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This is one of the more robust add-on libraries you can find in any WordPress event management plugin, so if that’s your style you should consider the All-in-One Event Calendar.

The free version still has its upsides, with the ability to import events from Facebook, social sharing, venue auto-saving, and recurring events. The plugin stands out in the sharing/importing realm, since it offers tools for easily sharing and importing data from Google Calendar, Apple iCal, and MS Outlook.

Why is it One of the Best WordPress Event Management Plugins?

• The plugin offers a free plan, along with monthly premium packages, and add-ons–giving you a wider range of payment options than most plugins on this list.
• The recurring payments feature has complex timing patterns, so if you wanted to run an event every three months, that’s an option.
• The All-in-One Event Calendar provides support for several external calendars, with import, export, and sharing tools for platforms like Google Calendar and Apple iCal.
• The frontend display looks beautiful and filled with information. This is particularly true for the posterboard format.
• The add-on library is far bigger than other competitors on the market. Therefore, you can obtain advanced and unique features like MailChimp integrations, advanced keyword searching, and a tool called EventPromote that monetizes frontend submissions.

5. Event Espresso 4 Decaf

Event Expresso has been a crowd favorite for some time now, and now the developers have come out with the most recent Event Espresso 4 Decaf version. The “Decaf” version is completely free and filled with some basic features like event ticketing and registration. What’s more is that you can process PayPal payments without having to upgrade to one of the paid plans or by getting an add-on. The automated confirmation emails are interesting as well, since you can send out event reminders and link that up to your event registrant list. Finally, another awesome part of the free plugin is the Android and Apple app support for scanning tickets and tracking who comes to your events.

As for the premium plans, they start at $79.95 per year and go all the way up to $299.95 per year. You’ll receive over 60 features and dozens of add-ons depending on the plan you go with. The add-ons are quite plentiful as well, so if you’re not interested in paying for the entire pro version, pick and choose the features you want. For example, you might only need an add-on to gain support for one of the payment methods. In that case, you only pay $69.95 for the one add-on.

As you may start to realize, the payment plans are much better values than the individual add-ons. But only paying for one or two of them might save you a little money.

Why is it One of the Best WordPress Event Management Plugins?

• You have all sorts of payment options. One of them is to go with the completely free Decaf plugin. Another offers yearly pricing plans, while the last one lets you pay for add-ons individually.
• You can actually process payments through PayPal Express Checkout without buying an add-on. It’s free.
• There’s also a tool for sending out automated email notifications to your event subscribers.
• The Apple and Android apps make a seamless ticket checking process when the event begins.

6. The Events Calendar

The Events Calendar plugin is made by the developers at Modern Tribe, and it’s packed with features for making a highly professional calendar on your website, alongside a management area. The whole point of the Events Calendar plugin is to get up and running within minutes. It has a rapid event creation tool for those organizations that want events listed on a website but don’t have all the time in the world. You can also save venues and organizers for later and present different calendar views for a sleek user-interface.

The core plugin works smoothly for simple calendars. It has a beautiful premium version for $89 per year. It’s not the cheapest option on this list, but you gain access to several great features like recurring events, shortcodes, and custom event attributes. You can collect RSVPs for free with the core plugin and get payments with their free Event Tickets plugin. If you need more advanced eCommerce capabilities, you can also get the Event Tickets Plus premium add-on.

On the frontend, you can choose from a wide variety of layouts, from lists to regular calendars. The calendars are clean and modern, with support for maps and other essential event information. One of the main reasons I like the Events Calendar plugin is because it integrates with Eventbrite.

Why is it One of the Best WordPress Event Management Plugins?

• The main event management plugin is free.
• You can connect the calendar to Eventbrite and either import into Eventbrite or pull the events from your Eventbrite page into your website’s event calendar.
• Some of the add-ons and plugins are far more interesting than the average event management plugin. For example, Modern Tribe has a plugin called GigPress, where musicians and managers can manage gigs and concerts.

7. My Calendar

With the My Calendar plugin your events get displayed on multiple websites through WordPress multisite or on however many pages you’d like on an individual website. This is a standard calendar plugin without much event management behind it. However, you do have the option to upgrade with some of the premium extensions and free plugins. For example, the My Tickets plugin is free and it integrates with the My Calendar plugin. The combination turns your calendar into a ticket sales operation for people to purchase tickets, RSVP, print the tickets, or pick them up at a physical location.

The My Calendar Pro plugin goes for $49 per year and truly turns the core plugin into an event management portal. Let visitors submit their own events, accept payments through PayPal and Authorize.net, and import events from multiple sources.

The regular My Calendar plugin has a full calendar grid and list view, along with mini calendars and widgets for smaller displays. The location manager is there for when you have frequently used venues, and the email notification system sends you a message when a date has been reserved or scheduled. All in all, the My Calendar plugin is fairly robust for a free option, yet I wouldn’t call it complete until you upgrade to the $49 per year.

Why is it One of the Best WordPress Event Management Plugins?

• The plugin gives you more of a simple calendar experience, cutting out many of the unnecessary features you might find in the competition’s plugins.
• You can import events from places like Google Calendar and iCal.
• The $49 per year is quite affordable for when you’d like to start accepting RSVPs and payments, along with frontend submissions.
• This plugin provides rich permissions, which are great for organizations that want to share some parts of the calendar with certain people and other parts to other users.

8. EventOn

EventOn is a premium-only WordPress event management plugin. This plugin is quite the gem if you’re willing to pull the trigger and not spend time playing around with a free plugin. Besides, the price at the time of this article is $23. At its most basic, the EventOn plugin is one of the most visually appealing event calendars on the market. The colorful, modern list and calendar layouts beat out pretty much all of the plugins on this list. Specifics such as times, locations, and event cancellations are all displayed right on the main calendar page. There’s also a beautiful tile layout that looks somewhat like a portfolio, except with all of your events listed.

EventOn also serves as a decent event management program, using event organization tools, location management, an excellent search bar for your users, and several social sharing buttons. It’s not that robust on the event management side of things, but it’s definitely a good-looking plugin for getting your events on your website.

Why is it One of the Best WordPress Event Management Plugins?

• For a premium events calendar and quality support, you only have to pay $23 per year.
• The visual layout of the events calendar is simply stunning. Whoever designed the thing deserves a pat on the back, because it beats out the design from most calendars I’ve worked with.
• Although the event management is mediocre, displaying your events is done by packing in lots of information without looking too cluttered. You can fit everything from maps to pictures, and purchasing buttons to social media buttons.
• The custom meta fields are great for adding up to 10 pieces of custom event data fields.

9. Calendarize it! for WordPress

Another premium plugin sold on CodeCanyon is called Calendarize it! for WordPress. Once again, this has more of a focus on making a great calendar, but for $25, and loads of other add-ons, Calendarize it! stands strong as one of the best WordPress event management plugins in the game. To start, many of the add-ons are completely free, so you don’t have to worry about spending a few extra bucks after you already download the original plugin. Some of the add-ons include an event countdown module, importer tool, and an accordion of upcoming events.

However, there are a few add-ons you have to pay for, even though they don’t cost much. The only problem I have is that the payment options add-on is one of the premium add-ons. So, you’re not going to have much functionality when it comes to accepting payments unless you shell out that extra cash.