Want to know more about free venue management software? With the right system in place, event and venue managers have the tools to automate complex event-related tasks and better manage their venue bookings.
However, buying into a platform is a commitment. The decision can be tricky if you’re just starting out or not entirely sure of your event venue needs. At the same time, working off spreadsheets and disjointed systems isn’t the answer. Manually executing repetitive tasks is time-consuming and detrimental to productivity.
One way to solve this is through software apps that automate operational processes. These reduce your busy work, allowing you to focus on growing your event space. A reputable venue management system is key to streamlining operations and staying ahead of the competition.
In this review, we’ll go over some of the top choices for free online venue management software. They bring something unique to the table and are perfect if you want to test the waters before making any commitments.
What is Venue Management Software?
Venue management software is software that event organizers use to manage bookings at their venues. From restaurants to hotels, wedding venues to country clubs, and everything in between, the software helps to ensure that resources are managed and the venue capacity is used optimally. Â
Typically, the software performs functions related to events sales, scheduling bookings, and marketing venues. This includes features to help manage client reservations, assign team tasks, process online payments, and communicate with clients. You might also be able to access document templates, manage attendees, and oversee multiple facilities.
What to Look for in Free Venue Management Software
The free software versions are often only available with limited features or functionality. This isn’t always the best way to try out new platforms for your event venue business.
Another way to get a feel for them is to sign up for free trials. Many apps offer this fully featured for a limited time.
Regardless of how you explore these platforms, a few features to look out for include:
- User-friendliness: Event management software designed with the user in mind is vital. Offering a user-friendly platform will help eliminate some of the barriers to adopting it initially.
- Client management: The software you choose should store and track client information in a single space. You should be able to track proposals, contracts, and email communications.
- Booking calendar: With any booking service, a venue booking calendar is essential to avoid duplicate reservations and unhappy clients. The calendar should show the availability of your event spaces and provide a dashboard for event organizers, managers, and stakeholders to manage operations.
- Task management: When you have a sizeable team of employees to coordinate, tracking their tasks and progress through your venue management software is very convenient.
- Payment processing: Payment gateway integration will help you collect clients’ payments. You can generate invoices and send them directly to the client’s email address.
- Integrations: When trying out new venue management solutions, we recommend looking at the available integrations. Integrations conveniently add to the functionality of the platform.
With these features in mind, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about software to suit your event venue business.
Best Free Venue Management Software and Tools
Now that you know what to look for let’s dive into some of the best free venue management software solutions on the market. While some offer free-forever plans, others give you a free trial to test their platform out.
1. Perfect Venue
Best for: restaurants, event centers, unique venues, breweries, and other hospitality spaces.
Perfect Venue is an all-in-one event management software solution that provides both a free plan and a 14-day free trial of the paid plans.
On the free-forever plan, you can access core features, including the CRM, BEOs (read our post on what is a BEO here), proposals, payments, and all integrations. You can also work with multiple users and list your venue on our marketplace for potential clients to find you.
The free plan is supported by processing fees, which are 4.8% plus thirty cents per transaction. This plan is suitable if you’re just starting your event venue business.
As you grow, you’ll find the paid plans, which start at $59 per month (annual billing), provide a more robust toolkit to drive your business. In addition to the free features, you’ll be able to manage multiple locations, as well as access the calendar, task management, automation, e-sign, and sales and marketing add-on functions. You can also process ACH payments, white-label your forms, and set up multi-day events.
Remember, advanced functionality is available on the 14-day free trial. There’s no credit required for sign-up, and your plan will default to the free plan if you don’t select and continue with a paid plan.
Main Features of the Free Plan:
- Multiple users
- Integrations with Gmail, QuickBooks, Stripe, Outlook, Google Calendar, OpenTable, Tock, Bentobox, Squarespace, WordPress, and more
- CRM
- Digital documents, including BEOs and proposals
- Marketplace listing
- Credit card processing
- Email support
2. Function Tracker
Best for: clubs, restaurants, hotels, and catering businesses.
Function Tracker is a cloud-based venue booking software that offers an impressive 30-day free trial so that you can try the features.
The calendar function lets you take event bookings and assign the required number of guests. You can change the calendar to daily, weekly or monthly views.
A beneficial feature is the quote and contract creator. This feature will help streamline your document creations while maintaining consistency within your brand.
There are valuable integrations for third-party software, such as MailChimp, Microsoft Office, Google Drive, and MuGuestlist. With client management, you can track the client’s history with your venue business, manage contact details, and add notes for easy management.
The event manager can plan and assign menus to specific events with the menu creation feature. This feature will help the kitchen staff to design and create the perfect menu for the event.
Main Features:
- Event management with reminders
- Staff and client management
- Quote and contract creation
- Menu creation
- Room management in multiple locations
- Payment processing
- General and customizable reporting
3. Omnify
Best for: hospitality businesses, member clubs, fitness venues, and sports facilities.
Omnify offers a 7-day, no credit card required, free trial to test their reservations, ticketing, and scheduling platform. With the free trial, you’ll get access to all of Omnify’s significant features, giving you a better idea of whether it’s the platform for you or not.
The calendar feature lets you add events and assign a ticketing system. You can set the maximum number of event attendees and the location, as well as assign team members to the event. Ticket prices can be set to your requirements.
Omnify has a client management system where you can access client information in just a few clicks. Additionally, a prospects feature stores the data of those who enquire about your services.
You can assign discounts to services or first-time sign-ups with the discount feature. You can choose a discount code, the amount, and the number of times a user can redeem it. With the expiration date, you can ensure that clients won’t continuously receive discounts.
Main Features:
- Unlimited bookings
- Client login and profiles
- Custom registration form
- Check-in app
- Liability waiver
- Team access management
- Payment processing
4. Skedda
Best for: office and meeting rooms, consultation services, community facilities, performing arts venues, and sports venues.
Skedda offers a simple solution for venue and event management. It’s a platform to streamline your management tasks and increase sales.
The free version of Skedda has a centralized calendar for managing your unlimited bookings. You can set up internal tasks and mark certain days and times as ‘unavailable.’ Additionally, you can add notes to each booking.
On Skedda’s free version, you can add up to five administrators to assist with venue management. You’ll pay $7 per user monthly if you require extra users. Depending on their role, you can assign each user as a system admin or a booking admin.
You’ll get a basic analytics dashboard that gives insight into your venue’s performance. It includes overviews each day to weekly performance data. You’ll also be able to identify the most popular event space in your venue.
There are limitations to the free version. If you’d like features like online payments and integrations, they’re available at an extra fee.
Main Features of the Free Plan:
- Unlimited bookings
- Five users
- Centralized calendar with booking capabilities
- Exports and reports
- Basic analytics dashboard
Conclusion
Venue management systems can help venue and event managers grow their businesses. But, before investing in a platform, it helps to try it out for free. This will give you a feel for what it can do and how all the tools can support your ambitions.
Look for features that support your sales, marketing, scheduling, and operational efforts. It should also offer integrations with the apps you already use. This will expand its overall functionality and help you to automate processes.
Ready to try out Perfect Venue for free? You’re in luck - it’s market-leading event management software with flexible plans that will grow with your business.
