Doodle vs. Eventbrite vs. Whova

Doodle is great when you need to coordinate dates among a group and don't want to send a bunch of group emails or texts. It allows a number of dates to be proposed and the group can easily see those dates that are most preferred. If you need to do something more complex than that it may not be your tool.

Incentivized

We're a nonprofit organization so we have a very lean time, labor, and money so the super easy self-explanatory nature makes it easy for our team to admin an event. The simple UI [of Eventbrite] keeps our focus on the event and avoids any headache-inducing tech hurdles. There're just enough user roles to handle multi-staffer admin. A less appropriate situation is an event that is huge in complexity with a custom workflow and processing which Eventbrite's not built to handle in-house such as multi-step registration, multiple item and category all-select options during registration, multi-event type (not just physical or ticket but virtual goods tracking), more HootSuite-like social media refinery, etc.

Incentivized

I think it works really well as a way to organize yourself while at a conference. As well, to network with said attendees I found it very valuable to remember names. Having an automatic rolodex with everyone I met and ensure I had their info to connect later

• Doodle allows you to view multiple meeting times simultaneously. I may never have 100% of my team available, but I can see that I have three other options with 90% availability.
• Doodle is a free resource that doesn't require users to create an account or exist in a network. I simply send the link and see the responses.
• Doodle notifies you as people respond, making the scheduling process quick and easy. Also, you can confirm a time through the software!

Incentivized

• Event management--providing a detailed description of the event (date, time, place) plus details of the event (speakers, topic, sponsors, etc.)
• Registrations--provides enough details about people who register, and tools to manage those registrations (add people manually who didn't pre-register, cancel orders, check-in of attendees)
• Event promotion--events created using Eventbrite can be found by searching Eventbrite for local events

Incentivized

• facilitated the sharing of research, perspectives, and resources on topics of interest
• enabled easier connection to new and existing relationships with conference delegates and speakers
• allowed me to catch up on content I missed due to time conflicts for concurrent sessions

• I wish that it offered more options in backgrounds, characters and props without having an additional cost, but that is to be expected.
• I would like an easier way to add my own fonts, characters , props etc, because I am a new learner this may not be an issue as I get more familiar with the software.
• I don't like all the sales emails I received trying to upgrade or add to my purchase.

Incentivized

• I'd like to see Eventbrite add more customization to the event page layout. It would be nice to be able to differentiate our event through more specific design.
• I've had occasional problems with email formatting in the Eventbrite email builder. It would be nice to have a slightly more trustworthy builder.
• Other than those two things, I think Eventbrite does exactly what it needs to do.

Incentivized

• Literature and pictures uploaded but no easy way to download the collection.
• No easy way to access information after the period after the conference ended.
• No easy way to access the list of participants and contact information - could be pdf'd.
• There was a little connectivity issues but not much.
• Some of the meetings were scheduled while we slept.
• The cost of using Whova for small meetings.

Incentivized

Easy to use and basically free.

Incentivized

Excellent platform and easy to use to create events. Eventbrite sets the standard for simple, effective and safe ticketing platforms. Our customers trust Eventbrite and we've always done well when we use this platform for ticketing. They have recently updated some of the virtual connectivity tools which make it even easier to set up and promote virtual events.

Incentivized

We already registered with Whova for our 2024 event and we will continue to use Whova for the foreseeable future as long as the price doesn't rise too high. It was a bit of a shock to see the difference between last year's price and this year's price - nearly 2k increase! We were able to negotiate, thankfully, to lower the price.

Very simple journey with the few important questions/fields

Incentivized

Great platform with so many incredible features. It streamlines workflow, communication, messaging, and analyzing data. I know of no other platform that can do what Eventbrite can do for the price or user-friendliness. They also offer great support for new users and integrate well with other platforms (i.e., social media and Sched).

Incentivized

Most of Whova's functions are intuitive and you can self-teach about 80% of it with ease. I really was impressive with the messaging, follow up meet-up capabilities and sharing of contact information. My only few concerns were about the lack of an archive or back up, [perhaps cloud-based?] of the meeting room and round-table's presentations

We had no availability issues!

We had no performance issues with our event delivery. We did have some meet-ups that had some glitches for some attendees, but I believe they were quickly resolved and were more on the part of user error than anything. Once they got the hang of it, their meet-ups went more smoothly.

Doodle has customer service support available as needed, but honestly, it is so easy to use that I have rarely had to seek support. They are always a click away and responsive to resolving any need or to clarify the next best step to using Doodle to meet my needs.

Incentivized

I haven't yet needed to contact customer support, but the information provided next to the various features has been exceptionally helpful. This info is located just to the right of most options, and it provides answers to frequently asked questions. At this point, that information has been enough to keep me from having to contact anyone.

Incentivized

I only had a single issue regarding a photograph that was handled immediately and a colleague somehow ended up with two profiles which was also handled right away. Those two instances are all I have to go by. Other than that it was smooth but I did have ample information regarding who to contact if I experienced an issue

Just jump in, don't over thinking it, doing it will net the very few basic questions you'll have. There's not much complexity so one doesn't need to plan as if moving a canal. It's as simple as can be.

Incentivized

I found Whova to be similar to many social media apps that I already use. It was easy to navigate. This was my second experience using Whova in my presenter role. I liked the icebreaker section to connect with other participants before the event started. I look forward to next year’s event.

For the same reasons noted previously, Doodle allows for the organizer to ultimately select/accept the time that works for them. Many competitors only allow you to show available times and the appointment goes directly into the organizer's calendar. I typically prefer to have a bit more control over that. Also, visually Doodle is more intuitive in how you schedule appointments than Calendly. I think Calendly tries to get a bit too cute with their interface instead of sticking to a more standard, familiar calendar interface when setting an appointment.

Incentivized

My "go to" for event registration has always been Constant Contact because they don't charge additional processing fees above the standard transaction. If it's a more basic event where I just need to capture name, email, and payment, I'll continue to use Constant Contact over Eventbrite. However, if it's more complex and requires marketing, I would choose Eventbrite.

Incentivized

We selected Whova for price, and ease of use. We would have chosen GoToWebinar but they did not have as many options for sponsor recognition. We will most likely use Event Rebels in the future for our needs. Tracking time and sessions viewed is a must for our industry as attendees rely on us to earn CEs to renew their licensing.

I especially liked the ease of communication, the ability to ask hard questions easily, and afterward the ability to survey all participants to see what we (and/or Whova) could do better going forward.

Everyone on our team had their assigned tasks to complete in Whova on a weekly basis and did so with ease and confidence.

• Improved efficiency by avoiding the slow and inefficient process of emailing back and forth to set meeting dates and times.
• Allows for more informed decisions regarding meetings or making decisions, as all options can be laid out visually in a way that isn't possible in an email.

Incentivized

• A dedicated URL for each event has been easy to use for tying events to editorial content, promotion and marketing.
• For ticketed events, it has been an easy -to-use system without requiring a lot of training on a complicated technology. It is also competitively priced for transaction management.
• Whether we have discovered any Eventbrite users via the Eventbrite site promotion, we appreciate it as a recommendation of our event for like-minded event attendees.

Incentivized

• Whova made our virtual and hybrid events possible! Our virtual attendees loved the ability to interact and engage with each other, the exhibitors, the speakers and organizers of the event. It also allowed our in-person attendees to do the same, and navigate the conference on-site.
• Whova made organizing the conference possible for our small staffed organization! We only have 1.25 FTEs and were able to pull off a hybrid conference in 2022. It wouldn’t have been possible without Whova!

Incentivized