Modern Events Calendar Vs WP Event Manager Complete Comparison

Choosing an event plugin for WordPress isn't easy, especially when you need booking, registration and ticketing to work together. Two plugins people often compare are Modern Events Calendar and WP Event Manager. If you're after a Modern Events Calendar alternative, we've put the two side by side below, with a close look at where WP Event Manager pulls ahead.

WP Event Manager starts with a free core plugin on WordPress.org. From there, you add only the features your events need from more than 40 premium add-ons. It also has 28 event themes and a check-in app for Android and iOS, and more than 30,000 organizers already use it to run their events.

Introduction to Modern Events Calendar and WP Event Manager

Modern Events Calendar (MEC) is made by Webnus, a company that builds WordPress themes and plugins. It began as a calendar plugin, and its Pro version adds booking, appointments and more display layouts. The free Lite version isn't on WordPress.org anymore. Its listing there was closed on 11 May 2022 for a guideline violation, so Lite is now downloaded from the Webnus website after you register.

WP Event Manager's story goes back to 2009, when its team ran an outsourcing business, and plugin work for WordPress came later. Today, the team is fully focused on building event management solutions for WordPress. With just the free WordPress event management plugin installed, you've got event listings, search filters, a frontend form for submitting events, pages for organizers and venues, plus a dashboard organizers use to look after their own events.

Extra features come as separate add-ons, so you'd install Calendar, Sell Tickets, Registrations, Zoom or HubSpot CRM only when an event calls for one. There's no large plan to buy just to unlock one feature.

Which Plugin Gives You More Features?

Both plugins have a long feature list, so the real difference lies in what you get for free and how you pay for the rest. Here's where WP Event Manager gives you more:

• The WP Event Manager free core plugin lives on WordPress.org, where you can install it in a click, get updates from your dashboard and read public reviews. MEC Lite has to be downloaded from the Webnus site after you register.
• Even the free plugin lets organizers preview an event before it goes live, and you can hide cancelled events from your listings. Neither of these shows up on MEC's feature pages.
• WP Event Manager's check-in app keeps working when the venue Wi-Fi drops and syncs once you're back online. MEC's app page doesn't mention an offline mode.
• Do you keep your contacts in HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM or Brevo? WP Event Manager connects to each of them with its own add-on, while MEC doesn't list any of these four.
• For virtual events, Expo Networking adds networking to attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors, something MEC's add-ons don't cover.

Modern Events Calendar vs WP Event Manager: Feature Comparison Table

Which Plugin Is Lighter and Faster?

Visitors don't wait around for slow event pages, so most site owners want a lightweight event plugin. A big part of that comes down to how much code a plugin brings onto your site.

The free WP Event Manager core sticks to the basics, which are listings, search, the submission form and the organizer dashboard. Anything beyond that, from calendars and maps to tickets and email marketing, sits in its own add-on. So if your site just lists events, there's no ticketing code running on it at all. MEC is built the other way round, with 60+ display layouts, booking and map layouts all inside the main plugin and more add-ons sold on top.

We'd suggest checking this on a staging copy of your site. Add some sample events, then open the event pages in Query Monitor or Google PageSpeed Insights to compare load times.

Which Plugin Offers More Useful Add-ons?

WP Event Manager has more than 40 event add-ons, sorted into four groups: features, ticket selling, marketing and virtual events. A few examples show how wide that range is.

• Recurring Events repeats a weekly class or monthly meetup for you.
• Need to know who's at the door? Guest List and Name Badges take care of that.
• Stripe Split Payment plugin and WooCommerce Paid Listings are useful for event marketplaces. The first splits ticket payments between you and each organizer, and the second charges organizers for posting their events.
• For marketing, there are add-ons for Hubspot, Salesforce and Zoom CRM, along with a href="https://wp-eventmanager.com/product/sms-notifications/" target="_blank">SMS notifications and Zapier.
• speaker and schedule adds speaker profiles and session timings to online events, and Expo Networking adds a virtual expo where exhibitors and sponsors can connect with attendees.

Modern Events Calendar sells around 30 add-ons. Nine of them are page builder and layout add-ons, such as the Elementor, Divi and Gutenberg builders and the Liquid-view and Fluent-view layout packs. So fewer of its add-ons add new event features.

The Calendar add-on and the free core give you plenty of ways to show events, too. On the live demo, you can try 7 event listing views and 7 calendar views before you buy anything.

Both plugins now have a mobile app on Android and iOS. MEC's app needs its Ticket & Invoice add-on, at $119 a year, before it can scan QR codes on tickets. WP Event Manager's app connects through the Event App add-on and keeps checking people in even when the internet goes down. Watch the video below to see it at work.

What Does the WP Event Manager Mobile App Offer?

Which Plugin Gives You Better Support?

When something breaks the night before an event, the help you can reach matters a lot. Modern Events Calendar's support page points you to:

• Documentation
• An FAQ section
• Video tutorials on YouTube
• Premium support for Pro users, and essential support for Lite users

WP Event Manager gives you more places to get event plugin support, and they cover the free plugin, the add-ons and the themes:

• A knowledge base and FAQs
• How-to guides on the blog
• Video tutorials on the YouTube channel
• Slack and Facebook communities, where you can ask other users and the team
• Support tickets with the WP Event Manager team

The knowledge base, blog, videos and communities are open to everyone, free plugin users included. Buy an add-on or a theme, and you can raise a support ticket too, and a member of our team will help you sort the issue out.

Which Plugin Works Better with WooCommerce?

You can sell tickets through WooCommerce with either plugin and use its checkout and payment gateways. With Modern Events Calendar, that connection is a separate WooCommerce Integration add-on at $39 a year. Without it, MEC uses its own cart.

WP Event Manager's Sell Tickets add-on is built on WooCommerce from the start. You can sell paid, free and donation tickets, accept payments through 100+ WooCommerce gateways, and send PDF e-tickets with a QR code. WP Event Manager takes zero commission on your sales. And if you run a site where other organizers list their events, WooCommerce Paid Listings lets you charge them for each listing, which MEC doesn't list.

Which Plugin Is Better for SEO?

Both plugins add event schema, so Google can read an event's name, date and venue, and both work with popular SEO plugins. WP Event Manager goes further in how it organizes events. You can sort them into event types and categories, for example a workshop under Business, and the Event Tags add-on links related events together for visitors and search engines.

Page speed counts for SEO too. Since WP Event Manager only loads the add-ons you switch on, your event pages carry less code by default.

Which Plugin Is Easier for Developers to Work With?

Both plugins say they're developer friendly, and both offer a REST API. WP Event Manager makes this easier to get started with. Its full code is public on GitHub, and its REST API is a free plugin on WordPress.org.

Developers also get template overrides, hooks and shortcodes, along with a developer resources section in the knowledge base. If you don't write code, you can still change layouts in Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi or WPBakery, or hand the work to the team's customization services.

Which Plugin Gives You Better Value for Money?

Modern Events Calendar Lite is free to download from the Webnus site. MEC Pro is billed every year, and these are the plans listed on its pricing page:

• $99 for 1 site
• $199 for 5 sites
• $999 for unlimited sites

Pro doesn't include MEC's add-ons. You buy each one separately, at $19 to $119 a year, so QR ticket check-in through the Ticket & Invoice add-on puts another $119 on top of Pro. Webnus also sells bundles of Pro with add-ons, starting at $313 a year for one site with six add-ons. The Diamond Bundle, which has every add-on, starts at $1,142 a year, and its smallest plan covers 3 sites.

WP Event Manager pricing works for small and large organizers alike. The core plugin is free, single add-ons start at $49 a year, and the bundles cost this much a year for one site:

• Event Manager Plus is $99, with 20 add-ons for showing your events.
• Event Manager Pro costs $199 and adds ticket selling, for 27 add-ons in total.
• Virtual Event Manager Pro, at $299, brings 30 add-ons, including Zoom.
• All Events Manager Pro gives you every add-on for $399.

If your WP Event Manager license runs out, your plugins keep working, and you only stop getting updates and support until you renew. You can also try every add-on on the Demo - live demo before you pay for anything.

Which Plugin Offers Better Event Themes?

Your theme shapes how visitors see your events and your brand. Webnus sells Kata, a multipurpose WordPress theme that includes event and appointment demos among its other layouts. It isn't made only for events.

WP Event Manager has 28 WordPress event themes designed for event sites from the ground up.

• Layouts for conferences, expos, festivals, webinars, and online classes
• Designs for smaller niches as well, from charity drives to sports clubs
• Full support for WP Event Manager's add-ons, so tickets, calendars and registrations fit right in
• WooCommerce support for selling tickets, plus responsive and SEO-friendly layouts you can customize
• A live preview of every theme before you buy it

Phillip Dane, founder of Vintage Land, runs his events business on WP Event Manager and has shared a detailed client review of how it helped him grow.

Join Hands with WP Event Manager

If you're looking for a Modern Events Calendar alternative that you can install from WordPress.org and grow one add-on at a time, WP Event Manager is the stronger choice. You get organizer and venue pages, event preview, and a frontend submission form for free. When you do need paid features, the bundles cost less than MEC's, and the check-in app still runs if the venue loses internet.

Customer support is a priority at WP Event Manager, with a detailed knowledge base, active Slack and Facebook communities, and ticket-based support included with every add-on. Start with the free plugin from WordPress.org, test the add-ons on the live demo, and buy just the ones you need for your events.

FAQs

Is WP Event Manager a good alternative to Modern Events Calendar?

Yes, and for most organizers, it's the better pick. WP Event Manager gives you organizer and venue pages, event preview and a submission form in its free core, and its bundles include far more add-ons for the same price.

Are Modern Events Calendar and WP Event Manager both free on WordPress.org?

WP Event Manager can be installed right from your WordPress dashboard. Webnus's Lite plugin was removed from WordPress.org in May 2022, and these days you have to sign up on their website to get it.

Does WP Event Manager cost less than Modern Events Calendar?

WP Event Manager costs less once you need add-ons. Its Event Manager Plus bundle has 20 add-ons for $99 a year, while MEC Pro costs the same $99 with no add-ons, and its cheapest bundle with add-ons starts at $313.

Do Modern Events Calendar and WP Event Manager both have a check-in app?

Both have an app for Android and iOS. WP Event Manager's app also works offline and syncs check-ins across devices, while MEC needs its $119 Ticket & Invoice add-on before the app can scan tickets.

Is WP Event Manager or Modern Events Calendar better for virtual events?

WP Event Manager offers more for online and hybrid events, with add-ons for Zoom, Speaker and Schedule, and Expo Networking. MEC has Zoom, Webex and virtual event add-ons, but its pages don't list networking between attendees and exhibitors.