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Planning Center Groups

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Last updated on

Company health

Employee growth
16% increase in the last year
Web traffic
10% increase in the last quarter

Ratings

G2
4.4/5
(24)
Glassdoor
4.7/5
(13)

Planning Center Groups description

Planning Center Groups is a software designed to help churches manage their groups and members. It offers tools for scheduling, communication, attendance tracking, and reporting. As part of the Planning Center platform, it seamlessly integrates with other church management tools, using a shared database for simplified administration. This approach allows churches of all sizes to streamline group management, boost engagement, and centralize member information.


Who is Planning Center Groups best for

Planning Center Groups helps churches organize groups, track attendance, and streamline communication. Users praise its ease of use and integration with other Planning Center tools. However, some find the multi-site functionality and reporting features limited. It's ideal for churches seeking a centralized platform to manage their groups and engage members.

  • Best for small to medium-sized churches (1-1000 employees), but suitable for larger organizations.

  • Specifically designed for churches and other faith-based organizations.


Planning Center Groups features

Supported

Groups can be organized by various criteria like life stage or day of the week.

Supported

It offers announcements and integrated chat features.

Supported

Track attendance, see who's missing, and maintain current data. Reports monitor involvement, follow up on absences, and track visitor numbers.

Supported

Manage group calendars and share materials for engagement.

Supported

Tools provided for taking attendance, communicating with members, and managing events.

Supported

Share groups on church apps and websites.


Planning Center Groups reviews

We've summarised 24 Planning Center Groups reviews (Planning Center Groups G2 reviews) and summarised the main points below.

Pros of Planning Center Groups
  • Easy to set up, administer, and train users on.
  • Integrates well with Church Center and the broader Planning Center platform.
  • Streamlines group management and communication.
  • Facilitates member connection and simplifies group joining process through a public directory.
  • Useful features for attendance tracking, resource sharing, and event creation within groups.
  • Customizable group names and photos.
  • Comprehensive security options.
  • Sliding cost scale based on usage.
Cons of Planning Center Groups
  • Limited multi-site church functionality; can only assign one campus to a group.
  • Events from Registrations don't sync well with Groups.
  • Difficult to manage a very large number of groups (1000+).
  • Limited reporting features, lacking specific filtering options.
  • No dedicated mobile app.
  • Duplicate accounts created when members join a group despite having an existing account in another Planning Center product.
  • Inability to email groups through the Church Center app.
  • Members are unable to see that they are in a group on their app, limiting use for staff only.
  • Calendar feature lacks interaction with other group calendars and Planning Center Resources.
  • Confusing "tagging" system for groups with too many options.

Planning Center Groups pricing

The commentary is based on 1 reviews from Planning Center Groups G2 reviews.

All plans have a 30-day free trial. There are no contracts, and you can adjust or cancel your plan anytime. People is a completely free application. Flexible billing options are available, with card payments preferred and check as an option. You can pay monthly (card only) or every 3, 6, or 12 months. Giving, Check-Ins, and Registrations plans have soft limits, allowing occasional exceeding. Online payments in Giving and Registrations are processed at the lowest available rate by Stripe.

See the Planning Center Groups pricing page.

  • Planning Center Groups has a free plan.

  • Planning Center Groups has a free trial.

People
Free

Included free with every plan. Membership database including profile management, custom reporting, online forms, workflows, and communication tools.

Calendar
Free

With Calendar, you can manage unlimited events for free. If you are also using it to track rooms and resources, plans are priced by the number of rooms you are managing.

Check-Ins
Free

Check-Ins is priced by the number of check-ins on your busiest day of the week. All plans include full feature access and an unlimited number of check-in stations and administrators.

Giving
Free

Giving is priced by the total number of donations you collect and track each month. All plans include full feature access. Card, ACH transfer, and Apple Pay transactions are processed for a low, additional fee by Stripe.

Groups
Free

Groups is priced by the number of members (including leaders) in an active group. Members are only counted once, even if they belong to many groups. Visitors are never included in the total. All plans included unlimited groups and group events.

Publishing
Free

Publishing is priced by which features you want to access. All plans include a home page and navigation options for Church Center. Upgrade to a paid plan to create custom pages and share sermon video and audio.

Registrations
Free

Registrations is priced by the number of attendees for your largest event. All plans include full feature access and an unlimited number of events.

Services
Free

Services is priced by the number of people who access the system in any way. All plans include full feature access and an unlimited number of teams, service types, and plans.


Planning Center Groups alternatives

  • Logo of Planning Center People
    Planning Center People
    Connect, organize, and manage your church community.
    Read more
  • Logo of Planning Center Publishing
    Planning Center Publishing
    Church websites and apps, simplified content creation and sharing.
    Read more
  • Logo of Planning Center Product Suite
    Planning Center Product Suite
    Streamlines church management, boosts engagement, simplifies admin.
    Read more
  • Logo of Planning Center Calendar
    Planning Center Calendar
    Effortless church event scheduling and resource booking.
    Read more
  • Logo of Planning Center Church Center
    Planning Center Church Center
    Connect, manage, and grow your church community.
    Read more
  • Logo of Realm
    Realm
    Mobile-first church platform. Connect, manage, and grow.
    Read more

Planning Center Groups FAQ

  • What is Planning Center Groups and what does Planning Center Groups do?

    Planning Center Groups helps churches organize and manage their groups and members. It provides tools for communication, scheduling, attendance tracking, and reporting, and integrates with other Planning Center church management tools. This simplifies administration and boosts member engagement.

  • How does Planning Center Groups integrate with other tools?

    Planning Center Groups integrates seamlessly with other Planning Center products, especially Church Center, for simplified administration and data sharing. This allows for streamlined member management, communication, and event scheduling across the platform.

  • What the main competitors of Planning Center Groups?

    Alternatives to Planning Center Groups include Realm, a mobile-first church platform, and other Planning Center products like People, for community management, and Calendar, for scheduling. These alternatives offer similar features for church management and engagement.

  • Is Planning Center Groups legit?

    Yes, Planning Center Groups is a legitimate software solution. It's a widely used platform known for simplifying church group management, communication, and event planning. User reviews praise its ease of use and integration with other Planning Center tools.

  • How much does Planning Center Groups cost?

    Planning Center Groups is included with a Planning Center subscription. A 30-day free trial is available. Contact Planning Center for specific pricing details.

  • Is Planning Center Groups customer service good?

    Planning Center Groups' customer service receives positive feedback, with users highlighting the helpfulness and responsiveness of the support team. However, the software may not be suitable for churches with a very large number of groups due to limitations in filtering and reporting.


Reviewed by

MK
Michal Kaczor
CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

TT
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.