Calendarize it! vs Events Manager: A Comprehensive Comparison

Posted by Josh Blackburn, in Event Plugins

Choosing the right event calendar plugin for your WordPress website can be a daunting task, as there are many options available. Two popular choices are Calendarize it! and Events Manager. Both plugins offer a range of features and functionalities for creating and managing events on your website, but which one is best for your specific needs?

Calendarize it! is known for its multiple view options, such as Month View, Week View, Day View, Event List View, and more. It also includes various widgets like the Upcoming Events Widget and Accordion Upcoming Events Widget. On the other hand, Events Manager is a flexible and feature-rich plugin for creating, managing, and registering events. It has calendars, lists, and searches, and is active on over 100,000 WordPress websites.

Key Takeaways

• Calendarize it! offers a variety of views and widgets for event display.
• Events Manager is a flexible and feature-rich plugin used by a large number of websites.
• Both plugins have options for event management, customization, and advanced features.

Upfront Comparison

When it comes to choosing the right WordPress calendar plugin for your website, Calendarize it! and Events Manager are both popular options. In this upfront comparison, we will dive into the key differences and similarities between both plugins to help you make an informed decision.

Features

Calendarize it!: This plugin offers an easy-to-use and visually appealing calendar solution. Its features include:

• Shortcode support for easy calendar integration
• Multiple calendar views (month, day, week, agenda, etc.)
• Customizable event information and display
• Integration with Google Maps and other popular addons.
• Compatibility with popular page builders like Elementor and WPBakery
• Advanced search and filtering options for easy event discovery

Premium addon features include:

• Recurring event options
• Community events submission
• Event Tickets WooCommerce integration for selling tickets
• Event Countdown timer

Events Manager: This plugin also provides a flexible calendar solution but has a slightly more technical focus. Its features include:

• Shortcode and template tag support for easy integration
• Single and multi-day event management
• Recurring event options, available in the free version
• Custom event attributes to store additional information
• Google Maps integration
• Advanced search and filtering functionality
• Support for guest event submissions (free version) and more advanced user roles (pro version)

Upgrading to Events Manager Pro comes with additional premium features such as:

• Payment gateway integration
• Custom booking forms
• RSVP and ticketing options
• Timely event reminders

Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager offer robust calendar and event management solutions, with unique advantages of their own. While Calendarize it! offers a user-friendly interface and greater support for visual customization, Events Manager caters to more technically inclined users and offers a wider range of core features in its free version.

Platform Compatibility

When it comes to Calendarize it! and Events Manager, both plugins are specifically designed for WordPress, ensuring seamless integration with the platform. They can be installed as plugins on your WordPress site and are compatible with most themes, making it easy to add powerful calendar features to your website.

Regarding WooCommerce compatibility, Events Manager offers WooCommerce Event Manager, an additional plugin that integrates effortlessly with WooCommerce. This allows for ticket sales and other eCommerce features when organizing events. Calendarize it! does not have a built-in WooCommerce integration, but you can use third-party plugins to connect it with WooCommerce.

As for compatibility with widely-used page builders, both Calendarize it! and Events Manager should work well with popular options such as Divi. You may need to do some custom coding or styling adjustments in some cases, but overall the plugins should integrate well with these page builders.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that Calendarize it! can be purchased on CodeCanyon, a platform that offers a vast selection of premium plugins for WordPress. Events Manager, on the other hand, can be directly downloaded from the WordPress plugin repository, further solidifying its compatibility with the platform.

In conclusion, both Calendarize it! and Events Manager demonstrate a high degree of platform compatibility, ensuring that they can easily be incorporated into your WordPress site and work well with other plugins, page builders, and themes.

Booking and Ticketing

Ticketing Options

Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager offer a variety of ticketing options for your events. Calendarize it! supports paid and free event tickets¹ while Events Manager goes a step further with options for ticket discounts and advanced pricing options².

Calendarize it! ticketing features include:

• Free and paid tickets
• Ticket capacity limits³

Events Manager ticketing features include:

• Free and paid tickets
• Ticket capacity limits
• Discounts based on user roles
• Coupons and promotional codes⁴

Booking Forms

Event booking forms are essential for managing and tracking event registrations. Both plugins offer customizable booking forms, although their specifics differ.

With Calendarize it!, you can create a basic booking form with options for custom fields and attendee information⁵. This plugin, however, does not have built-in payment functionality for bookings. To enable ticket sales and accept payments, you will need to integrate it with an e-commerce platform⁶.

On the other hand, Events Manager provides a more comprehensive booking form, with support for multiple tickets and guest registration⁷. The plugin allows various payment options such as PayPal, Stripe, and offline payments⁸, making it a more complete solution for events that require ticket sales and payment processing.

To sum up, while both Calendarize it! and Events Manager offer flexible ticketing options and booking forms, Events Manager has a more robust feature set, including discount options and integrated payment gateways.

Premium versus Free Versions

Pricing and Packages

When it comes to comparing Calendarize it! and Events Manager, one major difference is their pricing structures and the availability of free versions.

Events Manager offers both a free and a premium version. The free version provides essential event management features such as single and multi-day events, recurring events, and WordPress custom post types for events. This makes it suitable for users who need basic functionalities for managing their events on a WordPress website.

For those looking for advanced features, Events Manager offers a Pro version that costs $75. This premium version includes features like event booking, payment gateways integration, custom booking forms, and dedicated support.

Calendarize it! is a premium-only plugin that costs $29. It comes with a variety of advanced calendar views, such as Month View, Week View, Day View, Event List View, Event Grid View, Event Map View, and Event Year View. Additionally, it offers integration with third-party plugins, Google Maps, and more.

Here is a brief comparison of the pricing and packages for both plugins:

Both plugins cater to different needs and budgets. Events Manager is a more budget-friendly option for those who need basic functionalities in their event management system, while Calendarize it! serves as a comprehensive premium plugin that provides advanced features for users looking to enhance their event scheduling capabilities.

Calendar and Event Management

When it comes to managing events on your website, both Calendarize it! and Events Manager offer a range of features to help you efficiently organize and display your events. In this section, we will compare the two plugins in terms of event listing, scheduling and updates, and recurring events.

Event Listing

Calendarize it! is known for its visually appealing event listings and customizable calendar views. You can easily create and display events in various formats such as month, week, or day views. Additionally, you have the option to use filters to sort events by category, tag, or location.

Events Manager, on the other hand, offers a more straightforward event listing approach. While it may lack the design aesthetics of Calendarize it!, it provides comprehensive event information, including event details, location, and organizer information. The plugin allows you to customize event listings using shortcodes and widgets.

Scheduling and Updates

Both plugins allow you to efficiently schedule events and make necessary updates. Calendarize it! features an easy-to-use event creation interface that includes options for event dates, times, and venues. It also supports external event calendars and integrates seamlessly with Google Calendar and other iCal-based calendars.

Events Manager provides a similar interface for scheduling events, with options for recurring events and multi-day events. One advantage of Events Manager is its integration with popular SEO plugins which can help improve the visibility of your events in search engine results.

Recurring Events

Recurring events are a crucial feature for event management, especially for businesses and organizations that have regular events. Calendarize it! supports recurring events with a variety of options, such as daily, weekly, and monthly repeats. You can also set specific dates or custom patterns for occurrences.

Events Manager also supports recurring events, with a slightly wider range of options. In addition to daily, weekly, and monthly repeats, you can configure custom intervals and set the number of occurrences for each event. This flexibility can be especially helpful when scheduling complex event patterns.

In conclusion, both Calendarize it! and Events Manager offer a range of features to help you manage events, including event listing, scheduling and updates, and recurring events. Ultimately, the plugin that best suits your needs will depend on your preferences for design aesthetics, integration options, and scheduling flexibility.

Event Display Options

Calendar Views

Calendarize it! offers a flexible and feature-rich calendar solution for your WordPress site. It provides multiple different views to choose from, such as Month View, Week View, Day View, Event Map View, and Event Year View. These diverse views give users the option to display their events in the most visually appealing and organized way possible.

On the other hand, Events Manager has a variety of features as well that enhance your event planning experience. Its calendar display is clean and well-organized, making it easy for users to navigate and view events effectively.

Grid and List Views

In addition to the calendar views, Calendarize it! also offers Event Grid View and Event List View. The Event Grid View allows you to showcase multiple events in a grid format, while the Event List View gives you the option to display events in a list, making it simple for users to see what’s happening on any given day.

Events Manager does not specifically mention grid and list views, but its easy event registration and recurring event registration features help users efficiently organize their events without feeling overwhelmed by their calendar.

In conclusion, both Calendarize it! and Events Manager offer various display options for events on your WordPress site. The choice ultimately depends on your preferences and the specific needs of your website’s visitors.

Add-Ons and Integration

Calendarize it! and Events Manager both offer robust solutions for managing your events within a WordPress website. While their core functionalities are impressive, it’s essential to consider the available add-ons and integration options they provide for an even better user experience.

Calendarize it! offers a variety of add-ons that help extend its functionality, including integration with popular platforms such as Google Calendar, Eventbrite, Meetup, and iCalendar. By doing so, users can easily import and synchronize events between different platforms. In addition, Calendarize it! supports Google Maps, providing attendees with accurate location information for each event.

Among the other add-ons, Calendarize it! provides:

• Payment options: Integration with well-known payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, etc.
• Social sharing: Facilitate sharing events on social media platforms.
• Community events: Allows users to submit their events, fostering a sense of community.

In comparison, Events Manager also offers various add-ons that enhance the plugin’s functionality. Crucially, it integrates with Google Calendar, allowing you to synchronize event schedules seamlessly. Google Maps is also supported in Events Manager, making it easy for attendees to find event locations. Moreover, it provides a bridge with Eventbrite and Meetup, ensuring smooth importing and exporting of events between these platforms.

Additional add-ons available in Events Manager include:

• iCalendar: Easy import and export of events in iCalendar format.
• MultiSite support: Manage events across a network of WordPress sites.
• Custom booking form builder: Create custom registration forms for events.

Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager come with a comprehensive set of add-ons and integration options that can substantially enhance your event management capabilities. By offering seamless connections with popular platforms like Google Calendar, Google Maps, Eventbrite, Meetup, and iCalendar, these plugins cater to a wide range of user requirements and preferences.

Support and Documentation

When choosing a calendar plugin for your WordPress website, it’s essential to consider the support and documentation available for each option. Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager provide reliable documentation and support to users. This section compares the support and documentation features of both plugins.

Calendarize it! offers extensive documentation on their official website, covering topics such as installation, updates, compatibility, and various plugin features. The developers have also created video tutorials to assist users in using the plugin effectively. In addition to the provided documentation, Calendarize it! extends their support through a dedicated support forum where users can raise questions and receive assistance from the plugin developers.

On the other hand, Events Manager also provides thorough documentation on their official WordPress plugin page. Users can find information on installation, features, and frequently asked questions. This plugin also leverages the WordPress support forum for addressing user queries, concerns, and feedback, allowing users to connect with the plugin developers and the community to resolve issues.

Both plugins cover essential documentation topics, such as:

• Installation and setup
• Shortcodes and customization
• Compatibility with other plugins and themes

In terms of support, both Calendarize it! and Events Manager rely on their respective support forums to ensure that users receive timely assistance. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to examine each plugin’s support responsiveness, community engagement, and availability of resources to make an informed decision according to your specific requirements.

Customization and Design

When comparing Calendarize it! and Events Manager, both plugin options prioritize customization and design. Let’s break down their features into subcategories for a more in-depth comparison.

Templates

Calendarize it! offers a variety of view options, such as Month View, Week View, Day View, Event List View, Event Grid View, Event Map View, and Event Year View¹. The variety of views allows users to choose a template that best suits their website’s aesthetic and functional requirements.

On the other hand, Events Manager is known for its advanced event management capabilities and supports single and multi-day events, including recurring events⁴. The events are stored as WordPress custom post types, making them easy to work with when creating a template⁴.

Custom Post Types

Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager utilize custom post types in their design. This feature allows users to seamlessly integrate the calendar plugins into their websites while maintaining the site’s overall look and feel.

In Calendarize it!, events are displayed using custom post types, allowing for highly customizable calendar displays².

Events Manager also stores events as custom post types⁴, which means adding or editing an event is as simple as working with posts or pages in WordPress. This provides users with the flexibility to customize their event listings and integrate them into their website’s design more efficiently.

Overall, both Calendarize it! and Events Manager plugins prioritize design and customization options, offering users a range of templates and the ability to work with custom post types. The choice between the two will ultimately depend on individual needs and preferences.

Payment and Registration

Payment Options

Calendarize it! and Events Manager both offer various payment options to cater to different users. With Events Manager, users have access to a free version with an option to upgrade to Events Manager Pro. The Pro version costs $75 and offers additional features that the average user might not require but could prove useful for power users.

On the other hand, while Calendarize it! itself does not directly provide payment options, it can be easily integrated with popular e-commerce solutions like WooCommerce which allows for a wide range of payment gateways to accept payments from event attendees.

Registration Features

Both plugins have their own unique registration features to enhance the user experience during the event registration process. The Events Manager comes with a built-in registration system that allows you to manage single and multi-day events. It also offers support for recurring events, making it easier for organizers to manage events that occur regularly. The plugin gives users the ability to create custom registration forms, collect attendee information, and manage bookings right from the WordPress dashboard.

In contrast, Calendarize it! focuses more on providing a comprehensive calendar solution but offers flexible event registration options through its integration with third-party plugins like WooCommerce and WP Simple Booking Calendar. When combined with these plugins, Calendarize it! allows users to create registration forms, accept booking requests, and more.

Ultimately, when it comes to payment and registration options, both Calendarize it! and Events Manager have unique offerings that cater to different users’ needs. By understanding the specific requirements of your event management process, you can choose the plugin that best suits your needs.

Advanced Features and Functionalities

Event Ticketing

Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager provide advanced event ticketing options to cater to various business needs. With customized booking forms, flexible pricing, and multiple payment gateways, these plugins ensure a seamless experience for event organizers and attendees. The event ticketing features are essential to keep track of event attendance and efficiently manage event registration.

Email Notifications

Email notifications are a crucial aspect of ensuring successful event management, and both plugins offer this functionality. By integrating automated email notifications, Calendarize it! and Events Manager allow event organizers to inform attendees of event updates, changes, or cancellations effectively. Furthermore, these plugins can send reminders to registered users, ensuring that they are up-to-date with the event details. This not only helps enhance user experience but also improves event attendance rates.

Featured Events

Promoting featured events is an important aspect of any event management tool. Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager enable event organizers to showcase and highlight their featured events to attract more attendees. By providing an easy-to-use interface and customizable event displays, these plugins allow organizers to draw attention to the most important events, ultimately increasing visibility and interest.

User Experience

When comparing the user experience of Calendarize it! and Events Manager, there are several aspects that should be taken into consideration.

Calendarize it! offers a variety of calendar views, such as Month View, Week View, Day View, Event List View, Event Grid View, Event Map View, and Event Year View. This flexibility allows users to choose the display format that best suits their needs, making it easier to navigate and interact with the events they are interested in. Additionally, the plugin’s interface is intuitive, allowing users to easily add and manage events without needing advanced technical skills.

Events Manager, on the other hand, is known for being an advanced event calendar solution, active on more than 100,000 WordPress websites. It allows users to manage single and multi-day events, with the option to set them as recurring events. Just like Calendarize it!, Events Manager stores events as WordPress custom post types, so adding a new event works similarly to adding a post or page in WordPress. This familiarity with the WordPress platform makes it easier for users to quickly grasp the process of creating and managing events.

Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager plugins provide seamless integration with WordPress, ensuring a smooth and consistent user experience. They both offer extensive features and customization options that cater to different user preferences and requirements. However, the choice between the two may depend on the specific needs of the user. Some may find the variety of views in Calendarize it! more appealing, while others may favor the advanced event management options offered by Events Manager.

In terms of support and documentation, both plugins offer extensive resources to assist users in navigating and using the plugins effectively. This includes detailed instructions, FAQs, and dedicated support forums where users can ask questions and find answers from the developers and other users.

Ultimately, both Calendarize it! and Events Manager provide robust event calendar solutions with a focus on delivering a positive user experience. The decision comes down to individual preferences, requirements, and familiarity with the different features offered by each plugin.

Conclusion

Calendarize it! and Events Manager are both popular and powerful event calendar plugins for WordPress. They offer various features to help users manage and display events on their websites efficiently.

Calendarize it! is a flexible and feature-rich plugin that provides multiple view options including Month View, Week View, Day View, Event List View, Event Grid View, Event Map View, and Event Year View¹. It also comes with several handy widgets such as the Upcoming Events Widget and Accordion Upcoming Events Widget². This plugin allows for easy customization and integration with Google Maps and Facebook events, ensuring a reliable and versatile event management solution³.

Events Manager, on the other hand, is an advanced event calendar tool, active on more than 100,000 WordPress websites⁴. It enables users to manage single and multi-day events, as well as recurring events in the free version⁵. Some of its features include event filtering, user bookings, and Google Maps integration⁶.

In terms of knowledgeability, both plugins are well-documented and supported by user communities, ensuring assistance for those who need help setting up or using these solutions. They provide clear documentation and resources for users to become proficient in their usage.

Confidently speaking, either Calendarize it! or Events Manager will be suitable for your needs, depending on your specific requirements and preferences. Carefully consider your priorities, whether it be customization options, pricing, or specific features, to choose the plugin that best aligns with your website’s event management necessities.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main differences between Calendarize it! and Events Manager?

Calendarize it! is a feature-rich and comprehensive calendar solution that offers multiple views such as Month, Week, Day, Event List, Grid, Map, and Year View. Events Manager, on the other hand, is an advanced events calendar solution that manages single and multi-day events, which can be set as recurring. Both plugins store events as WordPress custom post types.

How does the pricing compare for both plugins?

Pricing for Calendarize it! and Events Manager can vary depending on the features and addons you require. For accurate and up-to-date pricing information, visit their respective websites or sales pages.

Are there any advantages to using Calendarize it! over Events Manager?

While both Calendarize it! and Events Manager are popular and capable event calendar plugins, some may find Calendarize it!’s flexibility in views and widgets as a notable advantage. However, the selection of the best plugin will ultimately depend on your specific needs and preferences.

Do both plugins work well with Elementor?

Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager are compatible with popular page builders like Elementor. You can use shortcodes and attributes for seamless integration with your preferred page builder.

Which plugin has better flexibility with addons?

Being feature-rich and comprehensive, Calendarize it! offers a wide range of addons to extend its functionality. Events Manager also supports various addons, but the level of flexibility may vary. It’s best to explore each plugin’s addons and features that suit your unique requirements.

Can either plugin be used as a free alternative to The Events Calendar?

Both Calendarize it! and Events Manager have their respective strengths and features that can serve as alternatives to The Events Calendar. It’s important to evaluate your specific requirements, compare the offered features, and make an informed decision based on the similarities and differences between these plugins.