GuestlistOnline vs Luma FAQ

Question 1

Is GuestlistOnline a replacement for Luma?

Accepted Answer

They serve genuinely different markets. Luma is designed for community-driven events — meetups, workshops, tech talks — with social features like public discovery, event referrals, Zoom integration and multi-channel blasts. GuestlistOnline is built for private event management — nightclubs, weddings, corporate events — with a focus on guest lists, door operations and check-in. If you run community events and want people to discover them, Luma is excellent. If you manage private guest lists and need offline check-in, your own branding, EU hosting or promoter tracking, GuestlistOnline is the better fit.

Question 2

Luma's free plan is unlimited — why would I pay for GuestlistOnline?

Accepted Answer

Luma's free plan is generous: unlimited events and guests, CSV import and export, approval or token gating, and blasts by email, SMS, push and WhatsApp up to 500 sends a week. The trade-offs are a 5% platform fee on every paid ticket on top of Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30, Luma branding on your event pages, USD-only pricing, 3 calendar admins and no published hosting region. GuestlistOnline's free plan caps at one event and 50 guests but charges nothing on free events and includes things Luma does not publish at any price: offline QR check-in, promoter tracking with commissions, EU hosting and seven languages. For private or professional events, the features matter more than the guest count ceiling.

Question 3

Can I check in guests offline with Luma?

Accepted Answer

Luma does not publish an answer. Check-in through Luma is included on every plan and Plus adds a Check-in Manager role, but no offline mode is documented — the help article on hardware scanners did not render when we checked on 17 September 2026, and nothing on the pricing or security pages mentions checking guests in without a connection. GuestlistOnline's PWA scanner is explicitly built for it: it syncs the guest list before the event, scans with no signal at all, and syncs back when connectivity returns. If your venue has poor Wi-Fi, that difference is worth testing before doors.

Question 4

Does Luma support virtual and hybrid events?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and this is a genuine Luma strength. Luma has native Zoom integration with automatic attendance tracking, supports fully virtual and hybrid event formats, and handles online RSVPs smoothly. GuestlistOnline is focused on in-person events — if you primarily run online workshops or virtual meetups, Luma is likely the better choice for that use case.

Question 5

Can I migrate from Luma to GuestlistOnline?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Export your guest list from Luma as a CSV file (available from your event dashboard), then import it into GuestlistOnline using the guest import feature. Guest names and email addresses will carry over. You can then send check-in QR codes and manage the event from GuestlistOnline. Note that Luma-specific data like event referral chains, token-gating settings or calendar subscribers won't transfer, as GuestlistOnline uses different features for access control.

Feature	GuestlistOnline	Luma
Guest list & RSVP
Guest list management	Full management with import, filters, tags, and dietary tracking	Unlimited guests with CSV import and export and approval or token-gated registration; tags and a waitlist are not published
Promoter tracking	Built-in with commission management	Not confirmed — an "Event Referrals" article exists, but commissions are not published
Guest approval	Registrations can require approval before a ticket is issued	Approval or token-gated registration, on the free plan
Plus-ones	Plus-ones with names and your own wording on the registration page	Group purchase and group registration, with separate first and last names on Plus
Waitlist	Capacity limit that closes registration when full, plus guest approval	Not published on the pricing page
Costs & payouts
Free plan limits	50 guests per event, no fees on free events	Unlimited events and guests, 5% fee on paid tickets
Platform fees	Free events: none. Paid tickets: 5% + €0.25, processing included	5% on free plan; 0% on Plus ($59/mo annual), plus Stripe 2.9% + $0.30
Subscription	Free plan (1 event, 50 guests), €19.99 for a single event, €29/month or €249/year on Pro	Free forever; Luma Plus $59/month billed annually (a 14% saving, and the monthly price is not shown); Enterprise on a custom quote with SSO, APIs and an org account. USD only
Payments and payouts	Stripe Connect, including iDEAL, cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay; payouts land in your own Stripe account	Stripe: cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, iDEAL, Konbini and PayNow. Luma stores no payment data, and payout timing is not published
Check-in & door
QR code check-in	Built-in with offline mode (PWA scanner)	Check-in through Luma on every plan, with a Check-in Manager role on Plus; offline check-in is not published
Several devices at once	Multiple scanner devices on the same guest list, synced live, with door-staff access tokens	Unlimited cohosts and event managers on the free plan and a Check-in Manager role on Plus; a device limit is not published
Badge printing	Not offered	Not published
Branding & communication
Custom branding	Custom branding from Per Event (€19.99); full white-label on Enterprise	Luma-branded pages; a custom event URL on Plus, and no white-label was found
Notifications	Email-based notifications	Blasts and automated reminders by email, SMS, push and WhatsApp: 500 sends a week free, 5,000 on Plus, add-ons up to 100,000 a week at $800/month
Platform
Virtual & hybrid events	In-person events only	Zoom integration with attendance tracking
Event discovery	Private by default — invite only	Luma Discover public marketplace
Multi-language UI	7 full language translations	English-first: the languages help article was not retrievable, and the discovery site carries hreflang tags for many locales
Best for	Private events, weddings, clubs, door operations	Community events, meetups, workshops, virtual events
Team access	6 roles, up to 5 team members on Per Event and 50 on Pro	Unlimited cohosts and event managers and 3 calendar admins on the free plan; 5 admins and a Check-in Manager role on Plus
Data location and certifications	Hosted in the EU, GDPR-compliant	AWS hosting with the region unstated and no explicit GDPR statement found; SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 reports on the trust page, and Stripe PCI Level 1
API and integrations	REST API and webhooks on Enterprise; CSV import and export on every paid plan	Zapier on the free plan, Zoom, an API on Plus and advanced integrations on Enterprise
Export	CSV export of guests, RSVPs, answers and check-in status	CSV import and export of the guest list

GuestlistOnline
vs Luma

Feature comparison

What each one costs