--- title: "Luma vs Whova" subtitle: "How Luma compares to Whova for running conferences and recurring events" slug: "luma-vs-whova" url: "https://help.luma.com/p/luma-vs-whova" tags: ["Competitors"] --- If you run many events — meetups, field marketing, customer events, workshops, and conference registration — and want to set each one up in minutes with published pricing, choose Luma. If you run multi-day conferences where attendees need an event app with a personalized agenda, plus exhibitor tools and abstract submissions, Whova is built for that. ## Pricing **Luma**: Pricing is published and self-serve. Free events are free, with unlimited events and guests. On the Free plan, paid tickets carry a **5% platform fee** plus Stripe processing (2.9% + 30¢). [Luma Plus](/p/luma-plus) is **$59/month billed annually** (or $69 month-to-month) per calendar and drops the platform fee to 0%, so you pay only Stripe processing. For larger organizations, [Luma Enterprise](/p/enterprise-overview) adds SSO, CRM integrations, and a company-wide [organization](/p/organizations), with pricing based on your needs. On a $300 conference ticket, fees total $24.00 on the Free plan or $9.00 on Luma Plus. **Whova**: Pricing for the event app and management platform isn’t published — Whova’s pricing page is a quote form that asks about your event format, duration, attendee count, and how many events you run per year. Licenses are generally quoted per event, and third-party reports put typical quotes in the **low-to-mid four figures per event**, depending on size and modules. For paid tickets, Whova lists a ticketing fee of **3% + $0.99 per paid ticket**, with no fee on free tickets. > Pricing checked in September 2026. See Whova’s [pricing page](https://whova.com/pricing/) to request a quote, and its [registration fee comparison](https://whova.com/blog/event-registration-software-price-comparison/) for ticketing fees. ## How They Compare Whova is an all-in-one conference platform centered on its attendee app. Attendees get a personalized agenda, live polls, messaging, a community board, and networking tools, while organizers get registration, an event website builder, name badges and kiosk check-in, surveys and certificates, abstract management for calls for speakers, and exhibitor and sponsor management with lead retrieval and sponsor banners. It’s popular with associations, academic conferences, and nonprofits running a few big events a year, and it also offers a lighter product for smaller events. Luma is built for running many smaller events. Anyone on your team can create and publish an event page in a couple of minutes, with no per-event quote to request first. Guests register with just a name and email (no account required), get a calendar invite automatically, and can add their ticket to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Teams organize events under [calendars](/p/luma-calendar-overview), send [invites and blasts](/p/sending-or-scheduling-event-blasts), collect [registration questions](/p/collect-registration-questions), [require approval](/p/payment-require-approval) or run a [waitlist](/p/waitlist), and [check guests in](/p/check-in) from the iOS or Android app. The tradeoff is scope. Luma doesn’t have agenda or session management, a conference app with personalized schedules, abstract submissions, or exhibitor or sponsor tools. If your conference depends on those, Whova is the better fit; Luma fits the other events your team runs during the year. ## Where Luma Shines 1. **Fast for every event**: Create and publish an event in minutes, then [clone it](/p/cloning-events) for the next city or date. Running your 50th event costs the same as your first. 2. **Published pricing**: Free events are free, and Luma Plus is a flat monthly subscription — no per-event license to negotiate. 3. **Curate a paid guest list**: [Require approval](/p/payment-require-approval) works with paid tickets — guests’ cards are held when they apply and only charged if you approve them. Paid [waitlists](/p/waitlist) work the same way, so you can fill sold-out spots without chasing payments. 4. **Paid memberships**: Sell monthly, yearly, or one-time [memberships](/p/calendar-memberships) that give members access to your events — recurring revenue, with Luma handling the billing. 5. **Built for recurring programs**: [Calendars](/p/managing-events-with-calendars) with subscribers, [newsletters](/p/sending-newsletters), and [event tags](/p/calendar-event-tags) keep your audience in touch between events, and [embeds](/p/embed-luma-on-your-website) put your events on your own website. ## Why You Might Choose Whova - **Attendee event app** – Personalized agendas, live polls, messaging, a community board, and attendee networking in one app. - **Agenda & sessions** – Build multi-track agendas that attendees can browse and bookmark. - **Abstract management** – Collect and review speaker and paper submissions, common for academic and association conferences. - **Exhibitors & sponsors** – Exhibitor profiles, lead retrieval, sponsor banners, and gamification to drive booth traffic. - **Virtual & hybrid** – Live streaming and interactive sessions for online attendees. ## Migrating from Whova to Luma 1. Start with the events that don’t need a conference app — meetups, workshops, field events, customer dinners, webinars. 2. Create a Team Calendar for your organization or program, and add your teammates as admins. 3. Export attendee lists from Whova as CSV and use them to [invite guests](/p/inviting-and-adding-guests-to-your-event) to your Luma events. 4. Connect your Stripe account if you’re selling tickets, and set up [ticket types](/p/setting-up-ticket-types) and [coupons](/p/create-coupons-for-paid-events). 5. For SSO, CRM integrations, or bringing many teams onto Luma at once, contact enterprise@luma.com about [Luma Enterprise](/p/enterprise-overview). ## FAQs **Does Luma have an event app?** Luma has [iOS](/p/luma-ios-app) and [Android](/p/luma-android-app) apps where guests see their tickets and join [event chat](/p/event-chat), and hosts manage events and check guests in. There’s no conference agenda or session schedule in the app. **Can Luma handle a multi-session conference?** Luma doesn’t have agenda or session management. You can model a few sessions as separate [ticket types](/p/setting-up-ticket-types), or create each session as its own event on one calendar — see [multi-session events](/p/multi-session-recurring-events). **Does Luma print badges?** Yes — onsite badge printing is available on [Luma Enterprise](/p/enterprise-overview). On any plan, you can also [export your guest list](/p/download-guest-csv) with per-ticket QR codes and print badges with your own template — see [printing event badges](/p/printing-event-badges). **Can I collect feedback after the event?** Yes. Luma can automatically email guests a [feedback request](/p/collect-feedback-from-your-event-guests) after the event ends, and you can export responses as CSV. **Will guests need to create a Luma account?** No. Guests register with a name and email.