ChurchKoala vs Planning Center
A focused, affordable alternative to Planning Center for churches that care more about useful weekly tools and clear pricing than a sprawling suite.
Planning Center is one of the most established names in church software. It is a suite of separate products (People, Services, Giving, Groups, and more) that you can mix and match. For larger churches with dedicated staff, that breadth can be a real strength.
ChurchKoala takes a different approach: a small set of the tools churches use most, designed to work together out of the box, at a fraction of the cost.
Pricing snapshot
As of June 2026, ChurchKoala starts at $19/month for Seed and $39/month for Rooted. Planning Center's public pricing is modular: People and entry tiers for several products are free, then paid plans scale by product and usage (team members, donations, check-ins, group members, rooms, and more). That can be excellent if you only need the free pieces, but it also means the real monthly number depends on how much of the suite you turn on.
Useful feature comparison
We are not trying to win a checkbox contest. A feature only matters if a normal church can use it every week without training the whole staff, paying for three extra modules, or asking volunteers to fight the software.
| Useful job | ChurchKoala | Planning Center |
|---|---|---|
| Keep a clean people directory | Yes: built for the everyday church admin | Yes: mature and very capable |
| Message the congregation | Yes: focused on simple communication | Yes: available, with texting priced separately |
| Welcome newcomers online | Yes: church website included in the product | Partly: Church Center is strong, custom publishing is a separate product tier |
| Plan services and worship teams | Not today | Yes: one of Planning Center's strongest reasons to choose it |
| Process giving | Not today | Yes: Giving is available, with subscription tiers and processing fees |
| Keep setup simple | Yes: fewer decisions, fewer modules | Depends: powerful, but the suite can become a system to manage |
| Keep software spend low | Yes: $19-$39/month public plans | Depends: free-to-start, but paid products add up |
What if a competitor "has" the feature?
That is where the comparison needs to slow down. Planning Center has many features ChurchKoala does not have today, and some of them are genuinely great. The better question is whether your church needs those features enough to pay for the extra product surface, setup time, and ongoing administration.
If your church mainly needs people, communication, and a better website, ChurchKoala is intentionally lighter. If service planning, check-ins, giving, registrations, groups, and publishing all need to be deep systems, Planning Center is likely the more complete fit.
Who Planning Center is for
Larger, multi-staff churches that need deep service planning, giving, and a wide catalog of modules, and have the budget and time to set them up.
Who ChurchKoala is for
Churches that want to know and care for their people, communicate clearly, and have a welcoming website, without paying for or learning a sprawling suite.
Curious how the pricing shakes out? See our plans or browse other comparisons.
Frequently asked questions
- Is ChurchKoala a full replacement for Planning Center?
- Not yet for every use case. Planning Center is a broad, mature suite of separate products. ChurchKoala focuses on people, communication, and a church website, and does those well. If those are your core needs, ChurchKoala is a simpler, cheaper fit.
- Is ChurchKoala cheaper than Planning Center?
- For many small churches, yes. ChurchKoala starts at $19/month, while Planning Center is modular: the database and some entry tiers are free, but paid products and usage tiers add up as you turn on more of the suite.
- Does ChurchKoala have service planning and worship scheduling?
- Not today. Planning Center is well known for Services. ChurchKoala is focused on the tools most churches use every week, and we'd rather build a few features excellently than ship a long checklist.