Comparison

Aurnet vs Planning Center

Planning Center is the US market leader — but it's modular, priced per product, has no built-in chat, and wasn't designed for UK churches. Here's how Aurnet compares.

Aurnet

One price. Everything included.

  • Native iOS & Android app included
  • Chat, giving, events, rotas, training — one subscription
  • Gift Aid built in for UK churches
  • UK-based, GDPR-first
  • Free plan to get started
Planning Center

Modular pricing adds up fast.

  • Each product (People, Services, Giving) priced separately
  • No built-in chat — requires third-party integration
  • No Gift Aid support for UK churches
  • US company — GDPR is secondary consideration
  • No free tier across full platform

The pricing problem

Planning Center charges separately for People, Services, Giving, Check-ins, Registrations, and Groups. A mid-sized UK church using four of those products typically pays $150–$300/month — and still has no native messaging, no Gift Aid, and no training module.

Aurnet is a single subscription that covers everything: mobile apps, chat, events, rotas, giving, Gift Aid, sermons, training, pastoral care, and the admin dashboard. Your treasurer doesn't need to manage four separate billing relationships.

Feature comparison

FeatureAurnetPlanning Center
Native iOS & Android app
Web admin dashboard
Built-in chat & messaging
Gift Aid (HMRC compliant)
UK GDPR compliancePartial
Stripe giving (0% App Store fee)
Event registration forms
Volunteer & rota management
Live streaming (in-app)
Training & discipleship programs
Accountability partners
Pastoral care tracking
Bulk SMSAdd-on
Push notifications
Household management
White-label branding
Flat monthly pricing
Free plan available

Built for UK churches — not adapted for them

Gift Aid alone is worth thousands of pounds per year to most UK churches. Planning Center has no mechanism to collect, store, or export Gift Aid declarations. You'd need a separate system — more admin, more cost, more risk of HMRC non-compliance.

Aurnet automates Gift Aid declaration collection at the point of giving, stores declarations against each member record, and exports a clean report for HMRC submission. No separate tool. No paper forms. No gaps.

Ready to make the switch?

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