OnStage vs Planning Center

OnStage is a service-planning platform for churches, bringing event preparation, people, songs and team communication into one place. Teams can set up events and rehearsals, create setlists, assign people to positions and reuse event templates. Its song library handles chords, lyrics and song structures, with PDF import, annotations, key changes and capo settings. Team and event chats support messages, attachments, polls, replies and read receipts. Events, rehearsals and blockouts can sync to Google Calendar; that sync is available on iPhone, iPad and Android. The app also supports offline access during rehearsals and services, and runs on Android, iOS, macOS and web. Starter is free, does not expire and does not require card details, but is limited to five members, 200MB of storage and five events per month. Paid plans are billed monthly or yearly, with member sizes from 20 to 1,000 and different storage and event limits. The listed 20-member plan costs $10 a month; yearly billing is available at 15% off.

Planning Center is a church ministry platform with products for people management, events, worship planning, donations, groups, and church apps. People centralizes membership information and ministry activity such as attendance, giving, and volunteering. Services supports worship planning, volunteer scheduling, team communication, and rehearsal tools. Other listed capabilities include group management, event registration, child check-in, and SMS messaging. Free plans are listed for Calendar, People, and Services: Calendar includes one room, People has an unlimited database and reporting, and Services includes five team members and 100 MB of storage. The pricing note lists paid access from $5/mo and a 30-day trial; a member limit of 75 is also listed. Services plans include unlimited feature access, teams, service types, and plans, with pricing based on the number of people accessing the system. The Services app supports iOS and Android phones and tablets, but not Windows devices. Integrations include SongSelect, PraiseCharts, Checkr, Mailchimp, Zapier, and third-party tools; an open API is also available. Planning Center states its products suit churches of any size.