a major event (a wedding service, a major birthday party, a work event, or any kind of production), Planning Center will foster both teamwork and clarity. The only scenario I can envision Planning Center not being helpful would be a more laissez-faire type of event, (like a "come and go" reception).

Steve Crawford

Youth Pastor at Grace Bible Church of Hutchinson, KS (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

A no brainer. Unmatched volunteer coordination with powerful resource delivery

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 29, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Planning Center is used as the hub for our worship team. We use it to schedule volunteers; allowing them to communicate their availability as well. We also use it as a tool for planning services, preaching schedules/sermon series, and special events. It allows us to coordinate with volunteers, get them the information they need, and make sure we're all on the same page as a staff.

Pros

Volunteer coordination with blockout dates.
Fantastic repository of resources.

Cons

Adding files to an item on a playlist can be hard to find outside of that set.
Previewing songs on import gives very limited info - can be hard to find the correct one.

Likelihood to Recommend

Planning Center is very scalable for use in both small and large applications. If you're already using ProPresenter, it integrates well, saving time. It really shines with the added Music Stand app for use by team members for practicing on their own time. If you have a very small or limited team without the need for advanced scheduling, another more "basic" option could be more suitable.

Walter Aho

Creative Director at Lake Superior Christian Church (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

4 years of experience