10 Ultimate WordPress event booking plugins to simplify registration

Organizing and managing an event can be a big hustle. If you have ever participated in an event as an organizer, you already know this.

For that reason, having a partner you can rely on is always a good idea. This partner can be in the form of an agency, human or a WordPress event booking plugin. Nevertheless, if the benefits outweigh the costs, you should keep using them.

We can’t say anything about agency partners or what qualities you should look for in a human partner, but we have some ideas for WordPress event booking plugins.

To manage event organizations with WordPress event ticketing plugins, you first need to find out what features you need.

What features do you need in WordPress event booking plugins?

If your task is organizing events, some features are essential, while others are good. Your needs change based on the event types. If you are organizing a paid organization, it is best to have a ticketing option and a unique QR code generator. On the other hand, if you organize a free event, you don’t need so many features and speed gains more importance. Generally, you need the following:

• Google Maps integration
• Multiple location support
• Attendee limits
• Recurring options for ongoing projects

In the case of paid events and organizations:

• Wide selection of payment gateways
• Ticketing option
• QR Code generator

This post will list several event booking plugins and mention their strong sides.

10 Ultimate WordPress event booking plugins

1. WP Event Manager
2. The Events Calendar
3. Events Manager
4. Event Organiser
5. Event Espresso 4
6. TicketTailor
7. EventON
8. Calendarize it!
9. Timely All-in-One Event Calendar
10. Eventin

1. WP Event Manager

WP Event Manager is a simple and lightweight event booking plugin that is also quite useful. You can manage all your events, assign locations to events and group them based on these locations.

As it is built with speed and usability in mind, it is snappy and responsive. Visitors can easily see event listings, register for them, and manage their event registrations on any device.

However, to get the most out of this plugin, you need to get the premium version and its add-ons. With premium add-ons, you can integrate Google Maps into your events, sell tickets and integrate with zoom to host online events.

You can even set up a split payment with Stripe to send a commission to the hosting venue. Adding a split payment option is also a great venue marketing idea to maximize sales if you are a venue manager.

Features:

• Location setting and grouping
• Google Maps
• WooCommerce Tickets
• QR Code generator
• Recurring events
• Zoom integration
• WooCommerce and Stripe payments
• Mobile app

Price: $99 for plus, $199 for pro, $299 for virtual pro, $399 for all pro plan

2. The Events Calendar

If you are looking for a fully-fledged and customizable event booking app, The Events Calendar is here for you. Everything is integrated into your WordPress dashboard. You don’t need to go anywhere else to manage all your events.

Being the first events calendar plugin published on WordPress, it had a lot of time to develop and adapt to customer needs. The Events Calendar is built to work out-of-box, so there is no steep learning curve or difficulties while using this plugin.

It is packed with features such as RSVPs, Email confirmations alongside Paypal and Stripe (they take a 2% commission on top of standard Stripe commission in the free version) integration to accept payments even in the free version. If you want to pay the price, you get even more features.

Google Maps, Calendar, location search, calendar shortcodes, recurring events and photo supports all come included in the pro package. It is also possible to create an manage virtual events with its Zoom integration.

With its mobile event booking app, it is possible to manage everything on the go.

Features:

• Free RSVP and email confirmations
• PayPal and Stripe support
• Google Maps and Google Calendar support
• Multiple locations and location-based filtering
• Recurring events
• QR Code generator
• Zoom integration
• Specific venue pages
• Mobile app

Price: $99/Year

3. Events Manager

One great event ticketing tool is the Events Manager plugin for WordPress. It combines flexibility with many great features that come in the free version.

Events Manager is a reliable and full-featured tool. While most of the WordPress event ticketing plugins hide the most useful features behind a paywall, this plugin provides a considerable amount of them for free.

Google Maps integration, booking management, Google Calendar integration, Zoom support, confirmation emails, customizable templates, limited participation, recurring events and even tax management are included in the free version.

If you decide to upgrade to the premium version, you will be able to accept payments directly from your website, generate QR Codes and send ticket PDFs to customers, enable waitlists and even integrate your even ticketing tools into your WooCommerce website.

Features:

• CSV import (includes Google Sheets, Zoom, iCal, Excel and meetup.com)
• WooCommerce integration
• Multiple location support and filtering
• Automated Emails
• WordPress user integration
• Webhooks and Zapier automation
• Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net payment gateways
• Zoom integration
• QR Code generator
• Duplicating events

Price: Free, $89/Year for Pro version

4. Event Organiser

This WordPress event booking app is great for people offering their services in multiple locations with multiple languages used.

Event Organiser comes with a powerful set of features to streamline your event organization process. Even if you decide to cut back costs and get the free version, you can still effectively manage your business with ease.

You can set up a fully functional calendar, add agenda widgets, create custom permissions, import from and export to CSV files and create recurring events without paying a dime.

In the pro version, it is possible to customize emails, customize booking forms, add featured images, determine flexible booking rules and ask for advanced event-venue queries. It natively supports 40+ languages so that you can offer your services to different countries and cultures.

However, it should be noted aesthetics of this WordPress event calendar plugin feels a bit outdated. You should probably use a better-looking plugin if you are operating in a more competitive market.

Features:

• Google Maps add-on
• Shortcodes and widgets
• Event listings
• Subscription to events
• Event functions

Price: Free, £120 for full access

5. Event Espresso 4

Event Espresso 4 is a great WordPress event ticketing plugin that can help transform your business. It is an excellent option if you also need ticketing in your business operations.

This event booking plugin comes with the functions you need most. Whether you use the decaf (free) version or pay for extra features, some core features come included.

Within the free version, you can do all; create events, accept registrations, send confirmation emails, manage attendee details, set limits to events and accept payments via PayPal. If you decide these features are enough, you are good to go with the free version.

However, if you decide to go with the premium version, you can add Google Maps integration, set multiple ticket tiers and charge accordingly, customize emails, accept payments via additional payment gateways and handle taxes within the application.

One great benefit of Event Espresso is its WordPress integration. You don’t need to learn and adapt to a different system. Everything is handled via the default WordPress dashboard.

Features:

• Google Maps add-on
• Customizable emails
• Attendee registration forms
• Mobile app
• PayPal, Authorize.net payment gateways
• Staff management

Price: Free, $99.95 for Personal, $359.95 for Developer Support (5 websites), $359.95 for Everything support (1 website with all features)

6. TicketTailor

TicketTailor is an all-rounded event ticketing app with users in mind. It gives a different perspective to the whole event ticketing business.

We should note that it is not only a  WordPress event ticketing plugin but an integrated system that also has a WP plugin. So, a lot of things are done differently in TicketTailor. For example, pricing, you don’t pay a yearly subscription or get by a single payment. Rather, you pay based on your ticket sales. If you only host free events, you can use this plugin for free.

As you pay based on your event type, you don’t essentially have a free and premium version. This means you get access to all features and benefits in any case.

You can add unlimited events and ticket types, create recurring events, keep records of all transactions, accept payments via Google Pay and Apple Pay, set up conversion tracking via Google Analytics and even send your phone a notification every time you sell a ticket.

Features:

• Maps integration
• Mobile app
• Unique QR codes
• Calendar integration
• Recurring events and waitlists
• Automatic confirmation emails
• Password-protected ticket types

Price: Free, $0.26 commission for 1 ticket if you pay beforehand, $0.65 commission for tickets as they are sold

7. EventON

EventON is a premium and stunning WordPress event calendar plugin. Even if it didn’t have any features, looks alone were enough to give this plugin a try.

Although EventON is a premium plugin, the developing team still offers a lite version. But don’t let the word lite fool you. It is still a powerful tool with formidable features.

The lite version comes with unlimited and recurring events, multiple day event support, one featured image, event categorization and filtering features, as well as Google Calendar, timezone conversion and PayPal support.

With the premium version, powerful customization features come in. It is possible to customize event messages, each part of the calendar listings and customized messages when there are no events. You also need the paid version if you want to add Zoom integration or make use of webhooks on your website.

Unfortunately, you don’t get a mobile app or generate QR codes with this plugin, so you will need to rely on other tools. But considering its relatively affordable price and aesthetics, it is easy to overlook these roadblocks.

Features:

• Google Maps support
• Recurring events
• Google Calendar integration
• PayPal payments
• Webhooks
• Zoom integration
• Live event views

Price: Free, $25 for a lifetime license

8. Calendarize it!

Originally, Calendarize it! is a versatile WordPress calendar. What makes it special is the numerous add-ons and a little bit of tweaking.

Unfortunately, you won’t get the full functionality of an event booking app even if you get Calendarize it! from codecanyon. You still need to get a few add-ons to get the full functionality.

But if you consider paying, here is what you will get: a fully functional calendar with upcoming events, map view, custom buttons, featured image, timetable, events countdown, ratings and reviews, WooCommerce event tickets, Eventbrite tickets (the last two are paid).

This plugin best suits businesses that are hosting multiple recurring events, as it shows all of the events in the calendar instead of a listing.

Features:

• Viewing in maps
• External event sources (linking with Facebook)
• Recurring events
• Calendar view for events
• RSVP options
• WooCommerce event tickets
• Extensive linking

Price: $29 for the regular license, $89 for WooCommerce event ticket add-on

9. Timely All-in-One Event Calendar

Another WordPress event calendar plugin that’s worth a shot is Timely. It is also a standalone software that also has a WP integration.

Unfortunately, essential features like Google Maps integration, the ability to accept payments and ticketing options are not included in the free version.

However, the free version still gives you plenty of features if you are hosting free events. Creating multiple-day, recurring or never-ending events is straightforward. You can also add featured photos and videos to your events, filter by event categories and share all your events in a Google Calendar.

When you upgrade to the premium plans, you also get extended features like Google Maps integration, QR code generation, mobile app support, multiple payment gateways, email marketing options, invoicing and taxing and real-time ticket availability views.

We should also mention that there are a lot of customization options. This plugin and its files are translated into 14+ different languages. They also have several design templates and custom theme-creating options.

Features:

• Google Maps integration
• Mobile app
• QR code generator
• Calendar support
• Event response forms
• Zoom, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams integration
• PayPal, Stripe and Square payment gateways

Price: Free, Paid (there are no standard subscriptions and you should book a call to get a quote)

10. Eventin

Last but not least on our list is Eventin. It is a WooCommerce event manager plugin that helps you sell event tickets from an e-commerce website.

This plugin is feature-packed! You get tons of functionalities even in the free version. You can show the events in a listing, create recurring events and event calendars, ticketing options and individual tickets for each attendee, get detailed reports for attendees, add pages about speakers in your events and accept payments via WooCommerce payment options.

The pro version adds on top of them. With integration with major service providers such as Zoom, Zapier and Pabbly, Twilio SMS, you can easily automate a big chunk of the event management process.

Eventin also integrates with Dokan, a  major WooCommerce plugin. Thanks to this integration, you can easily create a multi-vendor event booking plugin on your website.

One major drawback of this plugin is its dependence on WooCommerce. As it is a plugin developed with WooCommmerce users in mind, you can’t add it to your WordPress website.

Features:

• Google Maps
• QR code generator
• Multiple calendar support (Outlook, Google, Yahoo!)
• Analytics reports
• Zoom integration
• Zapier and Pabbly automation
• Multi vendor website support
• Webhooks
• WooCommerce, Stripe payment options

Price: Free, $169 for a lifetime license

Conclusion

If you are an event organizer looking forward to making your life easier, event management software is your biggest help.

In this post, we mentioned several WordPress event booking plugins and their most important features so you can find the solution right for you.