Cvent vs Eventzilla: A Definitive Comparison [2024]

During our tests, we found that both offer valuable event management features, but cater to very different audiences.

Cvent is for large organizations and seasoned event organizers looking for a complete solution to manage activities across the event lifecycle, from venue and speaker management to attendee engagement and analytics. However, it has a very high learning curve, limited marketing features, and hidden pricing models geared toward enterprises.

Eventzilla is an intuitive and easy-to-use platform that simplifies your event planning and management workflows, making it ideal for small and medium-sized businesses that want easy onboarding and professional customization options. Moreover, Eventzilla also offers a dedicated attendee engagement tool accessible on desktop and mobile. 

Since they’re both complex platforms, I’ve broken down the comparison between Cvent vs Eventzilla into the following categories:

• Event Planning & Execution
• Marketing & Data Management
• Customer Support
• Analytics
• Pricing

Without further ado, let’s get down to it, starting with an overview of how they compare to each other.

Cvent vs Eventzilla: Comparison Summary

Cvent	Eventzilla
💰 Price 💰
★ ★ ★ Custom pricing plans. Offers a limited access version that uses a pay-as-you-go model as attendees register.	🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Offers pay-as-you-go and pre-paid pricing models. Ticketing fees start at $1.50 for the BASIC plan, + %1.9 for PRO, and + %2.9 for PLUS.
👷 Event Planning 👷
★ ★ ★ ★ Feature-rich solution with complex setup & workflows for venue & speaker management, event ticketing, budget tracking, etc.	🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ All-in-one platform with simple workflows to create branded registration forms, event agendas, and event mobile apps.
🧑‍💼 Event Management 🧑‍💼
🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Offers separate fully-featured apps for attendee check-in, tracking, and information capture (great model for multiple teams working on large events).	🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Single application (great for small and medium-sized businesses and events). Offers custom registration options, event check-in, custom reporting, agenda builder, and name badges.
📱 Attendee Engagement 📱
🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Attendee Hub lets attendees book appointments, view session broadcasts, & engage in Q&As.	🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Event Mobile App lets attendees engage with polls, ratings, and push notifications. Includes 1:1 chat for networking. It updates attendees on the agenda.
📑 Marketing 📑
★ ★ ★ ★ Branded websites with event pages & personalized email marketing.	🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Offers a customizable event landing page with re-arrangeable custom content blocks, discount codes, email marketing, and more.
🔍 Analytics 🔍
🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Comprehensive report templates. Proprietary scoring system for easy analysis.	★ ★ ★ ★ Custom reports for in-depth insights. CRM and marketing tool integrations.
💲Payment Processing Fees💲
★ ★ ★ Payout 30 days post-event. Ticketing fees of 3.99% per ticket + custom fee for specific sessions, services, or tickets.	🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Daily, weekly, or monthly payouts. Ticketing fees of $0.99 + 2.4-2.9% per ticket.
🆘 Customer Support 🆘
★ ★ ★ Tool-specific customer support via a community forum, phone support, and support form.	🏆 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 24/7 customer support via chat, email, and phone. Comprehensive Help Centre with detailed tutorials.
👮‍♀️ Data Ownership 👮‍♀️
Attendee data is owned by the organizer.	Attendee data is owned by the organizer.
🔗 Integrations 🔗
20+ native integrations, including Hubspot & Salesforce. Cvent API.	Native Hubspot & Salesforce integrations. 1000+ Zapier integrations. Eventzilla API.
🏅 Best for 🏅
Large corporations and enterprises looking for a comprehensive event management solution.	Small- and medium-sized organizations looking for an all-in-one event management platform with mobile apps to engage attendees, manage speakers, and capture leads at affordable prices.
Get started for free.	Get started for free.

What is Cvent?
“The Event Planning Aspirin” 💊🧑‍⚕️

In 1999, Reggie Aggarwal founded Cvent as an all-in-one event management solution to replace the millions of yellow post-its and spreadsheets.

Cvent offers tools an event organizer needs to plan, manage, and evaluate any event. You can streamline planning logistics using the Supplier Network, track earnings and expenses in the Budget Management software, and evaluate speaker requests using the Speaker Resource Center™. On event day, you have individual apps to easily coordinate event day activities like attendee check-in, lead collection, and attendee engagement. You can also measure your event’s success using the engagement scoring system. However, the solutions aren’t designed for organizing medium-sized events. And, setting up and mastering these tools can take time if it is your first event. 

Cvent’s feature-rich solution is great for large corporations and seasoned event organizers looking for a comprehensive event management solution to support them throughout the event lifecycle.

What is Eventzilla?
“The Godzilla of Event Management” 🦕💪

In 2009, Eventzilla was designed to make event planning and attendee interaction easier for planners of all levels, whether they are beginners or seasoned professionals with years of experience.

From ticketing to surveys, Eventzilla offers the complete toolset to plan and manage your event on one platform. It offers a drag-and-drop site builder to create custom event pages, registration forms, and websites that align with your brand. When it comes to marketing features, Eventzilla supports discount codes, free tickets, and personalized email campaigns to help you drive registrations. It also offers a separate app called Event Hub to deliver an interactive attendee experience with custom event agendas, polls, Q&As, and 1:1 appointment scheduling. With Evenzilla’s analytics feature, you can track how well all these tools are performing by creating custom reports for in-depth insights into every event activity. 

Eventzilla is perfect for small and mid-sized businesses and non-profits in any niche looking to organize in-person or hybrid events with robust attendee engagement features.

Cvent vs Eventzilla: Event Planning & Execution

Cvent	Eventzilla
★ ★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Offers comprehensive event solutions with complex workflows.	Simpler workflow planning management than Cvent.

Cvent has complex event planning workflows, while Eventzilla condenses the planning process onto a single platform.

Cvent provides specific apps to address individual event planning scenarios. The platform can be divided based on two use cases: event planning & stakeholder coordination.

Cvent has apps to increase the efficiency of your event planning activities:

• Cvent Supplier Network to find and book your next venue easily with search filters, RFP templates, and reports to help you in your search.
• Speaker Resource Center^TM to streamline communications with speakers and manage their content.
• Exhibitor Management to manage all exhibitor-related tasks like booth staff registration, session sponsorships, appointment scheduling, etc. 
• Registration Websites to create intuitive landing pages that showcase your event and encourage registrations (shown in the screenshot below).

Cvent also offers apps to coordinate between various event stakeholders (vendors, managers, exhibitors, speakers, etc.):

• Meeting Request Forms to create branded forms using a drag-and-drop editor to collect event information on speakers, venues, vendors, etc. 

• Cvent Budget Management to populate all your spending and budget data on its reporting dashboard to make tracking, analyzing, and managing transactions easier.
• Access Portal to streamline the workflow of event stakeholders by organizing planning tools in one branded portal (shown below).

However, setting up each tool and getting every stakeholder involved in the process is cumbersome. So, only go with Cvent if your company has a dedicated team organizing events regularly. If you don’t fall into that group, Eventzilla is a better option. 

Eventzilla offers very similar tools to Cvent but simplifies the workflows on its all-in-one platform. You can get your event going in just a few hours instead of weeks with tools to:

• Quickly create event registration websites to market your event using the drag-and-drop website builder.
• Set up branded registration forms with automated waitlists, approvals, and multiple flows based on attendee type.
• Create detailed event agendas with rich speaker profiles, session information, and registration options.
• Receive and review speaker requests easily on a dedicated abstract management software.

It also has an AI-powered content generator to assist you in quickly creating engaging event descriptions. All you have to do is answer a few prompts and Eventzilla will generate a description for you within a few seconds.

Both have payment processing platforms but charge different processing fees.

Cvent Payment Services lets you effortlessly manage your event finances with the automation of payment processing, payouts, and tax collection. You can offer three different payment plans: 

• Full payment where you pay the entire amount upfront.
• Partial payments where you complete your payment over time.
• Pay at the event where attendees can block tickets and complete the payment at the event via the OnArrival app.

Payments can be made in 130+ currencies using all major credit cards including Visa and MasterCard. Also, apart from Cvent’s 3.99% processing fees, you can also add special fees for specific sessions, services, or attendees. However, you’ll only receive the payout 30 days after your event.

Eventzilla offers six different payment methods, including the in-house Eventzilla Payments (WePay) tool for simplifying payment processing for attendees and organizers.

Although it doesn’t offer multiple payment plans for attendees to choose from, its ticketing fees of $0.99 + 2.4-2.9% per ticket ensure you can charge a reasonable ticket price for your event. But most importantly, you can choose your payout schedule either daily, weekly, or monthly. 

Cvent offers valuable on-site check-in & lead collection features, and Eventzilla offers basic check-in and tracking features.

Like its event planning collection, Cvent offers a wide selection of event management apps for organizers and exhibitors.

1. OnArrival is Cvent’s check-in application for organizers to capture attendance, monitor session capacity, and track event booth engagement. 
2. LeadCapture lets exhibitors capture attendee information with a quick scan of their business card or name badge. 
3. Attendee tracking & reporting to track and understand your attendee journey from registration to post-event follow-up.

Cvent’s approach with separate applications to manage registrations, check-ins, event floor logistics, etc. makes sense for larger events with dedicated event planning teams. 

However, a decentralized system isn’t ideal for smaller or mid-market events. It’s also worth noting that scanning is only available with the OnArrival Premium which comes at an additional cost.

Eventzilla makes it easier to coordinate on-site activities by providing all its event management features on one platform. It has a mobile app to validate attendee tickets manually or by scanning a QR code. 

You can link to any printer to print badges and tickets during check-in. It is also possible to track attendee engagement during the event on the platform, but more on that in the analytics section.

Both Eventzilla and Cvent have dedicated attendee engagement platforms.

Cvent lets attendees control their event experience from the Attendee Hub — a centralized app offering a custom interactive experience during your in-person, virtual, or hybrid event. You can customize the Attendee Hub homepage with dynamic elements to display the latest information about sessions and speakers. 

Attendees can use the app on their laptop or mobile device to:

• Schedule 1:1 meetings with speakers, exhibitors, and other attendees (1)
• Engage in live chats, Q&As, polls, quizzes, and surveys (2)
• Watch live broadcasts and recordings of virtual events (3)
• Virtually visit exhibitor and sponsor booths

Eventzilla’s attendee engagement features are very similar to Cvent. You can offer attendees access to a separate engagement portal called Event Hub with event layout plans, agendas, and speakers. They can also attend sessions and participate in polls while using the application.

Event Hub lets you engage with your audience from around the world with features like:

• Main Stage to live stream keynotes, speaker sessions, and important webinars
• Breakout Sessions for smaller, focused group meetings and discussions
• Q&A for online event attendees to interact with speakers and presenters
• Private messaging for attendees to send messages directly to speakers and presenters
• Networking for private in-person meetings and 1:1 sessions (coming soon)
• Expo for exhibitors to leverage lead generation opportunities to the fullest (coming soon)
• Polls to gauge the audience’s pulse on the spot (coming soon)

Winner: Eventzilla simplifies the event planning and management process by providing all the necessary features in a user-friendly, intuitive platform. It offers an exclusive platform for attendee engagement called Event Hub with features like Q&As, polls, networking, etc. Moreover, its payment processing fees are more affordable than Cvent’s. 

Cvent vs Eventzilla: Marketing & Data Management

Cvent	Eventzilla
★ ★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Offers email marketing.	Offers more email marketing options than Cvent.

Cvent focuses on driving registrations via email marketing, while Eventzilla also lets you add widgets to encourage registrations from your website and social media pages.

Cvent has a drag-and-drop site builder that lets you create a branded event website, complete with a registration page to showcase your event information. You can also offer discounts on your site to encourage registrations.

Once your website is ready, you can use the email marketing feature to send personalized emails to your email list. You can either choose from the available email templates or build them from scratch. Since you own attendee data, your attendees won’t receive any spam emails after your event.

Eventzilla also lets you create event pages to promote your event. It offers a simple drag-and-drop website builder to create responsive event pages with options to customize the theme to align with your brand identity. 

Apart from this, Eventzilla also offers widgets that you can embed on your website and Facebook page. You can use widgets to convert your existing website into an event site with registration pages, ticketing links, event calendars, and session & speaker profiles. Based on my tests, this feature made it easier to create an event site that matches a brand quickly and efficiently.

You can also launch personalized email campaigns to promote your event using Eventzilla’s email marketing tool. Similar to Cvent, you can choose from templates or create your own email to send to your contact list. However, you can only send invites to 1000 contacts for free.

Winner: Eventzilla. It’s email marketing features are on par with Cvent and it also offers widgets to promote events over Facebook pages or your website.

Cvent vs Eventzilla: Analytics

Cvent	Eventzilla
★ ★ ★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★ ★
Tracks and scores individual attendee engagement.	Lets you create custom reports to gather specific insights.

Cvent scores attendee interactions to calculate event success.

Cvent’s event reporting suite gives you an in-depth overview of your attendee’s experience before, during, and after the event. You can choose from existing report templates and create your own reports to:

• Analyze your account activity, from custom field changes to user login history
• Track speaker requests and approvals 
• Measure attendee engagement and appointments at the event
• View survey responses and summaries

It uses a proprietary system called Engagement Score to rank attendee experiences across all checkpoints, including registration, check-in, appointment scheduling, and sessions. You can set custom points for each checkpoint or let Cvent’s machine algorithm set scores based on data from previous events. 

Eventzilla offers personalized insights into event performance with custom reports.

Eventzilla lets you download reports around standard metrics:

• Order reports to view order status, ticket types sold, payment options, registrations, etc. 
• Attendee reports to track check-ins, booth visits, appointments, etc.
• Survey reports to track responses to custom questions in forms and surveys.

You can create custom reports to track event-specific data points for one or more events. You can also sync this data with your CRM and marketing platforms with a single click to derive more in-depth insights and simplify your workflow.

Winner: Cvent. It offers an impressive array of report templates covering every stage of the event lifecycle, from registrations to post-event surveys. It also helps you understand your attendee experience using its proprietary engagement scoring system. 

Cvent vs Eventzilla: Customer Support

Cvent	Eventzilla
★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Offers tool-specific customer support.	Offers multiple support channels including a dedicated account manager for premium users.

Cvent’s customer support availability depends on the tool in question.

Cvent offers your three basic customer support options:

• Community forum and help center (1) to find answers to common questions and discuss with other Cvent users.
• Call support (2) for immediate answers to more complex issues.
• Support Query Form (3) to open a customer support case. A customer support executive usually responds within 24 hours.

It is worth noting though that the availability of customer support executives varies depending on the tool. For example, the event diagramming solution customer support is only available on weekdays while vital tools like Attendee Hub have 24/7 customer support.

Eventzilla offers customer support via email, chat, and phone.

Eventzilla offers multiple customer support channels to ensure your queries are answered around the clock. Customer support executives are available 24/7 via chat, email, or phone (From 7 AM to 11 PM US time for US customers and for worldwide customers after that).

You can also search the Help Centre for answers to common questions. If you’re using the Annual Pricing plan, you’ll be assigned a dedicated account manager who can answer any support queries. 

Winner: Eventzilla offers 24/7 customer support via email, chat, and phone. You can also find answers in the Help Centre or, if you’re on the Annual Pricing plan, you can reach out to your dedicated account manager.

Cvent vs Eventzilla: Pricing

Cvent	Eventzilla
★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Doesn’t offer any pricing information on its website.	Has affordable, flexible, & transparent pricing.

Cvent customizes its offering and pricing plans to meet event requirements.

Cvent offers customized pricing structures depending on your event requirements. There are a few estimates available online but your best bet is to reach out to their sales team for an accurate quote or by creating a dummy event the free version of the Cvent Event Management platform. 

From our experience, we know that Cvent follows a pay-as-you-go model where you pay only as attendees register for your event. The free version does let you use the platform with the pay-as-you-go model but there are some limitations. For example, you only get access to the free version of the mobile app. 

Eventzilla offers the most flexible pricing plans and payment models.

Eventzilla pricing is structured in a way that lets you pay per registration using one of two pricing models:

• Pay-as-you-go model where you only pay as attendees register.
• Pay upfront model where you pay the entire cost upfront.

Depending on the scale of your event and the features you’ll need to organize your event, you can choose from four different pricing plans:

Basic				Pro			Plus	Custom
$1.50 per registration Unlimited events + 1 user + 100 email invites + One paid ticket & registration type + Website widget + Onsite check-in				1.9% + $1.50 per registration Basic features + Unlimited paid tickets & registration types + 500 email invites per event + Event agenda + Custom forms & emails			2.9% + $1.50 per registration Pro features + Unlimited users + Custom domain + 1,000 email invites per event + Lead capture feature for exhibitors + Kiosk-mode check-in + On-demand badge printing + Priority support & onboarding	2.9% + $1.50 per registration Plus features + Free registration + Advanced analytics + Lead capture feature for exhibitors + Kiosk-mode check-in + On-demand badge printing + Dedicated account manager + Event mobile app + Premium onboarding support

Apart from the paid plans, Eventzilla lets you organize smaller events like meetups and social gatherings for free. However, you need to purchase the “Premium Features for Free Events” add-on to access all platform features that are available in the paid plans. 

The Basic plan lets you create unlimited events and market them on your website but you only get access to basic registration forms and 100 email invites. It is ideal for smaller events with limited attendees like online webinars. 

The Pro plan offers everything in the Basic plan plus access to event agendas and advanced virtual event capabilities. You can also manage accommodation for attendees and speakers, making it ideal for larger conferences and hybrid events. 

With the Plus plan, you get access to the Pro features plus white-label event registration websites and custom domains. It is ideal for organizing product launches for your company and industry events with specific branding and design requirements. 

Finally, the Annual Pricing plan is Eventzilla’s custom event management offering with advanced analytics, an event mobile app, and a dedicated account manager. It is designed for organizing conventions and conferences with thousands of attendees. 

Winner: Eventzilla. Its transparent pricing plans offer the best value for money by ensuring you only pay for what you need. Moreover, it also has a free plan where organizers can host smaller meetups on its feature-rich Event Hub platform. 

Cvent vs Eventzilla: Pros & Cons

Cvent Pros	Cvent Cons
✅ Feature-rich solution	❌ Opaque pricing plans
✅ Individual products for organizers, attendees, speakers, and exhibitors	❌ High learning curve
✅ Free version with pay-as-you-go pricing model	❌ Limited integrations
✅ Comprehensive reporting templates	❌ Limited functionality on free version
✅ Attendee mobile app	❌ Time-consuming setup & maintenance

Eventzilla Pros	Eventzilla Cons
✅ All-in-one event management platform	❌ Very few native integrations
✅ Intuitive drag-and-drop form & site builder	❌ Limited marketing features
✅ Exclusive Event Hub and mobile app for attendee engagement	❌ Low margins for low ticket events
✅ Custom analytics reports for in-depth insights
✅ 24/7 customer support via chat, email, & phone
✅ Facebook- & website-compatible registration widgets
✅ Attendee mobile app (Android & iOS)
✅ Transparent pricing structure

Final Verdict: Cvent vs Eventzilla

Cvent is for large enterprises with dedicated event management teams, while Eventzilla is for mid-market businesses looking for robust attendee engagement features.

Cvent	Eventzilla
Best for: Large corporations and enterprises looking for a comprehensive event management solution.	Best for: Best for small and medium-sized organizations looking for an all-in-one event management tool with robust attendee registration and engagement features at affordable prices.

Both are event management software with the goal of helping you bring your event to the world. However, their tools and features are designed for specific audiences and event types.

Cvent is a complete event management solution with dedicated products for event planning, event management, and attendee engagement. However, its high learning curve, customized pricing, and limited marketing features make it more suitable for large corporations and enterprises with a dedicated team of event planners looking to plan multiple events throughout the year. 

Finally, Eventzilla is an event planning & management monster where you’ll find all the tools and features you need to plan and execute your event in one intuitive and easy-to-use platform. It has a drag-and-drop event and registration page builder and an exclusive Event Hub to deliver interactive attendee experiences in real-time. It is designed with mid-market organizations in mind, that can benefit from a single workspace with well-thought-out attendee engagement features.

Use Cvent if:

• You are a large organization with a dedicated event planning team.
• You’re looking to organize multiple events in a year.
• You don’t need comprehensive event marketing features. 

Click here to get started with Cvent!

Use Eventzilla if:

• You are organizing a conference, training event, fundraising event, or tradeshow.
• You’re a small business or medium-sized, non-profit organization, or event planning agency looking to manage your event in one place.
• You want to create and embed custom branded registration forms with conditional logic on your company website and Facebook page.
• You want a robust attendee engagement app available on both desktop and mobile. 

Click here to get started with Eventzilla!