Synodo and Planning Center Groups: how they compare

Checked 2026-10-13

The short answer: Planning Center Groups is strongest at the church’s side of groups: the directory, sign-ups through Church Center and the people database. Synodo is built for what happens inside each group week to week — the study, leaders-only meeting guides, attendance follow-up and the group’s conversation — and works alongside Planning Center rather than replacing it.

	Synodo	Planning Center Groups
Built for	Running each group week to week: the study, the meeting and the conversation in between.	Organizing a church’s groups inside Planning Center: the directory, membership, events and attendance.
Finding a group	No public group finder. People are invited, or ask their church for access.	A public group finder and sign-ups through Church Center.
People database	Not a church management system. Planning Center can stay the register for names.	Part of Planning Center People, the church’s main database.
Meeting content	A Member Guide and a leaders-only Leader Guide for every meeting, written once and copied to every group.	Group resources for study materials: curriculum, recommended books and short videos.
Attendance	Taken on a phone with everyone marked present. Anyone who misses two meetings in a row appears in “To check on”.	Attendance by group, with reports to follow up with anyone who stops attending and engagement across all groups.
Group conversation	One thread per group with polls, sign-ups, RSVPs, “Seen by” and scheduled messages. Members get push notifications.	Announcements, group chat and event RSVPs in the Church Center app.
Working together	Imports Planning Center groups by your own tags, and can send a Synodo group back.	—

Can a church use both?

Yes, and that is how most churches that use Planning Center would. Planning Center stays the church’s database and the place newcomers find a group. Synodo is where the group meets during the week: the study, the leader’s preparation and the conversation.

What moves between them?

From Planning Center: choose groups by your own tags and see exactly who would come across before anything happens. People are matched on any email address Planning Center holds, so nobody ends up in Synodo twice.
To Planning Center: send a Synodo group into a Planning Center group you pick, or into a copy of your empty template group. People are matched by email or added with their name and email, and leaders go in as leaders.
Someone with no email address is left out rather than guessed at, and an email shared by two Planning Center people is flagged for you to decide.
Nothing syncs on its own. Messages, attendance and schedules stay in Synodo.

When is Planning Center Groups enough on its own?

When groups mostly need to be listed, found and signed up for, and each group runs its meetings in its own way — a book, a video series, a leader’s own notes. If the church already pays for Planning Center and that covers it, there is no reason to add anything.

When does Synodo help?

Every group follows the same study, and leaders need their own preparation for each meeting that members do not see.
Leaders want one place for the conversation instead of a text thread, a GroupMe and an email chain.
Leaders want the people who need a call put in front of them each week, with the reason, rather than read from a report.
Mentoring pairs, discipleship cohorts or short courses need more than a group list.

Sources, checked 2026-10-13: Planning Center Groups, Church Center