Sometimes, the best things in life for an event planner are free! Discover these unique free event planning tools to eliminate hassle, get things done, and increase your productivity.
Explore Time-saving Free Event Planning Tools:
We have carefully handpicked products that are recognized by the event industry for their excellence. Whether they rank as top-rated options on trusted software review websites or have received awards like the Gartner Magic Quadrant, the following free event planning tools will help you work more efficiently.
We have also made sure to include a wide range of options to cover diverse tasks that event planners need to accomplish when starting a new project. From ideation to creating your checklist and assigning tasks, get ready to add at least one of these fantastic event planning tools to your must-have list.
1. Cvent Supplier Network
This event venue search website has the top-rated hotels and event spaces for all types of events nationwide.
You will use it to: Search and connect with the perfect event venue or conference for your business.
Why we love it: The search features are comprehensive - you can narrow down results to include specific layouts, on-site technology, and additional services. Additionally, each listing comes with a 3D space layout for you to visualize your event before setting foot in the venue.
2. Social Tables
Our free event planning software helps you manage all aspects of your event (like finding a venue) without missing any details (like optimized event layouts and check-in lists).
You will use it to: Cover event organization from A to Z.
Why we love it: One standout feature of Social Tables is its 3D diagrams, which help you easily design layouts that maximize the venue space, create detailed seating charts, and optimize guest check-ins. Additionally, you can create successful event plans as templates and reuse them for future projects.
3. Wedding Spot
Wedding Spot is an advanced wedding venue search tool that includes high-demand domestic and international destinations.
You will use it to: Find the perfect wedding and/or reception venue for your budget, style, and location.
Why we love it: All the venues in this directory include the most crucial details right within the search table (including pricing and maximum capacity of the venue). You can also use advanced filters to narrow down your choices. Plus, the selection is truly excellent.
4. Kapow
Kapow is a venue search tool that focuses on helping corporate event planners find unique and creative locations for their events.
You will use it to: Discover unique venues suitable for various popular corporate event types, including happy hours, experiential dining, and VIP meetups.
Why we love it: They offer great package deals, provide accurate space availability information, and offer unique venues and experiences that you can't find on other corporate event search tools.
5. Yodeck
Yodeck is a free digital signage tool designed for both desktop and mobile devices.
You will use it to: Create vendor contracts, gather sponsor signatures, and organize media distribution for event speakers.
Why we love it: They provide a drag-and-drop editor, meaning you can create a new document within minutes. They also organize signed, pending, and stored contracts in an intuitive dashboard so you can keep track of the status of all your documents at a glance.
6. Corkulous
Corkulous is a digital event planning tool that allows you to pin ideas, images, phrases, and examples right from your tablet.
You will use it to: Provide visual support for clients, collate images all in one uncrowded space, and keep inspiration sources connected by linking related webpages.
Why we love it: It's very convenient and easy to use. And because event planners are more visual learners, it provides an excellent way to accurately convey event concepts to partners.
7. Mindmap
This versatile tool helps event planners create a virtual mind map of their event design, task lists, and marketing plan.
You will use it to: Create structured mind sessions throughout the initial design phase and your event concept.
Why we love it: It's a personal tool for you to create and organize your own ideas before bringing them to the rest of the team. They also have plenty of features that allow you to color code, draw, and design your mind maps to your liking.
8. Coggle
Coggle is a collaborative mind mapping tool that is easy to use for projects of all sizes.
You will use it to: Organize priority chains, ideas, and feedback from event stakeholders. You can gather everyone's feedback in one place or add them as users to your Coggle Flow Chart so they can make changes.
Why we love it: If you're working with a team, Coggle helps you ensure that all priorities and ideas are on the same page for everyone to see the overlap or differences. Alternatively, if you manage a team of event planners, you can use Coggle to preview and approve their event plans beforehand.
9. Greetings Island
This free digital card maker can send customizable email invitations for beautifully designed events that match your brand.
You will use it to: Thank sponsors, congratulate event partners, and reward VIPs with links to gift cards, surprise videos, and more.
Why we love it: They have hundreds of templates for every occasion, and you can send them to a recipient list simply by uploading the list to their website.
10. Basecamp
Basecamp is a project management tool that helps organizers achieve team alignment while scaling services to cater to multiple events at once. Their task lists are complex, allowing organizers to break down intricate thoughts into specific action steps.
You will use it to: Manage resources - from budgets to schedules to task assignments, all can be represented, visualized, and tracked with this tool.
Why we love it: Their dashboard pins the entire project file so you can quickly see everything you need to do in one space. You can also communicate with team members within projects, eliminating issues caused by cluttered email threads and chat groups.
11. Monday.com
Monday.com is another project management tool that enables event organizers to keep everyone on the same page. The difference here is how you use it - their platform is highly visual and relies more on images than lists to track open tasks.
You will use it to: Simplify project status updates and manage your event timeline while allowing team members to communicate with each other on the same website.
Why we love it: You can quickly add members to projects via email, drag and drop workflows as needed, and view project data in 4 different ways (like a calendar, bar chart, pie chart, and color-coded list) in the simplest visual forms.
12. Wrike
Wrike focuses on work efficiency, and for event planners, this means being able to draft projects, anticipate and plan for potential hiccups, and collaborate with large teams in one place.
You will use it to: Create repeatable workflows, download real-time event data reports, and organize all your event goals.
Why we love it: While other project management options on this list are also great, Wrike has integrated task automation, meaning event planners can increase productivity without doing anything extra.
13. EZOfficeInventory
This time-saving event organization tool helps you tackle last-minute office details and organize all the necessary hardware for the big day.
You will use it to: Automatically maintain office supplies ordering, describe event decor materials, and establish a borrowing system for your event partners.
Why we love it: The interface is simple and clean. They allow you to take your own photos or pull images from the vendor's website. It's easy to see who has been assigned a microphone, which laptops are still set up for presentations, and who has lost a tablet.
14. Ticket Tailor
Ticket Tailor is a cost-effective ticketing platform that you can customize to fit your event needs and brand.
You will use it to: Create a smart event ticketing website using templates and automate data tracking.
Why we love it: It's great for one-off events or for event planners who need something simple yet beautiful without sacrificing functionality.
15. TicketSource
TicketSource is another ticketing platform that helps event planners organize, promote, and sell out events. It also enables attendees to choose their own seats, automatically receives physical tickets by mail, and prints wristbands at home.
You will use it to: Sell tickets, market your event on social media and via email, then track everything using advanced reporting and analytics.
Why we love it: It's user-friendly yet specific to each venue. So things like a floor plan and seating layout options will be more accurate.
16. ThunderTix
ThunderTix integrates with your existing event website or other favorite event apps and helps organizers sell, refund, and exchange tickets.
You will use it to: Market and sell event tickets, as well as set up gift cards and customer loyalty programs.
Why we love it: If you already have a favorite event website tool, marketing software, or payment processor, ThunderTix can operate incognito to optimize payments as well as handle all other ticket-related tasks.
17. Wild Apricot
This event management tool is membership software designed to help users create groups, market events, and build communities.
You will use it to: Add your VIPs to a special club, organize and assign event volunteers to various activities, and create a secure event registration page that accepts safe payments.
Why we love it: It not only covers some basic needs of event organization but also provides event organizers with the necessary tools to genuinely engage with attendees before, during, and after the event.
18. GiveSmart
GiveSmart is a fundraising software available as a mobile app.
You will use it to: Create an engaging donation platform, add custom branding to any campaign, and manage event ticket sales.
Why we love it: Their users rave about their excellent customer service as well as the ease of use of the platform for both their team and attendees.
19. Avochato
Avochato is a business messaging platform designed to extend communication across all mobile devices as well as uncover new sales opportunities.
You will use it to: Market event ticket flash sales and special packages, organize all attendee contact information into one single dashboard, and increase primary sales.
Why we love it: It's great for sales and customer service. And it integrates with vital relationship management tools like Salesforce and Slack.
Are you ready to start your next event planning project?
Check out these event management tools, some event insurance you might need, and some productivity hacks to save even more time!
