Planning Center vs Gloo Messaging

Tithe.ly

Clearstream

Realm

Text In Church

Flocknote

FellowshipOne

Compare Planning Center and Gloo Messaging based on features, pricing, verified reviews, integrations & more on GetApp. Find out which software is best for your business in 2026.

Two-way enabled mass texting, integrations with popular ChMS and other 3rd party apps, multi-management capabilities, text-to-join keywords, automated workflows with conditional logic, native apps, live polls, and dedicated short codes.



Tithely Church Management

Breeze is a cloud-based church management software designed to assist small & mid-sized churches in managing events, donations, follow-ups, volunteers, and more.

Try a free 30-day trial of Breeze today and see why more than 11,000 churches love Breeze!

ChurchTrac

ChurchTrac is a church management software with features for membership management, donation tracking, accounting, reporting and attendance management

Planning Center Giving helps you accept and process all donation types, track trends, and issue statements.

If your church is stuck in a contract with another provider, we'll cover your subscription for FREE for up to 12 months. Apply now at: https://www.planningcenter.com/giving/free 

Access Controls/Permissions

Activity Dashboard

Activity Tracking

Alerts/Notifications

Attendance Management

Attendance Tracking

Campaign Planning

Catalog Management

Child Check-in

Collaboration Tools

Communication Management

Configurable Workflow

Contact Database

Contact Management

Content Library

Content Management

Credit Card Processing

Customizable Fields

Customizable Forms

Customizable Reports

Customizable Templates

Data Import/Export

Document Management

Document Storage

Donation Management

Donation Tracking

Donor Management

Drag & Drop

Electronic Payments

Email Management

Email Templates

Event Management

Event Scheduling

Event Ticketing

Forms Management

For Nonprofits

For Religious Organizations

Gift Matching Management

Historical Trend Analysis

Image Library

Media Library

Member Communication

Member Directory

Member Portal

Membership Management

Mobile Access

Mobile App

Mobile Giving

Multi-Location

Online Calendar

Online Giving

Payment Processing

Personalization

Playlist Management

Pledge Management

Receipt Management

Recurring Giving

Recurring/Subscription Billing

Registration Management

Reminders

Reporting/Analytics

Reporting & Statistics

Role-Based Permissions

Scheduling

Search/Filter

Small Group Management

SMS Messaging

Summary Reports

Template Management

Third-Party Integrations

Usage Tracking/Analytics

Visitor Tracking

Volunteer Management

Website Management

Worship Planning

By industry, Planning Center reviewers are most commonly professionals in religious institutions (57%). The most frequent use case cited by reviewers is church management (86%).

Users and use cases

Reviewers appreciate Planning Center’s modular pricing and flexibility, and they value free core features and ongoing updates. However, some users report that costs rise quickly with more modules, and they find tiered pricing and add-on fees burdensome.

Value for money

The Planning Center integrations most frequently cited by reviewers are: ProPresenter (a church presentation product rated 4.6 out of 5 for its integration with Planning Center), Clearstream (a church management product, 5.0), and Mailchimp (an email marketing product, 4.6).

Integrations

Planning Center is a church management program with key features that include worship planning, volunteer management, mobile access, member directory, member communication, online giving, and more.

Planning Center

Web-based

Android

iPad

iPhone

People

Services

Check-ins

Giving

Groups

Registrations

Communications Director

Helps us track our attendees, schedule volunteers and service positions, and allows us to safely and effectively sign-in children and students in-lieu of a headcount.

Interim Worship Leader

It's extremely effective in scheduling volunteers for Sunday mornings and for equipping them with the resources they need to prepare the week before.

It is difficult to keep the people database under control due to the automatic creation of profiles anytime anyone downloads the app, fills out a form, registers for an event, etc.

Kids Director

This product allows our church to successful run ministries, track member engagement, steward relationships and connection with people, among many other capabilities.

Pastor

The user interfaces for all of their apps are intuitive, and it makes managing and communicating with our members quick and easy.

I do enjoy the customization opportunities to use specific church language, as well as the ability to use other supported platforms in combination.

Creative arts coordinator

Calendar is helpful but can get very jumbled when dealing with a large church and all of the events we have

Associate Pastor of Worship

Design is top notch, customer service is responsive, and the features are so very helpful to me.

Owner

I'd like to see my confirmed dates more prominently displayed.

President and Director

The Services platform is amazing and I love using it to plan worship and create service orders.

They've continued to add more features over the years, and it's only gotten better with each new release.

We’ve had several duplicates - some are easy fixes and others are more complicated if they are using the giving feature.

Senior Pastor

Planning Center helps keep all our teams communicating and unified.

The name tags that we use for church each week when people check in makes it easier to greet and get to know others.

Associate Pastor

Planning Center is great, don't get me wrong. If your church has the funds to invest in Planning Center, or if you are already using their other software, it is likely the best solution out there for you.

Planning Center is the GOAT of all church administration software.

Minister of Youth and Education

Planning Center was made for churches and by people who work in churches.

I love Planning Center so much that I have incorporated into two different churches that I am part of.

We never experience error issues; there's always support to help us navigate any questions we have.

Guest Experience

We switched to Planning Center from a similar product because of the intuitive ease of use and the availability of constant support.

Director, Digital Media

There is no easy way to log into Planning Center and delete multiple, old files in the system.

Administrative Assist. and Database Admin

the wireless printing of the name tags/mobile check in

I love how the team is always innovating and listening to customers!

The interface is very user-friendly (unlike almost any other data management for churches).

Digital Media Director

To download our app, you have to search Church Center and then find your church.

On another note, the customer service team has always been helpful and kind in my experience.

None

Second, emails for confirmation acceptance into a group are sent via a [sensitive content hidden] or the like.

Every staff members can find it helpful in their area of ministry.

I don't enjoy the updated group chat feature as much as I did the functionality of it before.

The extent of features when it comes to organizing and scheduling teams is fantastic.

Teacher

Even just simply for just to have songs on planning center is helpful!

Anyone from anywhere can be a part of the service planning and others on the team can view it in real time!

coordinator

Even if you don't have any experience with building sign ups it takes a minimal amount of time to learn.

Sometimes the navigation gets a littel cumbersome and it's hard to find exactly what you are looking for

We appreciate the value to help our church manage everything well.

It worked for a little while but was just too expensive and limited in its functionality for what we needed.

It’s very helpful for our church worship band!

It is easy to use, has many great features, and is cloud based meaning it can be used anywhere.

Administrator

The functionalities and features of songs and teams and filters and types of services are all helpful to faithfully and effectively plan services.

Our staff love it and use it regularly at church or on the go!

Students Director

Their support is quick to respond to any bugs I've encountered.

Director of Operations

It's a great place to keep track of and keep in contact with the individuals in our church.

Of course, we all wish everything was cheaper.

Especially if you have another ChMS that already offers worship planning.

I have been an administrator as well and love the ability to view what others in the system do.

Communications

We haven't completely switched over to Planning Center because of it's costs.

Worship Leader

It is easy to use, and I get all information needed for when I am scheduled to serve in worship.

Assistant Pastor

It is indispensable for church management.

Church Volunteer Management

User Interface

Worship Team Management

Service Planning

Features

Pricing

Ministry Management

Team Communication

Navigation

Bugs and Issues

Cumbersome navigation experience

62% of reviewers feel negative about Navigation. Users report that finding specific features or information can be confusing and time-consuming, especially for new or non-administrative users. They say the interface is sometimes clunky, with menus and options that are not always intuitive. Reviewers mention frustration with inconsistent layouts across modules and difficulties moving between sections, which can hinder productivity and require extra effort to learn.

Email communication shortcomings

Volunteer

There are times where emails notifications don't go through and then you don't know if it was the software or the person using the software.

User

Planning Center gets weird when you have the same email address associated with multiple churches.

39% of reviewers feel negative about Email Communication. Users report unreliable message delivery, limited built-in email features, and confusing formatting requirements. They mention issues with notifications not reaching recipients, difficulty managing multiple email addresses, and lack of robust tools for mass communication. Reviewers say these shortcomings can complicate coordination and sometimes require reliance on external email platforms for effective communication.

Limited mobile functionality

46% of reviewers feel negative about Mobile Access. Users say the mobile app lacks many features found in the desktop version and can be difficult to navigate. They report glitches, slow performance, and confusing layouts, making it challenging to complete tasks on the go. Reviewers indicate that some modules are not fully supported on mobile, and accessing certain settings or information can be cumbersome, especially for less tech-savvy members.

Costly tiered pricing

The second problem is that the price can be a little daunting and can start to add up quickly when choosing different apps at their various capacities which can limit some of the churches who might have interest.

41% of reviewers feel negative about Pricing. Users express concern over the cumulative cost as additional modules and features are added, noting that the tiered pricing structure can become expensive for growing churches. They mention frustration with having to pay separately for each function, which can limit access to desired features. Reviewers feel that the pricing may be prohibitive for smaller organizations or those with fluctuating attendance.

Planning Center vs Gloo Messaging Comparison (2026)

Planning Center

Gloo Messaging

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives