How to choose
an app for your event

Choose an event app by testing the tasks your attendees and organising team need to complete, then compare the full cost of delivering them. Start with your event format and essential requirements, shortlist suitable suppliers and give each one the same demo brief.

An event app is the place attendees go for the programme, event information and, where offered, other participants and meetings. This guide covers apps provided by an organiser for a specific event, rather than apps for discovering concerts or buying tickets to unrelated events.

Describe the event in one paragraph: its date, expected attendee count, format, languages and registration system. Add what people should be able to achieve in the app. “Attendees can book a relevant meeting before arriving” is a requirement you can test.

Separate essential requirements from preferences. If candidates must be hidden from other candidates, or your organisation requires a particular data agreement, that is a pass-or-fail condition. A high score for design cannot compensate for failing it.

Give suppliers the same brief so their proposals cover the same event. Open the editable supplier scorecard (.txt) to record your requirements and demo results.

Start with the invitation or registration confirmation. Follow its link on a phone that has never used the product. Count the steps needed to reach the event and find something useful.

Check whether an attendee must create an account, verify an email address, install an app or complete a profile. Then try the recovery route for someone using a different email address from the one used at registration. These details determine what your help desk will be dealing with on the morning of the event.

Ask which information is public and which is visible only after joining. A profile created from registration data is different from an attendee opening the app or choosing to participate in networking. Ask the supplier to explain how those states appear in its reports.

Give the supplier a small sample with two parallel sessions, a room change and a speaker replacement. Ask them to make the changes while you watch the attendee view.

Find out who enters the initial programme, whether you can import it and how updates reach the app. Check materials and recordings if you need them. For a multilingual event, test the attendee interface, your event content and automated messages separately; a translated sales website does not establish what the app supports.

Try larger text, keyboard navigation and a screen reader with the tasks attendees will actually perform. Request the supplier’s accessibility documentation and let your organisation assess it against its requirements.

If networking is part of your event’s value, ask two colleagues to use separate attendee accounts. One should find a relevant person, propose a meeting and see what happens when it is accepted.

Then move or cancel the meeting. Check that availability is updated, that each person receives the right message and that the table, location or video link remains clear. Try a conflicting booking and a participant who has no time slots left.

For events with different participant groups, test who can search for whom and who can send requests. A directory, a chat and a scheduled meeting solve different problems. Include the one you need in the quote.

Some event apps open in a browser, some offer an installed iOS or Android app, and some provide both. Test the actual experience on your attendees’ devices. Notifications and offline access depend on what the supplier has built and what users permit.

Also distinguish your event’s branding inside a shared app from an app-store listing under your own name. The latter can involve developer accounts, store submissions and an additional release schedule. Ask who owns those responsibilities and what happens before next year’s event.

The browser-versus-native guide gives you a separate test checklist for this decision.

Ask the person who will run the event to try the management tools. They should be able to change content, correct an attendee record and see whether invitations have reached the right people.

If you already have registration software, test the connection with a new registration, an update and a cancellation. Establish which system owns each field and how you resolve a failed transfer. Ask who supports the connection when the two systems come from different companies.

For procurement, request the applicable data agreement, hosting and subprocessor information, retention terms and export or deletion options. If matching uses AI, ask what data it uses and where that processing happens. Assess the current documents for the specific service you are buying.

First remove any option that fails an essential requirement. For the remaining suppliers, score each important task from 0 to 3: 0 means it failed, 1 means it requires a workaround, 2 means it worked with help and 3 means your team completed it without help. Record untested requirements separately rather than treating an unknown as a pass.

Give more weight to the tasks that matter most for your event. Keep a short evidence note beside every score, such as the demo result, a document or a contract clause. The scorecard is a record of your evaluation, not a universal league table.

Compare the app, registration, meeting features, setup, support and contract term together. Ask for an event-day support contact and coverage hours. For recurring events, compare the full licence commitment with buying the same events separately. See the pricing guide for worked examples.

Tavata by Eventilla is an event app for attendees, with the programme, people and meeting features in one place. It is worth considering when relevant meetings matter, or when you want the attendee app connected to Eventilla’s registration tools.

With registration in Eventilla, attendee details and tickets carry through to Tavata. You can also use Tavata alongside another registration system, where attendees join with an event code. Ask us to demonstrate the route your event will use.

Tavata is available on its own or in a package with Eventilla invitations and registration. Matchmaking and booked 1:1 meetings are included in the price. Our pricing page sets out the options.