Compare · prices read October 31, 2026
Planning Center or PraisePad?
For a church of 150 that would rather have one product than nine.
Planning Center is nine products on one people list, each priced by its own usage, with Church Center as the app. PraisePad is one product by team size, with the stage and Present in it. Here’s what each does better, what each costs, and whether to stay or switch.
From $14 a month for a team of 10. Free for invited churches during the beta.
What Planning Center does better
- Groups, and Registrations at a scale PraisePad’s Events hasn’t reached
- Church Center in the app stores
- A page of integrations: SongSelect, PraiseCharts, MultiTracks, RehearsalPack, ProPresenter and more
- An MCP connector for Claude and ChatGPT across every product
- A suite of products on one people list, so every ministry’s data is in one place
Not in PraisePad yet: Groups, an app in the stores.
What PraisePad does better
- One price for the whole church: Team 10 is $14 a month for services, the stage and Giving, with your site; Kids, Events and Present in beta, free by request In the help: Your plan, the 14-day trial, and the AI allowance
- The stage: a typed chart in any key or capo, numbers, diagrams, offline, playing together In the help: Change the key, or play with a capo
- Present: slides from the set list and the sermon’s notes, every screen; in beta, free by request In the help: Present: slides for the screens
- Imports that read PDFs and photos; Planning Center itself comes over in one connection In the help: Switch from Planning Center
- AI that does work: the set builder, Change with words, the sermon builder, pictures In the help: Get song suggestions for a theme or sermon
What matters to a church of 150
Swipe sideways to see Planning Center’s column.
| What matters | PraisePad | Planning Center |
|---|---|---|
| Songs in every key, on stage, offline | Yes typed charts, capo, numbers, offline | Partly Music Stand, $5 a month more |
| Scheduling every team | Yes Serve, every team, rules in your words | Yes Services, by team members |
| Slides and the booth | Yes Present: in beta, free by request; $9 a month at launch | No ProPresenter and others, by integration |
| Kids check-in | Yes in beta, free by request; $9 a month at launch | Yes Check-Ins, free to 10 a day, then by usage |
| Giving on your own Stripe account | Yes your own Stripe; 0.5% to PraisePad | Partly Giving, 2.15% + 30¢, priced by donations |
| Events, tickets, rooms | Yes in beta, free by request; $9 a month at launch | Yes Registrations and Calendar, by usage |
| Your church’s site with its own chat | Yes English and Spanish, with its own chat | Partly Church Center pages |
| Texts to the team | Yes on every paid plan | Yes through People, 2¢ a text |
| Spanish | Partly church sites, statements, captions | Not listed |
| AI that does work | Yes set builder, Change with words, sermon builder | Partly an MCP connector for Claude and ChatGPT |
| Imports in a day | Yes PDFs, photos, Word, OnSong, ProPresenter | Partly SongSelect and PraiseCharts into Services |
| People and households | Yes Everyone: families, children, guests | Yes People, free |
| Groups | Not yet on the list | Yes Groups, free to 15 members |
| An app in the stores | Not yet installs from the browser; the iPhone app is with Apple | Yes Church Center, iOS and Android |
| A free plan | Yes 5 team members, 150 songs; Solo free | Yes 5 team members in Services; a free tier per product |
| Price | $14 a month for a team of 10. Present is in beta: free, by request; founding churches pay $9 a month at launch | $15 a month for Services (20 people) plus $5 a month for Music Stand; Check-Ins, Giving, Registrations and Calendar by usage |
Every PraisePad Yes opens the help article that shows it. Planning Center’s column is from planningcenter.com, read October 31, 2026. See a mistake? Tell us.
What it costs
PraisePad Team 10
$14 a month for a team of 10. Present is in beta: free, by request; founding churches pay $9 a month at launch
Planning Center, a team of 10
$15 a month for Services, plus $5 for Music Stand; the rest by usage
Services is priced by the people who use it: 20 for $15 a month, 50 for $32, 150 for $69 (the tiers are on planningcenter.com/services). Check-Ins, Giving, Registrations, Groups and Calendar each have a free tier and paid tiers set by a slider on the pricing page, with no one figure for a church of 150.
From www.planningcenter.com, read October 31, 2026. See a mistake? Tell us.
Bringing your songs over
- Connect Planning Center once: people and households, songs with their charts and files, plans as services with their teams
- The review shows every song and person before anything is written
- Keep Planning Center running beside it for a month if you like: PraisePad only reads, and changes nothing there
In the help: Switch from Planning Center
Stay or switch?
Stay with Planning Center if Groups, Registrations at scale or Church Center’s store app are what you use most.
Move to PraisePad if your worship team lives on the stage, your booth wants slides from the plan, and you’d rather pay one price for the church.
Questions
Is there a Planning Center alternative for a small church?
PraisePad is built for one: a plan by team size, $14 a month for a team of 10, covers services, scheduling, the stage, Giving and your church site. Present, Kids and Events are in beta: free, by request; founding churches pay $9 a month for each at launch.
From the help: Your plan, the 14-day trial, and the AI allowance
How does PraisePad compare with Planning Center Services?
Services plans and schedules; Music Stand, $5 a month more, shows charts on the band’s tablets. PraisePad plans and schedules too, and puts a typed chart in any key or capo on every stand, offline, with the band playing together from the leader’s screen, in the one plan.
From the help: Change the key, or play with a capo
Is PraisePad cheaper than Planning Center for a small church?
For a church of 150 with a team of 10, Planning Center is $15 a month for Services and $5 for Music Stand, with Check-Ins, Giving, Registrations and Calendar priced by usage on top. PraisePad is $14 a month, with Present, Kids and Events free in the beta. From planningcenter.com, read October 31, 2026.
Can I move from Planning Center without retyping everything?
Yes. Connect Planning Center once and people with their households, songs with their charts and files, and plans as services come across, with a review before anything is written. PraisePad only reads from Planning Center; nothing there changes.
From the help: Switch from Planning Center
Something else? Search the help centre, or ask Pad, PraisePad’s assistant, with the button at the corner of the page.
More comparisons
- ChurchTrac or PraisePad? The office in one price, with accounting. Nothing for the booth, and a song library for the stage.
- OnSong or PraisePad? One musician’s charts on an iPad, against a free Solo library and a church library the whole team shares.
- ProPresenter or PraisePad Present? $29 a month a seat, against Present for the whole church: free in the beta, $9 a month at launch for founding churches.
- Proclaim or PraisePad Present? Cloud slides with Logos, against slides built from the service and the sermon’s notes.
- Tithely or PraisePad? Free giving plus $72 to $119 a month for the rest, against one plan.
- Every comparison PraisePad against Planning Center, ChurchTrac, OnSong and more, with the ones coming.
Try it with your own church.
Every new church starts with 14 days of Team 10’s features for up to 5 people, no card needed.