Looking for a Planning Center alternative? Compare one flat monthly rate against pay-per-module pricing, meeting governance tools, and financial depth side by side.
Planning Center is a suite of separate modules — People, Giving, Check-Ins, Calendar, Services, Groups, Registrations — each free at a small scale and priced separately as your church grows, plus card processing fees on top. RC Management is one system with one flat rate per tier, covering meetings, congregation records, giving, and financials together from day one.
| Feature | Planning Center | RC Management |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing structure | Pay per module Each product (People, Giving, Check-Ins, Calendar, Services, Groups) is free at a small scale, then billed separately as usage grows | One flat rate Three published tiers — $35, $50, or $75/mo — no per-module bills to add up |
| Agenda & Meeting Minutes | Not a dedicated module | Included Agendas, minutes, and PDF council-packet generation built in from the Foundation tier, with every meeting showing where it stands — from agenda draft to minutes sent |
| Council & committee governance | Not offered | Included Committee management, council management, and elections built in |
| Giving & online payment fees | 2.15% + $0.30 per card transaction Free ACH; card processing fees on top of the module's own price | Included Contribution management, batch entry, online giving import, and recurring schedules on the Stewardship tier |
| Financial back office | Not offered Giving tracks donations, not fund accounting or a general ledger | Included Chart of accounts, budgets, bank reconciliation, accounts payable, and a full financial statement suite |
| Congregation records | Included People module — free, unlimited database | Included Parishioner, household, and Family Circles management on the Ministry tier |
| Setup & onboarding | Self-serve Sign up per module directly online | Self-serve Create your church account directly online, no call required |
| Best for | Churches that want to mix and match individual modules as needs grow | Churches that want meetings, congregation records, giving, and financials in one connected system |
Competitor details reflect Planning Center's publicly available materials as of 2026 and may change — check with Planning Center directly for a current quote for your church.
RC Management was built from the church office out — councils and committees, pledges and funds, parishioners and households — so meetings, records, giving, and financials all live in one connected system instead of several separate subscriptions.
Three published tiers — no separate subscriptions per feature, and no card-processing surcharges layered on top of the software price itself.
Agendas, minutes, committee management, and elections are core to RC Management — not something you'd need to build around a general-purpose people database. Every meeting shows where it stands at a glance — agenda draft, waiting on committee reports, minutes in progress, or minutes sent to council.
Chart of accounts, budgets, bank reconciliation, and accounts payable — not just a giving log, but the full financial picture for your church.
A family's contact info, a fund balance, a meeting's business items — entered once, and it shows up everywhere it's needed, without exporting between separate tools.
No signup required to explore the live demo.