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If you're still trying to run huge conferences using paper and spreadsheets, you're definitely putting in a lot of effort and are a hero of this century. But you should also know that there is a huge number of automated tools that can help you handle all the details of events much easier and quicker and all for a moderate price.

Types of event planning software

When looking at the rich landscape of different types of event management software, we can separate them into two large groups: integrated platforms and one-solution tools.

All-in-one event management software solutions

Software that caters to the pre-, in-, and post-event stages embrace tools for registration, marketing, onsite management, reporting, and more. Check out the top three event planning platforms that have been praised for integration capabilities:

From streamlined registration to ROI measurement, Event Farm delivers practical event management and event marketing solutions for the entire lifecycle of your event. It's a great choice for enterprise-level conferences, meetings, and seminars.
Key Features:

Event registration & mobile check-in

Email marketing

Lead retrieval

Event analytics

Event website design

Social media promotions

Super adaptable to any IT infrastructure, GEVME is a one-stop platform for managing both public and private events. Praised for its top-notch onsite technologies and intuitive use, GEVME can handle events across all industries.
Key Features:

Event website building

Email marketing

Event registration

Onsite check-in

Event mobile app

Lead generation

Survey

Event listing

The strongest features of this integrated event management software involve registration and workflow management. Etouches can be useful in the organization of large seminars as well as corporate meetings due to its rich functionality for seating planning, venue sourcing, and budgeting.
Key Features:

Event registration

Email marketing

Website development

Abstracts management

Seating planning

Mobile app

Surveys

One-solution platforms for event management

If you choose to integrate separate solutions into your event management toolkit, consider the following platforms for event-planning needs:

Event Registration & Ticketing

Eventbee - This allows for creation, promotion, and management of fully customizable event tickets with a $1 flat fee, no matter what the price of a ticket is.

Ticket Tailor - This easy-to-use platform for ticket selling doesn't charge any fees.

Website Development

Mobirise - Pick a theme, drag and drop content blocks, and get a website or a landing page that will market your event.

Wix - The customizable, mobile-friendly templates for your event website can easily be managed by you in only a few clicks.

Surveys & Polls

Slido - This application makes real-time event interaction as easy as possible and allows you to set polls and crowdsource questions during an event using a single platform.

SurveyMonkey - One of the best survey platforms out there, it allows you to easily create, send, and analyze hundreds of surveys.

The key features of event planning software you should be looking for

Whatever types of event management tools you choose, in order to make the best decision, you have to know which features are the most critical to your work. Here are the core tools that event managers are looking for:

1. High-quality features: Quality over quantity-that's the golden rule for everything, including event management products. If you prefer integrated event software but can't find a high-quality solution in its toolkit, it would be better to go with a strong one-solution platform instead.

2. Customer support: A total of 78.9% of event planners state that they pay attention to the quality of client support when choosing software. Even with a super-intuitive interface, you might face some difficulties in the first stages of event management software use. Ensure that a software company provides enough guidance and training on your journey through event planning.

3. Ease of use: If you have kids, or your cousin has kids, or your friends have kids, pick a platform that they would be able to use. The more easily you can apply specific features of an event management software in real life, the more proficient it is.

4. Customer loyalty: Explore the opinions of current and previous clients, and get first-hand information about the quality of an event management product. From testimonials to random comments on social media, there's a huge amount of data you can review. If you don't trust random users, you can tap into professional media resources to find out whether there are any press reviews of the solution you're considering for your event.

5. Longevity: Particularly if you're planning on organizing other events in future, try to focus on event management software that can be used in the long term and that is compatible with different event formats.

Pricing policies

Unless you're lucky enough to have an unlimited budget for your event, you should consider pricing policies that every event management provider follows. Depending on functionality, the category of target events, and the quality of solutions, event tech vendors can vary in price. Here are the fundamental pricing categories for event planning services:

Free: Some event management software types provide free services either for all events or for specific event formats. For instance, Judgify, a one-stop contest management platform, can be used for free in the case of free admission events.

Subscription-based: For subscription-based solutions, prices are shaped based on the number and quality of features, the types or size of events, etc. Typically, users have to provide payment for a specific time period in addition to setup costs.

Pay per registration: This is a ticket-centric pricing policy, and the cost of event software depends on the number of tickets sold.

Enterprise: Targeting large-scale conferences and enterprise-level meetings, the Enterprise event software provides individual quotes for each and every client.

Conclusion

There are two major event-planning software types: all-in-one and one-solution platforms. Catering to your specific event lifecycle, go for the solution that best resonates with your budget, event size, and format. To make a good choice from the various event management software, consider pricing policies, ease of use, client loyalty, and other factors that you consider important.

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If you're still trying to run huge conferences using paper and spreadsheets, you're definitely putting in a lot of effort and are a hero of this century. But you should also know that there is a huge number of automated tools that can help you handle all the details of events much easier and quicker and all for a moderate price.

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Planners can now automate much of the repetitive tasks in organizing events and streamline the entire event lifecycle with event management software. These solutions can consolidate the activities of your office and on-site teams. They can also lower overheads with features like venue search and budget management.

Perhaps, the main game changer provided by at least the 10 best event management software products is the shift of registration entry from the organizer to participants and makes early-bird registration more convenient via online. With self-service registration, organizers are free to focus on other key aspects of the event.

Overall, you gain smoother workflows across the different aspects of running an event to the benefit of your guests and to your success as a planner. The Bizzabo Blog identifies attendee satisfaction as the top success indicator for event organizers , followed by revenue and media coverage. These metrics are easily covered by event management software.

But event management software products come in various packages and the choice isn't always clear. In fact, in an etouches research , 42% of subjects admitted technology is difficult to adopt in their business.

In this article, we'll help you understand the 10 best event management software solutions, so you can decide which suits your business best by comparing the key features. These include registration, ticketing, marketing tools, on-site tools, reporting and analytics and advanced features.

1. Eventbrite

Eventbrite is a cloud-hosted end-to-end event management software that covers the many different aspects of running an event. These include a fully customizable UI and tools for registration, ticketing, crowdfunding, online payments, badge printing, social marketing and survey. It serves the needs of small projects and enterprise-level events. Free events whether small or big are not charged.

The app pulls together in a solid framework the essential features you'll need to manage an event. It allows for online registration and ticketing, including group bookings, through customizable event pages. This immediately gives you a wide online reach and landing page to promote the gig. Using the app's social media and Facebook marketing tools, you can broadcast the promotion and use real-time tracking to see how much bookings you're making or need to make. It helps to see the progress you're making as the event date approaches to make adjustments if necessary. The app also allows for online payments, which you can link to your online ticketing promotions and event pages for a seamless process.

Eventbrite also features on-site tools to help you manage walk-ins with ease. The app is compatible with a wide range of devices including Linux and Mac and accessible from mobile devices via its Android and iOS apps, so walk-ins and late registrants can use their device as a self-service portal to register and pay on the event date itself.

Likewise, early-birds can quickly be welcomed with smartphone barcode scanning that is linked to your cloud-based registration list and badge printing. You have shorter on-site queues and more accurate record-keeping, giving your guests a smooth event onboarding.

The app has an open API framework that your developer can use to integrate event data with other business systems like CRM or help desk.

2. Cvent

is a comprehensive solution that is flexible to the needs of organizers by industry, role and even as third-party planners. It has a unique tool, among others, for searching the most cost-effective venue for your event. Plans are scalable to small and big events and covers the entire event lifecycle, from planning to event reporting.

It features flexible communication tools that let you filter participants into groups and make email communication more targeted and efficient. You can also customize the interface to project your branding. For freelance planners, this ability lends to them a professional look that justifies a higher consultation fee.

Likewise, automation helps your team to focus on creative and marketing instead of being overwhelmed by repetitive administrative tasks like registration and ticketing. As a result, attendance gets a boost and costs are minimized.

On-site tools include badge printing, kiosk for walk-in registration, mobile payments and a ticketing platform. The system has Android and iOS apps, which transforms your team's smartphones into access points.

Cvent also has advanced modules for specific requirements like hotel and travel management and membership management. Budget management, event reporting and email marketing are likewise provided.

3. XING Events

XING Events is a Munich, Germany-based cloud event management platform designed for German-speaking markets, but it has an international edition for U.S. and U.K. events and practically anywhere in the world there is internet. It has a free app for free events like networking nights. The freemium includes online registration installer, even builder and real-time attendance data. The app scales to both small and corporate events and supports Android and iOS for on-site mobility.

The solution consists of three parts: ticketing, event promotion and event management. A major appeal of the vendor is its access to 12 million names in its network, potential participants to your event. It's a separate offer that lets you sort people by profession, age, region and other metrics. The network also lets you tap influencers to extend your reach. Likewise, the system integrates with your CRM system and Facebook as part of your promotional streams.

Other key features include an event site builder and online ticketing booth. Even without coding skills, you can set up an online ticketing booth and connect it to your payment processor via PayPal, credit card or bank transfer.

XING Events also has real-time reporting that helps you monitor event traffic, sales and other key metrics. You can anticipate potential issues at once, such as, cancellations or missed quota and implement the appropriate measures like changed venue or event postponement.

4. Eventzilla

Eventzilla excels in pre- and on-site registration and ticketing and deserves a rank in our best 10 event management software list for its downright simple yet intuitive functionality. Participants can enter their details online and download e-tickets from your online portal. They then check in via Ticket QR code scanning during the event. Mobile check-ins are also possible. These features greatly reduce queuing and allow your team to focus on walk-ins, logistics, programme and other aspects of the event.

Likewise, discount codes are available to entice more bookings. You also get to send email invitations and receive notifications for updates through the platform. Should the number of participants exceed your quota, you can use the waiting list tool to manage registration.

Eventzilla also integrates with top-tiered secure payment channels PayPal, Stripe, Braintree and Authorize.net. And there's a post-event survey tool to help you measure your success rate, which is useful to continuously improve recurring events.

Other features to note include location map display, waiting list, discount codes and attendee list exporting.

5. Ticket Tailor

Ticket Tailor focuses on ticket management and is highly effective in selling tickets online directly to participants. This frees you from third-party ticketing agency that costs a dime a dozen in commissions. The app is agile and used in both small and high-profile projects like TED X and MTV events and charitable events, concerts and sporting events.

Instead of being charged on a per-ticket basis, you subscribe to a fixed plan. This setup bodes well to you in two ways: you have a clear picture of costs beforehand and your sales remains intact.

Setup is fast and easy with no technical skills required. You get an online ticket booth within the cloud system and embeddable as widget in your website or Facebook page. You can also customize the UI to your branding, link it to a payment processor including PayPal and major credit cards and generate e-tickets that can be scanned on site.

Other key features include analytics, discount codes, mobile access and multi-currency and multi-lingual support.

6. etouches

is another "complete" cloud event management solution that handles pre- to post-event processes. It features the essential modules for registration, marketing, logistics and data analysis. Because of its rich features, the solution suits big events more than small projects.

The multilingual support enables you to manage online events in different countries or physical events with a global online component. Likewise, the solution features an eSurvey tool that lets you design survey forms. You can also generate clear reports using charts and graphs.

etouches has Android and iOS support powered by the vendor's acquisition of TapCrowd, a mobile app developer. The mobile apps let you accomplish management tasks on the go or on-site.

You also get 24/7 vendor support to help resolve technical glitches or simply walk you through onboarding bumps. Other notable features include email marketing, venue management, travel and housing management and task management.

7. Ploxel

A comprehensive event management solution with an emphasis on robust ticket sales processes, Ploxel helps users effectively manage and sell tickets for their events. It comes with all the essential functionalities for effortless selling of tickets and payment management, including support for multiple currencies, grouped ticketing, ticket tracking, discount code offers, and automated tax tracking, among others.

This cloud-based event management features seamless integrations with leading payment platforms Stripe and PayPal, thus providing customers with great accessibility for purchasing tickets while users can easily accept payments. With Ploxel, all acquired ticket sales revenue are automatically deposited to the user's PayPal or Stripe account.

8. Raklet

Effective community monetization is one of the main strengths of , a cloud-based community and event management software that comes equipped with automation functionalities for hassle-free payment collection. The software supports recurring payments and automated invoices and receipts, thus eliminating the need for manual follow-ups regarding payment reminders. Additionally, thanks to its smart application form, you can easily filter, find, and collect membership fees from prospective applicants. It also grants convenience to members, as they can pay directly through the system and access their financial history on the platform.

Raklet comes equipped with robust community management tools designed to simplify and streamline your processes. All membership information is stored in a single database for easy access and updating of user information. All member interactions are presented in a timeline format for easy comprehension of their history, and their records are easily accessible by clicking on their name. Among the information shown per member are website activities, member profile, and much more.

Raklet eliminates the need for third-party communication tools by featuring fast and secure internal communication features. Behavior-based sending of emails and text messages as well as automated email newsletters are also supported by the platform.

9. Konfeo

Built to simplify event registration, Konfeo provides small and mid-sized businesses with a highly intuitive and easy to use platform for organizing company trainings, conferences, workshops, and events. It is suitable for events of all types and sizes. Konfeo features tools for event registration, event evaluation, payment facilitation, attendee management, ticket management, event marketing, and much more.

The platform comes equipped with automation capabilities to handle all work processes, thus allowing users to focus on nurturing their relationship with clients and attendees. Users can access Konfeo on any device, enabling them to handle all event operations wherever they may be. All data is safely stored in Konfeo's encrypted servers, thus giving you peace of mind that your data is safe and secure.

10. Hubilo

Hubilo allows for accelerated event management processes thanks to its end-to-end automation functionalities, thus eliminating mundane, time-intensive tasks so users can devote their efforts on planning events. Unique to this all-in-one events management software is its Event Network Community Platform, essentially providing an engaging, social media-like hub for all event attendees to converge and interact with one another. This allows for easy event promotions, administering of polls and surveys, and generally create enough buzz for your event to ensure its success.

Among the functionalities Hubilo can automate include sending of branded emails, auto-generated social media posts, consolidating of registered participants on your database, and much more. Insightful analytics can be acquired to ensure event marketing success, from social media metrics to click rates and open rates of event marketing campaigns. With this, users can effectively measure the effectivity of their marketing and promotions and properly recalibrate their efforts.

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10 Best Event Management Software: Comparison of Popular Tools - Financesonline.com

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Planners can now automate much of the repetitive tasks in organizing events and streamline the entire event lifecycle with event management software. These solutions can consolidate the activities of your office and on-site teams. They can also lower overheads with features like venue search and budget management.

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With the progression of technology and connectivity, event professionals and planners are not getting the right resources needed to improve their process in a real way. Planning for a perfect event is still a significant challenge faced by many event planners. Our client is a US-based startup who wanted to solve the event planning challenge by leveraging digital technologies and automation. The end goal is to streamline the event planning lifecycle and make a noticeable impact in the event planning industry.

Rishabh Software envisioned the concept and developed a location based solution for event planning using digital technologies.

Objective

Our end customer wanted to leverage the latest technology and solve the resource puzzle by connecting with relevant event professionals and customers. With a proper automated system in place, the entire event planning process must be streamlined with the right implementation partner. Rishabh Software developed the web-based event planning software solution by connecting the planners and helping event seekers to get the right people for their event.

Challenges

Keeping Track of the Event Planning Process

Time Management

Managing Multiple Events

Finding & Selecting the Right Event Professionals

Approach

Rishabh Software's team analyzed the nuances and terminologies used in the event industry. We envisioned our customer's vision for developing an online marketplace and location-based event planning solution. It would help end customers to hire the right event professionals and bring event ideas to life. The current system used for planning of events was outdated and needed to be modernized using digital technologies. We leveraged Amazon Web Services, Stripe Payments, Google API, WordPress, PHP, and developed the online event management solution as 'first-of-its-kind type,' the customer wanted a proof-of-concept (POC) to test its effectiveness. After the success of POC, we developed the location-based event planning web app solution and implemented event workflows to automate the process.

Currently, the event planner web application is helping 600,000+ event professionals, and have simplified the event planning process to discover inspiring ideas, get step-by-step advice, and hire the right event professionals. For brands, the location-based event planning platform works like an online marketplace to market their products and services more efficiently and increase sales on their existing commerce sites and marketing channels.

Our online event planning solution provides significant value to online and brick and mortar retailers looking to compete more effectively with Amazon and offer solutions to consumers with an added benefit beyond just the product itself. We also delivered innovative reports that provide insights and data to brands creating a more targeted, personalized shopping experience.

Business Benefits

Complete Control of Event Planning

Improved Event Operations

Simplified Event Planning Process

Eliminates the Communication Gap with automatic workflows

Cost savings

Industry Segment

Digital Enterprise

Customer Profile

US-based startup company

Technology and Tools

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Event Management Solution To Streamline Event Planning Process

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With the progression of technology and connectivity, event professionals and planners are not getting the right resources needed to improve their process in a real way. Planning for a perfect event is still a significant challenge faced by many event planners.

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Software for Event Planners | Event Management Features

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See the complete list of features of Cvent's industry and class-leading event management software. Manage all aspects and every step of event management.

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Update 1/30/2018: This piece has been updated to reflect software pricing system changes, remove nonexistent systems, and reflect new software names and functionalities.
I love free stuff! That's why I all troll the aisles of Costco every weekend looking to get my hands on free samples of the crackers and artisan cheese sold by the metric ton.

Free things brighten everyone's day, whether it's the snacks at your favorite grocery store or event management software.

I've compiled a list of free and open source event management software options containing at least one of the following key features:

Event attendee registration form

Some sort of event marketing tool (email, social media, etc.)

(Software options presented in alphabetical order.)
Free/Freemium options
123FormBuilder's event registration form
The free version of 123FormBuilder creates event registration forms. For one user, the platform includes five forms per month with up to 10 fields each. The free version maxes out at 100 submissions per month.

123ContactForm integrates with WordPress and a number of other publishing platforms, as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Hootsuite.

To utilize payment integration, Google Analytics, and unlimited form creation, you'll have to upgrade to the platinum or diamond version of the software (plans start at $19/month).
Features:

Web forms

Notifications

Data management

Event schedules

Third party app integration

Multilingual access

Have you used 123FormBuilder? Be sure to leave a review!
If all you need is an invitation and RSVP system, Evite's free version fits the bill. The ad-supported option has a limit of 750 invitations and a large selection of designs.

The premium version (price varies based on number of guests) lets you customize invitations without ads or Evite branding.
Features:

Email invitations

Custom branding

Pre-made design templates

Have you used Evite? Be sure to leave a review! RSVPify's e vent dashboard
While RSVPify is geared toward weddings, it's easily adaptable for any type of event. The software's free plan covers up to 100 responses, a custom URL, customization options, and data imports, among other features.
Features:
To unlock unlimited RSVPs, unlimited guest tracking, and high-end features, you can upgrade to a paid plan starting at $29 for a single event or $24/month for ongoing planning.
Have you used RSVPify? Be sure to leave a review!

100 free RSVPs

Custom branding

Custom URL

Attendee surveys

Email notifications

Data management

Mobile Access

ConfTool's e vent setup page with guide arrows showing the location of entry fields
Open source options
Features:
VSIS ConfTool, ConfTool's open source system, is available for non commercial events through a free license. It's intended for academic and non-professional event planners.
Have you used ConfTool? Be sure to leave a review!
For up to 150 participants, it offers a customizable registration form, file uploading and online submissions, and online review forms. The software can even be used for day-of attendee check-in

For payment processing other than cash, check, or bank transfer, you'll need the pro edition.

Online registration

Custom branding

Data management

Features:
Odoo's open source event app, Odoo Community Edition, offers a slew of features for every stage of the event planning process. You can create event pages with a user-friendly editor and make agendas, sell tickets online, promote events through automated emailing and social media integration, and track site success with Google Analytics.
Have you used Odoo? Be sure to leave a review! Event creation page via Open Conference Systems
Odoo also offers SEO tools and landing pages, and fully integrates with the Odoo app suite.

For additional features such as full customer support or a mobile app, you'll need to upgrade to the enterprise edition ($20/user per month), which also integrates with many of Odoo's other software options.
Features: Have you used Open Conference Systems ? Be sure to leave a review! Event page built using OpenConferenceWare (via ReadWrite)

Ticketing

Event schedule

Social media integration

Email marketing

Google Analytics integration

Sponsor management

This tool was created for academic conferences, making it ideal for universities and educational nonprofits. With OCS, you can create a conference website, call for submissions, post papers in a searchable database, and register participants.
Features:
After the conference is over, the software's discussion capabilities help keep the conversation going.
Have you used OpenConferenceWare? Be sure to leave a review! OSEM's e vent analytics dashboard Features:
OpenConferenceWare requires a Rails application to run, meaning it's best-suited for tech-savvy event planners.

It's a customizable platform that lets users list event sessions, create and update proposals, subscribe to feeds, show rooms, and create personal profiles. Administrators can create and change events, set proposal deadlines, and manage rooms and sessions.

Event schedule

Room block management

Session management

Event attendee surveys

OSEM offers a broad array of capabilities in an open source format. You can build a website for your event, and add detailed attendee schedule pages packed with session information. Attendees can use OSEM to register and submit proposals, while planners can track registration, venue information, and sponsorship in the administrator dashboard.

Session management

Registration

Event schedule

Data management

Custom branding

(Software options with no user fees for free events are marked with an asterisk.)
Have you used OSEM? Be sure to leave a review!

Bonus list: Pass the fees to attendees

In addition to these free and open source options, there's software out there that forwards costs on to guests, eliminating the need for user fees. I pulled together a quick list of such systems; most are totally free for events that don't charge admission, and charge attendee fees for paid events that can be rolled into ticket prices.

Standard features for these systems include event website creation, online registration, payment processing, email communication, social media integration, and analytics. Keep in mind that while these software options are easy-to-use, you're trading off customization capabilities.

Brown Paper Tickets: $0.99 + 3.5% per ticket (includes Brown Paper Tickets' credit card processing fees; event managers who use their own payment processing get 2.5% back)

Eventbee*: $1 to $3 per ticket (depending on features) + plus payment processing fees

Eventbrite*: 2.5% of the ticket price + $0.99 per ticket + 3% payment processing fee (only paid if buying through one of Eventbrite's mobile apps)

EventLeaf*: $1 + 3% per ticket charged via third party processor; $1 + 6% per ticket charged via EventLeaf credit card processor

Eventzilla*: 1.5% (capped at $4.99) + $0.99 per ticket

Picatic: 2.5% +$1 per ticket, as well as 2.9% + $0.30 per credit card transaction

PlanetReg*: $0.50 + 2% of the cost of each registration (capped at $9) + processing fees

rsvpBOOK: $2.95 to $3.95 per registrant ($1.99 for nonprofits) + processing fees

Ticketbud*: $0.99 + 2% per ticket + card processing fees (2.9% for the Ticketbud system)

Ticketleap*: 2% + $1 for online sales + 3% credit card processing fee if using Ticketleap Payments (you pay your own processing fees if you use PayPal or Authorize.net); no fee for onsite sales

Other event management tools

Want to learn more about how much event management software costs across the spectrum? Check out our complete pricing guide.

Did we miss any free or open source options you think should be on this list? Let us know in the comments below!

Capterra's event management blog is a great resource for everything related to event management tech, trends, and tips. Check out these pieces to get started:

And, if you only need event booking, rather than event management, check out our directory of event booking apps here.

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8 Free and Open Source Event Management Software

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Update 1/30/2018: This piece has been updated to reflect software pricing system changes, remove nonexistent systems, and reflect new software names and functionalities. I love free stuff! That's why I all troll the aisles of Costco every weekend looking to get my hands on free samples of the crackers and artisan cheese sold by the metric ton.