An alternative to Social Tables
Updated
Social Tables is now called Cvent Event Diagramming. It is one of the best-known tools for drawing event floor plans, and it is made mainly for venues and professional planners: paid plans run on a 12-month commitment, and the free plan covers three events. If you are planning your own event and mainly need a seating chart guests can use, a simpler tool may suit you better.
| Events Planner | Cvent Event Diagramming | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free plan; Standard $49, Pro $150, Premium $320 a month |
| Commitment | None | 12 months on every paid plan |
| Events | Unlimited | 3 free, 15 on Standard, 50 on Pro |
| Guests per event | Unlimited | 150 per attendee list, unlimited on Premium |
| Users | One account per host | 1 user on each planner plan |
| Check-in on the day | No | On Premium |
What Cvent Event Diagramming does well
It is a professional tool and it shows. Venues use it to keep accurate drawings of their rooms, sales teams use it to show clients a layout before they book, and planners running dozens of events a year use it to diagram each one. Premium adds custom attendee fields and check-in, and the venue plans include professionally drawn floor plans of the venue's own rooms.
Where the cost comes in
The free plan allows three events, two diagrams per event and 150 attendees per list. Above that, the planner plans are $49, $150 and $320 a month, and every paid plan carries a 12-month commitment. A wedding with 180 guests is already over the 150-attendee list limit on every planner plan below Premium. For a business that runs events all year, that is a reasonable cost. For one wedding or one gala, it is a year's subscription to seat one room.
What Events Planner does instead
Events Planner is free, with no limit on guests or events and nothing to commit to. You draw your room to scale and add the tables, import the guest list from Excel or CSV, and seat everyone by hand or automatically, keeping to the rules you set for who must sit together and who must be kept apart. Then you share it: one link and a QR code, so guests type their name and see their table, seat and a map of the room on their phone.
What you will not find here
There is no team workspace, no check-in, no 3D view and no library of professionally drawn venue plans. If you are a venue or run events for a living, those matter, and a professional diagramming tool is the right choice. If you are hosting one event and need the seating done well, they mostly don't.
Moving over
Export your attendee list as a spreadsheet and import it into the planner, which reads Excel and CSV. It shows each column with a sample of its values and lets you match it to name, group, RSVP, notes or table. Draw the room from your venue's measurements, or from their floor plan, then seat everyone and print table rosters and an entrance list from the same chart.