ChurchLuma vs Planning Center: Which fits your church?
Planning Center is a well-known suite of church tools popular in North America. Here's how it compares to ChurchLuma for churches that need member records, attendance, giving and service planning in one workspace.
Planning Center offers connected church products, including People, Giving, Services, Check-Ins, Groups, Registrations and Publishing. Its current pricing page shows free access for some products and paid plans whose limits vary by product.
ChurchLuma takes a different approach: one workspace that combines member records, attendance, giving, service outlines, follow-ups and messaging. Instead of assembling modules, your team gets a single environment with role-based access.
Both tools serve churches well, but they make different trade-offs. Here's how they compare across the features most churches care about.
Feature comparison
| Feature | ChurchLuma | Planning Center |
|---|---|---|
| Member records | Built-in directory with families, departments, demographics, visitor tracking and member applications | People app with households, lists, workflows and custom fields |
| Attendance | Name-based check-in by service and department, absentee tracking and follow-up integration | Check-Ins app with self-check-in stations, barcode scanning and room balancing |
| Giving & finance | Income, expenses, tithes, pledges and offering records linked to services with role-based access | Giving app with online donations, recurring gifts, donor statements and fund management |
| Service planning | Service outlines with activities, assignments, timing and a published live view | Services app with song scheduling, volunteer assignments, rehearsal and live presentation |
| Communication | SMS messaging with templates, recipient groups and delivery tracking | Email and text messaging are available in selected products; capabilities differ by product |
| Follow-ups | Built-in follow-up tasks with assignment, contact history and progress tracking | Workflows in People app for automated follow-up sequences |
| Pricing model | Published GHS plans with feature access and limits by plan | Products can be selected individually; free access and usage-based paid plans vary by product |
| Currency & region | Published plans in GHS | Payment availability and pricing vary by country; confirm details for your location |
| Multi-branch | Branch-scoped access on Growth and Pro plans | Multi-campus support across apps |
| Free tier | Free plan for up to 60 active members | Some products have free access with product-specific limits |
Where ChurchLuma stands out
- All features in one workspace — no assembling separate modules
- GHS pricing designed for African churches
- Built-in finance tracking (income, expenses, tithes, pledges) rather than donation-only
- SMS messaging is built into the workspace; credit purchases are separate
- Follow-up tasks integrated with member and attendance data
- Simpler pricing — one plan tier covers everything at that level
Where Planning Center stands out
- Mature ecosystem with years of development and a large user community
- Self-service check-in kiosks and volunteer scheduling
- Online donation processing with recurring gifts and donor portals
- Extensive integrations with worship presentation tools (ProPresenter, etc.)
- Larger app marketplace and third-party connections
- Song and media library management for worship teams
Which should you choose?
Planning Center may suit churches that prefer to choose individual tools and scale each product around its own usage. Check the current regional payment options and product limits against your church’s needs.
ChurchLuma may suit teams that want member records, session-based attendance, finance records, service plans and follow-ups together in one workspace. Review current plan limits and try the workflows with your staff before deciding.