EventON vs Events Manager
Updated 11 Oct 2026. 20 features compared side by side.
Stylish events calendar sold as a $60 one-time licence with a free Lite edition, extended through paid add-ons for tickets, RSVP, seats and more.
Free events and bookings plugin with recurring events, locations, front-end submissions and BuddyPress support; Pro adds payments, PDF tickets and check-in.
Choose EventON if…
- You need event schema for SEO and seating charts
- You want the more complete feature set (94/100 vs 87/100)
Choose Events Manager if…
- You prefer the more widely used option
EventON includes 2 features that Events Manager lacks, including Event schema for SEO and Seating charts. Both include 18 of the 20 features we track.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
EventON Events ManagerCreating events6/66/6
Lite supports daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and custom repeats.
Free version handles complex recurrence patterns with exclusion dates and timeslots.
Locations and organisers with archive pages in Lite; multiple organisers per event need Full.
Reusable locations with archive pages; no separate organiser profiles are mentioned.
Lite supports virtual events with attendance modes; Full adds Zoom OAuth and post-event content.
Online locations via URL are free; Zoom meetings/webinars use a separate integration add-on.
Event categories and tags are included in Lite.
Free event categories for organising and filtering events.
Action User add-on ($80/yr) adds front-end submissions with permission controls.
Guests and members can submit events for approval, including via BuddyPress.
ICS Importer ($50/yr) and CSV Event Importer ($40/yr) add-ons; Lite only exports CSV/ICS.
I/O add-on (from $49, included in Pro Plus) imports iCal, CSV, Google Calendar, Sheets and Meetup.
Calendar & display5/54/5
Lite has month, schedule, tile and live-now views; Full and add-ons add grid, weekly, daily, yearly.
Calendars, lists, grids and mini-calendars in several styles.
Location Google Maps with directions in Lite; Events Map add-on ($60/yr) shows all events on a map.
Google Maps for locations with radius geo searches and a filterable map view.
Lite has event search, sorting and filters; Full adds advanced search and Filters Plus add-on.
Search pages with filters, radius search and map filters.
Shortcode generator works in the block editor; Elementor widget listed among integrations.
Gutenberg blocks for calendars, lists, locations and event details.
Lite outputs Event schema and JSON-LD markup.
No built-in event schema listed; an old third-party add-on adds JSON-LD.
Tickets & attendees6/65/6
Event Tickets add-on ($120/yr) sells tickets; Lite only offers a basic PayPal option.
Free bookings can have priced tickets, but online payment gateways are in Pro.
RSVP Events add-on ($100/yr) collects names, emails and spaces.
Free bookings work as registrations for free events; Pro adds waitlists and approval options.
Event Tickets add-on sells tickets through the WooCommerce checkout.
Events Manager for WooCommerce is a paid add-on sold on WooCommerce.com, not in Pro Plus.
Seats add-on ($150/yr) provides interactive seating charts.
Reserved seating is listed as coming soon to Pro Plus, not yet available.
QR Code ($30/yr) and Check-ins ($30/yr) add-ons handle ticket scanning.
Pro includes QR code check-in; the check-in mobile app comes with Pro Plus.
Attendee lists and check-in come with the Tickets or RSVP add-ons.
Free booking and attendee management with approvals and CSV export.
Engagement & integrations3/33/3
Lite adds Google Calendar and iCal links to events.
Buttons for Google Calendar, Outlook, Office 365, Apple Calendar and iCal.
Ticket/RSVP confirmation emails come with those add-ons; Reminders add-on is $40/yr.
Free booking emails to attendees and admins; scheduled reminders are Pro.
Webhooks (EventON 4.2+) send triggers to Zapier and similar; Subscriber add-on syncs Mailchimp.
Pro adds webhooks (Zapier, Power Automate) and automation; free has Thrive Automator and REST API.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
EventON Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| EventON Lite | Free per year, Unlimited |
| EventON Full | $60 lifetime, 1 site |
| Ticketing Bundle | $530 per year, 1 site |
| Calendar Views Bundle | $195 per year, 1 site |
Events Manager Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Free | Free per year, Unlimited |
| Pro 1 site | $129 per year, 1 site |
| Pro 5 sites | $299 per year, 5 sites |
| Pro Unlimited | $599 per year, Unlimited |
| Pro Plus 1 site | $169 per year, 1 site |
Downloads trend
EventON
3,941 downloads last week
Events Manager
60,462 downloads last week
Verdict
EventON scores higher on our feature checklist (94/100 against 87/100) and includes event schema for SEO and seating charts that Events Manager does not. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
EventON: included. Events Manager: third-party. Lite outputs Event schema and JSON-LD markup.
EventON: via add-on. Events Manager: not included. Seats add-on ($150/yr) provides interactive seating charts.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
Which would you choose?
0 votes so far. Vote to see the results.
Compare something else
FAQ
Which is better, EventON or Events Manager?
EventON scores higher on our feature checklist (94/100 against 87/100) and includes event schema for SEO and seating charts that Events Manager does not. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
EventON includes 20 of the 20 features we track, against 18 for Events Manager. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is EventON free?
EventON has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $60 lifetime.
Is Events Manager free?
Events Manager has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $129/yr.
Feature data last changed 11 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to EventON or Events Manager. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.