Cvent alternatives: where to go and how to switch without losing a registrant
Eight platforms broken down, one reason to leave for each, and a seven-step migration plan.
The short answer: Swoogo if you want a full registration platform with a public price ($11,800 a year, unlimited events), Eventtia if you want the lowest entry price and a choice of EU or US hosting, Bizzabo if a marketing team runs your whole event program. For a conference built around a mobile app, look at Whova. For a trade show where attendees book meetings with exhibitors, Swapcard.
If most of your events are webinars, Livestorm charges €2.50 per attendee. If you only sell tickets to public events, Eventbrite has no subscription at all. One warning before you shortlist: Splash, ON24 and Goldcast now belong to Cvent. Moving to them means signing with the same company.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Why event teams leave Cvent
Cvent is still the default for large enterprises: registration, housing, seating charts, attendee app, it's all there. Users praise its templates and how easily you can clone one event into the next. People leave for other reasons: a price you only learn from a sales rep, a steep learning curve, and a vendor that keeps buying its competitors.
You only learn the price from a quote
Cvent publishes no prices. Its pricing page offers two packages: Professional, where you license only the modules you need, and Enterprise, where everything is bundled. The number comes from a sales conversation.
The à la carte model cuts both ways. Every module you add (attendee app, housing, badges) pushes the bill up. Smaller teams often struggle to justify the total, and value for money is Cvent's lowest-rated criterion in user reviews.
A steep learning curve
The same complaint shows up review after review: powerful, but heavy. Settings live deep in nested menus, setting up the attendee hub confuses first-time admins, and a new hire needs training before publishing a registration site on their own.
For a team running ten events a year, that complexity eats days of work.
Products bought, then folded in
Customers of Prismm (formerly Allseated), a 3D seating tool, describe being moved onto Cvent's own modules. What used to take two clicks now takes five slower ones, they say.
When the tool you liked gets acquired, its roadmap stops being about you.
Splash, ON24 and Goldcast are no longer alternatives
Cvent closed its acquisition of Splash in 2024. In late 2025 it announced a deal to buy ON24, the webinar platform, for about $400 million, as well as the acquisition of Goldcast.
If you're leaving Cvent over price or contract terms, those three don't fix anything. You'd be signing with the same group.
Support that depends on who you get
Reviews are split. Some customers rave about a responsive account manager. Others describe support that's impossible to reach when something breaks, or two days locked out of their account.
One customer also reports being billed after asking to cancel. It's a single account, but it's a good reason to keep a written trail of every request.
An annual contract to watch closely
Cvent sells on contract. Renewal and notice terms sit in your order form, and they vary from one customer to the next.
Read your renewal clause today. Missing the notice date can lock you in for another full year.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right Cvent alternative depends on what's pushing you out and the kind of events you run. Usually one row is you. Each card links to the full breakdown below.
$11,800 a year, unlimited events and registrations, check-in app included.
Your budget is tight or your data has to stay in the EUEventtiaFrom $1,650 a year for 250 attendees, EU or US hosting.
A marketing team runs a whole event programBizzaboAnnual plan from $17,999, built to tie events to pipeline.
You run conferences around an attendee appWhovaMobile app, personal agenda, attendee messaging. Custom quote.
You run a trade show with exhibitors and meetingsSwapcardAttendee-to-exhibitor matchmaking, priced per license and per attendee.
Your events are mostly webinars or virtualLivestorm or RingCentral Events€2.50 per attendee on Livestorm, from $99 per organizer per month on RingCentral.
Cvent alternatives, one by one
For each platform: why you'd move there, who it fits, its main limit, how to migrate from Cvent, and what it costs. We compared the prices each company published in 2026. When a vendor shows no number, the card says so: custom quote.
The first three replace Cvent's core job, registration and event management. The rest cover one specific need: the conference app, the trade show floor, virtual events, ticketing. For a wider ranking, see the best event management software.
Swoogo: full registration, with a price on the website
The closest replacementWhy switch to it. Swoogo covers what most teams actually use Cvent for: full registration sites and a check-in app for the door. The Professional plan costs $11,800 a year, right on the pricing page. It includes unlimited events and registrations, a check-in app and 30+ integrations. You know the budget before your first sales call.
Who it's for. Mid-size event teams running lots of events (field marketing dinners, trainings, customer conferences) who mainly pay Cvent for registration. With unlimited events, your cost per event drops every time you add one to the calendar.
The catch. Professional gives you one full user and one reporting-only user. A team of five needs the Enterprise quote, which adds a 99.9% uptime SLA. Add-ons (attendee app, virtual) carry their own unlisted prices, and taxes come on top.
How to migrate. Export your registrants from Cvent as CSV, then rebuild your forms in Swoogo instead of copying them field by field. It's the right moment to drop the questions nobody reads. The included custom domain keeps your registration pages on your own URL.
Pricing. Professional at $11,800 a year before tax. Enterprise on quote.
- Professional
- $11,800 a year
- Events
- unlimited
- Users
- 1 full + 1 reporting
Eventtia: the cheapest way in, with EU or US hosting
Lowest entry priceWhy switch to it. Eventtia publishes the numbers Cvent never shows. Essential costs $1,650 a year for 250 attendees and one admin. Premium is $2,500 with two admins, Networking $3,500 with three admins and matchmaking tools. You pick where your data lives and which entity bills you: EU or US. If your legal team cares about GDPR, that choice matters.
Who it's for. Associations, nonprofits and companies running a handful of events with a few hundred people each, who pay Cvent for far more than they use. You can pay in USD, EUR or GBP, and the vendor quotes a two to three week onboarding.
The catch. Those prices assume 250 attendees. Above that, the price scales with volume and sales confirms it on a call. Eventtia also says its annual contracts don't auto-renew into multi-year terms. That's the vendor's claim, so get it written into your contract.
How to migrate. Start with a modest event. Import the registrants you exported from Cvent, rebuild the registration page, and keep Cvent running until your contract ends for events already live there.
Pricing. Essential $1,650, Premium $2,500, Networking $3,500 a year (250 attendees). Enterprise on quote.
- Essential
- $1,650 a year
- Price basis
- 250 attendees
- Hosting
- EU or US
Bizzabo: running a full event program
For marketing teamsWhy switch to it. Bizzabo is built for marketing teams that treat events as a pipeline channel. It ties registration, event website, attendee app and marketing data together. Unlike Cvent, the price is public: $499 per user per month, billed annually, with a three-user minimum. That's roughly $18,000 a year.
Who it's for. Companies with a steady program (flagship conference, roadshow, customer events) that want to see what each event brings in, in contacts and revenue.
The catch. You need an annual subscription: there's no per-event option. Add-ons (virtual, onsite tools, API access) aren't priced publicly. Customers report renewal increases and a bill that climbs with every feature you turn on. Page customization is also more limited than some expect.
How to migrate. Negotiate your renewal price at signing. Then import your registrants and contacts from Cvent and reconnect your CRM before opening registration for the first event.
Pricing. $499 per user per month billed annually, three users minimum, or from $17,999 a year. Add-ons on quote.
- Price
- $499 per user per month
- Minimum
- 3 users
- Term
- annual
Whova: the attendee app comes first
The conference appWhy switch to it. Whova starts from the mobile app: personal agenda, attendee messaging, announcements, polls, sponsor booths. Users rate it very highly, and it's often what teams miss when they compare it to Cvent's attendee hub, which many find confusing to set up.
Who it's for. Organizers of conferences, professional associations and member events who want attendees talking to each other before, during and after the event.
The catch. No public pricing: a form asks for format, duration, attendee count and events per year. Some users find the app cluttered at first, and contact and email management draw criticism. One very practical issue: Whova invitations can get quarantined by corporate email filters.
How to migrate. Before the first invite goes out, ask your attendees' IT teams (or yours) to allowlist Whova's sending addresses. Then import the registrant list you exported from Cvent.
Pricing. Custom quote, based on format, duration and attendee count.
- Price
- custom quote
- Strength
- attendee app
- Watch out
- corporate spam filters
Swapcard: getting attendees and exhibitors to meet
Trade shows and matchmakingWhy switch to it. Swapcard is built around one job: matchmaking at trade shows. Attendees find exhibitors and book meetings, and exhibitors capture leads. If you mostly use Cvent for an exhibition, this is the closest fit for that use case.
Who it's for. Organizers of trade shows, B2B meetups and large congresses with exhibitors, in Europe or the US.
The catch. The pricing page shows no amounts. The model combines a license fee with per-attendee and per-exhibitor rates, with tiers at 200, 1,000, 10,000 or unlimited attendees. One customer describes the platform buckling under load on event day. Insist on a load test before yours.
How to migrate. Export attendees and exhibitors from Cvent into two separate files: they don't share the same fields or permissions in Swapcard. Plan a dress rehearsal at your real expected volume.
Pricing. Custom quote: license plus per-attendee and per-exhibitor rates.
- Price
- custom quote
- Tiers
- 200, 1,000, 10,000, unlimited
- Best for
- shows with exhibitors
Livestorm: when your events are webinars
WebinarsWhy switch to it. If a big chunk of your Cvent use, or your ON24 account now headed to Cvent, is webinars, you're overpaying. Livestorm runs in the browser with nothing to download. The Pro plan charges €2.50 per attendee credit: one credit per unique attendee per session, valid for 12 months. Hosts and no-shows don't use credits.
Who it's for. Marketing and training teams running regular webinars, with up to 3,000 live attendees, four hours per session and 25 speakers on Pro.
The catch. It isn't a conference platform: no seating charts, no housing, no badges. The credit model gets expensive if your sessions draw big crowds: 2,000 attendances in a year (one attendee per session) is €5,000. We score it 3.3/5 in our full Livestorm review.
How to migrate. Bring over your webinar registrants from Cvent or ON24, rebuild your registration forms and connect Livestorm to your CRM. The credit math is laid out in our Livestorm pricing breakdown.
Pricing. Pro at €2.50 per attendee credit. Enterprise on quote, sessions up to 12 hours.
- Pro
- €2.50 per attendee
- Live
- up to 3,000 attendees
- Our score
- 3.3/5
RingCentral Events: virtual events priced per organizer
Virtual and hybridWhy switch to it. RingCentral Events is the former Hopin events product, acquired in 2023. Pricing is public and based on organizers, not attendees: plans start at $99 per organizer per month on the US site. Registrations are unlimited on the listed plans.
Who it's for. Teams running large virtual or hybrid events with one or two people at the controls. One organizer on the entry plan comes to about $1,188 a year, whatever your registration count.
The catch. The product changed owners, so confirm that the features you need still exist on the plan you pick. It won't replace Cvent for a complex in-person event (housing, seating). And don't mix it up with RingCentral's phone system, which is a different product.
How to migrate. Start with a virtual event. Import your registrants from Cvent, rebuild the agenda, then run a stream test with your speakers a week out.
Pricing. From $99 per organizer per month. Annual billing saves up to 16% versus monthly.
- Entry plan
- from $99 per organizer per month
- Registrations
- unlimited
- Annual saving
- up to 16%
Eventbrite: for public events with paid tickets
Ticketing, no contractWhy switch to it. Some Cvent customers only use paid registration for a gala, a festival or a public event. For them, an annual contract makes no sense. Eventbrite has no subscription: in the US it charges 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket, plus 2.9% payment processing per order. Free events cost nothing.
Who it's for. Organizers of public, ticketed events who want buyers to find them on a marketplace. On 300 tickets at $40, service fees come to about $980 before processing.
The catch. It's not a corporate event platform: no housing, no advanced registration paths, no seating tools. Payouts arrive after the event by default, and fees stay with Eventbrite on most refunds. For a full ranking, see the best event ticketing software. If Eventbrite itself is the problem, read our guide to switching from Eventbrite.
How to migrate. Rebuild your ticket types and questions in Eventbrite, then use its check-in app at the door. Tickets already sold through Cvent get scanned with Cvent's tool.
Pricing. 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket, plus 2.9% processing per order. Free for free events.
- Per ticket
- 3.7% + $1.79
- Processing
- 2.9% per order
- Subscription
- none
The 8 alternatives side by side
Our default picks: Swoogo to replace Cvent's registration module, Eventtia for a small budget or EU data, Bizzabo for a marketing-led program. For a sense of scale over one year: Eventtia starts at $1,650, RingCentral Events at about $1,188 for one organizer, Swoogo at $11,800, Bizzabo at $17,999.
| Published entry price | Pricing model and use | |
|---|---|---|
| CventWhere you start | Custom quote, no public price | Licensed modules (Professional) or bundled (Enterprise) |
| SwoogoClosest fit | $11,800 a year | Annual, unlimited events and registrations |
| EventtiaCheapest | $1,650 a year | Annual, priced for 250 attendees |
| BizzaboMarketing | From $17,999 a year | Per user, 3 minimum, annual plan |
| WhovaConferences | Custom quote | Based on format, duration and attendees |
| SwapcardTrade shows | Custom quote | License plus per-attendee and per-exhibitor rates |
| LivestormWebinars | €2.50 per attendee | Per attendee credit, over 12 months |
| RingCentral EventsVirtual | From $99 per organizer per month | Per organizer, unlimited registrations |
| EventbriteTicketing | 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket | Per ticket plus 2.9% processing, no subscription |
Entry prices published by each company in 2026, before tax unless stated, subject to change. Rerun the math on your own count of events, users and attendees.
Leaving Cvent in seven steps
Order matters. Each step protects something: your budget, your registrants, the events already live.
Read your contract first
TodayOpen your Cvent order form and write down three things: the end date, the deadline to give notice of non-renewal, and the modules you're billed for. Put a calendar reminder well ahead of that deadline.
Miss the notice window and you're in for another year. Everything else hangs on that date.
Inventory what you actually use
Half a dayList the modules you pay for and the ones your team really uses: registration, housing, attendee app, badges, seating, webinars. Plenty of teams find they pay for three modules and use one.
That list decides where you go: one full platform, or two simpler tools (say, Swoogo for registration and Livestorm for webinars).
Choose and sign before the notice date
Four to eight weeksAsk for demos on your real use case, not a generic event. Get every vendor to price the same thing: your events, users and attendees over one year.
Before signing, check data hosting, the pricing model (per user, per attendee or per ticket) and the new vendor's own renewal clause.
Export registrants and reports
One dayIn Cvent, open the Attendee List, filter on status Accepted, select the names, then use Bulk Actions and Export. For large volumes, Cvent's API (the interface that lets a script pull your data) saves hours of manual exports.
If a full export crashes, split it by event or date range. In reports, choose your fields before downloading as CSV. Keep the registration, attendance and revenue reports from past events too: you'll plan the next ones with them.
Rebuild one event first
Two to three weeksDon't move everything at once. Pick your next mid-size event and rebuild it in the new platform: registration site, ticket types, confirmation emails, badges.
Run a test registration end to end, with a real payment if the event is paid, and check that the data lands in your CRM.
Load-test registration and check-in
Before event dayRun a rehearsal at real volume: concurrent logins for virtual, check-in at the door for in-person, the app on your staff's phones.
Have a fallback ready: a printed or offline registrant list on event day.
Let Cvent wind down, then archive
At contract endEvents already open on Cvent finish on Cvent. Don't open a second registration for the same event: you'd be managing two lists.
Before the contract ends, run one last full export of your history. After that, your access can disappear, and your data with it.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a Cvent exit go wrong
The same mistakes come up whenever a team leaves a large event platform. None of them are technical: they're calendar and contract slips.
Missing the notice date
The most expensive one: another contract year for a tool you've already replaced. Read the clause in your order form now.
Moving to a Cvent product
Splash, ON24 and Goldcast belong to Cvent. If you're leaving over price or terms, check who owns your next platform.
Comparing prices that measure different things
Per user, per attendee and per ticket don't compare as is. Bring everything back to your real year of events.
Forgetting add-ons
At Bizzabo, Swoogo or Swapcard, the app, virtual or API cost extra. Get the full bundle priced, not the base plan.
Migrating mid-event
An event that's already taking registrations stays on Cvent until it's over. Two platforms for one event means two lists at the door.
Emailing every past registrant
Registering for an event isn't consent to your marketing. Announce the change to people who opted in, under your legal basis.
- Cvent end date and notice date written down
- Modules actually used listed
- Quotes compared on a real year of events
- New platform signed before the notice date
- Registrants and reports exported as CSV, in batches if needed
- First event rebuilt and test registration done
- Load rehearsal done before event day
- Full history exported before the contract ends
Cvent alternatives: frequently asked questions
How much does Cvent cost?
Cvent doesn't publish prices: everything goes through a quote. Its pricing page shows two packages, Professional (license only the modules you need) and Enterprise (everything bundled), plus special rates for nonprofits. If you're a nonprofit, also check our picks for nonprofit event software. To compare fairly, ask Cvent for a per-module breakdown: it's the only way to see what each feature really costs you.
What is the cheapest alternative to Cvent?
Among full registration platforms, Eventtia: $1,650 a year for 250 attendees and one admin. If you only run webinars, Livestorm at €2.50 per attendee can come in lower. If you sell tickets to the public, Eventbrite has no subscription at all, just per-ticket fees.
Is Splash a Cvent alternative?
Not anymore. Cvent closed its acquisition of Splash in 2024. Splash is still a solid field marketing event tool, but you'd be signing with the Cvent group. Same for ON24, whose acquisition Cvent announced in late 2025, and for Goldcast.
How do I export attendees from Cvent?
In the Attendee List, filter on status Accepted, select the names, then Bulk Actions and Export. For many events, use the API. If exporting your full history in one file crashes, split it by event: users report that exact problem on the Cvent community forum.
Cvent vs Bizzabo vs Swoogo: which one?
Cvent if you need everything (housing, seating, complex registration) and have the budget. Swoogo if registration is your core need: $11,800 a year, unlimited events, but one full user. Bizzabo if a marketing team of three or more runs the program: about $18,000 a year. With three users, get Swoogo's Enterprise quote before deciding.
Is there a free Cvent alternative?
Not for corporate events with full registration and an attendee app. For free public events, Eventbrite costs nothing. For webinars, Livestorm charges €2.50 per attendee on Pro. For other options, see the best webinar software.
Can I leave Cvent before my contract ends?
Usually not without paying: the contract runs to term. The smart move is to prepare your exit during the final year: sign the new platform before the notice date, move new events over, and let the ones already open on Cvent finish.
How long does a Cvent migration take?
Plan for two to three months if your team runs several events a year: four to eight weeks to choose, then two to three weeks to rebuild the first event. Eventtia quotes a two to three week onboarding. The real deadline is your notice date.
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