church tech

Planning Center vs Breeze: the honest 2026 comparison

By Michael Tribett · July 3, 2026 · 8 min read

Planning Center and Breeze are the two names that come up in almost every small-to-mid church software search, and they represent two different bets about what a ChMS should be: pay for exactly what you use, or pay one predictable bill and stop thinking about it.

Key takeaways

Breeze charges one flat monthly rate, commonly cited around $72 a month, for unlimited people, members, and admin users, with no tiers to grow into.

Planning Center is modular and starts free, with most mid-size churches running People, Services, Giving, and Check-Ins landing between $150 and $300 a month.

The honest tipping point sits around 400 to 600 members. Below it, Breeze is usually cheaper for comparable office workflows. Above it, Planning Center's depth typically earns its higher price.

Breeze has been owned by Tithe.ly since 2021, and while the two products remain distinct with separate roadmaps, Breeze is increasingly bundled into Tithe.ly's broader ecosystem.

Neither system shows relational health. FlockConnect adds that layer on top of either one, connecting to Breeze by CSV import and to Planning Center with a native two-way sync.

Quick answer: Planning Center or Breeze?

Breeze is the stronger choice below roughly 400 to 600 members: one flat, predictable monthly bill, unlimited people and admin users, and a system a non-technical staff member can learn in an afternoon. Planning Center is the stronger choice above that range, or for any church with an active worship team regardless of size, since its Services product remains the category leader for worship-team scheduling and its modular pricing lets a growing church pay only for what it uses. Confirm current pricing directly with each vendor, since both restructure tiers and fees periodically.

What Breeze actually is

Breeze is a focused, all-in-one church management system built around getting a non-technical office administrator productive in an afternoon rather than a week. It bundles member records, giving, events, and basic communication into a single tool with no modules to assemble and no per-seat math to run.

Pricing model. A single flat rate, commonly cited around $72 a month, or somewhat less when paid annually, covering unlimited people, members, and admin users. Giving carries its own transaction fees, commonly cited around 2.5 percent plus $0.30 for card payments and roughly 1 percent for ACH. Confirm current rates with the vendor.

Best for. Small to mid-sized churches that want one predictable bill and a system simple enough for a volunteer or part-time administrator to run without a learning curve.

Breeze was acquired by Tithe.ly in 2021. The two remain distinct products with separate roadmaps rather than a single merged platform, but Breeze increasingly shows up as part of Tithe.ly's broader bundled ecosystem alongside Tithe.ly's giving, website, and app products, which is worth knowing when weighing where Breeze is headed long-term.

What Planning Center actually is

Planning Center is a modular suite: People for the member database, Services for worship-team scheduling, Giving, Check-Ins, Groups, and Calendar, each activated separately as a church needs it. People is free on its own.

Pricing model. Per product, starting at $0 for People. Most mid-size churches running a full common stack, People, Services, Giving, and Check-Ins, land somewhere between $150 and $300 a month. Confirm current per-product pricing directly with Planning Center.

Best for. Churches with an active worship team, since Services remains the strongest dedicated worship-planning tool in the category, and any growing or multi-staff church that wants to pay only for the modules it actually uses.

The math behind the tipping point

Run the comparison at different sizes and a clear pattern appears. Below roughly 400 members, a church running basic People and Giving functions on Planning Center often pays less than Breeze's flat rate, but the moment a church adds Services for worship scheduling or Check-Ins for kids' ministry, the modular total climbs quickly. Breeze's flat rate stays exactly the same whether a church has 50 members or 550, which is the whole appeal: predictability. Once a church crosses somewhere in the 400 to 600 member range, Planning Center's modular costs commonly reach two to four times what Breeze charges for a comparable office workflow, but by that size the church has often also outgrown what a flat-rate, non-modular system can do for worship-team scheduling, multi-campus data needs, or a larger staff.

The honest reading: below the tipping point, choose Breeze for cost and simplicity. Above it, or with an active worship team at any size, choose Planning Center, because the depth genuinely starts earning the price difference.

Where Breeze genuinely wins

Transparency and simplicity. There are no tiers to age into, no per-product upsells to evaluate, and a church can budget the exact monthly cost a year in advance without guessing how many modules it will eventually need. For an office staffed by volunteers or a single part-time administrator, that simplicity has real value beyond the dollar figure. Breeze's volunteer scheduling covers general needs like greeters and ushers competently, though it lacks the chord-chart, rehearsal-audio, and conflict-detection features a worship team with an active band rotation typically wants.

Where Planning Center genuinely wins

Worship-team scheduling depth is the clearest gap. Planning Center Services handles setlist building, song libraries, rehearsal coordination, and conflict-aware rotation building in a way Breeze's more general volunteer tools do not attempt to match. Multi-site and multi-campus data structure is the second gap: Planning Center's data model is built to scale across campuses without requiring a migration later, while a church growing past Breeze's comfortable range may eventually need to move systems entirely.

Where FlockConnect fits with either

Neither Breeze nor Planning Center was built to show whether the people they track are relationally connected to each other, which is the gap FlockConnect, a Church Relationship Manager, exists to close. It does not compete with either system and does not handle giving, scheduling, or membership records of its own.

For a church on Breeze, FlockConnect connects the same way it does for any system other than Planning Center: CSV import. A church exports its people from Breeze and brings that file into FlockConnect to add a per-person connection and isolation view on top of the records Breeze already holds. Planning Center remains FlockConnect's one native, two-way integration, covered in getting the most from Planning Center for pastoral care. For a three-way look that also includes Subsplash, see Planning Center vs Breeze vs Subsplash.

About the author

Michael Tribett is the founder of FlockConnect, a Church Relationship Manager built to help pastors see who is connected and who is drifting. He holds a Master of Divinity in Christian Ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he focused on missions and discipleship, and he serves as a small group leader at his church in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. FlockConnect is an official Planning Center partner.

Frequently asked questions

Is Breeze cheaper than Planning Center? Below roughly 400 to 600 members, yes, for a comparable office workflow. Breeze's flat rate, commonly cited around $72 a month, stays the same regardless of size, while Planning Center's modular costs grow as a church adds products like Services and Check-Ins. Above that range, Planning Center's per-product pricing can be a better value relative to the depth it provides.

At what church size does Planning Center become worth the cost? Generally somewhere around 400 to 600 members, or at any size for a church with an active worship team, since Planning Center Services offers scheduling depth Breeze's general volunteer tools do not match.

Does Tithe.ly own Breeze? Yes. Tithe.ly acquired Breeze in 2021. The two remain distinct products with separate roadmaps, but Breeze increasingly appears alongside Tithe.ly's broader bundled ecosystem of giving, website, and app products.

Which has better worship-team scheduling, Breeze or Planning Center? Planning Center, through its Services product, which handles setlists, rehearsal coordination, and conflict-aware rotation building. Breeze's volunteer scheduling covers general needs like greeters competently but lacks features built specifically for an active worship band.

Can FlockConnect connect to Breeze? Yes, through CSV import, the same path FlockConnect uses for every church management system other than Planning Center. A church exports its people from Breeze and imports that file into FlockConnect to add the relational layer.

Is there a giving fee difference between Breeze and Planning Center? Both charge transaction fees for online giving, and the specific percentages change over time for each vendor. Confirm current giving fees with each vendor rather than relying on any published comparison, since fee structures are updated periodically.

What is the simplest way to decide between Breeze and Planning Center? Count current membership and be honest about whether an active worship team needs dedicated scheduling depth. Below roughly 400 to 600 members with a simple office workflow, Breeze usually wins on cost and simplicity. Above that range, or with a worship team that needs real scheduling tools, Planning Center usually wins on depth.