specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Planning Center
providerId: planning-center
created: '2026-07-03'
modified: '2026-07-03'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Church Management
- ChMS
- Giving
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Planning Center spend. The API itself is free - there is no
  metered charge for API calls, tokens, or webhooks. Cost is driven by the product
  subscriptions the account carries. People is free. Services, Groups, Check-Ins,
  Calendar, Registrations, and Publishing are each a separate monthly subscription
  that scales by the number of people in the account. Giving carries no monthly
  software fee but charges a per-transaction processing fee on donations. Because
  most spend tracks people-count tiers and Giving transaction volume rather than
  API usage, cost management is about right-sizing which products are active and
  the account's people count, not about throttling API calls.
notes: >-
  Per-tier dollar amounts, people-count thresholds, and the Giving processing rate
  are not reconciled here; verify on the Planning Center pricing page. The API adds
  no incremental cost, so integrating more deeply does not raise the bill - only
  activating more products or growing people count / donation volume does.
sources:
- https://www.planningcenter.com/pricing
- https://www.planningcenter.com/developers
- https://developer.planning.center/docs/
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Planning Center
serviceCategory: Church Management Software
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Subscription
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Purchase
  - Usage
  - Adjustment
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Planning Center
  ServiceCategory: Church Management Software
  ProviderName: Planning Center
  PublisherName: Planning Center
  InvoiceIssuerName: Planning Center
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Purchase
  PricingCategory: Subscription
meters:
- name: product_subscription
  description: Monthly subscription for each active product, tiered by people count.
  unit: subscription
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - product
  - people_count_tier
- name: giving_transactions
  description: Per-transaction processing fee on donations processed through Giving.
  unit: transactions
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - fund
  - payment_source
- name: api_requests
  description: API calls made against the products; no charge, tracked for capacity/rate-limit visibility only.
  unit: requests
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - user
  - product
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track which products are active and the account's people count, plus monthly Giving transaction volume - these drive the bill, not API usage.
- name: Allocation
  description: Attribute product subscriptions and Giving fees to ministries or campuses; API calls carry no cost to allocate.
- name: Optimization
  description: Deactivate unused products, keep the people database clean so people-count tiers are accurate, and consolidate donation processing to manage per-transaction fees.
- name: Accountability
  description: Review active product subscriptions and people-count tier at renewal; the free API means deeper integration does not increase spend.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com