Comparison

Sermon Maker vs Planning Center

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Unified sermon structure
  • iCloud synchronization
  • Font color customization
  • Word count per section
  • Multi-language support
  • Dark/Light mode
Features
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Ministry-wide notifications
  • Access all ministry products
  • Home dashboard with action items
  • Task creation and assignment
  • Team collaboration
  • Mobile gestures for quick actions
Features
Read full description

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

Sermon Maker4 screens
Planning Center4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Sermon Maker versus Planning Center: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSermon MakerPlanning Center
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (6 ratings)4.6 (37 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews47.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings637 — better
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 11 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB59 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperRonald SteinvorthMinistry Centered Technologies

Customer experience

Sermon Maker

All ratings6 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative60.0%

Planning Center

All ratings36 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral5.6%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive47.4%
Neutral15.8%
Negative36.8%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Sermon Maker

One-time3
  • Donation$0.99
  • Donation$9.99
  • Donation$99.99
None

Planning Center

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sermon Maker free?
Sermon Maker costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Planning Center free?
Planning Center is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sermon Maker or Planning Center?
Planning Center is rated higher. Sermon Maker averages 3.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Planning Center averages 4.6 from 37 ratings.
Do Sermon Maker or Planning Center have ads?
Neither Sermon Maker nor Planning Center shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sermon Maker or Planning Center?
Sermon Maker ships an update daily, and Planning Center every 11 days. Most recently, Sermon Maker was updated on October 10, 2026 and Planning Center on October 22, 2026.

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