Planning and promoting events is crucial for many businesses and organizations. An event calendar on your WordPress website allows visitors to see upcoming happenings at a glance.
With so many event plugin options available, how do you choose? I evaluated 7 top contenders to help you find the right solution.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll compare features, pricing, and use cases. You‘ll learn the pros and cons of each plugin so you can select the best one for your specific needs.
Let‘s dive in!
Key Features to Look For
When researching WordPress event calendar plugins, keep these features in mind:
- Recurring events – Automatically create repeating events like weekly meetings or monthly seminars
- Calendar views – Day, week, month views make events easy to browse
- Venue and organizer tracking – Reuse the same locations and planners
- Event submissions – Let site visitors submit their own event listings
- Ticketing/booking – Collect RSVPs or sell actual tickets
- Synchronization – Sync events with external calendars like Google or iCal
Additional nice-to-have capabilities:
- Front-end management – Manage events directly on your live site without logging into the WP dashboard
- Community events – Allow users to create and share their own events to foster community
- Advanced date/time flexibility – Schedule events that span multiple days or end after midnight
Now let‘s explore some of the top contenders for best WordPress event calendar plugin…
1. Amelia
Amelia is a booking specialist that also includes robust event calendar functionality. It‘s used by over 13,000 businesses globally.
Key Features
- ✅ Recurring events
- ✅ Calendar views (daily, weekly, monthly)
- ✅ Venue and organizer tracking
- ❌ No community submissions
- ✅ Ticketing and booking
- ✅ External calendar sync
Amelia really excels when you need to manage reservations and sell tickets in addition to displaying events. It integrates smoothly with payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal.
Other standout aspects include employee scheduling/availability tracking and the ability to prevent double-booking conflicts.
Pricing
- Free version available
- Pro plans start at $99/year
Overall, Amelia is a top pick if you want booking management plus events. But it is more expensive than some competitors.
2. The Events Calendar
With over 700,000 active installs, The Events Calendar is the most popular dedicated event listing plugin. It comes from Modern Tribe, a digital agency with 72+ employees.
Key Features
- ✅ Recurring events
- ✅ Calendar views
- ✅ Venue and organizer tracking
- ❌ Limited event submission capability
- ❌ Ticketing requires an addon
- ✅ External calendar sync
The Events Calendar really provides all the basics you need for displaying events on your site. The free version is quite robust.
Working ticketing is only available via a paid extension plugin called Event Tickets Plus. This does let you collect RSVPs and sell tickets, including unique QR codes.
Pricing
- Free version fully featured
- Pro version $99/year
- Event Tickets Plus $89+/year
With a generous free offering and affordable paid options, The Events Calendar works for many budgets. It‘s a great choice for fairly simple events management.
3. Event Espresso 4 Decaf
Event Espresso stands out for advanced ticketing abilities including custom ticket pricing, waiting lists, promo codes, and an app for scanning ticket barcodes.
Key Features
- ❌ No recurring events
- ✅ Calendar views
- ❌ Limited venue/organizer support
- ❌ No submissions
- ✅ Robust ticketing options
- ❌ No external calendar sync
As you can see, Event Espresso is primarily focused on complex ticketing needs rather than rounded calendar abilities.
Use this if you need to sell tickets in multiple varietals and price points. The custom ticket SKUs and barcode scanning app are handy for large events.
Pricing
- Free version lacks key features
- Pro plans start at $79.95
The premium feature set carries a higher price tag compared to alternatives. But serious event organizers may find it worthwhile.
4. Modern Events Calendar
True to its name, Modern Events Calendar delivers stylish, contemporary-looking event displays. Beyond looks, it also includes solid features plus community submission abilities.
Key Features
- ✅ Recurring events
- ✅ Calendar views
- ❌ No venue/organizer tracking
- ✅ Community submissions
- ❌ Ticketing requires addon
- ✅ External calendar sync
I like that Modern Events Calendar incorporates user-generated content out of the box. This fosters community engagement.
The free version is also quite generous if you just need basic listing capabilities. Addons allow ticketing, maps, weather modules, and more.
Pricing
- Feature-packed free version
- Pro plans start at $75
For displaying events in style without advanced booking needs, Modern Events Calendar hits a sweet spot of pricing and features.
5. EventOn
Boasting 30,000+ sales at CodeCanyon, EventOn is a popular commercial event calendar plugin. It lets you create events with all-day or custom multi-day durations.
Key Features
- ✅ Recurring events
- ✅ Calendar views
- ✅ Venue and organizer tracking
- ❌ No community submission handling
- ❌ Ticketing requires addon
- ✅ External calendar sync
At its core, EventOn handles the event creation and display part very well. Support for venues, organizers, and recurrence makes it easy to manage listings.
You can extend features via numerous addons, like bookings, RSVPs, and WooCommerce ticketing. Just know these often cost extra.
Pricing
- Standalone plugin $25
- Addons extra
If you want robust functionality without paying too much, check out EventOn. Just watch out for addon creep bumping up your costs.
6. Event Calendar WD
From the team at Web-Dorado, Event Calendar WD earns positive reviews for its easy-to-use interface. It presents a balance of useful features at an affordable price point.
Key Features
- ❌ Recurring events require upgrade
- ✅ Calendar views
- ✅ Venue and organizer tracking
- ❌ No community submissions
- ❌ Ticketing requires addon
- ✅ External calendar sync
As a nice bonus, Event Calendar WD incorporates Google Maps directly in the free version. This makes it super simple to add and display locations.
Addons allow waiting lists, front-end submissions, Facebook imports, and more. Or you can upgrade to the Pro bundle to access key functionality.
Pricing
- Free version available
- Pro plans start at $25
For all it offers at a budget rate, Event Calendar WD is worth considering.
7. Event Organiser
Last up we have Event Organiser, a lightweight calendar plugin coded to be developer-friendly. It focuses on creating one-off or recurring events and surfaced those listings through widgets and shortcodes.
Key Features
- ✅ Recurring events
- ❌ Limited calendar views
- ✅ Venue tracking
- ❌ No community submission abilities
- ❌ Ticketing requires Pro version
- ✅ External calendar sync
Event Organiser keeps things simple regarding both features and design. But it nails the basics like venues and recurrence.
The premium version activates booking capabilities and front-end management.
Pricing
- Free standalone version
- Pro plans start around $65/year
If you appreciate minimalism and want booking upgrades later, Event Organiser could be for you.
Final Thoughts
All the event calendar plugins covered above are great solutions depending on your needs and budget.
Amelia leads for those wanting booking and ticket sales abilities combined with calendar displays.
For free events management, The Events Calendar from Modern Tribe can’t be beaten.
Event Espresso 4 Decaf caters to large-scale ticketing situations with custom pricing and barcode verification access.
When weighing the options, factor in your must-have features, preferred design aesthetic, and number of events to manage.
Carefully review pricing models as well. Entry-level costs are just part of the picture. Addons and unexpected upgrades can grow expenses.
Hopefully seeing this head-to-head comparison helps provide clarity so you can zero in on the ideal WordPress event calendar plugin for your website!
