If your church uses Planning Center and you've been frustrated by clunky email tools that don't talk to your people database, Flowforth was built to solve exactly that. It's an email marketing platform purpose-built for churches, with Planning Center as the single source of truth for all your contact data — no exports, no sync headaches.^1
Flowforth lets you send beautifully designed emails using a drag-and-drop editor, a lightweight rich text editor (for simple, personal-feeling messages), or full custom HTML. You can set up automated email sequences triggered by Planning Center list changes, pull events, groups, and registrations directly from Planning Center into your emails, and use custom merge tags from any Planning Center People field to personalize every message — including @first-name and @last-name in subject lines.^1^3 A Canva integration lets you import designs and send Canva Email templates directly to your Planning Center people, and an Unsplash integration provides royalty-free photos.^4
Beyond email, Flowforth includes free link-in-bio pages and branded, trackable QR code management — supporting Planning Center items, file downloads, phone calls, text messages, and WiFi as QR destinations. Every QR code can be tracked or static, and you can update where it points without reprinting. Link pages support file and Planning Center content links.^1
The platform's automations have grown substantially: they now support If/Else branching based on Planning Center lists (so people route down different paths), manual triggers that let you run a flow on-demand for specific people, up to 100 steps per flow, and a step that sends push notifications through the Church Center app. Signup Forms (in beta) turn any Planning Center form into a hosted subscription page and embeddable website widget, with every submission flowing back into Planning Center as a real form entry.^3
Founded by Thomas Harmond and publicly launched in May 2025, Flowforth has shipped improvements at a remarkable pace — near-daily updates throughout its first year. Since launch it has added simple emails, HTML emails with a full code editor, a Canva integration, a GIF generator, a redesigned automation builder with branching, person blocks that import contact info from Planning Center People, version history inside the email editor, reusable email elements, team folders with access control, auto-join domains for team onboarding, an improved home dashboard with performance charts, a public status page, and help videos throughout the help center.^3
"The switch from Mailchimp started out as a financial decision, but it's honestly been a tremendous improvement for far more than our budget. I love how the team keeps improving the system around the real needs of ministries. We'd never think about going back." — Lauren, Calvary Church^7
Notable- Planning Center native: Syncs unlimited people and lists automatically; supports Services, Groups, Registrations, and Calendar imports; Planning Center link type in editor for quick linking to forms, registrations, and Church Center pages^1
- Three email types: Drag-and-drop builder, simple rich text editor, and full HTML code editor^3
- Branching automations: If/Else conditions on Planning Center lists, manual triggers, Church Center push notifications, and up to 100 steps per flow^3
- Signup Forms (beta): Hosted subscription pages and website embeds powered by Planning Center, with bot protection and auto-resubscribe^3
- Reusable email elements: Save pre-designed or custom sections (sign-up blocks, signatures) to reuse across emails and automations^3
- Version history: 50 most recent email versions saved, previewable before reverting^3
- Pay per send, not per contact: Free tier includes 500 emails/month with all features; paid plans scale by volume^6
- Canva + Unsplash integrations: Import Canva designs and Canva Email templates with automatic merge tag conversion; insert royalty-free photos^4
- Rapid development: Near-daily updates since launch; dozens of features shipped^3
- Founded by Thomas Harmond — previously at Hillsong Church, based in Houston, TX^7
- Public status page at flowforth-status.com for service transparency^8
Platforms: Web Pricing: Freemium (free tier + subscription)
