When we talk about event marketing, there are so many tasks that need to be completed on time before an event starts.
Event registration is the most important task out of all. After all, unless you get attendees to sign-up for your event, how will you know how many people will show up to your event?
Registration processes for events used to be time-consuming in the past; however, not anymore. Event registration software makes the registration process easier for attendees and allows event planners to track and manage their attendee lists easily.
Event registration software allows attendees to easily register or purchase event tickets while providing an event planner with a detailed guest list.
Event registration software can make the job of an event planner a lot easier by streamlining:
- Registration process
- Prepayment process
- Organizing and managing the process
But with so many options out there, how do you know which one is the best?
To make the search easier for you, we have shortlisted the top 8 event registration software options in the industry.
1. Whova – Event management software for physical, hybrid, and virtual events
- Pricing: Must request a price quote
- Customer Reviews: G2 gave it a 4.8-start rating · 866 reviews
Winner of the Events Technology Award, Whova is trusted by top investors like IKEA, Ford, American Express, and many others. It is also mentioned on G2’s list of top 100 Software companies.
The reason why it is at the top of our list is that this conference registration software is one of the most affordable options on the market. It has managed 20,000+ physical events, 6,000+ virtual events, and more than 1,000 hybrid events.
Whova offers powerful features that are ideal for:
- Promoting events on social media
- Mobile brochure announcements
- Sponsor highlights exhibitor showcase
- Networking E-biz cards
- Email campaigns event promotion
- Name badges live polling
- Ticketing agenda management
Whova is ideal for managing physical, hybrid, and virtual events.
Pros: It is affordable and offers features that can significantly increase attendee participation and interactions through its event app.
Cons: Whova is not ideal for managing small events. If your attendee count is below 50, Whova may not be the right choice for you.
2. Xing Events – All-in-one attendee management and business networking software
- Basic Plan: Free
- Events Plus Plan: EUR 39.95*
- Customer Reviews: featured customers gave it a 4.8-star rating · 717 reviews
Trusted by 350,000 organizers, Xing Events is an all-in-one advanced attendee management and business networking software geared towards German-speaking individuals.
Xing’s headquarter is based in Munich, Germany, and provides marketers access to a vast network of business professionals for event promotion.
Although Xing Events primarily caters to the needs of German speakers, it can be used anywhere in the world.
Pros: One of the best tools for promoting European events. Designed specially to manage trade fairs and large enterprise conferences.
Cons: Mainly designed for German users. Although it is great for event registrations, it is not ideal for increasing audience engagement.
3. Brown Paper Tickets – 100% FREE event ticket-selling platform
- Price: 100% free to sell tickets
- Customer Reviews: G2 gave it a 4.1-star rating · 30 reviews
Unlike the two event registration software we talked about earlier, Brown Paper Tickets is an automated, do-it-yourself ticketing service. It charges ticket sellers no money and is 100% free.
Brown Paper Tickets are also ideal for fundraising and charity events. The reason why we say this is that it charges no service on donations. Another cool thing about
Brown Paper Tickets is that it offers free shipping for event tickets.
Pros: Ideal for charity events and non-profit events. Charges are no additional cost for physical tickets.
Cons: Although it can handle mid and large-scale events, it doesn’t offer advance reporting.
4. Wild Apricot – Powerful cloud software for event registration and management
- Customer Reviews: getapp gave it a 4.5-star rating · 519 reviews
- Pricing:
Wild Apricot is a powerful event management tool with an advanced online event registration feature. With this tool, marketers can create listings for events that can bring in the ideal attendees for any event.
It can help you create mesmerizing event registration forms. The cool thing about Wild Apricot is that it allows you to add your events to Wild Apricot’s calendar and on your website.
This way, your audience can learn about your event on Wild Apricot’s website or by visiting your website – allowing them to register from anywhere they like.
Another cool thing about Wild Apricot is that it can also be integrated with Whova – the tool we talked about at the beginning of this guide. Syncing both tools together will allow you to further streamline your registrant information.
Pros: It is ideal for handling small and regular-sized businesses and offers a ton of pricing options, making it appeal to a lot of marketers.
Cons: If you have an annual single-day event and not something that requires your attendees to get a membership, Wild Apricot may not be an ideal choice considering that it offers monthly pricing plans.
5. Eventbrite
- Essentials plan – Charges 2% of sales and $0.79 per ticket sold,
- Professional – Charges 3.5% of sales and $1.59 per ticket sold
- Custom – Pricing not mentioned
- Customer Reviews: G2 gave it a 4.4-star rating · 717 reviews
Next up, we have Eventbrite. It is another awesome event registration software that’s widely used for entertainment, business conferences, and charity events. While Eventbrite is well known and easy to use, some organizers think its fees are a bit high.
Pros: Eventbrite is a widely used tool and a lot of people trust it because of that. It is versatile and can be used in almost any industry.
Cons: While it is great for event registrations, it doesn’t offer any attendee engagement functions. Its commission and processing fees are also on the higher side.
6. Constant Contact
- Price: Starting from 25$ and vary on the number of contacts and subscription types
- Customer Reviews: G2 gave it a 4.0-star rating · 4837 reviews
Just like its name, Constant Contact helps you stay in constant contact with your attendees.
It is a powerful email marketing software that allows marketers to create enticing content and send event reminders.
It also provides real-time event registration tracking so you can organize your event on the go.
If you wanna keep your attendees constantly updated with your event schedules, guest list, and every other detail, Constant Contact can be especially useful.
Pros: Constant Contact can be integrated with either Eventbrite or Whova and allows you to create amazing registration forms to be then used in your email marketing campaigns.
Cons: In case you don’t intend to send out too many emails to your attendees, this may not be the right tool. If you have a massive email contact list and you send emails to all of them over and over again, it can cost you significantly.
In addition to that, to use the event registration feature, you’ll need to be an Eventbrite customer.
7. Regpack
- Price: $125/mo, per admin – charges 2.1% payment processing fee
- Customer Reviews: G2 gave it a 4.1-star rating · 47 reviews
Regpack is an onboarding solution that allows organizations to register and charge for their services online. It is trusted by 10,000+ organizations worldwide. This tool is ideal for small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
It lets event marketers apply logic to their onboarding registration forms to get the information they need from their participants. It lets you ask any question and collect the data you need.
Pros: Regpack is a super simple event ticketing system. It is easy to use and allows attendees to conveniently register online or through a mobile registration app.
Cons: While Regpack is an awesome event reforestation and ticketing software, it doesn’t offer a lot of features like the other tools we talked about in this guide.
8. Splash – The world’s easiest event marketing solution
- Free
- Basic: $12,500 / year
- Pro: $21,500 / year
- Enterprise: Needs to be discussed
- Customer Reviews: G2 gave it a 4.6-star rating · 187 reviews
Splash is another all in one event marketing solution for promote virtual events, in-person, and hybrid events. Although primarily an event marketing tool, it does offer decent event registration features.
If you want a tool that is geared heavily for event marketing but can also help you manage event registrations for concerts, corporate and other events, Splash can be a great option.
Pros: Not only is Splash great for event marketing but it also offers amazing features like event check-in management and shareable registration forms.
It can also be integrated with Whova, just like some of the other event registration platforms we’ve discussed so far.
Cons: Although highly versatile, Splash is an expensive tool. Its Basic version starts from $12,500/yr and its Pro version starts from $21,500/yr, making it not ideal for small businesses.
9. Bizzabo – Hassle-free Way to Build Better Events
- Price: Will have to reach out to the Bizzabo team to get a quote or request a demo
- Customer Reviews: G2 gave it a 4.6-star rating · 166 reviews
Bizzabo is another amazing event management platform. It is ideal for in-person, virtual, and hybrid events. What sets this tool apart from the rest is the fact that it allows marketers to embed their registration forms on their one website.
Your attendees won’t have to visit Bizzabo’s website in order to register – making things more convenient.
Bizzabo also lets you create completely customizable forms. You’ll have complete freedom to add your event’s logo to the form.
It also lets you create custom fields to help gather the information you need from your attendees. Everything can be easily managed in Bizzabo’s detailed contact management dashboard.
This tool even lets you social share your events thanks to its excellent integration with a few social media platforms.
Pros: Bizzabo makes setting up registration forms really easy. You can create a basic form that requires payment and some other details about your attendees from scratch within minutes.
Cons: Their customer service needs improvement. It can take up to 24 hours to get a response from their support team. Its registration form offers limited customization.
For example, you can add questions to the registration form, however, you cannot add a description to the question to further clarify things.
Best Event Registration Software for Nonprofits
There are plenty of event registration tools that are ideal for nonprofit organizations. There’s CharityEngine, Regpack, Mobilize, DonorSearch, and many more. But the one we really like is CharityEngine.
Here’s why…
CharityEngine offers a ton of great features specially designed for nonprofit organizations. It lets you plan events and also lets your attendees get involved in your event.
For example, CharityEngine lets guests participate in fundraising, making them feel valued. CharityEngine is designed to help you take full control of your event. It can help nonprofit organizations manage event location, venue, guest speakers, and much more.
We also like how CharityEngine collects and presents information that is easy to assess. Once your event is over, you can go through CharityEngine’s extensive dashboard to view statistics related to attendance, fundraising, demographics, and more.
1. Best Event Registration Tool for Webinars
Our top pick for the best online event registration platform for webinars is Demio. Demio is specially built for marketing teams promoting live events. It is ideal for nonprofits and education companies.
Demio is a modern and powerful platform for hosting webinars. What’s cool about Demio is that it not only lets you host a live webinar for events but it also lets you host pre-recorded video sessions.
Demio is a versatile platform. It lets marketers run engaging polls and questionnaires seamlessly. It even lets you share documents with your attendees and run special offers with enticing call to action (CTA) buttons.
Some of the best features of Demio include:
- Analytics
- Private chat
- Customizable branded registration page
2. Conference Registration Software
To make sure your conference goes as planned, you’ll need a tool that can help you manage multiple tasks like creating tickets, collecting payments, and keeping track of attendee information.
While there are plenty of tools for conference registration such as Jotform, Socio, ePly, and more, our top pick is Eventzilla.
Eventzilla is an awesome conference registration software that allows you to create amazing event registration pages with drag-and-drop functionality.
It can help you create hype about your conference by letting you tell your attendees about who’s gonna be appearing at your event.
Not only is Eventzilla convenient for marketers, but it is also convenient for attendees.
It gives attendees the freedom to transfer their tickets or even cancel their registration without needing the help of a customer support representative.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is online event registration software, and why is it important for marketing?
Online event registration software is a digital tool that allows individuals and organizations to create, manage, and promote events while enabling attendees to register and participate easily.
How do I choose the right online event registration software for my marketing needs?
When selecting event registration software, consider factors like ease of use, customization options, integration with marketing tools, attendee experience, pricing, and customer support. Assess your marketing goals and requirements to identify software that aligns with your strategies.
What are the benefits of using online event registration software for marketing campaigns?
Using online event registration software can enhance your marketing efforts by providing a seamless registration process, automated communication with attendees, data collection for analysis, integration with CRM and email marketing tools, and the ability to create branded event pages.
Conclusion
There you have it. This was our rundown of the best event registration software you can use in 2023. When picking the right tool for your event, make sure you go through its features and see if it meets the needs of your event.
Picking the right event registration tool will help you save a lot of time and make the attendee registration process a lot smoother.
Approach professional help with Think Orion to get the best practices for virtual events and physical events.
You can also hire an event marketing agency to get much-needed assistance in planning, promotion, auditing, registration, and marketing of your event.
