Aplos and Planning Center are two of the most recommended tools for churches — but they’re not really competing. Aplos is church accounting software that also tracks donations. Planning Center is church management software (ChMS) that also handles giving, check-ins, and service planning. Pick the wrong one and you’ll have either bad books or chaotic ministry operations.

Here’s the comparison.

The Short Version

• Choose Aplos if your biggest problem is church accounting and you need fund tracking, bookkeeping, and donation management in one place.
• Choose Planning Center if your biggest problem is running your church — managing people, services, groups, check-ins, and giving — and you’re okay handling accounting separately.
• Choose both if you want proper church accounting (Aplos) and strong ministry operations (Planning Center) and are willing to pay for two systems.

Quick Comparison

What Each Tool Is Built For

Aplos is accounting software first. It was built to handle fund accounting correctly — tracking restricted and unrestricted funds, generating accurate fund balance reports, and managing the financial side of nonprofit and church operations. Donation tracking and online giving are included because churches need them, but accounting is the engine.

Planning Center is church management software. It’s a suite of interconnected modules — People, Services, Groups, Check-Ins, Registrations, Giving, Calendar, and more — designed to help churches run their ministries. It doesn’t touch accounting. It focuses on the operational side: who’s volunteering this Sunday, which families checked in, what songs are in the setlist, and how groups are communicating.

Verdict: Different core purposes. Aplos manages your money. Planning Center manages your ministry.

Accounting & Finance: Aplos Wins (It’s the Only Option)

This isn’t a competition. Planning Center doesn’t do accounting. No general ledger, no chart of accounts, no bank reconciliation, no fund balances, no financial statements. If you need bookkeeping, Aplos is your only option between these two.

Aplos provides:

• True fund accounting (restricted, unrestricted, designated funds)
• General ledger with dual-entry bookkeeping
• Bank reconciliation and connects to your bank
• Budget tracking by fund
• Accounts payable and receivable
• Financial statements (balance sheet, P&L, fund balance reports)
• Tax-ready reporting for churches

Planning Center Giving tracks donations and generates donor statements, but it doesn’t do anything with that money on the accounting side. You’d still need QuickBooks, Aplos, or another tool to handle your books.

Verdict: If you need accounting (and every church does), Aplos or go elsewhere for this function.

Donation Tracking & Online Giving: Both Do It Well

This is where Aplos and Planning Center overlap the most, and both do it capably — but with different emphases.

Aplos treats donations as part of the financial workflow. Every gift automatically posts to the correct fund in your general ledger. You can:

• Accept online donations via Stripe
• Set up recurring giving
• Generate year-end contribution statements
• Track pledges
• Run giving reports by donor, fund, or time period
• Issue charitable receipts compliant with IRS requirements

Because Aplos is an accounting system, the giving data flows straight into your books with no manual entry.

Planning Center Giving treats donations as part of the ministry workflow. It connects to your people database, so giving history is attached to member profiles. You can:

• Accept online and text-to-give donations
• Set up recurring giving with donor-managed accounts
• Generate year-end statements
• Track pledges and campaigns
• Let donors give through the Church Center app
• Process giving with competitive rates (2.15% + $0.30 for ACH, 2.99% + $0.30 for cards)
• Apply for 12 months free if your church is new or switching

Planning Center Giving integrates with your people data — so you can see who’s giving, who’s stopped, and who’s connected to which groups. But the financial data doesn’t flow into a general ledger because Planning Center doesn’t have one.

Verdict: Aplos for accounting-integrated giving. Planning Center for ministry-integrated giving. Both are solid at the basics.

People Management: Planning Center Wins (By a Lot)

Planning Center People is a full membership database. It handles:

• Detailed member and visitor profiles
• Family and household linking
• Custom fields (membership status, spiritual gifts, allergies, etc.)
• Background checks integration
• Communication (email, text) filtered by lists
• Workflow automation (follow-up sequences, task assignments)
• Integration across all other modules (giving, check-ins, groups, services)

Aplos has basic donor profiles — name, contact info, giving history — but it’s not a membership database. You can’t track group involvement, volunteer assignments, or attendance patterns.

Verdict: If people management is a priority, Planning Center is the clear winner. Aplos only manages donors, not members.

Service Planning: Planning Center Only

Planning Center Services is the gold standard for worship planning. It handles:

• Service order planning with song sets, transitions, and notes
• Volunteer scheduling and confirmation
• Song library with chord charts and sheet music (via Music Stand add-on)
• Multi-campus scheduling
• Team communications
• Playback and presentation integration

Aplos has nothing like this.

Verdict: Planning Center, obviously.

Check-Ins: Planning Center Only

Planning Center Check-Ins handles:

• Child and adult check-in with name tags and security codes
• Attendance tracking across services and events
• Volunteer team management
• Emergency contact info at check-in
• Integration with People for attendance history

Aplos has no check-in feature.

Verdict: Planning Center.

Groups & Communication: Planning Center Only

Planning Center Groups provides:

• Small group management and membership
• Group-specific communication (announcements, chats)
• Event scheduling per group
• Attendance tracking

Aplos doesn’t have groups or communication features.

Verdict: Planning Center.

Pricing: Different Models, Similar Costs

Aplos uses a simple flat-rate model:

One price covers everything Aplos does. No tiers based on church size.

Planning Center uses a modular, scale-based model. People (the core module) is free. Other modules have tiered pricing:

A small church (under 100) can run Planning Center for free or under $30/month. A mid-size church (200-500) might pay $50-150/month for multiple modules. A large church could pay $300+/month.

Verdict: Aplos is a single predictable payment. Planning Center starts cheaper but scales up. For pure cost, Planning Center People + basic modules is free or nearly free; Aplos is $59/mo minimum.

Integrations & Ecosystem

Aplos integrates with: QuickBooks (export), Stripe, ADP Payroll, and via Zapier to a range of other tools. The integration list is modest.

Planning Center integrates with: Church Center (their mobile app), Presentation software (ProPresenter, Proclaim), Background checks (Checkr), and has an open API. Each module connects to the others seamlessly.

Verdict: Planning Center has a richer ecosystem, especially for church operations. Aplos connects well enough for its scope but is more isolated.

Reporting: Different Strengths

Aplos produces financial reports that make sense to church boards: fund balance reports, budget vs. actual by fund, contribution statements, and statements of activities. Board-ready financials.

Planning Center produces operational reports: attendance trends, giving patterns, volunteer schedules, group participation, and member engagement. Board-ready ministry reports.

Verdict: Aplos for financial reporting. Planning Center for ministry reporting. They complement each other.

The Decision Matrix

Can You Use Both?

Yes, and many churches do. Here’s how it works:

• Planning Center handles everything on the ministry side: people, services, groups, check-ins, and event registration. It also processes online giving.
• Aplos handles everything on the financial side: accounting, fund tracking, budgeting, and financial reporting.
• Giving data flows from Planning Center to Aplos via export or integration. The donation totals from Planning Center get entered into Aplos as revenue entries against the correct funds.

This gives you the best of both worlds: strong ministry operations (Planning Center) and strong church accounting (Aplos). The cost is running two systems — roughly $59/mo for Aplos plus whatever Planning Center modules you need (anywhere from free to $150+/month depending on church size).

For churches under 100 in attendance, Planning Center alone may be enough — use it for ministry operations and giving, then track accounting in a spreadsheet or basic QuickBooks.

For churches over 100, using both starts to make sense. Planning Center manages your ministry; Aplos manages your money.

Our Top Pick

It depends on your biggest problem.

If your books are a mess and you need proper fund accounting, Aplos is the answer. It’s the best church accounting tool in its price range, and donation tracking comes included. You’ll still need something for member management and service planning, but your financial house will be in order.

If your ministry operations are chaotic — volunteers aren’t scheduled, you can’t track attendance, families are falling through the cracks — Planning Center is the answer. It’s the best church management system for the price, and its modular approach means you only pay for what you need.

For most growing churches, we’d recommend starting with Planning Center for ministry operations and giving, then adding Aplos when your finances get complex enough to need proper fund accounting. That’s usually around the 100-150 attendance mark or when you’re managing multiple restricted funds.

Both tools are excellent at what they do. They’re not competing — they’re solving different problems. Aplos manages your money. Planning Center manages your ministry. Know which problem you’re solving first.

SoftDecide helps churches, nonprofits, and small organizations find the right software. Our comparisons are independently researched. We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page — at no extra cost to you.