7 Free and Open Source Event Management Software (2024)

Picture this: A bunch of events are coming up and as an event manager, you’re in charge of making sure everything goes smoothly. You invested in an event management software solution that helps with planning events, registering attendees, and tending to booking and ticketing.

However, it’s two days before an event, and you need to send a reminder email to all the registered attendees—but the software you own doesn’t offer that feature. Had you thoroughly evaluated the software before purchasing it, this situation would’ve never occurred.

These scenarios can be easily avoided by understanding your software requirements better and matching those with what event management software tools have to offer. There are several open source and free event management solutions on the market. However, finding an event planning tool that meets all the needs of an event planner requires an evaluation of its features.

This article contains seven free and open source event management software to help make evaluation hassle-free (the products are listed alphabetically).

See our selection methodology here.

• Free version: Supports up to 100 attendees and one event per year.
• Paid version: Basic plan costs $999 per year and supports up to 500 attendees and one event per year.

Eventee is a cloud-based software tool for organizing in-person, live, and even hybrid events. Eventee helps users with event management and attendee engagement. Its features also include live polling and audience surveys, booking, live streaming, and custom integrations.

Eventee also provides attendee statistics such as session time and engagement level, which can be used to improve future events. Its agenda planning feature lets event managers plan multiple stages and processes of their events.

The networking feature in the software lets attendees connect and arrange virtual meetings with each other. Eventee offers mobile apps for both iOS and Android devices.

Customer support is available via phone, email, and a knowledge base on their website.

• Free version: Can support up to 100 attendees per event.
• Paid version: The basic plan costs $1 and the professional plan costs $2 per attendee. It has no limit on the number of attendees.

Eventleaf is an online event registration and management software tool with features such as online ticketing, attendee tracking, calendar management, and payment collection portals.

It allows users to create event landing pages, showcasing their event’s agenda, invitees, speakers, and location. Users can also create customized name badges with scannable barcodes for attendees.

Eventleaf can also be used to collect payments and send out customized surveys to attendees to collect feedback about events.

Free version users get access to 24×7 support via email while paid users get email as well as phone support.

• Free version: Supports up to 50 attendees.
• Paid version: Basic plan starts at $150 per quarter.

FLOOR is a cloud-based community-focused platform built for event managers and organizers. The software helps users manage, market, and monetize their events and engage with their virtual communities. Its features include event website creation, event marketing, live streaming, audience management, and booking and ticketing.

FLOOR users can also run campaigns to assess how well their events are performing. These events can then be optimized with the help of data points and insights that FLOOR delivers.

FLOOR offers mobile apps (for both iOS and Android) that allow event managers to promote events across multiple channels and interact with the audience remotely.

It also features email and phone support and 24×7 live rep support.

• Free version: Supports up to 50 free registrations.
• Paid version: $2.99 per registration per event after the first 50 registrations.

MeetingHand is an online event management platform that helps event managers plan, organize, and market their events. Some of its features include event registration management, event marketing, event website creation, attendee management, and ticketing.

MeetingHand also has a reporting feature that lets users create customizable reports on various aspects of their events such as registration, booking, and payment.

MeetingHand users can also create subevents and plan specific activities for attendees such as workshops, tours, and conference dinners. Event organizers can increase audience engagement with the help of push notifications and online chat features in the product’s mobile apps (available for both iOS and Android).

MeetingHand offers email as well as phone support and a 24×7 help desk on their website.

• Free version: Odoo community edition is available for free with no integrations.
• Paid version: Integration with additional Odoo apps starts at $4 per month per app.

Odoo is a fully integrated, all-in-one, open source software solution tailored for various business functions. Its Odoo Events module helps event managers manage all the stages of their event planning process.

Event managers can plan and create event websites and landing pages, schedule multiple events, and manage attendees. Odoo also integrates with email and social media platforms. Additionally, users can integrate Odoo with search engine optimization (SEO) tools and Google Analytics to track engagement and measure marketing efforts.

Odoo offers only cloud-based deployment to free users while paid users can opt for on-premise deployment as well. It also has mobile apps for both iOS and Android.

Odoo offers email and 24×7 phone support. Their website also features a knowledge center and an FAQ section for users.

• Free version: Includes all the core features and supports events with up to 100 invitees.
• Paid version: Premium plan starts at $19 per month or 1.95% + $0.90 of per ticket sold.

RSVPify is a cloud-based end-to-end event management platform for in-person and virtual events. Its features include guest list management, ticketing, and embeddable RSVP forms for attendee registration.

It also offers a drag-and-drop seating chart maker to plan optimal seating, menu options to allow guests to share meal choices and dietary needs, and age verification for events that have age restrictions.

The software offers a feature called secondary events. It allows event managers to invite select guests to secondary events such as rehearsal dinners or post-conference lunches.

RSVPify offers a support library, video tutorials, and 24×7 ticket-based customer support for users.

• Free version: Free for personal use and occasional small business events.
• Paid version: Basic plan is priced at $9,500 per year for individuals and small teams.

Splash is an event management and marketing solution for live and virtual events. Splash users can create branded event marketing templates, registration pages, and personalized event invites, reminders, and updates for attendees.

It also features built-in event analytics that helps event managers keep track of events and their impact. Its data dashboard helps users understand and segment attendees based on their preferences, location, and engagement.

Splash also offers seamless integration with a variety of third-party project management, data import, and communication tools.

The software is cloud-based and it offers live and in-person training to users. It has mobile apps for both iOS and Android and offers 24×7 live support via chat and email.

How to choose the right event management software for your business

Selecting the right event management software tool can be complicated. With so many options on the market, event managers and organizers should consider factors such as attendee size, feature requirements, and hosting options. These factors will help buyers narrow down the options and make well-informed decisions.

Some important considerations while investing in an event management tool are:

• Assess event size: While some free products do not have a limit on the number of attendees, others might limit it to say, 50 or 100 attendees. Therefore, before choosing a tool, buyers should make sure they know the audience size they intend to cater to and whether the free tool covers it.
• Check the cost of upgrade: Buyers should ask the software vendor about additional features the upgrade includes. They should also inquire about any additional charges for services such as priority support or data migration.
• Look for integration support: Buyers should check with the vendor whether the tool offers integration with other software tools. Also, they should assess whether the vendor can build APIs to support custom integrations with third-party project management and communication tools.

Common questions to ask when selecting a free event management software tool

Here are a few questions that buyers can consider asking the software vendor before getting into business with them:

• What are the terms of subscription? Buyers should clarify the subscription terms beforehand. Asking whether the vendor has a fixed-price contract or if they charge per attendee or event will help compare and finalize the best deal possible.
• Does the software help with marketing and promotion? Online marketing is a crucial part of any event. As a buyer, one should ask whether the software has in-built event marketing capabilities or does it support integration with social media and other marketing platforms.
• Can case studies and testimonials be provided? Buyers can ask for customer testimonials and case studies to understand how well the software performs for businesses working in event management. This will also help highlight common problems that users might have faced.

This article was updated on May 18, 2021. Products considered for this article had to:

• Offer a free, stand-alone version of the software (not a trial version of the software where you must purchase a product after a limited amount of time).
• Meet our event management software market definition:
  Event management software automates marketing, registration, coordination and scheduling of events. Planners use event management applications to manage the planning and process of meetings and events, including marketing, attendee registration, badge creation, calendar generation and venue space management. These applications also offer a variety of self-service functions for event attendees such as online registration, content delivery and fee payment.
• Offers the core features of event management solutions: Registration management, attendee management, and event scheduling.

Software that met the market definition also needed a minimum of 20 user-submitted reviews and an overall user rating above 4.0 compared to other products in the category.