Managing events and bookings as a venue manager is never as easy as you first expect. Tracking reservations, coordinating schedules and ensuring that everyone aligns their responsibilities and resources can be a difficult feat to pull together, even for the most organised of teams. Being able to lean on the help of venue management software helps to avoid unnecessary miscommunications and ensures that important details and projects aren't getting lost in the chaos. But with so many different types of venues out there, and such a range in the requirements and challenges of managers and hosts, it's important that you find the right solution to fit your needs.
In this article, we'll break down 10 of the best venue management software solutions on the market right now across a range of popular industries, so that you can streamline your venue management process and give your business the best chance at success.
Contents:
- Tutti - Best for creative spaces
- Othership - Best for offices & workspaces
- iVvy - Best for stadiums & large venues
- Hallmaster - Best for village halls & community centres
- Sonas - Best for weddings
- EZFacility - Best for sports venues
- Surreal - Best for gigs & live entertainment
- Priava - Best for conventions & exhibitions
- Access Collins (DesignMyNight) - Best for hospitality
- Clubspeed - Best for family entertainment
1. Tutti - Best for creative spaces
Designed with creative professionals and venue managers in mind, Tutti's venue management software helps hosts to oversee and manage their calendars, contacts, and payments with ease. Unlimited users and locations allow you to expand your business and integrate your team without having to worry about software restrictions, whilst an interconnected oversight of your calendar and communications helps to keep teams and projects synchronised in one place.
Integrate your calendar and third party bookings, manage payments securely, and centralise all of your creative admin and venue management responsibilities. You'll also have access to Tutti's expansive UK marketplace, where you'll gain targeted exposure to tens of thousands of 'ready-to-book' customers searching everything from photography studios and filming locations to recording studios and historic church halls.
Key features:
- Full visibility across team members
- Automated reminders for upcoming bookings sent to all parties
- Embedded booking widget captures details of those planning to book on your website
- Manage and track payments
- List your space on Tutti's marketplace
- Internal chats linked to specific projects
- Unlimited users & unlimited locations
Integration capabilities:
- Integrate your Google or Outlook calendar
- Add third party bookings from your website and socials
- Apple Pay and Google Pay integration for online payments
Pricing:
- £30 per month for software
- 10% commission per booking on Tutti's marketplace
- 3% payment processing fees
Manage your venue's calendar, contacts, and payments with ease!
2. Othership - Best for offices & workspaces
On a mission to promote better workplace cultures in the world of remote work, Othership offers a number of tools and solutions to help professionals stay connected. As part of this, they collaborate with office and co-working venues across the UK, North America, Spain, Portugal and Mexico, giving professionals access to a rich and diverse network of office locations and workspace-booking software.
As well as hosting on the platform, Othership's visitor management system makes it easy for venues to manage their guests and access key data and insights to help develop their business. From fixed workspaces to hotels and cafes that offer co-working facilities, Othership offers solutions for venues of all sizes so that they can integrate their space into the new world of work.
Key features:
- Share digital documents with guests
- Screen visitors and assign them a space to work
- Meeting Room Booking Software
- Desk Booking Software
Integration capabilities:
- PayPal and Stripe integration for online payments
Pricing:
- Bespoke pricing available upon consult
- Free trial available
3. IVvy - Best for stadiums & large venues
iVvy is a global platform, working to support growth, development and collaboration in the events sector. Using automation and cloud-based technology, iVvy's venue management software aims to provide an interconnected platform for venues of all shapes and sizes. From hotels to restaurants, stadiums to university campus spaces, iVvy offers solutions for a wide range of venues and collaborates with dozens of third-party platforms to ensure that you have the tools that you need.
On top of their management solutions, iVvy Marketplace is an online directory visited by 32,000 event planners each month, so hosts are able to boost their exposure and market their space to a wide range of users.
Key features:
- Create digital quotes and contracts
- Automated sales reports
- Create Banquet Event Orders
Integration capabilities:
- Take bookings from your own website straight into your CRM
- Over 55 integrations with third-party platforms
Pricing:
- Bespoke pricing available upon consult
4. Hallmaster - Best for village halls & community centres
Hallmaster is a venue management software designed for clubhouses, village halls, community centres and other local function rooms across the UK. Centred around booking and invoicing, Hallmaster is a straightforward and easy to use platform that addresses the key issues faced by small, local venues, without any unnecessary, complex features.
Hailed for their intuitive interface, responsive support team and comprehensive training sessions, Hallmaster makes it easy for village halls and community centres to sustain their place in public life by providing an accessible space for local events and functions.
Key features:
- Real-time availability calendar
- No commission on bookings
- Produce and send invoices
Integration capabilities:
- Integration with your own website
- PayPal and Stripe integration for online payments
- Integrate directly with RemoteLOCK
- Integration with accounting software including Safe, Xero and Quickbooks
Pricing:
- From £145 per year
- Free trial available
5. Sonas - Best for weddings
Sonas is a wedding venue management software, operating primarily across the UK and Ireland. Noticing that most generic event management tools seemed to lack consideration for venue hosts, Sonas was born from a desire to build solutions hand in hand with wedding venue owners, so that their challenges were being effectively addressed in the solutions being built.
Today, Sonas' venue management software helps venue managers streamline their workflow from beginning to end, using smart automations to keep teams and projects on the same page.
Key features:
- Guest and table management
- Manage itineraries and event timelines
- Interactive room layouts to help optimise your space
- Online contracts and invoice templates
Integration capabilities:
- Full integration with Xero, Stripe and Sparkpost
- Integration with Quickbooks TBA
- Export to your Google Calendar
Pricing:
- From £99 per month
- Free trial available
- No commission charged on bookings
6. EZFacility - Best for sports venues
From football clubs to yoga studios, gyms to swimming pools, EZFacility is a venue management software for sports and fitness businesses. Centralise your classes, clinics and clubs in one place, allowing you to optimise the use of your staff, resources and event spaces with ease.
EZFacility regularly incorporates new features that are targetted to the needs of their users. The self-service client portal allows guests to schedule sessions, purchase packages and memberships, and view your venue's calendar, whilst the new Video Library allows gyms and fitness centres to host virtual classes using Zoom integration.
Key features:
- Employee time-clock
- Centralised scheduling calendar
- Automate text and email reminders to guests
- Create customer membership plans
- Self check-in
Integration capabilities:
- Zoom integration
- Outlook and Google Calendar integration
- Quickbook integration
- Smartwaiver integration for custom liability waivers and event forms
Pricing:
- Bespoke pricing available upon consult
- Free trial available
7. Surreal - Best for gigs & live entertainment
Specialising in live entertainment venues, Surreal is an all-inclusive remedy for overseeing reservations, marketing, operations, and finance within one unified platform. Manage multiple venues and coordinate with staff across departments and expertise, allowing you to streamline your business communications and optimise the use of your existing resources.
Surreal will also track and analyse the data from your bookings using their Live Entertainment Data (LED) system, which provides insights on customer preferences and ROI so that you can keep refining your workflow.
Key features:
- Centralised event calendar
- Access to entertainer marketplace
Integration capabilities:
- Connect your Live Entertainment Data warehouse to Google Sheets and BI tools like Tableau, Excel and Metabase
Pricing:
- From £45 per month or from £449 yearly
- Free trial available
8. Priava - Best for conventions & exhibitions
With offices in Sydney, New York, London and Christchurch, Priava is a global company offering solutions to venue and event managers who need to multitask across busy teams. Streamline your event logistics, manage catering and inventory requirements, and oversee online bookings all in one user-friendly venue management system.
For more than two decades, Priava has been servicing museums & galleries, governments & councils, arenas, stadiums and many more large event spaces. They understand the complexity of managing large teams and multiple venues and bookings, so their purpose-built software is designed to address the specific challenges that come with these venue eco-systems.
Key features:
- Real-time availability calendar
- Unlimited users and devices
- Lead & enquiry management
- Create digital quotes and invoices
Integration capabilities:
- Integration with a range of external applications including NetSuite, Salesforce, Campaign Monitor, MailChimp, Xero and SAP
Pricing:
- Bespoke pricing available upon consult
9. Access Collins (DesignMyNight) - Best for hospitality
Trusted by big brands like BrewDog and The Alchemist, Access Collins is one of the most popular venue management systems for hospitality services in the UK. They offer a range of tools and resources designed specifically for event and venue managers in the hospitality sector.
Empowering restaurants, hotels, clubs, bars and other venues to increase their sales without increasing their workload, Access Collins empowers venues to connect with their target audience and boost their bookings. Maximise capacity by mapping bookings to tables, take pre-orders and payments at the point of booking, and bring location scouters to you by showcasing your venue on DesignMyNight, which reaches over 3.9 million monthly visitors.
Key features:
- Collins LiveWait for queue management/virtual queueing
- Take pre-orders
- Collect deposits
- Digital table management
Integration capabilities:
- Connect to your EPOS provider, CRM system, reporting tools and other external systems
- Integration with own website
- Integrate bookings through Google
Pricing:
- From £135 per month
10. Clubspeed - Best for family entertainment
Marketed as the world's leading venue management service for family entertainment centres, Clubspeed automates everyday tasks like scheduling, financials, reservations and membership tracking. With over 1500 customers in 70+ countries, Clubspeed have made a name for themselves across the globe, and with multilingual software and translation services, this is a reliable option for international businesses.
From amusement parks to bowling alleys, escape rooms to laser tag, Culbspeed's venue management software is designed to ramp up revenue and provide a superior guest experience for all kinds of family entertainment venues.
Key features:
- Manage on-site and online bookings
- 24/7 support, including translation services
- Customisable reporting and analytics
- Automated marketing
- Gift card management
- Multilingual software
Integration capabilities:
- Integrate with your own website
Pricing:
- From $399 (£315) per month
Wrapping up
So there you have it - 10 of the best venue management software on the market today! Save yourself precious time and avoid unnecessary stress by investing in solutions that centralise your venue management responsibilities, giving you more time to focus on marketing and developing your business.
With most of these platforms also offering tailored exposure to active and engaged audiences, it's difficult to imagine a better way to boost visibility and optimise your workflow as an event or venue manager. Just make sure that you find the right solution for your specific venue type so that you're accessing the right audiences and software solutions.
Manage your venue's calendar, contacts, and payments with ease!
