The 15 Best Mobile Event Apps (and How to Choose One)

Your organization likely engages with your members (and potential members) online already. A 2020 Wild Apricot report showed that almost all (81%) organizations use Facebook as a way to attract new members, whereas 40% use Instagram and another 38% recruit via Twitter. And that digital engagement should also extend to your events. A mobile event app not only engages both virtual and in-person attendees, but it can also be a life-saver for your staff. You’ve likely attended conferences where event staff on site were inundated with questions. When is the lunch break? Which room will host the keynote speaker? Which are the must-see sessions? Fortunately, a mobile event app can proactively answer all these questions — and so much more.

Why use a mobile event app?

• You can engage attendees before and during the event
• You can immediately let attendees know about any changes to the lineup or schedule
• You can post venue maps so no one gets lost during a conference
• You can encourage attendees to use the app to ask speakers live questions during their session
• You can more easily follow up with attendees once the event is over

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What is the best mobile event app?

Wild Apricot offers one of the top mobile event apps for associations and member organizations. It’s an all-in-one platform that helps organizations to plan and execute on event day, as well as making it easy for attendees to register right in the app.

Not only does it offers this wealth of benefits (plus the ones outlined in the section above), but Wild Apricot also provides:

• Organizers can add, edit, duplicate, and delete events with a few taps
• The app automatically syncs with your member database — so no manual data entry needed
• Check in attendees at the event with a QR code
• Organizers can view, edit, and add registrations on the spot
• Organizations can use the app to accept payments (like outstanding registration fees) on the go
• Attendees can view your organization’s event calendar and event details

14 other leading event and conference apps

A single app is going to be the best fit for every event or organization. That’s why we’ve done the legwork to round up the details for 14 other top mobile event apps. Each offers something unique for organizers, which will make it easier to vet and select the right app for you.

1. MemberClicks

Best for: All-in-one event app
Price: Free

Create a second-to-none event experience for your attendees with MemberClicks’ app for events. Drive attendee engagement, pique sponsor interest and make event planning more efficient with our event app. The Conference App is easy to download and use for attendees — and easy to set up on the back end for you, too!

Enjoy features like being able to personalize the app with your colors and logo, an auto-sync with your association management software (AMS), pre-event planning tools, and ad space you can sell to sponsors.

A quick note: The Conference App is an add-on product to MemberClicks software, not a standalone product.

2. Whova

Best for: Large events and conferences
Price: Free for attendees; Paid for organizers. Request a quote .

Whova is an all-in-one event management solution that makes events modern and trendy, attracts and engages attendees effectively, and helps event organizers save time on managing event logistics. Whova’s platform consists of an award-winning event app, efficient online registration, powerful event marketing, and time-saving event management tools. Whova has won the Event Technology Award for five years in a row.

3. Grupio

Best for: Customized app depending on your needs
Price: The Grupio Express app starts at $1,000

Grupio is a software company that provides a variety of mobile event apps tailored to your industry and type of event. For example, they offer specific apps for healthcare events , virtual events , enterprise events , and conferences .

Attendees can download the iOS or Android app to view session details, speaker bios, and live updates from organizers.

4. Eventmobi

Best for: Gamification at your event
Price: Request a quote

Eventmobi’s mobile event app can keep attendees plugged in via a variety of interactive elements like challenge and reward activities. Guide your attendees through fun, friendly challenges that reward activities and actions. Gamification can help you achieve your event goals and maximize sponsor ROI. Plus, you’ll be creating a fun and memorable event experience.

The Eventmobi app also offers interactive features like live chat and Q&A, polls and surveys, and video libraries.

5. OneCause

Best for: Fundraising and nonprofit events
Price: Request a quote

OneCause is a fundraising platform designed for nonprofits to manage all types of fundraising campaigns including: auctions, events, online donations, peer-to-peer, ambassador fundraising, online giving, tributes and memorials, giving days and awareness campaigns.

This software provides a variety of features that cater to nonprofits that want a reliable fundraising tool. So, organizations can use OneCase to fit most fundraising campaigns, from Online Giving to Events, Peer-to-Peer to Text2Give.

OneCause is also unique in that it takes nonprofit budgets into account and offers several plans to meet a range of budgets.

6. Airmeet

Best for: Connecting attendees worldwide
Price: Free version, plus packages for larger events

Airmeet is the world’s first Event Experience Cloud (EXC) — so your attendees can join your event from anywhere. The app currently supports all event formats, including conferences, webinars, meetups, workshops, town halls, career fairs, expos, and more.

The mobile event app also includes great interactive features like Live chat, a virtual lobby, 1:1 networking, and digital agendas. And its makes the lives of organizers easier with speaker access and controls, in-app analytics, and digital registration.

7. Swapcard

Best for: an AI-driven event experience
Price: Free version, plus packages for larger events

Swapcard is an AI-powered, all-in-one event and networking app that helps organizations run in-person, virtual, and hybrid events. Swapcard uses AI used to connect users with the most relevant people based on their profile, interests, and custom event journeys. With live exhibitor dashboards to track ROI, real-time event programs, audience engagement features and video calling options, Swapcard delivers valuable user experiences for all types of events.

8. Guidebook

Guidebook makes it easy for organizations to create beautiful feature-rich, custom mobile applications — al without any coding knowledge required. Businesses, associations, and universities around the globe choose Guidebook to engage and inform audiences, in real-time, whether in-person or virtually. The Guidebook site even provides a handy planning toolkit for organizers who are planning hybrid events.

In addition, Guidebook also includes features like attendee and speaker management, ticketing, gamification, surveys and feedback, social media promotion, and an event calendar.

9. BigMarker

Best for: Webinars
Price: Request a quote

BigMarker brings together video technology with robust marketing and interactive experience capabilities to help organizations create branded events. The real draw is using BigMarker’s all-in-one platform to create immersive webinar, virtual, and hybrid events.

The mobile event app also includes a variety of integrations, APIs, and white-label services to integrate powerful interactive video experiences into their marketing, sales, and learning stacks. Organizers can also lean into unique features like a broadcasting studio, custom branding, and in-session audience engagement.

10. Brella

Best for: Empowering sponsors
Price: Request a quote

Brella is a mobile event platform that helps organization plan virtual, in-person, and hybrid events of all sizes. This app provides all the features you’d expect — think event announcements, attendee updates, attendee profiles for networking, and a white-label interface ready for you to add your branding. But what makes Brella special is how much the software empowers sponsors at events.

Brella uses AI-powered matchmaking and networking to connect sponsors with relevant prospects at your event. Organizers can showcase sponsors directly in Brella to drive awareness and traffic to both physical and virtual booth. And sponsors can host their own breakout rooms to become a trusted voice and provide their offerings in your digital marketplace.

11. Yapp

Best for: For organizers on a budget
Price: Packages start at $399/year

Yapp helps event managers create full-featured apps for conferences, trade shows, association events, sales kickoffs, internal training events, and more. Non-exhaustive features include unlimited pages, unlimited push notifications, social feeds, polls, surveys, and of course design customizations so you can brand your app within the Yapp container.

12. Hopin

Best for: Creating slick streaming content
Price: Free version for small events ; Ask for a quote for events with more than 100 attendees

Hopin makes it seamless for organizations to plan, execute, and promote their upcoming events. You can create a complete virtual venue with stage, sessions, networking, and expo areas. Registration is entirely customizable, so you can charge different pricing tiers for in-person versus virtual attendees. And the software also comes with in-suite studio features that makes it easy to produce high-quality streams for your conference or event.

13. Vevox

Best for: Polling and Q&A during events
Price: Free version for small events

Vevox isn’t an all-in-one mobile event app like many of the others on this list — instead, Vevox focuses its efforts entirely on engagement during events. The software specializes in creating features that keep your attendees connected during virtual, in-person, or hybrid events.

Leverage tools like polling, live Q&A boards, surveys, and quizzes to engage your audience. You can also review analytics in the app to monitor and track your engagement.

14. Cvent Attendee Hub (formerly CrowdCompass)

Best for: Getting leads to come to you (or your sponsors)
Price: Request a quote

Cvent Attendee Hub includes the usual suspects when it comes to mobile event app features: think networking tools, interactive maps for venues, surveys, push notifications, and customized branding. But the hub also includes some great features that help organizers and sponsors connect directly with leads.

You can set up virtual booths for exhibitors, put together a sponsor directory, offer sponsored sessions and splash pages, and set up custom games to drive attendee and exhibitor engagement. In addition, the app allows attendees to contact you or sponsors via contact forms and virtual 1:1 appointments.

How do you choose a mobile event app for your association?

While every association and member organization will have some unique needs when it comes to a mobile event app, there are some basic steps you can follow to ensure you’re vetting and choosing the right app.

1. Define your needs and review your event calendar. First, dig into your own needs. What events or conferences are coming up on your organization’s calendar? And which ones would benefit from having a mobile event app? Next, define both your must-have features and your nice-to-haves.
2. Create a budget and timeline. Once you know which events on your calendar would benefit from an app, create a timeline with important milestones (vetting, shortlisting, doing demos, and implementing). Then take a look at your organization’s overall budget to determine how much you can spend on a mobile event app.
3. Research your options and compare features. Use the list we created above to do a side-by-side comparison of the mobile event apps that align most with your needs. Which ones have the features you want and are within your budget?
4. Ask for demos from the top providers. Create a shortlist of your top 3-5 options and reach out to the vendors to schedule a live demo. You can make a more educated decision once you and your team have seen how each app on your shortlist works.
5. Review your options as a team. Once you’ve had your demos and gathered all your information, go over everything with all the decision-makers on your team. Based on your experiences, what were the advantages and drawbacks of each option? And was there a clear winner from the list?
6. Reach out to your top pick to further discuss your needs. After you settle on your number one pick as a team, nail down additional details with the vendor. What do you need to move forward with implementation?
7. Make your pick and build your app. Now it’s time to actually set up your mobile event app. Activate it and set up the crucial features you’ll need for your upcoming event.

4 bonus tips for succeeding with mobile event apps

While most of the apps on our list above are easy to use and don’t require any coding knowledge to set up, it doesn’t hurt to take extra precautions. Before using your shiny new app at any of your upcoming events, take these additional steps to ensure a smooth rollout.

1. Implement and test your solution as early as possible. Don’t wait until the week before your upcoming event to get your mobile event app up and running. Leave plenty of time for setup and additional time to test out each feature. Taking the time to try out all the features you plan to roll out will help prevent bugs or technical snafus on the day of your event.
2. Have a promotional/marketing plan in place to quickly educated attendees. Create a plan to run through your app’s features (and how to use them). For example: A couple of weeks before your event, send attendees an email with instructions to help them log in and a quick rundown of all the features they can explore.
3. Look for integration options whenever possible. Many mobile event apps can connect with other tools you already use to make planning your event easier. For instance, make sure your app syncs attendee data with your member directory.
4. Have dedicated support ready on the day of your event to help. Even with plenty of testing and prep, you might experience some technical difficulties on event day. So, plan ahead by making sure someone on your team who knows your app inside and out will be readily available to troubleshoot.

Moving forward with your own mobile event app

Now you’re empowered with the knowledge of the advantages of event apps and how to find the right one, you can walk away with everything you need to start your search.

If you’re interested in a flexible mobile event app that’s chock-full of options for your association or member organization, look no further than Wild Apricot . The two mobile apps make it seamless to engage with your members on the go — and planning and registering members for your next event will be a breeze.

Additional resources

Need some extra help putting together your next networking event or conference? Here are some additional resources you can lean on:

• How to Plan an Event: A Complete Guide
• The Event Planning Checklist Used by Top Event Planners
• Give Your Members More Value With Networking Events
• How to Host a Virtual Networking Event for Your Professional Association