Planning Center is powerful. It's also $99–$299/month and designed for churches with a dedicated office staff. If you're a pastor running a 100–500 member congregation, there's a better fit.
No per-module pricing, no add-ons, no per-member tiers. Everything included at no cost.
One login, 9 tools. Members, attendance, volunteers, events, giving — not separate products.
Designed for 50–500 member congregations. Simple enough that the pastor can run it alone.
Every feature listed here is live in ShepherdOS today. Planning Center pricing is for a 201–500 member congregation as of 2025, purchasing modules separately.
| Feature | ShepherdOS | Planning Center |
|---|---|---|
| Member Directory — searchable roster with contact info, status, and notes | ✓ Included | ✓ People module — $14–$49/mo |
| Attendance Tracking — log presence by service, see trends over time | ✓ Included | ~ Check-Ins add-on — extra cost |
| Visitor Follow-Up — auto-queued 3-step reminder sequence for first-time guests | ✓ Included | ✗ Not available at any tier |
| At-Risk Member Alerts — automatic flagging when members go quiet | ✓ Included | ✗ Not available at any tier |
| Pastoral Care Notes — private log of visits, prayer requests, and conversations | ✓ Included | ✗ Not available at any tier |
| Volunteer Scheduling — assign members to roles by service date | ✓ Included | ✓ Services module — $14–$49/mo |
| Service Scheduling — weekly service calendar with time slots | ✓ Included | ✓ Services module — $14–$49/mo |
| Donation & Giving Tracking — record tithes, see monthly trends by member | ✓ Included | ✓ Giving module — $99/mo |
| Event Management — upcoming/past events with type and location | ✓ Included | ~ Groups module — extra cost |
| Bulk CSV Import — migrate your existing roster in minutes | ✓ Included | ✓ Available |
| Analytics Dashboard — attendance trends, at-risk overview, care activity | ✓ Included | ~ Limited, across modules |
| Typical monthly cost for a 200-member church | Free | $99–$299+/mo |
Planning Center module pricing for 201–500 members (People, Services, Check-Ins, Giving) as of 2025. ShepherdOS pricing: free.
When a first-time visitor is added, ShepherdOS automatically creates a 3-step follow-up sequence: Day 1 thank-you, Day 3 check-in, Day 7 personal invitation. It tracks each step and alerts you when one goes overdue. Planning Center has no equivalent at any price point — follow-up is manual.
ShepherdOS monitors every member's attendance automatically. When someone misses 2+ weeks or shows a 50%+ drop in attendance, it generates an alert — color-coded red or yellow by severity. You see exactly who's going quiet before they leave. Planning Center has no attendance-based alert system.
Log private notes on any member — hospital visits, prayer requests, sensitive conversations, spiritual milestones. Full history timeline per member, recent activity feed across the whole church. Planning Center has no pastoral care logging tool; you'd need a separate CRM or notebook.
Planning Center has a larger ecosystem: deep worship planning tools, app-based check-in kiosks, giving via their mobile app, and integrations with many third-party services. If you run a 1,000+ member church with dedicated staff and need those integrations, Planning Center may be the right fit. ShepherdOS is built for the pastor who manages everything personally.
Tell us about your church. We'll walk you through getting started — no credit card, no demo call required. You can try the live dashboard right now.
We'll reach out within 24 hours. In the meantime, the dashboard is live — no setup required.
Try the Dashboard NowNo credit card. No commitment. Dashboard is live right now.
It's genuinely free. No credit card, no trial period, no freemium tier that locks you out of core features. ShepherdOS is in active development and we're growing our user base — free access is how we do that.
Yes. ShepherdOS has a bulk CSV import tool for your member roster. Export your Planning Center People list as a CSV, map the columns (first name, last name, email, phone, status), and your directory is ready in minutes.
50–500 members. It works well for smaller congregations too, but the at-risk alerts and follow-up automation are most valuable in that range — where a pastor can still know every family by name but can't track everything manually.
Not yet — it's a web app that's fully responsive on mobile. You can add it to your home screen from Safari or Chrome. A dedicated mobile app is on the roadmap.
Planning Center's Services module is built around song lists, worship planning, and team communication — it's designed for worship directors. ShepherdOS focuses on the scheduling side: who's assigned to which role for which service, with one-click status cycling (confirmed / declined / no-show). If you need deep worship planning, Planning Center Services wins. If you just need to know who's ushering this Sunday, ShepherdOS handles it well.
Fill out the form above and we'll reach out, or go directly to the dashboard — it's live right now with sample data pre-loaded so you can see exactly what it does.