Best event seating chart software

How this list is ranked

• Ranked on how well each tool gets a specific person into a specific seat, by assigning a guest list or by letting ticket buyers choose, rather than on how much else the product does.
• Two different jobs share this search term: seating a guest list for a dinner or wedding, and selling assigned seats as tickets. Each entry says which one it does.
• Map D publishes this list, which is a conflict of interest. Its documented seating features draw tables and chairs to scale on a floor plan but do not assign named guests to seats outside matchmaking round tables, so on this weighting it is listed last.
• Pricing is noted as published or not; no competitor figures are quoted.

1. 1

   PerfectTablePlan

   Weddings, galas and banquets where who sits next to whom is the whole job

   Strengths

   • Assigns guests to seats automatically or by drag and drop.
   • Manages guest details, RSVPs, meal choices and seating preferences.
   • A desktop app for Windows and Mac that works offline, with a free trial and published one-time pricing.

   Limitations

   • It is desktop software, and its home page does not mention a web version, so working on a live chart with a venue or team is not its model.
   • Its home page describes seating plans only, not ticket sales, check-in or exhibit floor plans.
2. 2

   Social Tables (Cvent)

   Planners and venues diagramming banquets and meetings together

   Strengths

   • Describes itself as a collaborative event design platform for planners and venues, with to-scale event diagrams built in minutes.
   • Visual seating charts tied to attendee details, with meal management, and real-time collaboration, commenting and file storage.
   • A free planner plan that includes seating attendees on a diagram, with paid plans published on its pricing page.
   • Photo-realistic 3D walkthroughs of the event space.

   Limitations

   • The free plan caps events, diagrams per event and attendees per list; paid plans carry a 12-month commitment, and 3D rendering is listed only for Enterprise or as a separate product.
   • Attendee check-in is listed only on its top Premium plan.
3. 3

   Eventbrite

   Selling assigned seats to the public

   Strengths

   • Reserved seating: buyers pick and pay for specific seats from what Eventbrite calls clickable, shoppable floor plans.
   • Organizers design the layout with drag-and-drop tools, setting out sections, rows and tables and adding stages and bars.
   • Premium seats can be priced higher, and the system can sell the best available reserved seats first.
   • Rates are published on its own pricing page.

   Limitations

   • Seating comes with Eventbrite ticketing, and paid tickets carry a per-ticket service fee plus a per-order processing fee.
   • Its reserved seating page does not mention seat holds or mixing general admission with reserved areas, so confirm those with Eventbrite if you need them.
4. 4

   Ticket Tailor

   Smaller venues selling seated tickets on their own payment account

   Strengths

   • Reserved seating on bespoke seating charts, where attendees reserve their preferred seats.
   • Pay as you sell or buy prepaid credits, with no subscription, through your own Stripe, PayPal or Square account.
   • A free check-in app that works with a phone camera or an external scanner, even without signal.

   Limitations

   • Seated tickets carry a fee even when the ticket itself is free.
   • Seating here is for selling tickets. Seating a dinner guest list with meal choices is not described on its features page.
5. 5

   seats.io

   Ticketing companies and developers adding seat selection to their own platform

   Strengths

   • A floor plan designer for drawing large venues, and a renderer that shows the chart and seat picker inside your own platform.
   • Built to be integrated, with a free testing trial and integration support.
   • Publishes per-seat rates on its pricing page.

   Limitations

   • It is a component, not a ticketing platform: an organizer needs a ticketing system that integrates it, or developers.
   • Billed per used seat against a minimum commitment, and the trial cannot be used to sell seats in production.
6. 6

   Map D

   Shows that need dinner tables and lounge seating drawn on the same plan as the booths

   Strengths

   • The map editor places round, banquet, classroom, cocktail, stage and counter tables, plus chairs, sofas and other lounge pieces, drawn to scale with a seat count on each, and they show on the published floor plan.
   • For matchmaking programmes, round tables seat named attendees at a company's table for a time slot, refusing a seat when the table is full or the person has a clashing appointment.
   • You can draw a floor plan for one event on a free account before choosing a plan; publishing it starts with the Starter plan.

   See what Map D does with a floor plan

   Limitations

   • Map D's help documentation does not describe assigning a guest list to dinner seats, meal choices or place cards. Tables show how many people they seat, not who sits there.
   • Selling a specific seat from a chart is not something Map D documents, and named round-table seating belongs to the matchmaking tools, which are built for business meetings rather than banquets.
   • If seating is the whole job, a per-event trade show platform is the wrong purchase.

Frequently asked questions