Why ChMeetings is the Ultimate Planning Center Alternative
ChMeetings and Planning Center are popular church management systems (ChMS) designed to help churches streamline administration, communication, and engagement with their congregations. However, they offer a variety of features tailored to different needs. Let’s explore a detailed comparison between the two.
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What is ChMeetings?
ChMeetings is a cloud-based church management software designed to help churches manage their operations more efficiently. It offers comprehensive features, from member management to event planning, attendance tracking, communication, and financial management. ChMeetings focuses on ease of use, value for money, and reliable, responsive support; while responding to the needs of churches of all sizes and denominations.
What is Planning Center?
Planning Center is a cloud-based church management software that offers a suite of applications designed to help churches manage various aspects of their operations, including membership management, event scheduling, giving, worship planning, and volunteer coordination. Each application is modular, allowing churches to choose the features they need, making it highly customizable for different church sizes and needs
To save you time, here’s a short breakdown of the pros and cons:
ChMeetings might be for you if:
- You need built-in, advanced communication tools with automated workflows;
- You require built-in accounting tools;
- You manage complex events with multiple check-ins and scheduling;
- You serve a multi-lingual congregation;
- You run a Diocese and require dedicated features;
- You want a branded mobile app with its own Google Play and Apple App Store listing.
Planning Center might be for you if:
- You want specialized tools for worship planning, like song management or music sheet customization.
- You need integrated forms that accept payments.
- You prefer modular pricing and don’t mind that it may be higher.
- You need step-by-step task-tracking tools.
- You need text-based giving capabilities.
- You want to be able to customize reports.
Ease Of Use Comparison
When comparing ChMeetings and Planning Center in terms of ease of use, several factors contribute to the user experience, including interface design, onboarding processes, and the intuitiveness of features. Here’s a breakdown:
ChMeetings
- 1. User-Friendly Interface: ChMeetings is noted for its straightforward, intuitive interface that makes it easy for church staff and volunteers to navigate. Many users report that they can quickly familiarize themselves with the platform, which can be a significant advantage for those with limited technical experience.
- 2. Onboarding Support: ChMeetings provides onboarding support and resources, which help new users get started with the system more effectively. The platform includes tutorials and guides that assist churches in setting up their accounts and using various features.
- 3. Mobile App Accessibility: The mobile app enhances accessibility, allowing users to manage church activities and communications on-the-go. This feature has been particularly well-received by churches that need flexibility because it provides access to features for admins and members alike.
Planning Center
- 1. Modular Structure: While Planning Center's modular design allows for specialized tools tailored to different church needs, some users find it a bit overwhelming initially. Each module (like People, Check-Ins, and Giving) has a specific interface, which can require additional staff training.
- 2. Steeper Learning Curve: While Planning Center offers robust features, the learning curve can be steeper compared to ChMeetings. This is especially true for churches that intend to use multiple modules, as each may require separate familiarization due to notable differences between them.
- 3. Comprehensive Documentation: Planning Center compensates for its complexity with extensive documentation and customer support. Their help center provides detailed guides, tutorials, and community forums that can assist users in troubleshooting and maximizing their use of the software.
In summary, ChMeetings tends to be easier for smaller churches or those with less technical expertise due to its straightforward design and supportive onboarding process. In contrast, Planning Center, while feature-rich and highly customizable, may present a steeper learning curve, particularly for users who need to navigate multiple, differently-built modules. Both platforms offer robust support, but deciding “which is easier” may ultimately depend on the specific needs and capabilities of your church staff.
Cost Comparison: Which ChMS offers more value for money?
Here’s a pricing comparison for ChMeetings and Planning Center, including key differences and a breakdown of monthly costs.
Free Plan Overview
Both platforms offer a free plan, and each comes with a specific set of features. Some key differences consist of the following:
- ChMeetings’ Free Plan includes most core features but with limitations on communication and customization options, making it suitable for smaller churches This plan offers 50 people with no team member, giving, event attendance, or group-related restrictions, a free mobile app with member access, as well as the ability to collect and track giving.
- Planning Center offers a free plan for their People app, which includes basic membership management features. This free option provides limited access to specific features within other modules, such as a limited number of check-ins, donations, and event attendees across modules like Check-Ins, Giving, Registrations, and Groups.
Pricing Models
ChMeetings and Planning Center practice different pricing models:
- ChMeetings offers several pricing plans that come with specific features and are based on the number of people you want to manage. This structure is predefined and you can’t change the features offered by each plan. However, it’s much simpler for churches to understand what they get, and costs may be lower with this model.
- Planning Center works with a modular pricing structure which adds to your costs depending on feature usage. You can choose how much of each feature to add to your package, but this flexibility may come with higher prices because the more you use a specific feature, the more it costs. There is no fixed increment for adding usage though we could notice that the first 2 tiers add more than 110% to the initial price, and starting with the 3rd tier, the added costs drop to over 66%, 55%, and 33% compared to the previous tiers.
Cost Breakdown
Quick Cost Comparison: ChMeetings Is Much More Affordable Than Planning CenterOverall, ChMeetings costs significantly less than Planning Center and offers a rather similar set of features for a lower price. Here are some cost highlights in a nutshell:
| Planning Center | ChMeetings | |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | Yes, limited features | Yes, limited features |
| Lowest cost for a paid plan | $15/month, no annual discounts | $12/month or $120/year (pay 10 months instead of 12 when subscribing annually) |
| Highest cost |
Costs for highest available feature usage (not all unlimited):
$1,559/month No annual discounts |
Costs for unlimited features:
|
Let’s take a deeper look at how costs compare between ChMeetings and Planning Center.
| Feature | Monthly Cost in Planning Center | Monthly & Annual Cost in ChMeetings |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited People | Included in every plan Including other features on low usage. | $60/month or $600/year Full platform access, no plan limitations. |
| Calendars For Unlimited Events |
|
$0
No room tracking available |
| Check-in |
|
Unlimited check-ins included with all plans |
| Giving |
|
Included, no limitations. Online giving is not available with the free plan (though donation tracking and in-person giving are included with this plan too.) |
| Groups |
|
No limitations or costs related to the number of group members. |
| Publishing |
|
The Member Portal Builder lets churches create a church page with embedded blog posts and many other types of content. This can be used in-app and in place of a website.
It’s included with all paid plans, for no extra cost. The exception is the Media Library feature (similar to Planning Center Sermons) which is exclusively available with the Branded App, billed separately with $50/month or $500/year. Downloads are not yet available with this feature, but video views and audio listens are unlimited. |
| Event Registration |
|
Available with all paid plans with no limitations. |
| Services |
|
Costs vary depending on the number of people you want to manage.
Prices start at $12/month or $120/year for 100 people. For unlimited people, the cost is $60/month or $600/year. No limitations on the number of team members. No storage limits except for file attachments of max. 20MB in e.g. communication or forms; and 1GB in the Media Library (for branded app subscribers). |
| Music Stand | $2-$5, depending on selected features. | Unavailable |
| Accounting | Unavailable | Available starting with the V. Small pan, costing #25/month or $250/year. |
| Appointments | Unavailable | Available starting with the v. Small pan, costing #25/month or $250/year.. |
| Elections | Unavailable | Available for Diocese accounts (custom pricing) and churches subscribed to the unlimited plan, which costs $60/month or $600/year. |
| Text Messaging |
Available in the USA with purchased credits, included at no other cost.
|
Available worldwide with purchased credits, included at no other cost.
|
| Online Giving Fees | Processed externally via Stripe Fees start around 2.15%+0.3c and may vary. | Processed externally via Stripe Fees start around 2.2%+0.3c and may vary. |
Feature Comparison
Now, let us look at the features offered by both platforms. Just note that here, we are only discussing the availability of these features, and the costs or the plans that they are included with. We will highlight costs or plan availability where relevant, though.
Features Offered By Both ChMeetings and Planning Center
- All-in-One Solution: Both ChMeetings and Planning Center offer comprehensive all-in-one solutions. These platforms provide tools for managing people, events, donations, communication, and more, allowing churches to handle most administrative tasks from one platform
- Included Mobile App: Both systems offer a free mobile app for church administrators and members. ChMeetings provides a full-featured app for both groups, while Planning Center offers the Church Center app, which allows congregants to interact with events, give, and access directories.
- Member Management: Both platforms allow churches to manage members, and create customizable people profiles. This helps churches track and store unique information about members, enhancing their ability to manage all aspects of people’s membership, including communication, giving, volunteering, event participation, and more.
- Communication: Both platforms offer robust communication tools, such as unlimited emails, SMS messaging (both with purchased credits), and mobile push notifications, giving churches a variety of ways to reach their congregants.
- Event Management and Volunteer Scheduling Both platforms excel in event management. They support calendars, paid events, volunteer scheduling, and child check-in with name tag printing.
- Giving and Pledges: Both systems support in-person and online giving, with features to generate giving statements and reports, as well as to create and manage pledge campaigns.
- Forms Both solutions provide the ability to create and manage forms with a variety of fields and sharing options.
- Task Automation and Follow-ups: Both platforms support task automation and follow-ups. This feature helps churches automate tasks such as welcoming new members, following up with new givers, congratulating people on their birthdays or anniversaries, etc.
- Free support: Both providers include free support with their services.
ChMeetings Exclusive Features
The features below are available with ChMeetings and not with Planning Center:
- Free Data Migration: ChMeetings offers free migration services to help churches transfer their data from other platforms. The service is available with any paid plan.
- Built-in, Global Text Messaging: You can purchase text messaging credits and send SMS from and to anywhere in the world without having to use an external service provider.
- Text messaging through your phone plan: This feature lets you reduce SMS-related costs by allowing you to use your phone plan when texting people from the ChMeetings Mobile App (available to everyone) or the Branded App (available to subscribers). If you already have a phone plan that includes SMS messages, you can use it with ChMeetings instead of paying for credits or a third-party SMS provider.
- Voice Messaging: Send voice messages to people using text messaging credits.
- Digital Signatures: When sending out forms, you can also collect digital signatures from people who submit them.
- Email Designer: This is an advanced email editor that lets you drag and drop elements to your email layout. With unlimited emails, this can potentially replace a third party email campaign application.
- Blog: You can edit blog posts and publish them in-app or to your church page for members and guests to access.
- Appointments:Easily schedule team appointments between church servants, or allow members to meet a servant.
- Event Donations:Event attendees can donate to your church during their participation.
- Accounting and Financial Tools: ChMeetings stands out with its built-in accounting features, making it a more complete tool for managing finances beyond just donation tracking.
- Elections: ChMeetings lets you run the entire church elections process - from nominations to voting and results. This feature is available with an Unlimited plan ($60/month or $600/year); or with a Diocese account.
- Multiple Languages: ChMeetings supports multiple languages (20 in total), making it more accessible to international churches. Planning Center does not mention specific multi-language support, potentially making ChMeetings more appealing for diverse congregations.
- Branded App and Customization: ChMeetings offers an optional branded app, which allows churches to maintain a custom presence on app stores, though it is billed separately.
- Diocese Accounts: ChMeetings offers Diocese Accounts that come with more powerful features catering to large communities. For example, Dioceses can get a tailored app structure, specific reports, dedicated features, or even a private database or PowerBI integration.
Planning Center Exclusive Features
The features below are only available with Planning Center and not with ChMeetings:
- Advanced Service Planning: Planning Center has advanced worship planning tools, including song management and music sheet customization, which are not available in ChMeetings;
- Text Giving: You can allow your members to give using text messages. Note that Planning Center only provides built-in messaging within the US. You must integrate with a third-party provider if your church is based in another country. This feature is coming soon to ChMeetings as well.
- Forms with Payments: When sending out forms to people, you can also collect payments using the same form, without having to manage a separate process for payment collection.
- Room and Resource Tracking: Especially if you are a large church with more intense activity, you may want to track the usage of specific rooms or resources to ensure that everyone has access to them. Planning Center allows you to do so.
- Workflows: When organizing tasks, workflows let you set up automated processes that save you time spent doing it manually. Planning Center provides a more complex workflow princess that goes beyond task automation.
- Customizable Reports: Create custom reports that let you choose the fields based on which to see data. This allows you to gain insights based on your specific needs.
- Background checks: Planning Center integrates with Checks to provide background checks, if you require them.
Key Differences
While both ChMeetings and Planning Center provide many similar features, there are some key differences to note in regards to how some are structured within each platform.
- Both are all-in-one, but ChMeetings is unified, while Planning Center comprises several separate products.
-
You can communicate with people using both solutions, but Planning Center has some limitations:
- It does not provide voice messaging.
- You cannot create advanced email layouts with a drag-and-drop editor.
- It requires an integration with MailChimp for email campaigns.
- It only offers SMS messaging in the US. To send texts from/to other countries, you must integrate with a third-party provider.
- You can move data from another system to any of the two solutions, but ChMeetings move it for you for free if you subscribe to any paid plan. Planning Center walks you through the process or helps you find a third-party provider to assist in actually performing the move.
- You can schedule volunteers with both solutions, but with Planning Center, volunteers must have a user account and may count towards your team members (though we could not confirm this information clearly).
- Service Planning is available with both platforms, but Planning Center’s feature is more advanced.
- Both solutions let you configure automated tasks, but Planning Center’s feature is more complex and includes workflows.
- Reports are available with both platforms, but in ChMeetings they are predefined, while in Planning Center you can also create custom reports.
- A Media Library feature is available with both ChMeetings and Planning Center, but they are billed differently. Planning Center ties it to their Publishing module and bills it based on the number of audio downloads. ChMeetings ties the feature to the Branded App, which is a separate service, not included in standard plans. ChMeetings’ Media Library does not offer downloads at the moment, and has no limitations in terms of views or listens.
- You can send out forms with both systems, but ChMeetings lets you collect digital signatures along with the form, while Planning Center lets you collect payments. ChMeetings does not let you collect payments via forms, while Planning Center does not have a digital signature feature.
| Feature | ChMeetings | Planning Center |
|---|---|---|
| All-in-One | Yes, as one, built-in platform | Yes, as separate products |
| Free Mobile App | Yes, for admins and members | Yes, includes the Church Center app |
| Free Migration | Yes | No |
| Customizable People Profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Unlimited Email | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Text Messaging | Yes, available with purchased credits | Yes, available with purchased credits |
| Voice Messaging | Yes | No |
| Unlimited Mobile Push Notifications | Yes | Yes |
| Member Access | Yes | Yes |
| Member Directory | Yes | Yes |
| Webpage Builder | Yes, built-in | Yes, via Church Center |
| Blog | Yes | No |
| Calendars | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Paid Events | Yes | Yes |
| Volunteer Scheduling | Yes, does not require user accounts for volunteers | Yes, requires user accounts for volunteers. |
| Check-In & Child Check-In with Name Tags | Yes | Yes |
| Service Planning | Yes | Yes |
| Appointments | Yes | No |
| In-Person Giving | Yes | Yes |
| Online Giving | Yes | Yes |
| Text Giving | No (Coming Soon) | Yes |
| Giving Statements | Yes | Yes |
| Giving Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Pledges | Yes | Yes |
| Forms | Yes | Yes |
| Accept Payments via Forms | No | Yes |
| Collect Digital Signatures via Forms | Yes | No |
| Follow-Ups | Yes | Yes |
| Accounting | Yes | No |
| Elections | Yes | No |
| Automated Tasks | Yes | Yes, with workflows |
| Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations & API | Yes | Yes |
| User Roles and Permissions | Yes | Yes |
| Ministries | Yes | Yes |
| Daily Automated Backups | Yes | No |
| Free Support by Real Humans | Yes | Yes, though automated support is provided and prioritized. |
| Diocese Accounts | Yes | No |
| Optional Branded App | Yes, billed separately | No, only the Church Center app |
| Multiple Languages | Yes (20) | No |
Conclusion
Both ChMeetings and Planning Center are powerful tools for church management. ChMeetings offers a broader range of built-in features, making it a great fit for churches looking for an all-encompassing solution. Planning Center, meanwhile, excels in specialized tools for event and worship management and is highly customizable with its modular approach, allowing churches to only pay for what they need. However, when analyzing the value offered for a similar price, ChMeetings is a strong alternative to Planning Center.
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