One-page reference. Adoption rates and cost bands aggregated from EVA Europe Event Tech Survey 2025, Skift Meetings 2026, MPI Meetings Outlook, AIPC tech surveys, and Easy RFP integration-request log (n=1,247). Cost bands are annual for a planner running 10 events/year. Read the full report at easyhotelrfp.com/blog/research.
Sourcing-to-registration handoff is almost always manual CSV. Ask any vendor: "Show me the API endpoint that pushes the awarded venue to my registration tool." If the answer is "we export CSV", the integration doesn't exist.
2. Registration
78%
Cvent OnArrival, Eventbrite, Bizzabo, Splash, Hubilo, MS Forms
€0 – €45,000
Highest-friction category if it breaks. Highest-cost line item for 500+ attendees. Free tiers (MS Forms, Eventbrite small) only work below 100 attendees. GDPR consent records mandatory.
Median download-to-attendee ratio is ~55%. Below 200 attendees, printed agenda usually beats an app on ROI. Above 500, attendees expect one.
4. AV / engagement
84%
Slido, Mentimeter, Pigeonhole, Wooclap, Kahoot
€400 – €1,200
Tactical per-event purchase, rarely integrates with registration. AV-itself bought through supplier, not planner. Audience engagement is the cheapest "make the event feel modern" investment.
5. Hybrid platform
18%
Teams Live, Zoom Events, Bizzabo, Cvent Virtual, StreamYard
€0 – €6,000
Down from 41% in 2021. Most remote audiences now handled via Microsoft Teams or Zoom (IT already owns). Specialist platform only justified for large association or marketing-led events.
6. Post-event analytics
49%
Cvent, Bizzabo, Splash, Salesforce, HubSpot
€0 – €9,600
Operational analytics belongs in registration; attribution analytics belongs in CRM. Stop trying to make one tool do both. 38% of leadership ask for event-revenue numbers; only 14% of planners are confident in their answer.
Hybrid: Microsoft Teams Live Events (your IT owns it)
Small registration: MS Forms, Eventbrite (small events)
Where you have to pay
Registration above 200 attendees
Event apps above 300 attendees
CRM-attribution analytics (Salesforce, HubSpot)
Dedicated badging / on-site check-in hardware
The 5-step buyer checklist
Count your events. Below 5/year, free tiers cover most categories. Above 15/year, sourcing pays back fastest.
Identify your highest-friction step. If registration breaks more often than sourcing, buy registration first.
Ask every vendor for the specific API endpoint. Not "we integrate with X" — the actual URL and the docs. CSV-only is not integration.
Budget the reconciliation hours. 1–2 hours per event of CSV cleanup is normal for a 4-tool stack. Across 12 events that's a meaningful share of your coordinator's quarter.
Re-evaluate annually. The category will look different in 2027 — AI matchmaking, agentic sourcing, CRM-native analytics are all moving fast.