Socio Connect vs Planning Center
Socio Connect and Planning Center, side by side.
Planning Center prices each part of church life as its own product. Socio Connect puts people, groups, giving, check-in, volunteers, your website and the Assistant on one record, for one monthly price.
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A note before we go further: Planning Center is a good tool, plenty of churches run well on it, and some of it is free. If it’s the right fit for yours, stay on it. This page sets the two side by side so you can choose.
Harbor Point Church is an example.
What changes
Several products, or one record.
Planning Center is a family of products: People, Groups, Check-Ins, Giving, Registrations, Services and the Church Center app. You pick the ones you need, and each paid one is priced by how big your church is. Socio Connect puts the same jobs on one record per person, so you can see where everyone is, and act on who needs you this week.
That family works well, and when you’re small, a lot of it is free. As a church grows, the paid products rise with it: more people in groups, more check-ins on a Sunday, more gifts a month, more people serving.
On Socio Connect, gifts go to your own Stripe account with no platform fee, the Assistant tells your team who needs them this week, and your public website lives in the same place.
Every group, check-in, gift and shift lands on the same person, in one platform, for one monthly price.
$0
platform fee on giving, dues and tickets
$299
a month on Community, up to 750 active people
14 days
free on Community, no card
Product by product
Product by product, on one record.
Every Planning Center product, its published price, and where the same job lives in Socio Connect.
| Planning Center · published price | In Socio Connect |
|---|---|
People records Planning Center People · Free | One record per person and household, with everything they’ve done with youEvery plan |
Groups Planning Center Groups · Free–$239/mo | Groups with leaders, feeds and messages (3 on Free, 10 on Foundation, unlimited on Community)Every plan |
Check-in and kids safety Planning Center Check-Ins · Free–$239/mo | Kids check-in with matching labels and a pickup logCommunity |
Giving with no platform fee Planning Center Giving · Free–$239/mo | Giving to your own Stripe account, with recurring gifts and year-end statements, and no platform feeCommunity |
Events and registration Planning Center Registrations · Free–$239/mo | Events and RSVPs on every plan. Paid tickets on Community, to your own Stripe account with no platform feeEvery planCommunity |
Volunteers and worship planning Planning Center Services · Free–$239/mo | Volunteer teams and schedules, and worship planningCommunity |
Member app Planning Center Publishing (Church Center app) · Free–$32/mo | Members sign in on the web, from any phone or computer. Your own app in the stores is coming on EnterpriseOn the way |
Your website | A public website, on your own domain from FoundationEvery plan |
Courses | Courses with certificatesCommunity |
AI The Planning Center MCP connects ChatGPT, Claude or other AI tools to read data across its products; its only write abilities are notes and forms in People (announced August 2026) Plain-English list building with AI in People, in beta under PicoLabs | The Assistant: who needs your team this week, a reason for each name, and a note drafted for your team to sendCommunity |
Price for about 750 active people About $437/month for the five paid products (an estimate, not a quote) | Community, $299/month for up to 750 active peopleCommunity |
Prices as published on planningcenter.com/pricing, checked September 2026; AI features as Planning Center describes them on its own blog and changelog. Each plan is sized by your church: people in groups, daily check-ins, monthly donations, event attendees or team members. Card processing on gifts isn’t shown; you pay it whatever platform you use.
What it costs, by size.
Planning Center's five paid products at the plans a church of each size would likely need, beside the Socio Connect plan that covers the same jobs. Planning Center can cost less, especially for a smaller church or one using only a few products.
| Active people | Planning Center, five paid products | Socio Connect |
|---|---|---|
| About 300 | About $234/month | Community, $299/month |
| About 750 | About $437/month | Community, $299/month |
| About 2,000 | About $703/month | Complete, $599/month |
An estimate, not a quote. We assume about half your people in groups, about half checking in on a Sunday, about half as many gifts a month as people, about 40% at your largest event, and about 15% serving on teams, then use Planning Center’s published plan for each. People and the Church Center app’s Essential plan are free. Socio Connect’s plan is the one that includes giving, check-in and volunteers. Anyone who signed in, gave, checked in or RSVP’d in the last 90 days. Children and people you imported who haven’t done anything don’t count.
See every planOne member record
Questions you can finally answer.
These need data that usually sits in two or more products. On one record they're one place to look, and the Assistant brings the people behind them to your team each week.
- 1Who stopped attending and stopped giving in the same month?
- 2Who comes on Sundays but isn’t in a small group?
- 3Which first-time guests came back a second and third time, and which group did they join?
- 4Which volunteers serve every week and are at risk of burning out?
Harbor Point Church is an example.
Planning Center and Socio Connect
Side by side, at a glance.
| Compared | Planning Center | Socio Connect |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | A monthly plan per product, sized to your church; People and Church Center's Essential plan are free | One monthly or yearly plan, by active people: Free, then $99, $299 and $599 a month |
| Giving | 2.15% + $0.30 per card gift, $0.30 per bank transfer (US) (published) | Your own Stripe account at Stripe's rate, no platform fee added |
| Member app | The Church Center app | Members sign in on the web, from any phone or computer. Your own app in the stores is coming on Enterprise |
| Moving over | Export your people as a spreadsheet | Spreadsheet import today; Planning Center import, with a donor move kit, is on the way |
Moving over
Moving off Planning Center.
Switching the tools your whole church uses every week is a real decision, so take it one step at a time:
- 01
Sign up. Your 14-day Community trial starts the day you sign up.
- 02
Import your people from a spreadsheet, such as an export from Planning Center People. A direct Planning Center import is on the way.
- 03
Connect your own Stripe account, and ask givers to set up their recurring gifts again on your giving page.
- 04
Move check-in and volunteers between series, not in the middle of one, and keep Planning Center running until you’re done.
Should you switch?
Who each is best for.
If your church runs comfortably on Planning Center’s free and entry plans, or uses one or two products, it will likely cost you less than Socio Connect. Stay on it.
Socio Connect makes sense when you want one record for every person, giving with no platform fee, the Assistant telling your team who needs them, and your website, all in one place, for one monthly price.
Planning Center
Stay on Planning Center if…
- Your church runs comfortably on the free and entry plans
- You use one or two products, not the whole family
- Church Center does what you need from a member app
Socio Connect
Choose Socio Connect if…
- You want groups, attendance, giving and serving on one record
- You want the Assistant to tell your team who needs them this week
- You want your website and giving in the same place, with no platform fee
Need something built just for you? We build custom platforms too, from your own app to a program nobody else runs. See custom builds
In their words
“This is a game changer for how we serve our community of men.”
Ready for one platform instead?
Plans from $99 a month, and we never take a cut of your giving. 14-day free trial, no card needed · First 25 organizations get 30% off.
Everything in one place.