Sermon Maker vs Planning Center
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sermon Maker
Create and organize sermons and devotionals with a unified structure. This app synchronizes projects across iCloud-compatible devices and offers font customization and word count features. Available in multiple languages and supports dark and light modes.
- Unified sermon structure
- iCloud synchronization
- Font color customization
- Word count per section
- Multi-language support
- Dark/Light mode
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Sermon Maker is an application designed to help pastors, teachers, and church leaders create, organize, and manage sermons and devotionals. The app is compatible with iPhone devices running iOS 16.0 or later, iPads running iPadOS 16.0 or later, and Macs running macOS 13 Ventura or later. The macOS version is built with Mac Catalyst and is compatible with both Apple Silicon and Intel-based Macs (through Rosetta when required). Sermon Maker integrates with iCloud, allowing users to securely save and synchronize their content across all compatible devices using CloudKit private and public databases, as well as iCloud Sharing. The application is available in English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, and Portuguese. It supports both Light Mode and Dark Mode and allows users to customize the color of text in various sections, including sermons and devotionals. Additional features include word counts for individual sections and complete documents, project organization tools, and many other productivity features designed specifically for ministry preparation. The primary purpose of Sermon Maker is to provide consistency and structure in sermon and devotional preparation. The app was intentionally designed to help users follow a unified framework, making it easier to maintain clear organization, consistency, and a standardized flow across all sermons and devotionals.
Planning Center
Manage ministry activities from check-ins to follow-ups with a unified dashboard. Receive notifications, create tasks, and collaborate with your team seamlessly. Access all ministry products from one central hub.
- Ministry-wide notifications
- Access all ministry products
- Home dashboard with action items
- Task creation and assignment
- Team collaboration
- Mobile gestures for quick actions
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Ministry work doesn’t just happen at your desk. With the Planning Center app, church admins get mobile access to every product they use, their task lists, and notifications all in one place. The Planning Center you know and love, now easily accessible from the church lobby, the youth building, or wherever your ministry work takes you. Key Features Access any product — Use People, Giving, Services, Check-Ins, or any other product, all from within the app All admin notifications — Facilities requests, workflow updates, form submissions, and more Your Home dashboard — A clear overview of stats, information, and items that need your attention Tasks — Keep collaborating with your team whether you're in a coffee shop or hustling on a Sunday morning Requirements Login requires an existing Planning Center account. Any action you take on web or mobile will be synced. Support Questions, issues, or want to request new features? Go to your profile page by tapping your avatar and use the "Contact Support" link to let us know. Typical reply time is ~1 business hour.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Planning Center at Free against Sermon Maker's $4.99. Planning Center also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). Sermon Maker's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 11 days). On review sentiment, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Planning Center is free to download; Sermon Maker costs $4.99 up front. Sermon Maker sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Planning Center asks for nothing beyond the download.
Planning Center holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Planning Center has 37 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Sermon Maker's written reviews are positive against 47% of Planning Center's.
Sermon Maker ships an update daily, Planning Center every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sermon Maker | Planning Center |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.0 (6 ratings) | 4.6 (37 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | 47.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 37 — better |
| Update frequency | Daily — better | Every 11 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Ronald Steinvorth | Ministry Centered Technologies |
Customer experience
Sermon Maker
Planning Center
In-app purchases
Sermon Maker
- Donation$0.99
- Donation$9.99
- Donation$99.99
Planning Center
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sermon Maker free?
Is Planning Center free?
Which has better reviews, Sermon Maker or Planning Center?
Do Sermon Maker or Planning Center have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sermon Maker or Planning Center?
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