The Big Three in 2025- Planning Center vs Breeze vs Subsplash: Which ChMS Is Right for Your Church?

Compare the top 3 church management platforms with real 2025 pricing, feature breakdown, and why adding a relational care tool completes your church software stack.

Church leaders make one of two mistakes when choosing church software: they pick based on price alone, or they pick based on features without understanding their actual needs.

This guide cuts through the noise. We compare the three leading church management systems - Planning Center, Breeze, and Subsplash - with honest assessment of pricing, features, and ideal use cases. We'll also explain why most churches benefit from pairing their ChMS with a specialized pastoral care tool.

The Three Leading Platforms At a Glance

Planning Center: The Worship Leader's Choice

Ideal For: Churches with 100-1,000+ members, churches with sophisticated worship programs, multi-site churches

Pricing

Planning Center's modular approach means you pay separately for each product:

• People (Member Database): FREE
• Services (Worship Planning): $33/month
• Giving (Online Donations): $19/month + 2.15% per credit card transaction
• Check-Ins: $14/month
• Groups: $24/month

Typical mid-size church: $120-250/month for core features

Why Churches Choose Planning Center

Worship Planning Excellence: Planning Center's Services module is categorically superior for worship teams. Features include chord chart transposition, SongSelect and MultiTracks integration, volunteer scheduling, and live service control from iPad.

Reddit's r/worshipleaders consistently votes Services as best-in-class. One worship leader: "We've tried everything else. Services is the only one that has what worship teams actually need."

Flexibility: You pay only for products you use. A small church might use just People and Giving. A large church customizes across the full suite.

Stability: Planning Center releases features weekly. Development is active and customer-focused.

Strong Reviews: G2 rating of 4.5/5 with 1,200+ reviews consistently praising intuitive design and customer support.

Best Features

• Services (Worship Planning): Best in category
• Giving: Competitive rates (2.15% + $0.30 credit card)
• API & Integrations: Extensive ecosystem
• Flexibility: Only pay for what you use

Limitations

• Learning Curve: More complex than Breeze (4-6 hours training needed)
• Total Cost: Full implementation can approach $300+/month
• Module Decisions: Wrong module selection wastes budget

Who Should Choose Planning Center

Mid-size to large churches where worship planning is central to ministry. Churches that value flexibility and want to avoid paying for unnecessary features.

Breeze: The Budget-Conscious Option

Ideal For: Small churches (50-300 members), churches with limited budgets, tech-averse staff

Pricing

$72/month flat rate includes ALL features:

• Member database
• Online giving
• Volunteer scheduling
• Events and registration
• Check-ins
• Email and text messaging
• Mobile app

No hidden fees. No per-user charges. No module choices.

Why Churches Choose Breeze

Simplicity: Breeze is intentionally designed for ease of use. Average staff training time: 1-2 hours.

Affordability: $72/month is substantially cheaper than Planning Center or Subsplash for comprehensive features.

All-in-One: You get everything included. No decisions about which modules to buy.

Functional Quality: Breeze handles all operational needs adequately for churches under 300 members.

Strong Reviews for Simplicity: G2 reviews frequently note "easiest to use of all ChMS options."

Best Features

• Simplicity & ease of use
• Affordability
• All features included
• Data export (CSV) available

Important Limitations

Post-Acquisition Development Slowdown: Tithely acquired Breeze in 2021. Feature development has noticeably slowed. Multiple users on G2 note "No major updates in 12+ months" and "Development seems stalled since acquisition."

This is critical to understand. If you choose Breeze, recognize that innovation may plateau compared to Planning Center (weekly updates) or Subsplash.

Scalability: Breeze works well for churches under 300-400 members. Beyond that, the platform becomes harder to manage.

Limited Integrations: Unlike Planning Center's extensive ecosystem, Breeze has limited third-party integrations.

Less Specialized: Worship planning is basic. Volunteer management is functional but not sophisticated.

Who Should Choose Breeze

Small to mid-sized churches under 300 members where simplicity and affordability matter more than specialized features or innovation pace. Understand the post-acquisition development reality before committing.

Subsplash: The Digital Engagement Platform

Ideal For: Churches prioritizing online engagement, churches wanting custom mobile app, tech-forward congregations, multi-site churches

Pricing

Subsplash uses tiered all-in-one pricing:

• Basic Essentials: $199/month
• Church App + Essentials: $299/month (adds custom-branded app)
• Complete: $399+/month (comprehensive)

Why Churches Choose Subsplash

Custom-Branded Mobile App: Subsplash's flagship advantage. Unlike generic church apps, your members download YOUR church's custom-branded app. This drives significantly higher engagement.

G2 testimonial: "Our giving increased 34% after launching our custom app. Members check it multiple times daily."

Integrated Ecosystem: Everything connects seamlessly. Member data flows across all tools automatically.

Sermon Streaming: Professional video hosting and streaming, critical for churches with large online audiences.

Analytics Dashboard: Real-time insights into member engagement, giving patterns, and app usage.

Strong Reviews: G2 rating of 4.6/5 with 800+ reviews. Users specifically praise integration and the custom app.

Best Features

• Custom-branded mobile app (unique advantage)
• Integrated ecosystem (seamless data flow)
• Professional video hosting
• Advanced analytics

Limitations

Price Point: Starting at $199/month is substantially more than Breeze ($72/month).

Overkill for Small Churches: Churches under 100 members often find capabilities unnecessary for their needs.

Less Specialized in Worship: While functional, doesn't compare to Planning Center's Services for worship-focused churches.

Who Should Choose Subsplash

Churches prioritizing digital engagement and member connection through a custom-branded mobile app. Larger churches with resources to invest in digital presence.

Decision Framework: How to Choose

What's Your Church Size?

50-150 members: Breeze is excellent value. ChMeetings (starting at $12/month) is also strong.

150-400 members: Planning Center's flexibility or Subsplash's custom app become valuable investments.

400+ members: Planning Center or Subsplash are more appropriate than Breeze's limitations at scale.

What's Your Priority?

Priority: Worship Excellence
Choose Planning Center for Services - nothing else competes.

Priority: Digital Engagement
Choose Subsplash for custom-branded app and integrated digital strategy.

Priority: Budget
Choose Breeze (if under 300 members) or Planning Center's modular approach (if willing to customize).

What's Your Team's Technical Comfort?

Low technical comfort:
Breeze (1-2 hour training, very intuitive)

Moderate technical comfort:
Planning Center (4-6 hours training, manageable)

Higher technical comfort:
Planning Center or Subsplash (can leverage integrations and APIs)

The Critical Missing Piece: Relational Health

Here's what all three platforms have in common: They track operations, not relationships.

Your ChMS tells you:

• Who gave how much
• Who attended which service
• Who volunteered
• Which events people registered for

Your ChMS does NOT tell you:

• Who has genuine friendships in the congregation
• Who is isolated despite regular attendance
• Who is at risk of leaving
• Which members need pastoral care

The Research

Studies show church members with fewer than 2 close friendships leave within 18 months. Those with 7+ connections stay for decades.

Yet Planning Center, Breeze, and Subsplash can't identify which category each member falls into.

Your dashboard shows a 25-year-old attending regularly, giving modestly, participating in events. But your relational reality: zero close church friendships, sits alone, hasn't had a meaningful conversation with anyone.

Six months later: "We found a church closer to home."

Your ChMS never saw it coming because relational isolation is invisible to operational systems.

This is why most effective churches use a ChMS plus a relational care tool.

The Complete Church Software Strategy

Think of your church software like your body:

• ChMS = Skeleton (structure, operations, infrastructure)
• Relational Care Tool = Heart & Nervous System (life, connection, responsiveness)

You need both.

The Integration Approach

Planning Center + FlockConnect:

• Planning Center handles operations (giving, worship planning, events)
• FlockConnect imports Planning Center data and adds relational layer
• Result: Complete visibility into both operational and relational health

Breeze + FlockConnect:

• Breeze handles operations affordably
• FlockConnect adds relationship tracking (direct integration)
• Result: Budget-friendly operations with powerful pastoral care

Subsplash + FlockConnect:

• Subsplash handles digital engagement and operations
• FlockConnect adds relational insights the app can't provide
• Result: Connected digital community with intentional pastoral care

Pricing Comparison: Complete Stack

Budget-Conscious Small Church:

• Breeze: $72/month
• FlockConnect: $29/month
• Total: $101/month

Mid-Size Worship-Focused:

• Planning Center (People, Services, Giving, Check-Ins): $140/month
• FlockConnect: $59/month
• Total: $199/month

Digital-Engagement Priority:

• Subsplash: $299/month
• FlockConnect: $79/month
• Total: $378/month

Making Your Final Decision

If your church has a strong worship program: Choose Planning Center. Services is unmatched for worship leadership.

If your church is small and budget is primary concern: Choose Breeze. It's excellent software at affordable price (understanding development pace implications).

If your church prioritizes digital engagement and has resources: Choose Subsplash for the custom-branded app advantage.

Regardless of which you choose: Plan to add a relational care layer. Every ChMS benefits from pairing with relationship-focused tools.

Why Adding Relational Care Completes Your Strategy

Planning Center, Breeze, and Subsplash all serve your operational needs excellently. They track giving, events, volunteering, and attendance.

But they don't answer the question that determines member retention: Is this person genuinely connected?

Adding a relational care tool like FlockConnect answers that question by:

• Identifying isolated members before they leave
• Suggesting strategic connections
• Tracking relationship development over time
• Providing pastoral care documentation

Result: Your church has complete visibility into what's working and where intervention is needed.

Conclusion: Choose Your Platform, Then Complete Your Strategy

The "best" ChMS depends entirely on your church's needs:

• Planning Center for worship excellence and flexibility
• Breeze for simplicity and affordability
• Subsplash for digital engagement

But whichever you choose, your church software strategy isn't complete until you add relational tracking.

A church that knows when services were attended but doesn't know who feels lonely is missing what matters most.

A church that can identify every isolated member and intentionally build their connections? That's a church ready for growth.

Ready to complete your church software strategy? Choose your ChMS from above, then add FlockConnect to track relationship health. FlockConnect integrates with Planning Center, Breeze, and Subsplash. Start your free 14-day trial: https://flockconnect.com