Best Guest List Apps With QR Check-In in 2026: 5 Tools Compared

If you need a guest list app that scans QR codes at the door, here is the short version. GuestlistOnline is the best guest list app for most events, including nightclubs, promoters, galas and private parties, because it has a free plan, offline QR scanning on any phone and built-in ticketing. zkipster is best for luxury, invite-only events that need seating charts and badge printing and have a budget of $500 a month or more. GuestQueue is best for a nightclub with a weekly promoter roster and no paid entry. OneTap Check-In is best for recurring attendance, such as classes, training and memberships. RSVPify is best for formal seated events with complex RSVP forms and a drag-and-drop seating chart.

This roundup compares the five on what matters at the door: whether there is a free plan, what the first paid step costs, whether the scanner keeps working when the signal drops, and whether you can sell tickets from the same tool. Every price comes from the vendors' own pricing pages, checked between September and November 2026.

Comparison table

GuestlistOnline

GuestlistOnline is an event guest list platform from an EU company that covers the whole route from invitation to door: an RSVP or registration page per event, a guest list with CSV import, email invitations and reminders, a QR code per guest, a scanner that works offline, paid tickets and promoter links. It runs in seven languages across the dashboard and the guest pages, and it is hosted in the EU.

The free plan covers one event with up to 50 guests, including the guest list, the RSVP page and manual check-in, with no credit card. Per Event is €19.99 one-off for unlimited guests at a single event, with QR check-in, templates, branding, a gift fund and five team members. Pro is €29 a month or €249 a year for unlimited events and guests, with analytics, 50 team members and a 7-day trial. Ticketing is built in: no fees on free events, and 5% + €0.25 per paid ticket with payment processing included, paid out through your own Stripe account. Full details are on the pricing page.

GuestlistOnline wins at the door. The scanner is a progressive web app you install from the browser on iPhone or Android, with no app store involved. It downloads the guest list before doors open, scans with no signal and syncs the results afterwards, and several devices can work the same list with door-staff access tokens. Promoters get their own links, and commissions are calculated per promoter. Where it falls short: there is no seating chart beyond grouping guests by table with tags, no badge printing, no SMS, and the API and webhooks sit on the Enterprise plan. See how the QR check-in and promoter tracking work.

zkipster

zkipster is enterprise guest management for high-profile events, the kind run by agencies, luxury brands, museums and corporate teams. It covers invitations, RSVP forms, seating, badge printing and a check-in app with kiosk mode. It is a Swiss company hosting in Swiss and EU Azure data centres with ISO 27001 certification.

There is no free plan; the Test Drive was discontinued in May 2025, and the smallest purchase is one month of Essentials. Essentials is $500 a month or $2,950 a year and covers check-in only. Invitations, RSVP forms, QR generation, seating and badges start at Professional, $850 a month or $4,900 a year. Enterprise is a custom annual quote. SMS and WhatsApp run on credits, with packs at $150 per 500.

zkipster is best for seating and badges. It offers floorplans with auto-seating, table-share links and printable seating PDFs, wireless badge printing, guest photos and consent forms at the door, and a true offline mode in its iOS and Android apps with unlimited devices synced in real time. Where it falls short: it does not sell tickets (Zkipster Payments is a layer over your own Stripe account, on Professional and up), there is no promoter tracking, no waitlist, the interface is English only, and a one-off gala still means buying a subscription. Read the full GuestlistOnline vs zkipster comparison.

GuestQueue

GuestQueue does one thing: guest lists for nightclubs, lounges and promoters, in the browser on any device with no app download. Each promoter gets a public or private list with its own sign-up link, guest limit, close time and plus-one cap. Guests receive a QR code by email that they can add to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, and the reports show who checked in, when they arrived and which list they came from, with a male and female split.

The free plan allows 30 guest sign-ups per event date with one public and two private lists and four account users. Standard is $109 a month for 250 sign-ups per event date, Deluxe $209 for 600 and Premium $309 for 1,200. Pay-as-you-go credit packs start at $109 for 250 guests and never expire. Every plan includes the full feature set, Wallet passes, a Guest API and Zapier; text messages need separately purchased SMS credits.

GuestQueue is best for the weekly promoter routine, where you pay promoters on bodies through the door rather than on sign-ups. Where it falls short: there is no ticketing at all, so a venue that charges entry runs a second tool at the door. Pricing scales with guest sign-ups. No offline mode is published, the site mentions no language other than English, and the privacy policy names no hosting region. Read the full GuestlistOnline vs GuestQueue comparison.

OneTap Check-In

OneTap Check-In is attendance software. People check themselves in with a QR pass, a check-in code or an iPad kiosk where they tap their own name, and every check-in and check-out lands on a report you can export to Excel, CSV or PDF. It is built for recurring programmes such as training, continuing education, schools, after-school clubs and memberships, although it also sells a guest list app for events.

Pricing is per active profile on annual plans only. The free plan covers up to 20 profiles and three collaborators. Basic is $599.88 a year for 250 profiles, Standard $839.88 for 500, Pro $1,199.88 for 1,000, and Custom starts at $2,400. Its FAQ says monthly billing is not offered.

OneTap Check-In is best for compliance and recurring attendance: check-out times and time on site per person, on-screen signatures, a QR code that refreshes every 20 seconds against proxy check-ins, time and location restrictions, and Zapier, Make, n8n and Jotform from the first paid plan. Where it falls short for events: the FAQ says you need internet access to check people in, the admin app is iOS only, there is no RSVP page, no plus-ones, no capacity limit, no ticketing and no promoter tracking, and data lives in AWS North Virginia. Read the full GuestlistOnline vs OneTap Check-In comparison.

RSVPify

RSVPify is an RSVP and registration platform for businesses and nonprofits running registration-heavy events. Its strengths are RSVP forms with conditional logic, a drag-and-drop seating chart that stays in sync with the guest list, plus-ones and household RSVPs, dietary and meal fields, sub-events, and default form fields auto-translated into 28 languages. It is SOC 2 Type II audited and states GDPR and CCPA compliance.

The free plan runs one event at a time with 100 registrations a month and 100 invited guests per event. Starter is $39 a month or $24 billed yearly and adds the seating chart. The browser-based check-in app with unlimited door staff arrives on Plus at $125 a month or $89 billed yearly. Professional is $409 or $299, and Enterprise is quote only, which is where kiosk mode, full white-label and conditional logic live. Selling tickets needs no subscription: the fee is 1.95% + $0.90 per ticket, which the host may pass to the buyer, with Stripe card processing charged separately.

RSVPify is best for formal seated galas, weddings and corporate dinners where the seating plan is the hard part, and for free events with between 50 and 100 guests. Where it falls short: offline check-in is not advertised and the help docs describe an internet-connected app, check-in is a paid feature from Plus, hosting is US-based with no EU region advertised, and there is no promoter tracking for hosts. Read the full GuestlistOnline vs RSVPify comparison.

How to choose a guest list app

Five plain questions settle most decisions.

1. Does the door have signal? Basement clubs, festival fields and old buildings often do not. Only GuestlistOnline and zkipster publish an offline mode. OneTap requires internet, and GuestQueue and RSVPify do not advertise offline scanning.
2. Do you charge entry? If yes, you want ticketing in the same tool as the guest list. GuestlistOnline and RSVPify sell tickets; zkipster, GuestQueue and OneTap do not.
3. How does the price scale? GuestQueue counts guest sign-ups per event date, OneTap counts active profiles per year, RSVPify counts registrations per month, and zkipster is a monthly subscription from $500. GuestlistOnline prices by plan with unlimited guests on every paid plan, which keeps a large list cheap.
4. Do you need seating or badges? If the seating chart or the badge printer matters as much as the list, choose RSVPify or zkipster. GuestlistOnline offers neither.
5. Where must the data live? GuestlistOnline hosts in the EU and zkipster in Switzerland and the EU. RSVPify and OneTap host in the US, and GuestQueue does not state a region. If your legal team asks, this decides it before any feature does.

Verdict by event type

Nightclub with promoters

GuestlistOnline is the best guest list app for a nightclub that charges entry or sells tables: promoter links with commissions, offline scanning at the door, unlimited guests on every paid plan and tickets at 5% + €0.25 with processing included. GuestQueue is the better choice when the same promoter roster runs every week, nobody pays at the door and you want Wallet passes and a gender split in the reports. See the nightclub guest list setup.

Gala with approvals

GuestlistOnline is the best choice when the hard part is who gets in: guest approval, a capacity limit that closes registration when full, scheduled opening, and a QR ticket issued only after approval. If the hard part is the seating plan, RSVPify's synced seating chart from $24 a month billed yearly is the better fit, and if you also need badge printing and consent forms at the door, zkipster from $850 a month is built for it.

Conference

For a registration-heavy conference with sub-events, meal choices and a seating plan, RSVPify is the better tool. For a conference with badge printing and session check-in, zkipster is the one to look at. For a paid conference with straightforward registration, QR tickets and an offline door, GuestlistOnline does the job at €19.99 for the event or €29 a month.

Private party

GuestlistOnline is free for a party of up to 50 guests, including the RSVP page and manual check-in, and €19.99 one-off for a bigger one with QR check-in and your own branding. RSVPify's free plan stretches to 100 invited guests, so a free party between 50 and 100 guests is cheaper there, as long as you do not need the check-in app, which starts on Plus.

Recurring class or membership

OneTap Check-In is the best choice when the same people check in week after week and you need check-out times, time on site, signatures or anti-proxy rules. GuestlistOnline is built around the one-off event and does not track check-out or duration. If your recurring group is small, OneTap is free for up to 20 profiles.

Whichever tool you pick, start with the free plan on the pricing page and test the scanner at your own door before the event.

Frequently Asked Questions