5 WordPress Event Calendar Plugins for Selling Tickets

Managing events can certainly be a tough task, in terms of managing schedules, selling tickets, or even keeping your audience updated. Event calendar plugins make up quite an effective and easy way to manage events on a WordPress site. In this post, you’ll learn all the benefits of using these plugins and how they can make your life much easier while increasing ticket sales.

We will also cover important considerations you need to be eyeing while choosing the correct plugin and then review the top five recommended event calendar plugins with all their features, pricing, pros, and cons.

Key Takeaways

• Event Calendar Plugins Simplify Event Management: These plugins provide a streamlined solution for organizing events, managing schedules, and selling tickets.
• Revenue Opportunities: With the Event Tickets market projected to reach $85.07bn in 2024, using the right plugin can help you capitalize on this opportunity by providing a smooth and professional user experience.
• Top Plugins Offer Diverse Features: The top five plugins—Event Tickets and Registration, Ticket Tailor, The Events Calendar, WP Event Manager, and Eventin.
• Choosing the Right Plugin: Key factors such as compatibility, customization, integration, user feedback, and support should be considered when selecting the best plugin for your event marketing efforts.

What are Event Calendar Plugins?

Event calendar plugins are designed to extend event management and promotion on a WordPress website. A bundle of plugins that makes the task of event scheduling easy by creating, grouping, and then displaying several events. They have a variety of features that can be added, such as custom event listings, ticket systems to sell tickets, reminders to the attendees, and calendar integration for events to be structured in an orderly manner.

The right plugin can make the best-in-class user experience in community events, online gatherings, or even corporate functions. The revenue of the Event Tickets market is expected to reach US$85.07bn by 2024, so you have a huge opportunity to shine above your competition with the help of the right plugin at your disposal in creating an easy and seamless user experience. 

Benefits of Using Event Calendar Plugins

Installing event calendar plugins on a WordPress site has a host of benefits in the following: 

• Simplifies event planning and management 
• Improves user experience by having accessible details regarding an event 
• Increases attendee turnout through customizable ticket systems, reminders, and other calling card features 
• Streamlines attendee registration and check-in processes 
• Supports SEO optimization for higher and better event visibility 
• Provides flexible event scheduling and adjustments 
• Increases ticket sales because of integrated payment gateways with marketing tools 
• Reporting tools for performance optimization and improvement in the future

Factors to Consider when Choosing an Event Calendar Plugin

When choosing an Event Calendar Plugin for your WordPress site, there are some factors that should be taken into consideration. These are:

• Compatibility with existing WordPress themes and plugins: Ensures seamless functionality and a mobile-friendly user experience.
• Customization options: Allows for tailoring the plugin’s appearance and functionality to match your site’s design and needs.
• Integration features: Supports payment gateways, social media platforms, and marketing tools to boost engagement and attendance.
• Regular updates and support: Ensures the plugin remains functional, secure, and compatible over time.
• User feedback and ratings: Provides insights into the plugin’s real-world performance and reliability.
• Analytics and reporting tools: Offers valuable insights into attendee behavior and event performance.
• Automated event reminders: Keeps participants informed and engaged, reducing no-shows.

Top 5 WordPress Event Calendar Plugins for Selling Tickets

In choosing the best event calendar plugins to sell tickets on your WordPress website, a few leading options can provide a perfect blend of strong features, ease of use, and user reviews. These plugins enable easy creation and management of events, smooth integration with ticketing systems, payment gateways, and marketing tools, and make selling tickets much easier.

Let’s outline the top five plugins that might squeeze in the most from your event management experience:

1. Event Espresso

Event Espresso is a fully featured WordPress plugin that helps to facilitate event registration, ticketing, and management for any business, organization, or event planner. With Event Espresso, users can quickly and easily create events, manage registrations of attendees, and sell tickets directly from their WordPress website. It would fit quite well in situations where one wants to automate the process of event registration, offering an interface that is easy to deal with but at the same time able to detail events, ticket kinds, and even payment options.

The plugin does little without its add-ons, including discount codes, waitlists, and social media integration, that help make it fit into so many different types of events—from small workshops to large conferences. It also has embedded reporting tools that might be quite useful in keeping up-to-date registration data, observing the sales process, and understanding attendee behavior.

Key Features:

• Advanced event registration and ticketing system
• Customizable registration forms and ticket types
• Integration with popular payment gateways
• Built-in reporting and analytics tools

Pros:

• Highly customizable for different event types
• Extensive add-ons for enhanced functionality
• Strong support and documentation

Con:

• Can be overwhelming for beginners
• Some features require paid add-ons

Pricing:

• Offers a free version called “Event Espresso Decaf” with basic features. For advanced features and add-ons, premium plans start at $79.95 per year.

2. Ticket Tailor – Event Ticketing and Event Registration

Ticket Tailor is a ticketing solution to provide event organizers with a strong and cost-effective way to sell tickets online. Unlike most ticketing platforms, Ticket Tailor does not charge per-ticket fees, hence the main reason it becomes attractive to a variety of events. This plugin integrates seamlessly with your WordPress site so you can handle ticket sales and all other registrations from the comfort of your dashboard.

This plugin features extended functionality, including ticket types that can be customized, email notifications, and a user-friendly interface for event management. With simplicity and ease in its usage and affordability, Ticket Tailor will help organizers raise maximum money out of pocket without compromising on features. It integrates with multiple payment gateways, easing checkout for the attendees in a secure environment.

Key Features:

• No per-ticket fees
• Customizable ticket types and pricing
• Integration with multiple payment gateways
• Automated email notifications, reminders
• Deep analytics and reporting features

Pros:

• Cost-effective with no hidden fees
• Easy to set up and use
• Robust ticketing and registration features

Cons:

• Limited customization options compared to more advanced plugins
• Lacks built-in event calendar functionality

Pricing:

• Free with no per-ticket fees; additional costs may apply for payment gateway transactions.

Further reading: 9 Best WordPress Backup Plugins to Protect Your Site in 2024

3. The Events Calendar

The Events Calendar is a fully-featured event management system that provides overall creation, promotion, and management of events. It is highly customizable and integrates well with WordPress—being the top choice among businesses, organizations, and individuals handling complicated schedules for events and ticket sales. The Events Calendar will drive anything from simple meetups to large conferences.

The Events Calendar is strong in one of the major aspects: flexibility in handling events of several types and ticket possibilities. This is represented by different features, including recurring events, multiple ticket types, and Payment Gateway Integration. It offers greater features on event reminders, RSVPs, and attendee management, which increase event attendance and really make the whole lifecycle of events easier to manage.

Key Features:

• Supports recurring events and multiple ticket types
• Customizable event pages and ticketing options
• Integration with major payment gateways
• Detailed attendee management and reporting tools
• Built-in SEO features to improve event visibility

Pros:

• Comprehensive event management and ticketing features
• Highly customizable and scalable
• Strong community support and regular updates

Cons:

• Advanced features require a premium version
• Steeper learning curve for beginners

Pricing:

• Free with basic features; premium versions are available starting at $99 per year.

4. WP Event Manager

WP Event Manager is a light, fully extensible event and ticket sales plugin for WordPress. It is particularly useful for event organizers who want an easy and flexible solution that can be tailored according to their needs. With a modular approach, WP Event Manager allows you to add features only when required, therefore offering a very cost-effective solution for small to medium-sized events.

Comes along with event listing, ticketing, and attendee management. It’s also integrated with popular payment gateways and has a user-friendly interface for organizers and attendees alike. Whether it’s single events or multiple at once, WP Event Manager provides all the necessary tools to make the process smooth and get more ticket sales.

Key Features:

• Modular design with add-ons for extended functionality
• Customizable event listings and ticketing options
• Integration with popular payment gateways
• User-friendly dashboard for event management
• SEO-friendly and mobile responsive

Pros:

• Flexible and modular with a wide range of add-ons
• Lightweight and easy to use
• Affordable with customizable features

Cons:

• Some essential features require paid add-ons
• Limited out-of-the-box functionality without add-ons

Pricing:

• Free with basic features; premium add-ons available for extended functionality.

5. Eventin

Eventin is an all-in-one event management and ticketing solution for WordPress users. With features oriented toward easing the process of creating, promoting, and managing your events, whether virtual or in-person, it bundles a strong ticketing system with fully customizable event pages and third-party service integrations—whatever it takes to make both organizers’ and attendees’ lives easy.

The most outstanding features of Eventin are its capabilities for managing multiple events, multiple ticket types, and diversified payment gateways, making it highly versatile for different types of events. It has marketing tools such as email notifications, discount codes, and social sharing options, all of which will help in increasing event visibility and ticket sales. Eventin is thus the perfect solution for event organizers who want a full package that offers power and flexibility.

Key Features:

• Supports multiple events and ticket types
• Customizable event pages with built-in templates
• Integration with major payment gateways and third-party services
• Marketing tools like discount codes and email notifications
• Detailed reporting and analytics

Pros:

• Comprehensive feature set for event management and ticketing
• Highly customizable with pre-built templates
• Strong marketing tools for boosting ticket sales

Cons:

• Some features may be overwhelming for small events
• Limited support for advanced customization without coding knowledge

Pricing:

• Free with basic features; premium versions are available starting at $59 per year.

Summary

The ideal kind of event calendar plugins will surely make a difference in managing events on your WordPress site. Whether it is a small meet-and-greet or a large business conference, these plugins offer the needed tools to smoothen operations, boost ticket sales, and perfect the experience for attendees. With the right plugin, you are ensured that you will have an organized, visible, and successful event.

Want to make sure that the best of WordPress plugin is harnessed and propelling your event marketing business forward? Polar Mass has got your back for all your WordPress Maintenance needs. Let our experts choose and integrate the perfect event calendar plugin so you can take your event management to the next level and increase your business!

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