PewPrep vs Planning Center
PewPrep vs Planning Center: Which Is Right for Your Church in 2026?
Most-loved ChMS — but every module is a separate fee.
Planning Center is the most respected name in church management software, and for good reason: their Services module is the gold standard for service planning, their People database is rock-solid, and they have nearly two decades of trust with mid-size and large churches. If your worship leader is happy with PCO Services and your team has the time to manage seven separate modules, Planning Center is a defensible choice. PewPrep takes a different approach: one unified platform with AI built in from the ground up, designed so a solo pastor or a two-person staff can run church communications without becoming a part-time SaaS admin. The honest tradeoff: PCO has deeper service-planning tooling; PewPrep covers more ground with less integration tax and adds an AI layer PCO doesn't have.
Planning Center
$0 + $14 + 2.15% + $14 ≈ $50-150/mo + fees
People + Services + Giving + Check-Ins
Side-by-side comparison
Every row vetted against the most recent Planning Center pricing and product docs.
| Feature | PewPrep | Planning Center |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | ||
| Member/family database | Yes | Yes |
| Service planning + worship | Built in | Industry-leading |
| Online giving | Stripe Connect, 2.2% + 30¢ | 2.15% + 30¢ (Giving module) |
| Kids/family check-in | Built in (Pro) | Check-Ins module |
| Group management | Built in (Plus) | Groups module |
| AI features | ||
| AI bulletin generation | Yes | No |
| AI sermon refinement chat | Sonnet 4.6 + Companion | No |
| AI social posts (5/wk) | Yes | No |
| AI devotional emails | Yes | No |
| AI visitor welcome emails | Yes | No |
| Voice tone calibration | Yes | No |
| Communications | ||
| Bulletin design + PDF export | Yes | Manual / external |
| Email to congregation | Built in | Add-on or external |
| SMS broadcasting | Built in (Pro) | Limited / external |
| Social auto-posting (FB+IG) | Yes | No |
| Pricing model | ||
| Single flat monthly price | Yes | Per-module + per-transaction |
| 7-day free trial, no credit card | Yes | 30-day, varies by module |
Why churches choose PewPrep
- One flat price covers communications + giving + groups + service planning + AI — no surprise stack-up.
- AI does the actual writing: bulletin, social, email, devotional. PCO leaves that for you.
- Built for the 80% of churches that need solid tools fast, not the 20% that need maximum customization.
- White-label branding at Pro tier — members never see PewPrep, only your church brand.
- Two-way SMS broadcasting at $0.012/msg, included quota on Pro and Enterprise.
- AI Guide on every screen — onboarding takes hours, not weeks.
- Honest pricing: no transaction fees on giving above Stripe's base, no per-user upsell.
When Planning Center might be the better choice
Honest take. We'd rather lose the deal than win it under false pretenses.
- You have a worship pastor who lives in PCO Services and would mutiny if you changed.
- Your church has dedicated staff for each function (separate kids director, worship director, comms director) — PCO's modular approach fits that org chart.
- You need the deepest possible service-planning workflow with custom positions, rehearsals, and complex transitions — PCO Services has more depth here.
Switching from Planning Center to PewPrep
Migration from Planning Center to PewPrep takes ~30 minutes via our one-click importer. We pull in members, households, services, songs, and groups via PCO's API. You can run both in parallel for 60 days during transition — no risk of data loss.
Questions, answered
- Can we keep using Planning Center Services while moving everything else to PewPrep?
- Yes. Many churches run PewPrep for communications + AI + giving while keeping PCO Services for worship planning during the first 6 months. PewPrep's Service Planning module replicates 90% of PCO Services capability when you're ready to switch fully.
- What about PCO Check-Ins — is your kids check-in as secure?
- Yes. PewPrep Check-In uses secure code printing, allergy alerts, photo-only adult pickup verification, and parent paging via SMS. Same security model as PCO Check-Ins or KidCheck.
- Does PewPrep do everything PCO does for less?
- No, and we wouldn't pretend otherwise. PCO has deeper customization in Services and longer history. PewPrep wins on breadth (one platform vs seven), AI, and total cost — for most churches, our offering is more complete *and* cheaper. For some workflows PCO is still better, especially complex worship arts.
- Will my data really be portable if I migrate to PewPrep?
- Yes. PewPrep includes a 30-day full data export window included with every plan. CSV exports of all members, giving, attendance, services, and groups — anytime, no fee.
- How does the all-in-one pricing compare for a mid-size church?
- A 400-member church running PCO People (free) + Services ($59) + Giving (2.15% on ~$30k/mo = ~$650 in fees) + Check-Ins ($39) + Groups ($39) typically pays around $135/mo in subscriptions plus higher transaction fees. PewPrep Plus is $89/mo flat with comparable Stripe rates and all features included.
- Does PewPrep integrate with PCO if we keep some modules?
- PCO sync is on the integrations roadmap. Today PewPrep imports from PCO during migration but doesn't maintain a live two-way sync — most churches who switch don't need it because PewPrep replaces the relevant modules.
Try PewPrep free for 7 days
No credit card. Cancel anytime. Compare it to Planning Center in your actual workflow, not a sales demo.