Comparing the Top 8 Event Marketing Platforms for 2026

AudienceView now offers Audience Republic as a fully integrated marketing suite, designed specifically for live events. By bringing ticketing, fundraising, and marketing into one platform, it removes the need for disconnected tools and enables event and venue marketing to use detailed audience insights to personalize, promote, and grow their audiences. While more specialized than general martech platforms, it’s a strong fit for event teams looking for a unified, scalable workflow purpose-built for the industry.

Pros:

1. Purpose-built for live events (integrated ticketing, marketing and fundraising)
2. Omnichannel automation and targeting capabilities (email, SMS, paid advertising, etc)
3. Real-time, highly configurable attribution tied directly to ticket sales
4. Strong targeting and personalized marketing communication capabilities

Cons:

1. Highly specialized for live events, so less relevant outside of this space
2. Relatively new product, less peer reviews than others in the market

Rating:

• Ease of Use: 9/10
• Integration Capabilities: 9/10
• Price: 8/10
• User Skill: Moderate

Mailchimp is one of the most recognized marketing platforms in the world, offering email, automation, landing pages, ads, and CRM basics. Its user-friendly builder and free entry-level plan makes it appealing for smaller teams. However, costs increase as lists grow, and while flexible, it’s lacking live-event specific capabilities.

Pros:

1. Wide feature set (email, landing pages, social ads, basic CRM)¹
2. Strong automation and testing capabilities
3. Free tier for small lists²

Cons:

1. Costs rise quickly with list growth³
2. Complex for new users³
3. Not purpose-built for live events

Rating:

• Ease of Use: 6/10
• Integration Capabilities: 7/10
• Price: 8/10
• User Skill: Beginner to Moderate

Constant Contact is designed for ease of use, making it a strong choice for beginners. With drag-and-drop templates and extensive customer support, it’s approachable for organizations without dedicated marketing staff. Its automation and reporting are simpler than competitors, which limits attribution and scalability for more complex event marketing.

Pros:

1. Beginner-friendly with drag-and-drop tools⁴
2. Large template library (200+)
3. Strong customer support⁵

Cons:

1. Automation is limited compared to competitors⁶
2. Reporting is basic, lacking robust configuration capabilities⁶
3. Slightly more expensive for what it offers compared to other products on the market⁶
4. Not purpose-built for live events

Rating:

• Ease of Use: 8/10
• Integration Capabilities: 6/10
• Price: 7/10
• User Skill: Beginner

HubSpot is an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform, popular with organizations that want advanced segmentation, personalization, and data insights. It offers a strong free tier and scales well into enterprise-level needs. The trade-off is cost and complexity, making it best for teams ready to commit resources to setup and ongoing management.

Pros:

1. All-in-one CRM and Marketing Automation Suite⁷
2. Excellent segmentation, personalization, and reporting⁸

Cons:

1. Expensive at scale⁹
2. Can be complex for new users¹⁰
3. Requires setup time to get the most value¹⁰
4. Not purpose-built for live events

Rating:

• Ease of Use: 6/10
• Integration Capabilities: 9/10
• Price: 5/10
• User Skill: Moderate to Advanced

ActiveCampaign is known for its powerful, visual automation builder and advanced audience segmentation. It’s particularly strong for building attendee journeys, upsell sequences, and post-event follow-ups. However, the learning curve is steeper, and smaller teams may find it more than what they need.

Pros:

1. Highly visual automation builder¹¹
2. Deep segmentation and personalization¹¹
3. Built-in CRM for attendee journey management¹¹

Cons:

1. Steep learning curve¹¹
2. Fewer beginner resources than other products on the market¹¹
3. Costs scale with advanced functionality¹¹

Rating:

• Ease of Use: 6/10
• Integration Capabilities: 8/10
• Price: 7/10
• User Skill: Moderate to Advanced

Wordfly is tailored for arts, culture, and live event organizations, offering event-friendly email marketing with integrations into platforms like Tessitura and Spektrix. Its clean drag-and-drop builder makes it approachable, while its niche positioning ensures features are relevant to event professionals. That said, it lacks the scale and advanced automation of bigger players.

Pros:

1. Designed with arts, culture and live events in mind
2. User-friendly drag-and-drop editor¹²
3. Integrates with several ticketing systems (Tessitura, Spektrix, etc.)¹²

Cons:

1. Smaller platform with fewer automation tools¹²
2. Limited analytics depth compared to AudienceView, HubSpot and ActiveCampaign¹²
3. Pricing is less transparent than other products on the market¹²

Rating:

• Ease of Use: 8/10
• Integration Capabilities: 6/10
• Price: 6/10
• User Skill: Beginner to Moderate

Dotdigital is a marketing automation platform with a strong focus on omnichannel campaigns (email, SMS, push notifications, and social). It integrates well with eCommerce, CRM, and ticketing systems, making it flexible for mid-sized organizations. Its higher cost and steep learning curve make it less attractive for smaller teams.

Pros:

1. Strong automation workflows¹³
2. Omnichannel capabilities (email, SMS, social push)
3. Flexible integrations with eCommerce, CRM, and ticketing platforms¹⁴

Cons:

1. Higher cost compared to entry-level tools¹⁴
2. Interface less intuitive for beginner¹⁴
3. Support is dependent on contract tier¹⁴
4. Not purpose-built for live events

Rating:

• Ease of Use: 6/10
• Integration Capabilities: 8/10
• Price: 5/10
• User Skill: Moderate

Eloqua is Oracle’s enterprise-grade marketing automation platform, designed for large organizations running highly complex campaigns. It offers deep customization, segmentation, and integration with enterprise CRMs like Salesforce and Oracle’s suite. While extremely powerful, it comes with a steep learning curve and significant cost, making it better suited for advanced users with large-scale needs.

Pros:

1. Enterprise-grade automation and segmentation¹⁵
2. Customizable for complex campaigns¹⁶
3. Strong integration with enterprise systems (Salesforce, Oracle Suite)

Cons:

1. Very steep learning curve¹⁷
2. High cost of ownership¹⁸
3. Overkill for smaller teams
4. Not purpose-built for live events

Rating:

• Ease of Use: 4/10
• Integration Capabilities: 9/10
• Price: 2/10
• User Skill: Advanced