How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- For simple ticketed events, Eventbrite (free to publish) and Ticket Tailor ($0.65 per ticket) are the honest low-cost entries: run the fee math on your actual ticket price before choosing.
- Conference organizers who need registration plus an event app should compare Whova, PheedLoop and Swoogo: they cover the same ground at very different price points.
- Virtual-first teams running frequent webinars get unlimited events and attendees at RingCentral Events Pro ($99 per organizer per month).
- Enterprise portfolios belong with Cvent or Bizzabo, but both are quote-based and start in the five figures per year: negotiate, and price the full module set.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Eventbrite | Small public ticketed events and fundraisers | $0 to publish (3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket, plus 2.9% processing) | Yes (unlimited free events, no service fees) |
 Cvent | Enterprise event programs and associations | See website (custom quote; third-party data suggests $5,000-$25,000/year) | No (sales-led demos only) |
 Whova | Academic conferences, associations and trade shows | 3.0% + $0.99 per paid ticket; all-in-one platform custom-quoted per event | Yes (free ticketing for free events) |
 RingCentral Events | Marketing teams running frequent virtual events | $99/organizer/month (Events Pro, billed annually) | No (30-day free trial) |
 vFairs | Virtual trade shows, expos and career fairs | See website (custom quote per event) | No (free trial status unverified) |
 Bizzabo | Mid-to-large B2B companies with event portfolios | From $17,999/year (3-user minimum) | No (no free plan and no free trial) |
 Swoogo | Corporate programs, universities and associations with complex registration | $11,800/year flat (unlimited events and registrations) | No (free trial unverified) |
 PheedLoop | Small businesses, nonprofits and associations on limited budgets | $1.75 per user credit per module | No (free trial offered; no permanent free plan) |
 Ticket Tailor | Festivals, venues, charities and independent promoters | $0.65 per ticket sold (pay as you sell) | Yes (free for free events) |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best event management software
Picture a 300-person conference six weeks out. Registration is open, sponsors want their logos on the app, the venue needs the final headcount, and your team is arguing about whether the check-in process will survive the morning rush. The software you picked months ago decides how that day goes. These nine platforms cover the real spread of the market, from free ticketing tools to five-figure enterprise suites, with the pricing quirks each one hides in the fine print.
Starting price$0 to publish (3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket, plus 2.9% processing)
Free planYes (unlimited free events, no service fees)
Eventbrite is the fastest way to start selling tickets. Publishing is free, setup takes hours, and free events carry no fees at all, which makes it the default for classes, meetups, fundraisers and nonprofits. The built-in marketplace gives small public events discovery they would not get on their own.
The fee math is where you should look twice. On a $30 ticket, the all-in fees land around $3.77 per ticket when passed to buyers, and the flat $1.79 hits hardest on cheap tickets (about a 24 percent effective rate on a $10 ticket). Absorbing fees yourself slightly reduces what you pay, since the 2.9 percent processing fee is calculated on the order total. Optional Pro plans ($15 to $100-plus per month) buy email marketing and priority support but do not reduce per-ticket fees.
What we like- Zero upfront cost and same-day setup
- Built-in attendee marketplace with discovery
- No annual contract for occasional organizers
Watch out for- The flat $1.79 per ticket punishes cheap tickets hardest
- Eventbrite co-owns attendee data and can market competing events to your guests
#2
Cvent
Best for: Enterprise event programs and associations
Visit cvent.com
Starting priceSee website (custom quote; third-party data suggests $5,000-$25,000/year)
Free planNo (sales-led demos only)
Cvent is the enterprise answer to running many events a year. One vendor covers registration, the venue-sourcing marketplace, marketing automation connectors, on-site operations and advanced reporting, which matters when procurement wants a single contract. The prebuilt integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot and Marketo fit marketing teams that report on pipeline.
The honest catch is that quote-based pricing means two similar buyers can pay very different amounts. Transaction data suggests core event management runs roughly $5,000 to $25,000 per year for small buyers, with per-event pricing from $500 to $2,500 and implementation from $3,000 to $10,000. Multi-year commitments reportedly earn 15 to 30 percent discounts, and high-volume buyers see lower per-event pricing, so always negotiate. Price the full module set and onboarding, not just the license. Annual contracts are the norm; if you run one or two small events a year, walk away.
What we like- End-to-end platform covering registration, venue sourcing, on-site and reporting
- Deep CRM and marketing integrations
- Built for multi-event portfolios with cross-event reporting
Watch out for- Opaque pricing and consistently the most expensive in this set
- Real complexity and learning curve that demand training
#3
Whova
Best for: Academic conferences, associations and trade shows
Visit whova.com
Starting price3.0% + $0.99 per paid ticket; all-in-one platform custom-quoted per event
Free planYes (free ticketing for free events)
Whova's strength is the event app experience. Attendees adopt it because the agenda, networking, community boards, live polls and check-in live in one mobile app, which is exactly what academic conferences, association events and trade shows need. Registration connects to on-site operations: custom forms, early-bird and member pricing, check-in, name badges and exhibitor tools in one flow. The per-ticket rate of 3.0 percent plus $0.99 beats Eventbrite, and free tickets carry no fee.
The pricing model is the frustration. The ticketing fee and the platform license are separate things, and the platform is custom-quoted per event. Published third-party estimates for a 250-person event range around $1,000 to $3,000 per event, so get the number in writing before committing. Contracts run per event rather than as annual subscriptions, which suits once-a-year organizers.
What we like- Attendee engagement app with community boards, networking, polls and agenda in one place
- Registration-to-onsite integrated with check-in and badges
- Lower per-ticket rate than Eventbrite
Watch out for- No fixed public list pricing, so budgeting ahead of time is hard
- White-labeling and full branding removal are quoted custom and expensive
Starting price$99/organizer/month (Events Pro, billed annually)
Free planNo (30-day free trial)
RingCentral Events (the former Hopin) is the virtual-first pick for teams that run webinars and online events constantly. Pro at $99 per organizer per month billed annually buys unlimited events, unlimited registrations and unlimited attendees, which is hard to beat for a virtual-first program. Studio-quality production tools come from the StreamYard lineage, and Pro+ at $199 per month adds the marketing integration library that event-led teams need.
The organizer-seat model is the catch. A team of four organizers pays four times over, and hybrid and on-site capability, SSO and lead retrieval only arrive at Pro+ and Enterprise. Month-to-month billing costs about 20 percent more than annual. Pure in-person organizers should look elsewhere; this is a virtual and hybrid tool.
What we like- Unlimited registrations and attendees per event on all paid plans
- Pro includes studio-quality production tools
- Strong marketing integrations on Pro+
Watch out for- Per-organizer pricing multiplies fast with several team members
- Hybrid support, SSO and lead retrieval need the pricier tiers
Starting priceSee website (custom quote per event)
Free planNo (free trial status unverified)
vFairs is built for events where the virtual environment itself is the product: trade shows, expos, career fairs and university open days. The 3D exhibit halls, virtual booths, networking lounges and gamification are purpose-built for events where sponsors pay for presence. On-site tooling (registration, ticketing, check-in, badge printing, lead capture, branded mobile app) rounds out hybrid capability.
Budget unpredictability is the price of admission. There are no public prices, and costs depend heavily on add-ons, so the final quote can drift well above initial expectations. Get an itemized quote that names every module you will actually use. Annual licensing exists for organizers running more than one event and can beat per-event pricing if you run a series.
What we like- Immersive 3D virtual environments with interactive exhibit halls
- End-to-end on-site tooling including registration, badge printing and lead capture
- 24/7 live support with hands-on project help
Watch out for- No fixed prices anywhere, so every purchase starts with a sales conversation
- Costs depend heavily on add-ons, so quotes can drift above expectations
#6
Bizzabo
Best for: Mid-to-large B2B companies with event portfolios
Visit bizzabo.com
Starting priceFrom $17,999/year (3-user minimum)
Free planNo (no free plan and no free trial)
Bizzabo serves field marketing teams and B2B companies running a portfolio of events as a growth channel. Registration data flows into HubSpot and Salesforce with lead scoring built for pipeline reporting. The platform covers registration, ticketing, on-site, the event app and community in one place, and the Klik SmartBadge wearables lift lead capture for sponsor-heavy events.
The commitment is steep: annual contract, 3-user minimum, and a $17,999 starting price that excludes extras like smart badge hardware, so true first-year cost runs above the headline. Adding users is expensive at higher tiers. There is no trial, so you cannot test-drive before signing; run a paid pilot inside the annual deal only if you can absorb the risk.
What we like- Event Experience OS covering registration, ticketing, on-site, app and community
- Wearable smart badges that lift sponsor lead capture
- Native HubSpot and Salesforce sync for pipeline reporting
Watch out for- $18k annual entry with a 3-user minimum is out of reach for small organizers
- Real learning curve and extras like badge hardware cost more
#7
Swoogo
Best for: Corporate programs, universities and associations with complex registration
Visit swoogo.events
Starting price$11,800/year flat (unlimited events and registrations)
Free planNo (free trial unverified)
Swoogo's superpower is registration logic. Conditional forms with branching questions, audience-specific visibility rules and custom pricing rules give you control over exactly what different audiences see and when, which most platforms on this list cannot do natively. The flat $11,800 per year covers unlimited events and unlimited registrations, so high-volume portfolios get predictable costs.
That "unlimited" needs the asterisk every unlimited needs: it covers registrations, not everything else. The mobile event app and advanced on-site modules are add-ons, so confirm the full bundle price. Licenses are priced by full-user seats, all billed annually, with 30-plus integrations included free. At $11,800 a year this is prohibitive for one-off events; the model only works across a portfolio.
What we like- Best-in-class conditional registration forms with branching logic and audience rules
- Flat annual fee with unlimited events and registrations
- Drag-and-drop event website builder with attendee tracking
Watch out for- $11,800 per year only pays off if you run many events
- Steep learning curve for the advanced features
#8
PheedLoop
Best for: Small businesses, nonprofits and associations on limited budgets
Visit pheedloop.com
Starting price$1.75 per user credit per module
Free planNo (free trial offered; no permanent free plan)
PheedLoop is the budget all-in-one. You buy credits per user per module, enable only what you need, and run unlimited events per year, which undercuts Cvent-class vendors dramatically. The scope is genuinely broad: registration, live streaming, virtual networking, floor plans, badges, call-for-abstracts, exhibitor contract management and a mobile app.
The credit math needs modeling before you budget. "User credits per module" is not the same as per-attendee pricing: a 1,000-person event enabling registration, the mobile app and the virtual portal adds up fast, and on-site support runs $950 per day excluding travel. No annual license is required in the credit model, which suits one-off conferences. For associations and nonprofits, this is usually the first quote worth getting.
What we like- Modular usage-based pricing so you pay only for what you enable
- True all-in-one scope including abstracts management and exhibitor tools
- Consistently cited as affordable next to enterprise platforms
Watch out for- Module-by-module pricing means the bill grows as you enable features
- On-site support is $950 per day extra
Starting price$0.65 per ticket sold (pay as you sell)
Free planYes (free for free events)
Ticket Tailor is the unit-economics answer to Eventbrite. The pay-as-you-sell model charges $0.65 per ticket in the US with no percentage of sales, and pre-pay credit tiers drop the fee as low as $0.26 per ticket. On a $100 ticket, $0.65 plus Stripe beats Eventbrite's roughly $8.39 in all-in fees by a wide margin. White-label ticketing with an embeddable checkout keeps your brand, and charities, B Corps and PTAs get 50 percent off.
The trade is marketing. There is no marketplace discovery, so if you relied on Eventbrite's browse traffic, budget for your own promotion. Payment processing (around 2.9 percent plus $0.30) sits on top of Ticket Tailor's fee, so add both when comparing. No monthly subscription; pay as you sell is the default. For promoters selling paid tickets repeatedly, this is usually the cheapest honest option.
What we like- Flat per-ticket fee with no percentage of sales, so costs stay predictable
- White-label ticketing on your own domain
- Charities get 50 percent off
Watch out for- Payment processing fees (Stripe/PayPal) sit on top of the fee
- No built-in attendee marketplace, so you bring your own audience
Ticketing fees: do the math on your ticket price
The single most useful exercise before choosing an event platform is a one-line calculation: multiply your ticket price by the fee structure and see what you actually keep. On a $10 ticket, Eventbrite's flat $1.79 plus 3.7 percent takes about 24 percent; Ticket Tailor's $0.65 takes 6.5 percent. On a $100 ticket, Eventbrite takes roughly $8.39 all-in while Ticket Tailor takes $0.65 plus processing. The percentage-based platforms look cheap until your ticket price rises; the flat-fee platforms look expensive until you sell volume. Whova's 3.0 percent plus $0.99 sits between the two. Run your own numbers with your real ticket price and your real attendee count before the demo, not after the invoice.
Start with format, not features. Ticketed public events (festivals, classes, fundraisers) want simple ticketing economics: Eventbrite for discovery, Ticket Tailor for margins. Conferences and trade shows want registration logic plus an event app: Whova, PheedLoop or Swoogo depending on budget. Virtual and hybrid programs want production quality and unlimited scale: RingCentral Events or vFairs. Enterprise portfolios with venue sourcing and cross-event reporting want Cvent or Bizzabo.
Then check the three things demos skip. First, who owns the attendee data and whether the platform can market competing events to your guests. Second, what "unlimited" excludes: registrations, users, events and modules are different things, and the add-ons are where quotes grow. Third, the contract shape: per-event pricing suits once-a-year organizers, while annual licenses only pay off across a portfolio. Confirm on-site support costs, branding removal fees and data export before you sign.
How we chose
We started with the categories buyers actually search: event management software, event management platforms and event planning software. For each candidate we opened the vendor's own pricing page or blog, checked plan names and prices against public reviews on G2 and Capterra and organizer discussion on Reddit, and compared feature lists, fee structures and event-size fit. We wrote "See website" anywhere a price could not be verified on the vendor's page rather than guessing. The shortlist mixes enterprise leaders, virtual specialists and budget all-in-one platforms, because a 50-person meetup and a 5,000-person expo are not buying the same product.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest event management software?
For paid tickets, Ticket Tailor at $0.65 per ticket (pay as you sell) is the cheapest honest option, especially with pre-pay credits dropping the fee to $0.26. Eventbrite is free to publish but takes 3.7 percent plus $1.79 per ticket, which costs more at any real ticket price. For free events, Eventbrite and Ticket Tailor both cost nothing. PheedLoop's credit model is the cheapest route to a full conference platform.
Eventbrite vs Ticket Tailor: which is better?
It depends on whether you need discovery or margins. Eventbrite's marketplace brings browse traffic to public events, and setup is instant. Ticket Tailor's flat per-ticket fee is far cheaper on any ticket above a few dollars, keeps your branding, and lets charities take 50 percent off. If you already have an audience, Ticket Tailor wins on economics. If you are counting on strangers finding the event, Eventbrite's discovery has value.
How much does Cvent cost?
Cvent publishes no prices. Transaction data from 2026 puts core event management roughly between $5,000 and $25,000 per year for small buyers, with per-event pricing from $500 to $2,500 and implementation from $3,000 to $10,000. Multi-year commitments reportedly earn 15 to 30 percent discounts. Always negotiate and price the full module set, because modules and onboarding are where the bill grows.
What software do I need for a virtual conference?
You need registration, a virtual venue, and an event app at minimum. RingCentral Events at $99 per organizer per month covers unlimited virtual events and attendees with production-grade streaming. vFairs adds immersive 3D environments for trade shows and expos. PheedLoop covers registration, streaming and networking on a credit model that suits tighter budgets. Whova's app works for hybrid events with a strong in-person component.
Do I need a free trial before buying event software?
Yes, and treat the absence of one as a signal. Eventbrite, Ticket Tailor and Whova let you start free; RingCentral Events and PheedLoop offer trials. Bizzabo, Cvent, Swoogo and vFairs are sales-led with no self-serve trial, which tells you who the product is built for. Never sign an annual contract on an enterprise platform without a paid pilot or a reference call with a similar organizer.
Sources we checked (11)
- https://www.eventbrite.com/organizer/pricing/
- https://www.cvent.com
- https://whova.com/blog/event-registration-software-price-comparison
- https://www.ringcentral.com
- https://vfairs.com
- https://www.bizzabo.com
- https://swoogo.events/blog/event-planning-software/
- https://pheedloop.com
- https://www.tickettailor.com
- https://www.g2.com/categories/event-management
- https://www.capterra.com/event-management-software/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.