The Events Calendar
Widely used WordPress events calendar with venues, organisers and month/list/day views, plus paid tiers for recurring events, ticketing and seating.
97
Events Manager
Free events and bookings plugin with recurring events, locations, front-end submissions and BuddyPress support; Pro adds payments, PDF tickets and check-in.
Free installs60K+WordPress.org, active
Est. Pro installs~8.7KLikely 5.7K–13K
Vendor claims79K+Vendor's own figure
Rating4.2/5551 reviews
Price from$129/yrFreemium
Last updated26 Oct 2026Version 7.4.12
Overview
Events Manager by Pixelite has been free on WordPress.org since 2008 and is one of the few calendar plugins that bundles event registration into the free core. It handles single, multi-day and recurring events with exclusion dates, physical and online locations, event categories, calendars, lists, grids and searchable listings, and lets guests or members submit events from the front end.
How it works
Events are attached to reusable locations, with Google Maps, radius searches and map views. Bookings can be switched on per event with multiple ticket types and capacity limits, and the admin can approve, reject and export bookings. Gutenberg blocks, widgets and shortcodes place calendars and lists anywhere, add-to-calendar buttons cover Google, Outlook, Office 365 and Apple, and multisite networks can share events across subsites. BuddyPress and BuddyBoss groups get their own event areas.
Free vs paid
Events Manager Pro is billed annually from $129 for one site ($89 during the current sale) and adds online payments (PayPal, Stripe, Square, Authorize.net and offline), custom booking and attendee forms, coupons, PDF tickets, QR check-in, waitlists, scheduled reminder emails and automation with webhooks for Zapier or Power Automate. Pro Plus ($169/year list) includes every add-on except WooCommerce: I/O for iCal, CSV, Google Calendar and Meetup imports, Connect for SMS, WhatsApp and Telegram messages, and the check-in mobile app. Zoom and WooCommerce integrations are separate.
Strengths
- Free bookings with tickets and attendee export, which most rivals charge for.
- Strong multisite and BuddyPress support.
- Locked-in renewal prices and licences usable on client sites.
Limitations
There are no separate organiser profiles, no built-in event schema output and no assigned seating yet (listed as coming to Pro Plus). Templates are functional rather than polished, and the vendor does not offer refunds.
Events Manager suits community groups, clubs, membership sites and multisite networks that want free registrations and are happy to style templates themselves.
Best for: Clubs, community and membership sites, and multisite networks that need free event registrations with room to add payments later.
Events Manager gives away more booking functionality than any rival here, and Pro is reasonably priced for payments and check-in. Its weak spots are presentation, the lack of schema and organiser profiles, and a strict no-refund policy.
Pros
- Free bookings with multiple ticket types, capacity limits and attendee export
- Recurring events with exclusions and multiple timeslots in the free version
- Front-end event submission and BuddyPress/BuddyBoss integration included
- Excellent multisite support with network-wide events
- Pro adds QR check-in, PDF tickets, coupons and many payment gateways
Cons
- No separate organiser profiles or built-in event schema
- Imports from iCal, CSV or Google Calendar need the I/O add-on (Pro Plus)
- Default templates look dated and need styling
- No refunds on purchases
- Assigned seating not yet available
Key features
What Events Manager highlights on its WordPress.org page and its own website, split by version.
Free version WordPress.org
- Recurring and multi-day events
- Physical and online locations
- Event bookings with multiple tickets
- Booking approvals and attendee lists
- Guest and member event submissions
- Calendars, lists, grids and search
- Google Maps with radius search
- Gutenberg blocks and widgets
- Add-to-calendar buttons
- BuddyPress and multisite support
- iCal and RSS feeds
Pro / paid adds From $129/yr
- PayPal, Stripe, Square, Authorize.net payments
- Custom booking and attendee forms
- Coupons and discount codes
- PDF tickets and printable invoices
- QR code check-in
- Waitlists and sold-out handling
- Scheduled reminder emails
- Webhooks and automation workflows
- Pro Plus: imports, SMS/WhatsApp, mobile app
Feature checklist
18 of 20 features we track in Events & Calendars, feature score 87/100
Creating events 6/6
Recurring events Key
Daily, weekly, monthly or custom repeating events.
Free version handles complex recurrence patterns with exclusion dates and timeslots.
Included
Venues & organisers Key
Reusable venue and organiser profiles.
Reusable locations with archive pages; no separate organiser profiles are mentioned.
Partial
Virtual & hybrid events
Online events with Zoom, Meet or streaming links.
Online locations via URL are free; Zoom meetings/webinars use a separate integration add-on.
Included
Categories & tags
Organise events by type, topic or audience.
Free event categories for organising and filtering events.
Included
Front-end event submissions
Visitors or organisers submit events from the front end.
Guests and members can submit events for approval, including via BuddyPress.
Included
Import events
Import from iCal, Google Calendar, Eventbrite, Facebook or CSV.
I/O add-on (from $49, included in Pro Plus) imports iCal, CSV, Google Calendar, Sheets and Meetup.
Via add-on
Calendar & display 4/5
Calendar views Key
Month, week, day, list and other views.
Calendars, lists, grids and mini-calendars in several styles.
Included
Maps
Venue maps with Google Maps or OpenStreetMap.
Google Maps for locations with radius geo searches and a filterable map view.
Included
Search & filters
Filter events by date, category, venue or keyword.
Search pages with filters, radius search and map filters.
Included
Block editor & page builder support
Blocks or Elementor widgets for calendars and events.
Gutenberg blocks for calendars, lists, locations and event details.
Included
Event schema for SEO Key
Adds event structured data for Google results.
No built-in event schema listed; an old third-party add-on adds JSON-LD.
Third-party
Tickets & attendees 5/6
Ticket sales Key
Sell tickets online for events.
Free bookings can have priced tickets, but online payment gateways are in Pro.
Paid version Pro
Free RSVPs
Collect RSVPs for free events.
Free bookings work as registrations for free events; Pro adds waitlists and approval options.
Included
WooCommerce tickets
Sell tickets through WooCommerce checkout.
Events Manager for WooCommerce is a paid add-on sold on WooCommerce.com, not in Pro Plus.
Via add-on
Seating charts
Assigned seating or seat maps.
Reserved seating is listed as coming soon to Pro Plus, not yet available.
Not included
QR code check-in Key
Scan tickets at the door, with an app or browser.
Pro includes QR code check-in; the check-in mobile app comes with Pro Plus.
Paid version Pro
Attendee lists & exports
Manage and export attendee information.
Free booking and attendee management with approvals and CSV export.
Included
Engagement & integrations 3/3
Add to calendar & iCal export Key
Visitors save events to Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar.
Buttons for Google Calendar, Outlook, Office 365, Apple Calendar and iCal.
Included
Reminder & confirmation emails
Automatic emails to attendees.
Free booking emails to attendees and admins; scheduled reminders are Pro.
Included
Integrations
Zapier, email marketing or CRM integrations.
Pro adds webhooks (Zapier, Power Automate) and automation; free has Thrive Automator and REST API.
Paid version Pro
Pricing
Free
$0On WordPress.org
Free
Freeper yearUnlimited
Full calendar plus free bookings, attendee management and booking emails.
Pro 1 site
$129per year1 site
Currently on sale at $89/year; payments, custom forms, coupons, PDF tickets, check-in. Renewal price locked if renewed before expiry.
Pro 5 sites
$299per year5 sites
Currently $200/year in the sale; 3-site ($219) and 10-site ($499) licences also listed.
Pro Unlimited
$599per yearUnlimited
Currently $499/year in the sale.
Pro Plus 1 site
$169per year1 site
Currently $109/year; Pro plus all add-ons except WooCommerce (I/O, Connect, mobile app). Unlimited sites $799 list ($599 sale).
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use Events Manager?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
60K+
Active installations reported by WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
79K+
Sites/users claimed on the vendor's website. source
Estimated Pro / paid installs
~8.7K
Our estimate, see method below.
How we estimated this: Website scans by WPoptic find the paid plugin (folder events-manager-pro) on 5,245 live sites; they find the free version on 45,680 sites against about 65K WordPress.org installs, so each site found stands for about 1.5, giving 7.9K. About 65K free installs x 12% (the usual share of free sites that also run the paid version when some key features are paid, and store owners upgrade more often) gives 7.8K. Combining these (weighted average) gives about 7.9K. The vendor claims 79K+ sites in total. Taking away about 65K free installs leaves 14K, and 80% of that is 11K. Vendor totals are loose, so we only move our figure part of the way toward it, from 7.9K to 8.7K. Likely range: 5.7K to 13K. This counts sites running the paid version, including sites whose licence has lapsed. Estimates are rough and based on public figures as of 14 Oct 2026.
Stats & health
Weekly downloads
60,462 downloads last week, 6.7M all time
Rating breakdown
| Version | 7.4.12 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | 26 Oct 2026 (8 days ago) |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1.4 |
| Requires | WordPress 6.1+, PHP 7.0+ |
| Support threads (2 months) | 24 of 41 resolved |
| On WordPress.org since | 6 Aug 2008 |
Company & policy
| Founded | 2008 (source, 11 Oct 2026) Plugin available free on WordPress.org since 2008; Pro launched in 2011. |
|---|---|
| Refund policy | No refunds (source, 11 Oct 2026) Pricing FAQ says refunds are not provided; try the free plugin or demo first. |
Events Manager compared
Alternatives to Events Manager
Modern Events Calendar
Feature-dense events calendar from Webnus with dozens of layouts, a free Lite edition and a Pro version for bookings, tickets and integrations.
98
Eventin
Event management and ticketing plugin from Themewinter with WooCommerce tickets, Zoom, speakers and schedules free, plus Pro seat maps and QR check-in.
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EventON
Stylish events calendar sold as a $60 one-time licence with a free Lite edition, extended through paid add-ons for tickets, RSVP, seats…
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WP Event Manager
Modular event listing plugin with free front-end submission, venues and organisers, and paid add-ons for calendars, tickets, registrations and Zoom.
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Sugar Calendar
Lightweight event calendar from Awesome Motive with Stripe ticketing in the free Lite version and paid plans for recurring events, venues and…
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FAQ
Is Events Manager free?
Yes. Events Manager has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $129/yr.
How many sites use Events Manager?
WordPress.org reports 60K+ active installations of the free version. The vendor claims 79K+ sites in total. We estimate around 8.7K sites run the paid version.
Does Events Manager have recurring events?
Yes: included. Free version handles complex recurrence patterns with exclusion dates and timeslots.
Does Events Manager have venues & organisers?
Yes: partial. Reusable locations with archive pages; no separate organiser profiles are mentioned.
Does Events Manager have calendar views?
Yes: included. Calendars, lists, grids and mini-calendars in several styles.
Does Events Manager have event schema for seo?
No: third-party. No built-in event schema listed; an old third-party add-on adds JSON-LD.
Does Events Manager have ticket sales?
Yes: paid version (Pro). Free bookings can have priced tickets, but online payment gateways are in Pro.
Does Events Manager have qr code check-in?
Yes: paid version (Pro). Pro includes QR code check-in; the check-in mobile app comes with Pro Plus.
Does Events Manager have add to calendar & ical export?
Yes: included. Buttons for Google Calendar, Outlook, Office 365, Apple Calendar and iCal.
Can I take event bookings with the free Events Manager?
Yes. Free Events Manager supports bookings with multiple ticket types, capacity limits, approvals and attendee export. Online payment gateways require Events Manager Pro.
What is the difference between Pro and Pro Plus?
Pro unlocks payments, custom forms, coupons, PDF tickets and check-in. Pro Plus includes all of that plus every add-on except WooCommerce, such as I/O imports, Connect messaging and the mobile app.
Does Events Manager work on multisite?
Yes. It supports network-wide event sharing and booking management, and a multisite network counts as one site for Pro licensing.
Can I get a refund on Events Manager Pro?
No. The pricing FAQ states refunds are not offered, so test the free plugin and demo before buying.
Last updated 11 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.