Guest List Software Comparison
GuestlistOnline vs Guest Manager
Flat per-ticket fees and iOS-only offline scanning vs processing included, Android and EU hosting.
Free up to 50 guests · Free plan: no credit card · Free events: no fees
Short answer
Guest Manager is the closest competitor to GuestlistOnline: guest lists, ticketing with PDF and Apple Wallet passes, RSVP and registration, and native iOS check-in for venues, nightclubs, festivals, agencies and corporate events, plus a Shopify ticketing app. It is transparent about ticket fees, a flat $1.00 on On Demand or Planner, dropping to $0.75 on Professional and $0.50 on Concierge, no percentage, but its credit-based plans charge 1 credit for every free ticket issued, free check-in, email or SMS sent, so free guests are not free the way they are on GuestlistOnline. Check-in is iOS only (no Android, and the web app cannot scan), the public RSVP form is deliberately basic, hosting sits in the US with no EU option, and the interface is English only. GuestlistOnline adds Android scanning, EU hosting, seven languages, promoter commissions and a free plan with no credit card.
Side by side
Feature comparison
An honest look at how the two platforms compare.
| Feature | GuestlistOnline | Guest Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Costs & payouts | ||
| Free plan / trial | Free: 1 event, 50 guests, guest list, RSVP page and manual check-in, no credit card | A 50-credit trial with no card required; the On Demand tier itself has no monthly fee, only pay-as-you-go credit packs |
| Subscription tiers | €0 free, €19.99 for a single event, €29/month or €249/year on Pro | Credit-based annual plans: Planner $39/month (3,600 credits/year, 4 devices), Professional $79/month (9,600 credits, 8 devices), Concierge $199/month (24,000 credits, unlimited devices); monthly billing $49/$99/$249; On Demand $0/month plus credit packs from $30 for 100 to $960 for 10,000; EUR equivalents €35/€69/€179 |
| Fee per paid ticket | 5% + €0.25 per ticket in the ticket currency, payment processing included | A flat fee with no percentage: $1.00 on On Demand or Planner, $0.75 on Professional, $0.50 on Concierge (€1.00/€0.75/€0.50); Stripe processing is charged separately, and a full refund returns the fee too |
| Free tickets, RSVPs and check-ins | No fees on free events, on every plan including the free one | Free ticket issuance, free check-ins, RSVPs, emails, SMS alerts and badge prints each spend 1 credit, uploading guests is the one thing that stays free |
| Payments and payouts | Payouts to your own Stripe Connect account as tickets sell | Your own Stripe Connect account, plus cash or check recorded manually and Shopify Payments for the Shopify app; supports USD, CAD, AUD, NZD, GBP and EUR |
| Guest list & RSVP | ||
| Guest import | CSV import with names, email addresses and mapped columns | CSV import with automatic column mapping, a Tags column and a Guests column for party size or plus-ones, deduplication and 50,000+ rows per list |
| Multiple lists and custom fields | Custom questions on the registration page | Multiple lists per event, promoter, sponsor or staff, with per-list counts and list-manager logins, plus 6 custom field types such as dietary requirements |
| Plus-ones | Plus-ones with names and your own wording on the registration page | A "Guests" column on import handles party size, but the public RSVP form itself is deliberately basic, no custom questions, per-guest detail or capacity limit |
| Waitlist and registration | Capacity limit that closes registration when full, plus guest approval | Capacity per ticket type and a waitlist are documented; registration adds order forms, conditional rules, promo codes, bundles, an approval-required mode, scheduled reminders and abandoned-checkout recovery |
| Promoter tracking | Promoter links with commissions and per-promoter reporting | Order channels with tracking links, nested campaigns and auto-tagging promo codes, plus per-list and per-promoter counts in the event report; commission payouts are not published |
| Check-in & door | ||
| Offline check-in | PWA scanner on iOS and Android, installed without an app store, scans with no signal and syncs afterwards | A genuine offline mode with a full local database, sync and cross-device duplicate detection, but iOS and iPadOS only; there is no Android app, and the web check-in tool cannot scan at all |
| Hardware and scanning | Scans from any phone browser; no dedicated hardware | Linea Pro and Socket Mobile scanner sleds, named check-in stations, check-out and verify modes, and multi-use passes; a scanner rental is available for $147 per 3 days, US only |
| Badge printing | Not offered | Brother QL printers only, with a fixed badge layout; device limits vary by plan and kiosk mode is not published |
| Team access | 6 roles, up to 5 team members on Per Event and 50 on Pro | Super User, Regular User, List Manager and check-in staff who sign in with a code and PIN; no read-only role, and users are unlimited on every plan |
| Branding & communication | ||
| Branding and white-label | Custom branding from Per Event (€19.99); full white-label on Enterprise | No Guest Manager branding on tickets, emails or pages by default, with a custom sender domain (DKIM/SPF), HTML templates and custom CSS included; full white-label is a separate Private Label product with a $5,000 deposit, and a custom domain on the standard plans is not published |
| Messaging | Email invitations, reminders and templates, in 7 languages, no SMS blasts | Email campaigns with scheduled reminders and delivery tracking (1 credit per recipient), plus SMS check-in alerts and text-to-guest-list messages (1 credit each); there is no attendee app or push notifications |
| Platform | ||
| Languages | 7 languages in the dashboard, the emails and the registration pages | English only in the app; other languages are handled by sending a translation sheet to support |
| Data hosting | Hosted in the EU, GDPR-compliant | A GDPR compliance statement and a DPA with standard contractual clauses, but hosting is on Heroku and AWS in the US with all subprocessors also in the US and no EU residency option; data is purged 30 days after cancellation |
| API and integrations | REST API and webhooks on Enterprise | A native Shopify app with POS support, Stripe, Mailchimp and Klaviyo tagging, Google and Facebook pixels, Xero, and a REST API v2 that spends 1 credit per ticket issued through it; webhooks and Zapier are not published |
| Export | CSV export of guests, RSVPs, answers and check-in status | CSV export throughout the product |
| Best for | Organisers, venues, clubs and small teams who need a guest list, tickets and a door without a procurement cycle | North American venues, nightclubs, festivals and agencies running high-volume paid ticketing on their own Stripe account or Shopify store, who want flat per-ticket fees, fully unbranded tickets, iPad scanning with hardware sleds and multi-list promoter tracking |
Facts verified on 2026-09-17. Sources are listed at the bottom of this page.
Pricing
What each one costs
GuestlistOnline
- Free €0
1 event, 50 guests, guest list, RSVP page, manual check-in
- Per Event €19.99 one-off
Unlimited guests for one event, QR check-in, templates, branding, gift fund, 5 team members
- Pro €29/month or €249/year
Unlimited events and guests, analytics, organisation settings, 50 team members, 7-day trial
- Enterprise Custom
White-label, API and webhooks, dedicated support and SLA
Free events: no fees. Paid tickets: 5% + 0.25 per ticket in the ticket currency, payment processing included.
Guest Manager
- On Demand $0/month + credit packs
No subscription; credit packs from $30 for 100 to $960 for 10,000; $1.00 flat ticket fee
- Planner $39/month or $49 billed monthly
3,600 credits/year, 4 devices; $1.00 flat ticket fee
- Professional $79/month or $99 billed monthly
9,600 credits/year, 8 devices; $0.75 flat ticket fee
- Concierge $199/month or $249 billed monthly
24,000 credits/year, unlimited devices; $0.50 flat ticket fee
From guestmanager.com/pricing and guestmanager.com/pricing/eur (EUR tiers €35/€69/€179), fetched 17 Sep 2026. 1 credit is spent per free ticket issued, free check-in, email recipient, badge print, RSVP or SMS alert; uploading guests is free. Shopify ticketing runs on separate tiers from $0 + $1/ticket to $999/month + $0.25.
What you pay on 200 × $25 tickets ($5,000 gross)
Guest Manager's flat fee drops with the plan: $1.00 on On Demand or Planner, $0.75 on Professional, $0.50 on Concierge (or €1.00/€0.75/€0.50). The example below uses the $1.00 On Demand rate, the one available with no subscription. Its separate credit system charges 1 credit for every free ticket issued or free check-in, so free guests still cost something, unlike on GuestlistOnline.
Assumes one ticket per order and no VAT differences. Both platforms charge nothing on free tickets.
Key differences
What sets them apart
The details that matter when choosing between the two.
A flat per-ticket fee, with a credit system underneath it
Guest Manager's headline fee is genuinely simple: a flat $1.00, dropping to $0.75 on Professional and $0.50 on Concierge, with no percentage at all. But that is not the whole story, every free ticket issued, free check-in, email, SMS alert or badge print spends 1 credit, and credits are what the $39–$199 monthly plans are sized around. GuestlistOnline charges one published rate, 5% + €0.25 per paid ticket with processing included, and nothing at all on free events, on every plan including the free one.
Offline check-in: real, but iOS only
Guest Manager's offline mode is not a marketing claim, it keeps a full local database on the device, resyncs afterwards and even detects duplicate scans across devices. The catch is platform: iOS and iPadOS only, no Android app at all, and the web check-in tool cannot scan. GuestlistOnline's PWA scanner installs from the browser with no app store on either iPhone or Android, and scans with zero signal the same way.
Hosting and language: both US-only vs EU and seven languages
Guest Manager hosts on Heroku and AWS in the US, with every subprocessor also in the US and no EU residency option, and its interface is English only, other languages need a translation sheet sent to support. GuestlistOnline hosts in the EU and runs in 7 languages across the dashboard, the emails and the registration pages, out of the box.
Where Guest Manager wins: unbranded tickets and promoter lists at volume
Guest Manager puts no branding on tickets, emails or pages by default, supports a custom sender domain with DKIM/SPF out of the box, and offers a full Private Label white-label product for a $5,000 deposit. It also runs multiple guest lists per event, promoter, sponsor, staff, each with its own login and count, plus Linea Pro and Socket Mobile scanner hardware and a native Shopify app. GuestlistOnline's white-label sits on Enterprise only, and it has no dedicated scanner hardware or Shopify integration.
Fair is fair
When Guest Manager is the better choice
If you run North American nightclubs, festivals or agency events selling high volumes of tickets through your own Stripe account or Shopify store, Guest Manager is built for exactly that.
- High-volume paid ticketing where a flat $0.50–$1.00 fee beats a percentage
- iPad scanning with Linea Pro or Socket Mobile hardware sleds at the door
- Multiple guest lists per event, promoter, sponsor, staff, with per-list tracking
- Fully unbranded tickets and emails by default, or full white-label through Private Label
Migration
Switching from Guest Manager
Guest Manager exports guest and order data as CSV throughout the product, and its REST API v2 can pull the same data programmatically, at 1 credit per ticket issued through the API. Export the CSV and import it into GuestlistOnline, mapping names, emails and any custom field answers you want to keep.
- Guest names, email addresses and phone numbers
- Tags and the Guests/plus-one count from the CSV export
- Custom field answers, mapped to custom questions or tags on import
- Check-in history, as the exported record of who arrived and when
- Multiple promoter, sponsor and staff lists with list-manager logins, GuestlistOnline replaces them with promoter links that calculate commissions
- Linea Pro and Socket Mobile hardware pairing, named check-in stations and multi-use passes
- Brother QL badge templates
- Remaining credits, Shopify app configuration and any Private Label white-label setup
Common questions
Frequently asked questions about GuestlistOnline vs Guest Manager.
How much does Guest Manager cost compared with GuestlistOnline?
Guest Manager runs credit-based annual plans, Planner $39/month, Professional $79/month, Concierge $199/month, or On Demand at $0/month with pay-as-you-go credit packs from $30 for 100 credits, with a flat per-ticket fee that drops from $1.00 to $0.75 to $0.50 as you move up plans. GuestlistOnline is free for one event with 50 guests, €19.99 for a single event, and €29 a month or €249 a year for unlimited events, with one published ticket rate: 5% + €0.25 with processing included.
Does Guest Manager charge for free tickets?
Not the per-ticket fee itself, but its credit system does: issuing a free ticket, checking a guest in, sending an email or SMS alert, or printing a badge each spends 1 credit, and those credits are what the monthly plans are priced on. Only uploading guests is free. GuestlistOnline charges nothing on free events, on every plan including the free one, with no credit system underneath.
Does Guest Manager work offline at the door?
Yes, genuinely, it keeps a full local database on the device, resyncs afterwards and detects duplicate scans across devices, which is a real offline mode rather than a caching trick. The limit is platform: it only runs on iOS and iPadOS, there is no Android app, and the web check-in tool cannot scan at all. GuestlistOnline's PWA scanner works offline on both iPhone and Android, installed straight from the browser.
Does Guest Manager support Android check-in?
No. Guest Manager's check-in app is iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS only (App Store rating 4.7 from 197 reviews, version 4.3, July 2026), there is no Android app, and the web-based check-in tool cannot scan QR codes at all. GuestlistOnline's scanner installs as a browser app on both iOS and Android, with no app store required on either.
Can I migrate my Guest Manager guest list to GuestlistOnline?
Yes. Export your guest and order data from Guest Manager as CSV, or pull it through the REST API v2, then import the CSV into GuestlistOnline, mapping names, emails and any custom field answers you want to keep. Multiple promoter/sponsor/staff lists, Linea Pro or Socket Mobile hardware pairing, Brother QL badge templates and any Private Label white-label setup do not carry over, you would issue new QR codes and set up promoter links from scratch.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager pricing
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager pricing (EUR)
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager, design and branding
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager, compliance and policies
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager docs, plans, pricing and credits
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager docs, service fees
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager docs, RSVPs
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager docs, check-in app for iPhone and iPad
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager docs, web check-in
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager, Private Label reseller programme
- guestmanager.com Guest Manager docs, custom sender domain (DKIM/SPF)
Spotted something out of date? Email go@guestlistonline.com and we will correct it.
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