- Start with the type of tool, not the brand
- For planners, coordinators and small studios
- Planning software that holds the event, not just the deal
- For venues, caterers and hotel event teams
- What a planner's CRM has to do that a sales CRM doesn't
- Where the planning side fits
- Check where they'll support you
- How the cost adds up
- Which family to pick for your business
The best CRM for event planners is the one built around the thing your business sells: your time, the event itself, or a space. Freelance planners usually do best with a client-management platform, busy planning firms with event-specific software, and venues or caterers with a venue system.
Are you selling a service, running an event, or renting a room? That one question sorts nearly every CRM an event business looks at. A wedding planner, a corporate events agency, a caterer and a hotel sales team all "track enquiries", but the shape of the work after the enquiry is completely different.
Start with the type of tool, not the brand
Event CRMs fall into three families. Read across the row that sounds like your week.
| Type of tool | Built around | Usually suits | How the bill grows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client-management platform | The client: enquiry, proposal, contract, invoice, scheduling | Solo planners, coordinators and small studios | A subscription, monthly or annual, sometimes with extra charges per brand |
| Event-planning software | The event and the client: leads, client portal, payments, timelines | Planners juggling many weddings or events a year | The number of live projects you're running |
| Venue and catering system | The space or the menu: booking calendar, floor plans, proposals, catering | Venues, caterers, hotels and event facilities | Per location, or a plan plus a charge per extra user |
The trap is buying from the wrong family because a friend in a different kind of event business loves their tool. A solo planner on a venue system pays for floor-plan and room-booking features they'll never open. A venue on a freelancer tool ends up running its calendar in a spreadsheet next to it.
For planners, coordinators and small studios
HoneyBook
An all-in-one client platform covering CRM, proposals, contracts, invoices and scheduling, with event services such as planners and caterers among its named business types.
Dubsado
Client management that leans on forms and automated workflows; event, management and coordination businesses get their own pages on its site.
17hats
A small-business suite with pipelines, quotes, contracts and invoices, where every contact gets a client portal holding their event details.
Planning software that holds the event, not just the deal
Aisle Planner
Made for event pros rather than adapted for them: lead management, a client portal, payments and project management under one login.
Planning Pod
Venue-first event management with a booking calendar, floor plans, proposals, contracts and payments, which independent planners can use too.
For venues, caterers and hotel event teams
Perfect Venue
Inquiries, proposals, payments and the running of each event, all from a system designed for venues.
Tripleseat
Venues and hotels use it to take an event from first inquiry through proposal and payment to the planning of the day itself.
Event Temple
Sales and catering software for hotels and venues, combining a booking engine, a pipeline CRM and proposals.
Caterease
Catering businesses run leads, event bookings, menus and payments through it, and it's used by event planners too.
EventPro
Venue and event management for event facilities, with booking, catering and beverage management folded into one system.
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What a planner's CRM has to do that a sales CRM doesn't
A general sales CRM is built to move a deal to "won". For an event business, "won" is where the work starts. Between the signed contract and the day itself you'll send a questionnaire, chase a deposit, collect the balance, build a timeline, share it with suppliers and answer forty emails. The tools on this page all handle at least part of that run, which is why they suit event work better than a pipeline tool bought for a sales team.
When you trial one, test the whole path rather than the demo. Take a real enquiry from last month and run it through: the enquiry form, the proposal with packages, the contract, the deposit invoice, the payment reminder and the client's view of it all. If any step makes you leave the tool, that's where you'll be doing admin at eleven at night.
Give it an hour per tool. Spend 10 minutes building the enquiry form and sending yourself a test enquiry, 15 on a proposal with two packages, 10 on the contract and signature, 10 on the deposit invoice and an automatic reminder, and the last 15 logged in as the client on your phone. Do the same in a second trial the next day with the same enquiry. Whichever one you finished without a workaround is your answer.
Where the planning side fits
Some planners only want the sales half: enquiry to signed contract to paid invoice. Others want timelines, guest lists, floor plans and supplier details in the same place. Be honest about which you are. If you already run events in a separate planning tool you like, a client-management platform that does contracts and payments well is enough. If the CRM has to hold the event as well, look at event-planning software or a venue system with floor plans.
For the bigger operational picture, such as ticketing, agendas and attendee apps, a CRM isn't the right tool at all; our guide to event management software covers that category, and if guests sign up online, the event registration software guide is the better starting point.
Check where they'll support you
HoneyBook, for instance, says it only supports professionals based in the U.S., Canada, UK or Australia. If you're elsewhere, read the support terms of every tool before you move your client list.
Do you make CRM tools for event planners and venues? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
How the cost adds up
Most of the bill comes from the business model of each family, so model that first. On the vendors' own pricing pages, client-management platforms run from $29 to $60 a month, the low end on annual billing, and one sells annual plans only, at $335 to $525 a year with a charge for each extra brand. Venue and catering systems publish from $99 to $249 a month before extras, and the extras are where it grows: a charge per additional location at one, per additional user at another.
Aisle Planner, for one, prices by how many live projects you're running, so a busy season moves you up a tier. Planning Pod, Tripleseat and EventPro don't publish prices, so expect a demo and a quote.
Work out your number before the demo: events per year, how many run at the same time in peak season, locations, and how many people need a login.
Which family to pick for your business
- Solo wedding or event planner: a client-management platform with good contracts, invoices and a client portal. Wedding specialists may also want to compare the tools in our wedding planner software guide.
- Planning firm running dozens of events a year: event-planning software priced by live projects, with timelines in the same place as the client.
- Venue with one or two spaces: a venue system with a booking calendar, floor plans and proposals.
- Caterer: catering software that handles menus as well as bookings and payments.
- Hotel or multi-venue group: sales and catering software built for properties, and expect pricing to be set on a call.
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