Planning Center Giving review

Planning Center Giving ranks first because it combines the lowest card rate on this list with a simple monthly fee and no contract. In the US every church pays 2.15% plus 30 cents per card gift and a flat 30 cents per ACH gift, with no volume tiers to negotiate. The subscription depends only on how many donations arrive each month: 10 are free, 75 cost $15 a month, 500 cost $69 and unlimited donations cost $239. Donors give through Church Center on the web or in the app, by text, with Apple Pay or Google Pay, or by bank transfer, and they can see their history and download statements themselves. Staff get pledge campaigns, recurring donation forecasting, check scanning with donor matching and in-kind tracking. Planning Center says it is the only SOC 2 certified church software. The gap is accounting: there is no QuickBooks integration, so treasurers rely on CSV exports or the API.

Who it is for

Churches of any size that want the lowest published card rate and giving tied to a free church database.

Price

Free for up to 10 donations a month; paid plans from $15 per month for 75 donations, plus 2.15% + $0.30 per US card gift.

75 Donations / mo. $15/mo. + processing fees
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Online, app, text-to-give, Apple Pay, Google Pay and ACH giving
• Recurring giving with automatic card updates and recurring donation forecasting
• Pledge campaigns, fund management and in-kind gift tracking
• Check scanning with auto-match to donors and batch posting
• Donor statements by email or mail, plus self-serve statements in Church Center

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: US card rate of 2.15% + $0.30 and ACH at 0% + $0.30, the same for every church
• Strength: Free tier for 10 donations a month and no contracts, setup or cancellation fees
• Strength: Giving syncs with People, Planning Center's free church database
• Weakness: Monthly subscription grows with donation count, up to $239 for unlimited donations
• Weakness: No QuickBooks integration, only CSV exports and a public API
• Weakness: Best value comes from using other Planning Center products alongside it

Key facts

• US card rate: 2.15% + $0.30 per transaction
• US ACH rate: 0% + $0.30 per transaction
• Free tier: 10 donations a month
• Paid tiers: $15 to $239 a month by donation count
• Scale: Over 78,000 churches (vendor figure)

Where it ranks

Planning Center Giving is No. 1 in our Best Church Giving Software verdict.