Frequently asked questions

Create a church account, connect Planning Center, configure the UniFi guest network, and test with a phone. Timing depends on your controller and network. The dashboard includes a setup guide and verification checklist.

For BYO-router setup, you need to be comfortable logging into a UniFi controller and creating a user. The dashboard guide explains the connection path and configuration steps. Ask your network administrator to verify firewall access and test a guest device.

UniFi is the implemented controller integration. Compatibility must be verified with your controller version and guest network. Other router vendors are under evaluation; see the integration status.

The guest portal uses a native HTML form without JavaScript, designed for captive-browser compatibility. Test the full connection flow on your supported iPhone, Android, Windows and macOS devices before rollout.

Connect from the dashboard with "Sign in with Planning Center" (OAuth, requesting the People scope only) or a personal access token. When a guest connects to your Wi-Fi and submits the check-in form, we look up their email address in People — or their phone number if they gave only a phone. If there is no match, we create a Person and add a note with the SSID and check-in time. ChurchPortalKit only uses the People API; we never touch Giving, Services, Check-Ins, or Groups data.

Wi-Fi authorization is independent of Planning Center. A brief sync attempt may run during check-in. Failed syncs remain pending for retry when the background workers are configured and running. The visit shows up in your dashboard with status "pending" or "error" until it syncs.

Not yet — we sync to PCO People only, with a Note tagging the visit. PCO Check-Ins integration is on the roadmap; it's more nuanced because Check-Ins is per-event, not per-person, so we want to make sure the UX of "I checked into ChurchPortalKit's portal, do I also need to check into a Check-Ins station?" doesn't confuse families.

The 30-day trial uses Standard limits and does not require a payment card. Online checkout isn't available yet: to continue after the trial, email us and we'll confirm your plan, price and start date in writing before anything is charged. If you don't continue, guest sign-in pauses 7 days after the trial ends.

Standard ($39/mo). Up to 2 campuses, 3 SSIDs, unlimited guests, day-of-week portal rules. Choose by the number of campuses and portal contacts, not total attendance. Starter includes a 200-contact monthly allowance with usage warnings; it does not disconnect guests or add automatic overage fees.

Online plan changes aren't available yet. Email us from the church owner's address with the plan you want; we confirm the change, its price and when it takes effect in writing before anything changes.

Email us from the church owner's address. We confirm the cancellation and the date it takes effect in writing. A trial has no card on file and never needs cancelling.

The pre-configured UniFi Express is a separate $399 purchase, and your software plan is billed separately; it doesn't include prepaid software. Online ordering isn't available yet: email us and we'll confirm availability, shipping and payment in writing before you pay.

Skip the hardware bundle. Use a software-only plan and connect your existing UniFi controller — the dashboard walks you through enabling External Portal on your guest SSID. Allow time to verify firewall access and a real phone connection.

Your church does. We're the processor; you're the controller. We don't sell it, use it for advertising, or train models on it. It goes only to the service providers listed in our Privacy policy and to systems your church connects, such as Planning Center.

Each church can save a retention period in Settings (365 days by default), but automatic cleanup isn't switched on for this service yet, so records are not deleted automatically when that period passes. Email us to request erasure or to ask about backups and SMS consent records.

They should contact your church. Authorized admins can remove guest records by exact email or phone from the Visits page. This also removes matching local imported records; separate Planning Center records and backups follow their own deletion processes.

AES-256-GCM encrypted at rest with a server-side key. We never log them, never display them, never let one tenant see another's. The encrypted blob is opened in-memory only when we need to authorize a guest device.

That’s the scenario ChurchPortalKit was first built for — two congregations, one building, one router. Each church keeps its own account, branding, Planning Center connection, and analytics; a day-and-time schedule on the shared SSID decides which church’s portal a guest sees, and every visit lands in the right church’s dashboard. Cross-church schedules require platform approval; a church admin cannot assign records to another church unilaterally.

Yes — the day-of-week rules let you say "Sunday + Tuesday → full check-in form; every other day → Simple Connect (no contact fields)". Simple Connect still records network connection metadata. Configure rules in the SSID settings.

Email delivery is currently turned off for this service, so weekly summary emails are not sent. The dashboard shows new and returning check-ins by week, and you can export visits as CSV.

Availability depends on the hosted service, controller and your church’s network. We do not publish a measured uptime or connection-latency claim here. See Terms for service conditions.