Event software ranges from a ticket page to a suite that runs registration, agendas, exhibitors and an attendee app.
This guide ranks fifteen products on what a conference or field-marketing programme pays over ninety days: the real fee per registration, which modules are priced separately, whether you can leave with your data, and who owns the vendor.
Vendors can pay for visibility on this page. It never changes what an entry
says about a product, including the criticism, and we earn nothing when you click through to a
vendor. How that works.
In short
What event management software does
Event management software handles registration and ticketing, then adds the surrounding tasks of an event: agendas, speakers, exhibitors, badges, check-in, attendee communication and reporting.
In this order: setup effort, what it really costs, how your data comes back out, whether
you can leave, and who each event management tool is built for. Why those five, and why there is no
score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Quoted per organisation; Professional and Enterprise tiers
—
Large corporate event teams needing venue sourcing, rooms and onsite tools together
Small organisers wanting a published price
Country is where the vendor is headquartered or contracts from, which is a
different question from where your data is hosted. Where the two tell different stories, the
entry says so.
The fee structure rewards organisers who sell many tickets across a year without paying for seats or modules: users are unlimited and there is no monthly charge. Check-in, seating and a point-of-sale app come from the same vendor.
What you assemble yourself is the surrounding conference stack, since agenda tooling and attendee engagement are not part of the product description. Budget engineering time if you self-host, and read the supplementary licence terms first.
What stands out
Open source (AGPL)
Self-hosted option
Per-ticket fee
Where it costs you
Self-hosting means running and updating your own server
Exhibitor lead scanning is a separate charge per exhibitor
Right for
Conference organisers who want published per-ticket costs and the option to self-host
Wrong for
Teams wanting an attendee networking app out of the box
GermanyFree up to 500 free tickets a year; per-ticket fee after that, published
Registration and event-site builder sold on a published annual licence
Ranked #2 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Because events and registrants are unlimited, the annual licence suits a field marketing team running dozens of webinars, roadshows and conferences: the marginal event costs nothing in fees.
The money goes on users and add-ons, and a full user is the unit that grows with the team. Ask for a quote that includes the attendee app, single sign-on and call for speakers, since each is priced separately from Professional.
What stands out
Annual licence
Unlimited events
In-house support
Where it costs you
Every additional full user and module is priced on top of the base licence
No trial is offered on the pricing page, only a demo route
Right for
Marketing teams running many registration-led events under one annual licence
Wrong for
Organisers with one small event a year
United StatesAnnual licence per user; Professional published, Enterprise quoted
Conference registration from a small Dublin company, charged per ticket sold
Ranked #3 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Tito suits organisers who treat registration as a widget on their own site: two lines of code embed it, styling is custom CSS, and the API lets a team script attendee data.
The percentage fee is capped, so large ticket prices do not scale the cost without limit. Expect to cover agenda, speakers and networking with other tools, and expect payment fees from Stripe or PayPal on top of the Tito fee.
What stands out
Developer API
No monthly fee
Per-ticket fee
Where it costs you
Scope stops at registration, with no attendee app or exhibitor tools named
Payments depend on connecting your own Stripe or PayPal account
Right for
Developer and community conferences that want embeddable registration and an API
Wrong for
Trade shows needing exhibitor and lead tools
IrelandPercentage fee per ticket sold, published; no fee on free events
Flat per-ticket fees from an independent, founder-owned London company
Ranked #4 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
The pricing is easy to forecast because every ticket carries the same fee and credits can be bought ahead at a lower rate. Registered charities and some not-for-profits get half-price fees.
Seating plans cost an extra credit per reserved seat. For a conference the gap is everything around the ticket: sessions, speakers and sponsors need other software, so treat this as the sales layer in a stack.
What stands out
Founder-owned
Certified B Corp
Reserved seating
Where it costs you
Agenda, speaker and exhibitor tools are not named on its pricing or home page
Payment processing is separate and runs through Stripe, PayPal or Square
Right for
Independent organisers who want simple per-ticket costs and reserved seating
Wrong for
Conferences needing speaker and sponsor management
United KingdomPer-ticket fee or prepaid credits, published; no fee on up to 5,000 free tickets a year
Registration plans priced per registration, with a flat Scale plan above
Ranked #5 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Eventzilla sits between a ticketing page and a conference suite: the site names an agenda builder, speaker management, exhibitor lead capture and an Event Hub for streaming.
The plan ladder is the thing to read closely, because the per-registration fee grows with the tier and Plus adds a percentage. The flat Scale plan removes per-registration fees, so run the maths at your yearly attendee count.
What stands out
Per-registration fee
Speaker management
Exhibitor lead capture
Where it costs you
Basic limits you to one paid ticket type
Company ownership is not stated on the pages checked
Right for
Small associations that want agenda and speaker tools at per-registration prices
Wrong for
Buyers who need to know who owns the vendor
United StatesPer-registration fee by plan, published; flat monthly Scale plan
Pay-per-registration forms from a founder-owned Sacramento software company
Ranked #6 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
The model is a small fee on each registration with a cap, which keeps a modest event cheap and a very large one predictable. Conditional logic, add-ons and payment plans make it more flexible than a plain ticket page.
Remember the fee depends on tier, free events are charged too, and card processing is added to every paid order, so work out cost per attendee, not the headline fee.
What stands out
Per-registration fee
Badge printing
Webconnex product
Where it costs you
Single sign-on and a custom domain sit only on the annual Professional plan
Card processing is charged on top of the registration fee
Right for
Organisers who prefer a registration form builder with conditional logic
Wrong for
Large events where a per-registration fee compounds
United StatesPer-registration fee plus card processing, published; Professional plan billed annually
Attendee app, registration and lead retrieval quoted per event
Ranked #7 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Whova puts the attendee app at the centre, with agendas, networking and certificates alongside registration, badges and surveys. Exhibitors and sponsors get lead retrieval, and MicroEvents covers smaller gatherings.
The quote depends on the number of events a year, so a buyer with several events per year should ask what changes in the price as the count rises, and what is included for each exhibitor.
What stands out
Attendee app
Lead retrieval
Quoted pricing
Where it costs you
No prices are published before a quote
A trial is only offered after a sales demo
Right for
Associations that want an attendee app and networking tied to registration
Event pages and ticketing that start on a free plan
Ranked #8 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Luma is aimed at hosts who send invitations and reminders to a community rather than run a formal conference.
Email, SMS, push and WhatsApp reminders are included, and invite volume is the main limit: weekly caps rise with the plan, and add-on packs are sold for higher volumes. Because the fee is a share of ticket sales, a paid event with high prices is cheaper on Plus.
What stands out
Free plan
Platform fee
Weekly invite limits
Where it costs you
Free plan charges a platform fee on paid events
Pricing page names no exhibitor management or agenda builder
Right for
Communities and meetups that want ticketed event pages and invites
Wrong for
Trade shows that need exhibitors, badges and agendas
United StatesFree plan with a platform fee on paid events; Plus plan per month, published
Published per-event and annual packages for in-person and hybrid events
Ranked #9 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Accelevents combines registration, agenda, mobile app, badge printing, exhibitor management and a virtual hub on one platform, with SOC 2 Type 2 certification stated on its site. Unlimited admin seats are included in the tiers.
The decision is event count: a one-event Professional package is priced differently from the unlimited Business package, so model your calendar before comparing it with per-registration products.
What stands out
Published tiers
White-label option
Mobile event app
Where it costs you
Entry tier covers a single event
Call for speakers and API access need the Enterprise tier
Right for
Teams with a handful of in-person or hybrid events and a fixed budget
Wrong for
Organisations running a series of small events
United StatesPackages from a published starting price; White Label quoted
Event registration tied to buying signals and CRM data
Ranked #10 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Certain is built for marketing organisations that treat events as a pipeline channel: the pricing page groups registration and logistics, intelligence and signals, and a mobile app with engagement tools.
CRM integration is central. The quote is based on event portfolio size and enterprise needs, so a small team gets little from it, and the buying process involves sales before you see a number.
What stands out
CRM integration
Event intelligence
Quoted pricing
Where it costs you
Pricing is quoted with no trial mentioned
The intelligence features are listed apart from the core platform
Right for
B2B marketers who want event data feeding the CRM
Wrong for
Small organisers with one or two events a year
United StatesQuoted per event portfolio, feature set and enterprise needs
Packaged event platform with a published base fee plus per-registration charge
Ranked #11 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Stova mixes a fixed annual package with a charge per registration, so cost has two levers: the tier and the attendee count. Higher tiers add a branded mobile app, account manager and more advanced integrations.
Venue sourcing runs through a marketplace the site attributes to MeetingSelect. Ask for the total at your expected attendee volume across a year, not the package price shown.
What stands out
Three packages
Per-registration fee
Onsite add-ons
Where it costs you
Per-registration charges outweigh the base fee at large attendee counts
Onsite staffing, business intelligence and venue sourcing are quoted extras
Right for
Corporate event teams with large, recurring registration volumes
Wrong for
Small organisers with tight budgets and few attendees
United StatesAnnual package plus per-registration fee, published
Event platform with a free plan, 0% ticket commission and a Premium trial
Ranked #12 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingAsia-Pacific
The ladder is set by participants per event: 100 on the free plan, then 200, 1,000 and 5,000. Premium adds lead capture, gamification and Zoho CRM integration, and Ultimate a white-label mobile app and a dedicated event manager.
Unlimited events come with paid plans. Add-ons raise participant, exhibitor and space limits, so the real price depends on the largest event you run, not the average.
What stands out
Free plan
0% ticket commission
Participant caps
Where it costs you
Participant caps force an upgrade as events grow
Lead capture and AI matching begin at the Premium plan
Right for
Small organisations already using Zoho CRM that want low-cost events
Wrong for
Events above 5,000 participants without a custom plan
IndiaFree plan; per-month plans by participant cap, published
Event suite with registration, app and sponsor tools, sold by demo
Ranked #13 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Bizzabo positions itself as an event experience platform: registration and ticketing, a mobile app, streaming, networking and analytics sit beside exhibitor and sponsor tools. The unknowns are commercial.
With no plan names or prices published, you cannot compare it with Swoogo or Stova on cost until you have spoken to sales, so ask for the modules and event limits written into the quote.
What stands out
Mobile event app
Sponsor management
Demo-led sales
Where it costs you
Pricing page shows no prices or plan names
No trial is mentioned, only a demo
Right for
Large B2B event teams wanting registration, app and sponsors in one suite
Wrong for
Organisers who want self-serve sign-up and a visible price
United StatesQuoted per organisation; demo on request
Self-serve ticketing with per-ticket fees, now owned by Bending Spoons
Ranked #14 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Eventbrite is a ticketing marketplace first: attendees discover events there, and organisers choose whether to absorb or pass on fees. That reach is the reason to pick it over a stand-alone ticket page.
The trade-off is that conference operations sit elsewhere. The site lists availability in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland, so check your country before planning around it.
What stands out
Marketplace discovery
Per-ticket fee
Bending Spoons-owned
Where it costs you
Fees apply per ticket plus a processing percentage per order
Pricing page lists only a handful of supported countries
Right for
Organisers who want public discovery and self-serve ticket sales
Wrong for
Conferences needing speaker, agenda and exhibitor management
United StatesPer-ticket service fee plus processing, published; no fee on free events
Large event suite owned by Blackstone, with quoted pricing
Ranked #15 of 15 in Best Event Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Cvent is the broadest product here, with room block management, event diagramming and venue-linked features that smaller tools do not name. Integrations cover Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Webex.
The licence is built by selecting solutions and add-ons, so two buyers can pay very different amounts. Insist on a written module list, because the owner is a private-equity fund and renewal terms matter.
What stands out
Quoted pricing
Venue and onsite tools
Blackstone-owned
Where it costs you
Pricing is quoted and features are licensed as separate solutions
Professional is capped at 15 user logins
Right for
Large corporate event teams needing venue sourcing, rooms and onsite tools together
Wrong for
Small organisers wanting a published price
United StatesQuoted per organisation; Professional and Enterprise tiers
Event management software handles registration and ticketing, then adds the surrounding tasks of an event: agendas, speakers, exhibitors, badges, check-in, attendee communication and reporting. The differences that matter are rarely in the feature list, so this is
the order we would work through them.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
11 of the 15 tools here publish what they cost; the other 4 quote per organisation. The ones you can compare without a sales call: pretix, Swoogo, Tito, Ticket Tailor, Eventzilla, RegFox, Luma, Accelevents, Stova, Zoho Backstage, Eventbrite.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
These 15 vendors are established in 5 countries across 3 regions (North America 11, Europe 3, Asia-Pacific 1). That decides whose disclosure law applies to what the vendor holds, wherever the servers are.
03
Consider whether you want the source
1 of these are open source: pretix. Hosting one yourself trades a subscription for maintenance.
Per-registration fees are the real price of event software
Headline plans hide the meter that actually runs. Stova adds a charge for every registration on top of its package price, so at 5,000 registrants the per-registration charge outweighs the base fee. Eventzilla charges per registration on three plans and a flat monthly amount on Scale. RegFox adds card processing to every paid order.
Tito and Ticket Tailor take a percentage or flat amount per ticket with no subscription at all, which is cheaper in a quiet year and dearer in a busy one. Swoogo goes the other way and sells an annual licence with unlimited events. None of these is dishonest, but each rewards a different calendar, and the cheapest option for one event a year is rarely the cheapest for a programme of forty.
Multiply the fee by your expected attendees across a full year, not one event.
Ask whether free and comped registrations are charged.
Add card processing before comparing two quotes.
Quoted pricing hides the module bill at Cvent, Bizzabo and Whova
Three of the best-known suites publish no prices. Cvent says its pricing is custom, and sells registration, Attendee Hub and OnArrival as separate solutions with add-ons. Bizzabo shows neither prices nor plan names, only a Get a Demo button. Whova asks for format, duration, attendee count and events per year before it will quote.
Certain quotes by event portfolio and lists its intelligence features as a separate category. The risk is not that quotes are high, but that two buyers cannot compare them. Published tiers such as Accelevents, Stova and Swoogo let you see what a module costs before a sales call. When you must work from quotes, get the same module list written into each.
Send every vendor the same attendee count, event count and module list.
Ask which add-ons (app, single sign-on, lead retrieval) sit outside the quote.
Request renewal terms in writing, since owners change.
Annual licence or pay-per-ticket depends on how many events you run
A single annual figure and a fee per ticket answer different questions. Swoogo's Professional licence includes unlimited events and registrants, and Accelevents prices Professional for one event and Business for unlimited events. pretix, Tito and Ticket Tailor charge only when tickets sell, and pretix keeps free ticketing at no cost up to 500 free tickets a year.
Zoho Backstage sits in between: a free plan with participant caps, then monthly plans that cap attendance. A team running six large paid conferences usually wins with per-ticket pricing, a team running forty webinars and roadshows usually wins with a licence. Count events and tickets first, then pick the model, rather than starting from a feature list.
List events per year and tickets per event before opening any pricing page.
Check whether the cap is per event, per year or per user.
Find out what happens to the price when you exceed the cap.
Exhibitor lead scanning and the attendee app are where tiers split
Registration is the part every product here does. The money is in the layers around it. pretix sells lead scanning separately, as a charge per exhibitor. Zoho Backstage starts lead capture at Premium, and RegFox starts badge printing and the attendee app at Premium.
Swoogo sells its attendee app and single sign-on as add-ons, and Eventzilla places seating plans and white-labelling on higher plans. Whova and Bizzabo treat the attendee app as core. Luma and Tito name neither. The practical test is to write down what an exhibitor, a speaker and an attendee each do at your event, then ask each vendor which plan and which price covers it.
Ask whether exhibitor lead retrieval is billed per exhibitor or per event.
Confirm the attendee app is included, not a separate licence.
Check which plan unlocks badge printing and onsite check-in.
What goes wrong most often when buying event management software
Comparing package prices while ignoring the per-registration charge that Stova, Eventzilla and RegFox add on top.
Choosing a ticketing page such as Ticket Tailor or Tito and later discovering that agenda, speaker and exhibitor tools need other software.
Signing a quoted Cvent, Bizzabo or Certain contract without a written list of modules, user logins and event limits.
Forgetting that lead scanning, the attendee app and single sign-on are billed separately at pretix, Swoogo and Zoho Backstage.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best event management in 2026?
pretix leads our ranking of 15. pretix is a single-product company in Heidelberg whose code is open source under the AGPL with supplementary terms, so you can use the hosted service or run it yourself.
Pricing is published per ticket with no monthly fee, and exhibitor lead scanning is a priced add-on. The cost of that freedom is effort: self-hosting means your own server, and the overview names no attendee app or agenda builder.
Which event management tools publish their pricing?
11 of the 15, with the pricing model each one publishes:
pretix: Free up to 500 free tickets a year; per-ticket fee after that, published.
Swoogo: Annual licence per user; Professional published, Enterprise quoted.
Tito: Percentage fee per ticket sold, published; no fee on free events.
Ticket Tailor: Per-ticket fee or prepaid credits, published; no fee on up to 5,000 free tickets a year.
Eventzilla: Per-registration fee by plan, published; flat monthly Scale plan.
RegFox: Per-registration fee plus card processing, published; Professional plan billed annually.
Luma: Free plan with a platform fee on paid events; Plus plan per month, published.
Accelevents: Packages from a published starting price; White Label quoted.
Stova: Annual package plus per-registration fee, published.
Zoho Backstage: Free plan; per-month plans by participant cap, published.
Eventbrite: Per-ticket service fee plus processing, published; no fee on free events.
The other 4 quote per organisation.
Is there a free event management tool?
pretix, Luma, Zoho Backstage offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these event management vendors established?
In 5 countries across 3 regions: North America 11, Europe 3, Asia-Pacific 1.
pretix: Germany.
Swoogo: United States.
Tito: Ireland.
Ticket Tailor: United Kingdom.
Eventzilla: United States.
RegFox: United States.
Whova: United States.
Luma: United States.
Accelevents: United States.
Certain: United States.
Stova: United States.
Zoho Backstage: India.
Bizzabo: United States.
Eventbrite: United States.
Cvent: United States.
Which event management tools are open source?
pretix.
Which event management tools can you host yourself?
pretix. The other 14 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of pretix?
Swoogo and Tito are the next two on this page. Swoogo is for Marketing teams running many registration-led events under one annual licence; Tito is for Developer and community conferences that want embeddable registration and an API.
Who should not buy pretix?
Teams wanting an attendee networking app out of the box. Self-hosting means running and updating your own server.
If your event management product belongs among these 15, tell us what it does and who it is for. Inclusion is an editorial call; what a listing is and is not is set out under software advice.
