- Starting price
- $19.99 per screen/month billed annually
- Free tier
- No
- Platforms
- Web admin · Apple TV · iPhone and iPad companion
- Developer
- App Press LLC
- Launched
- 2018
- Updated
- Aug 16, 2026
The verdict
Playlister is an excellent fit when the real problem is getting approved kids curriculum onto several classroom screens without training every volunteer on production software. Scheduling, remote preparation, and a locked-down Pro device can reduce Sunday failure. Count every screen, confirm hardware ownership, test offline behavior, grant narrow creator permissions, preserve licensed source files, and maintain a manual lesson plan for the weekend when cloud, network, account, or Apple TV access fails.
Try Playlister ↗Opens playlister.app
Playlister is a church-media platform built around a simple classroom workflow: upload or import curriculum and videos, assemble a playlist, schedule it for a room, and let a volunteer present it from an Apple TV. The cloud admin replaces USB drives, local computers, and repeated file copying across children’s rooms. Orange curriculum synchronization and church-uploaded material can live in the same branded library.
Lite runs on Apple TVs the church owns and starts at $19.99 per screen per month on annual billing or $21.99 monthly. Pro starts at $24.99 annually or $29.99 monthly per screen and includes a managed Apple TV, single-app mode, device updates, and weekend support. Apex is advertised from $39.99 annually or $41.99 monthly per screen with organization capabilities such as SSO; exact hardware offers and enterprise terms can change.
Permissions allow power users and limited creators, with tags controlling screens, playlists, and media folders. That is useful for campuses and ministry teams, but broad “All Screens” or “All Media” tags override the intended boundary. The system also supports scheduling, branding, YouTube imports, digital signage, an at-home playlist experience, and curriculum partners.
We reviewed current product, pricing, support, permission, privacy, and contract pages without provisioning devices, importing licensed curriculum, testing a network outage, comparing support response, or conducting a security assessment. Playlister claims more than ten thousand churches; we treat that as vendor-reported adoption rather than independently verified usage.
✓ The good
- Volunteer-friendly playback - Apple TV presentation is much simpler than a full production workstation
- Remote scheduling - staff can prepare several rooms before volunteers arrive
- Curriculum workflow - partner content and church uploads can be organized in one library
- Managed-device option - Pro can lock the player into Playlister and handle Apple TV updates
- Granular creator concept - roles and tags can limit which rooms and folders a user manages
- Offline-ready intent - scheduled media can be prepared on devices before the lesson
- Real trial - thirty days lets a church test actual rooms, volunteers, and curriculum
✗ Watch out
- Per-screen pricing grows quickly - a modest rate becomes substantial across many classrooms or campuses
- Apple TV dependency - hardware, remotes, HDMI, power, tvOS, networking, and Apple account decisions remain
- Cloud control plane - scheduling and content availability depend on another vendor and account access
- Generic privacy policy - it gives limited detail on named processors, retention, regions, backups, or administrator events
- Content rights remain with the church - importing, editing, streaming, and at-home distribution need permission
- Kids context raises stakes - screens, links, account access, and volunteer workflows must fit safeguarding rules
Best for
- Churches running the same children’s curriculum across several rooms or campuses
- Kids ministry teams whose volunteers need a predictable remote rather than production software
- Organizations already comfortable managing Apple TVs and per-room subscriptions
- Teams willing to stage content, test offline playback, and keep an emergency teaching fallback
Avoid if
- You need a full live-production switcher, lyrics engine, lighting control, or complex multi-layer presentation
- Your rooms use non-Apple playback hardware that cannot be standardized
- Per-screen recurring cost exceeds the value of centralized scheduling
- Your curriculum license does not allow cloud upload, presentation, modification, or at-home sharing
What Playlister is
Playlister is a content delivery and classroom presentation layer. It does not create the theological curriculum, replace volunteer screening and training, or grant rights to whatever media a church uploads.
The unit of cost and operations is the screen. A realistic pilot should include the oldest television, weakest Wi-Fi room, least technical volunteer, curriculum with mixed file types, and a Sunday when the internet is unavailable.
Why the Apple TV classroom model works
Children’s rooms usually need reliable linear playback, not the full flexibility of a sanctuary production booth. Moving complexity into a central scheduler lets the classroom volunteer focus on children and teaching.
Simplicity depends on disciplined preparation. Label every device and remote, lock access, download the right playlist early, test audio and aspect ratio, keep batteries and cables, and print the lesson outline.
Cloud playlists and scheduling: one preparation point for many rooms
Staff can upload media, arrange curriculum, brand the account, and schedule playlists to appear on selected screens.
Use naming standards, archive old series, confirm dates and time zones, and make one person accountable for the final published playlist. A wrong schedule can propagate everywhere at once.
Apple TV playback and management: simple surface, real device fleet
Lite uses church-owned hardware; Pro supplies a managed player with Playlister mode, updates, and weekend support.
Document ownership, replacement, network credentials, MDM authority, tvOS windows, remote pairing, and the exit process for rented or locked hardware.
Roles and media permissions: useful boundaries that need testing
Limited Creator roles and tags can narrow access to screens and folders, while power users retain broad control.
Test with real non-admin accounts. Avoid All Screens and All Media unless needed, review access each ministry season, and separate content publishing from device and billing administration.
Pricing
Lite
$19.99/screen monthly, annual
Runs on church-owned compatible Apple TVs. The monthly-billed rate shown at review was $21.99 per screen, with a thirty-day trial.
Pro
$24.99/screen monthly, annual
Includes a managed Apple TV, single-app mode, device updates, and weekend support. The monthly rate shown was $29.99.
Apex
From $39.99/screen monthly, annual
A higher organization tier with capabilities such as SSO. The monthly rate shown was $41.99; request exact scope.
Public pricing is per screen, per month, with lower rates when billed annually.
Hardware economics differ: Lite expects the church to own compatible Apple TVs, while Pro includes managed equipment under its service model.
Promotional Apple TV credits should not drive a multi-year decision; compare full term, shipping, tax, replacements, mounts, networking, and cancellation.
Paid subscriptions renew and are generally nonrefundable under the published terms.
Where Playlister falls behind
Publish a modern detailed security and privacy package with subprocessors, data regions, retention, audit events, MFA, backup, recovery, and deletion.
Provide a public offline and outage matrix showing exactly what plays when internet, admin, authentication, or vendor services fail.
Clarify hardware ownership, replacement, return, unlocking, and end-of-service behavior beside every plan.
Add approval workflows, playlist version history, scheduled-change alerts, and one-click rollback.
Put rights metadata and expiry reminders beside every uploaded or partner curriculum asset.
Playlister vs. ProPresenter vs. a USB drive vs. Church Online Platform
ProPresenter is a powerful production environment for sanctuary video and complex presentations. A USB drive is cheap but hard to govern across rooms. Church Online Platform serves interactive remote attendance. Playlister specializes in repeatable local classroom playback on Apple TVs.
Choose Playlister when central scheduling and volunteer simplicity across kids rooms matter most. Choose ProPresenter for production depth, and a basic local player when there are only one or two rooms and staff can manage files reliably.
Some churches use both: ProPresenter in the main room and Playlister in classrooms. Keep curriculum, licensing, and published versions aligned across the two systems.
The bottom line
Playlister succeeds because it designs for the actual children’s-room operator instead of shrinking a broadcast booth onto another computer. Its value is strongest across multiple rooms with repeated curriculum. Price the whole fleet, secure roles, verify licenses, pre-stage content, and keep a no-technology teaching fallback. With that operating discipline, it can remove a surprising amount of Sunday friction.
Alternatives to Playlister
ProPresenterA full church presentation and production platform with much deeper control and training needs.
WorshipToolsCloud-connected presentation and planning tools for worship and ministry teams.
Life.Church Open NetworkFree curriculum and media resources, not a managed classroom playback system.
Church Online PlatformA free interactive online-service platform for remote audiences rather than local TVs.Local media playerLowest recurring cost for a few rooms, with more copying, version drift, and volunteer support.Frequently asked questions
How much does Playlister cost?
At review, Lite was $19.99 per screen monthly on annual billing, Pro $24.99, and Apex $39.99; monthly billing was higher. Confirm current checkout.
Does Playlister include an Apple TV?
Pro is marketed with a managed Apple TV. Lite uses a compatible Apple TV owned by the church. Confirm ownership, return, and replacement terms.
Can it work without internet on Sunday?
The workflow prepares media on the player, but test the exact scheduled playlist during a disconnected rehearsal and keep a printed fallback.
Can it import our curriculum?
It supports church uploads and named curriculum workflows such as Orange. Your church must have permission for cloud upload and presentation.
Is it easier than ProPresenter?
For linear kids-room playback, usually. It does not match ProPresenter’s live-production depth.
Can volunteers edit every room?
Roles and tags can limit access, but All Screens and All Media grants are broad. Test each role before inviting volunteers.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Public materials describe a thirty-day trial, which should be used with real hardware, volunteers, curriculum, and an outage rehearsal.
Sources & further reading
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