Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Whova

Hi.Events is an open-source event management and ticketing platform for selling tickets online and managing attendees for events like conferences, concerts, festivals, and nightlife. It focuses on organizer data ownership, flexible ticketing, and modern, brandable checkout and event pages.

Key Features

• Flexible ticket types (free, paid, donation, tiered) with capacity limits and sale windows
• Promo codes, pre-sale access, hidden/locked tickets, and product add-ons
• Custom branding: drag-and-drop event page builder, organizer pages, SEO settings, and embeddable ticket widget
• Attendee management: custom checkout questions, search/filter/export, bulk messaging, and refunds
• QR-code check-in with scan logs, multiple access-controlled check-in lists, and offline support
• Real-time sales dashboard, reporting (sales/tax/promos), and affiliate/referral tracking
• Stripe Connect support for payouts and multiple currencies, plus offline payment methods
• REST API and webhooks for integrations and automation

Use Cases

• Running a branded ticket shop for venues, promoters, and nightlife events with fast door check-in
• Managing conference registration with custom questions, invoicing, and reporting
• Selling tickets for festivals and concerts with tiered pricing, promo campaigns, and capacity groups

Hi.Events is a strong fit for organizations that want control over branding, checkout, and attendee data while still providing modern ticketing and operational tooling for both small and high-volume events.

Indico is a feature-rich, web-based event management system developed at CERN for organizing lectures, meetings, workshops, and conferences. It combines event content management with end-to-end workflows such as submissions, reviewing, registration, and room booking.

Key Features

• Hierarchical event content management with long-term archival of materials and metadata
• Conference organization workflows including call for abstracts, abstract reviewing, and paper reviewing
• Configurable registration forms with support for integrating external payment systems
• Timetable and agenda management, including drag-and-drop scheduling
• Participant logistics tools such as badge and ticket generation/printing
• Room booking and management with permissions and scheduling support
• Extensible architecture via plugins and integrations with collaborative/video-conferencing tools

Use Cases

• Managing scientific conferences with abstract submission, reviewing, and proceedings workflows
• Organizing institutional meetings and lectures with agenda building and material archival
• Centralizing room booking and event scheduling for campuses and large organizations

Indico is well-suited for organizations needing a robust, scalable event platform that covers the full event lifecycle. Its granular permissions model, archival focus, and extensibility make it a strong fit for both recurring internal meetings and complex international conferences.

Alf.io is an open source ticket reservation and event attendance management system for event organizers. It covers the full lifecycle from ticket sales and payments to check-in operations and reporting, with a strong focus on privacy and security.

Key Features

• Public ticket shop for ticket reservation and sales
• Backoffice/admin area for event setup and management
• Payment gateway integrations including Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Revolut, and bank transfer options
• Reporting capabilities across the event lifecycle
• Extension mechanism to integrate with third-party tools (for example CRM systems)
• Mobile apps (iOS and Android) for attendee check-in and sponsor/exhibitor lead capture
• High-throughput, offline-capable check-in station support (including Raspberry Pi setups with encrypted attendee lists)
• Multi-language user interface

Use Cases

• Running ticketing and check-in for conferences, trade shows, workshops, and meetups
• On-site badge scanning and lead collection for sponsors/exhibitors
• Offline check-in and badge printing workflows for high-volume events

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires PostgreSQL (10+) and a Java 17 runtime for deployment
• Some payment methods require third-party accounts and configuration with their providers

Alf.io is suited for organizations that want control over event data and ticketing costs while still offering modern payment and check-in workflows. Its modular integrations and offline-capable check-in options make it practical for both small meetups and larger events.

OSEM (Open Source Event Manager) is a web application for organizing events, tailored to Free and Open Source Software community conferences. It helps teams manage the full lifecycle of a conference, from content collection to publishing the schedule and handling attendee registration.

Key Features

• Event splash pages for promoting the conference
• Call for Papers workflow to receive, classify, and evaluate submissions
• Session management with detailed public session pages
• Schedule/agenda creation and publishing for attendees
• Registration and ticketing support for tracking attendees
• Administration tools to manage event configuration and operations
• Basic analytics to track program and audience evolution

Use Cases

• Run a community conference with submissions, reviews, and a published agenda
• Maintain a public event website with sessions and speaker information
• Manage attendee registration and ticketing for an in-person or hybrid event

OSEM is a solid choice for teams that want a purpose-built conference manager with a focus on CFP-driven programs and attendee-facing schedules, while keeping full control over event data and workflows.

pretalx is a conference planning and management tool that supports organisers from call for participation through review, scheduling, and publishing the final program. It is designed for multi-track, multi-day events and is highly configurable and extensible via plugins.

Key Features

• Configurable Call for Participation (CfP) and submission forms
• Reviewer workflows for scoring, selection, and optional anonymised reviewing
• Schedule planning for multi-day, multi-room, and multi-track events
• Publishing and managing schedule releases and program updates
• Speaker management, communication, and post-event feedback collection
• Extensibility through a plugin ecosystem and customizable appearance

Use Cases

• Running a conference or meetup with an open call for talks or workshops
• Organising review committees and selecting submissions transparently
• Building and publishing a public schedule for multi-track events

Limitations and Considerations

• Advanced customisation beyond built-in settings may require plugin development

pretalx fits teams that need a full CfP-to-schedule workflow with strong reviewing and scheduling capabilities. It is suitable for both small community events and large conferences that require structured submissions and multi-track planning.

OpenSlides is a web-based presentation and assembly system for digitally organizing meetings, conferences, and committees. It helps manage agendas, motions, elections, and participant processes in one central place and supports projecting and running sessions.

Key Features

• Agenda planning and session management
• Motion and amendment management for assemblies
• Speaker list management for moderated discussions
• Digital elections and voting workflows
• Participant and user management for events and committees
• Presentation/projection support for running assemblies

Use Cases

• Party conventions, member assemblies, and congresses
• Board, committee, and council meetings with formal motions
• Conferences that require structured voting and election procedures

OpenSlides provides a focused toolkit for organizations that need reliable, structured processes for decision-making events, combining preparation, live session handling, and voting in a single web application.

Meetable is a minimal events aggregator and listing application built with Laravel. It provides discovery pages, per-event pages with rich metadata, and feeds for subscribing to event lists. The project is designed for small communities, organizations, and conference sites that need a focused event listing site.

Key Features

• Discovery view of upcoming events and an archive of past events
• Tagging system and tag-based discovery pages
• iCal feeds for every list and page so events can be subscribed to in external calendars
• Per-event pages with cover photo, date/time, location, ticket links, and markdown/HTML descriptions
• Add-to-calendar export (iCal files and calendar links) and timezone conversion support
• RSVP support for logged-in users and ability to attach photos, notes, and blog posts to events
• Multiple authentication options: passkey (single-user), GitHub OAuth, OpenID Connect, Vouch proxy, and Heroku OAuth
• Background job queue support and optional Redis for improved performance
• Configurable permissions to limit who can manage events and site content

Use Cases

• Public community event calendars for local meetups and interest groups
• Organization or team event pages and internal event discovery
• Conference and multi-track event listing with media and attendee RSVPs

Limitations and Considerations

• Feature set focuses on event listings and discovery rather than being a full CMS or ticketing system
• Production deployments require web server configuration, background workers for queues, and database setup; scaling larger event sites may need additional infrastructure
• Authentication setup for multi-user environments can require external OAuth/OpenID configuration and additional admin setup

Meetable is a compact, purpose-driven solution for publishing and discovering events. It is suitable for sites that need simple event management, calendar integration, and lightweight community features without the complexity of larger event platforms.

Antragsgrün (Motion.Tools) is a web application for NGOs, political parties and assemblies to collaboratively submit, discuss and decide on motions, resolutions and amendments. It supports meeting workflows including speaking lists, roll calls and votings, and offers export and print templates for final documents.

Key Features

• Submit and publish motions, resolutions, statutes and candidacies with attachments
• Structured amendment workflow allowing submission, discussion and merging of accepted amendments
• Voting workflows including roll calls and configurable vote procedures
• Speaking lists and full-screen projector views for in-person assemblies
• Export options: PDF, spreadsheets and text templates; multiple PDF rendering backends supported
• User management with roles, admin/super-admin separation and configurable submission policies
• Security features: CAPTCHA throttling, optional TOTP-based 2FA, and support for SSO integrations (e.g., SAML)
• Accessibility-focused UI (WCAG AA) and multi-language support
• Docker-friendly deployment and web-based installer/updater, with command-line migration options

Use Cases

• Run congresses or party conventions with large numbers of motions and amendments
• Coordinate drafting and adoption of policy documents, statutes or election platforms
• Manage speaking order, roll calls and real-time votings during assemblies and meetings

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires PHP (>= 8.1), a MySQL/MariaDB database and a webserver; operational knowledge needed for scaling and maintenance
• Some PDF rendering features rely on external tools (e.g., WeasyPrint) or optional commercial plugins for complex PDFs
• SSO integrations are possible but typically require custom configuration and are not bundled as a one-click feature

Antragsgrün is a mature, privacy-conscious tool designed for organizations that need structured motion and meeting management. It is extensible and configurable to fit diverse procedural rules and event sizes.

Atria is an open-source event management and professional networking platform designed for hybrid and virtual events. It combines session scheduling, sponsor management, and attendee discovery with real-time chat to help organizers foster meaningful connections.

Key Features

• Multi-day event and session management with drag-and-drop speaker organization
• Real-time communication (session chat, backstage, direct messages) powered by Socket.IO
• Professional networking tools: icebreakers, attendee discovery by role/interests, privacy controls
• Multi-tenant architecture with granular role-based permissions and organization-level isolation
• Sponsor management with multi-tier support and automated image optimization (WebP conversion)
• Developer-friendly API surface with OpenAPI docs and a RESTful design
• Docker-first deployment and Redis-backed clustering for Socket.IO scaling
• Support for S3-compatible object storage for uploads and PostgreSQL for data persistence

Use Cases

• Hosting enterprise conferences or multi-day summits with sponsor tiers and analytics
• Running community or creator events that emphasize attendee networking and moderated chat
• Supporting hybrid workshops, fundraisers, or educational events with virtual attendance and live session chat

Limitations and Considerations

• Licensed under AGPL-3.0: modifications run on a server must be made available according to the license, which may be incompatible with some proprietary workflows
• Several planned features are on the public roadmap (custom event theming, advanced analytics, ticketing integrations, AI-enhanced tools) and may not be available yet
• Project status notes partial backend test coverage (~47% reported) and active development; production operators should review current CI/test status before large deployments

Atria is suitable for teams that want a transparent, extensible platform for events and networking. It can be self-hosted for full control or used via the project’s managed offering for a hosted experience.

Gancio is a shared agenda designed for local communities to publish and discover events without centering personal profiles or engagement mechanics. It focuses on small, autonomous nodes and broad interoperability so events can be followed and reused across the web.

Key Features

• Shared public event listing with a content-first approach (no personal timelines)
• Privacy-oriented publishing model, including anonymous event submission by default
• Multiple export formats for syndication and reuse, including RSS feeds and iCalendar (ICS)
• Embeddable event lists or single events for external websites
• Federation support via ActivityPub to share events across instances
• Structured data support (microdata/microformats) for better interoperability

Use Cases

• Community groups running a local events calendar for a city or neighborhood
• Activist or mutual-aid networks needing low-profile event publishing and sharing
• Organizations embedding a unified event feed across multiple sites and channels

Limitations and Considerations

• Gancio 2.0 is an in-progress rewrite and was announced as alpha with incompatibilities; upgrading production instances may require caution

Gancio is a strong fit for communities that want a calendar that prioritizes shared information over user identities and growth mechanics. Its federation and export options make it easy to distribute events beyond the web UI while keeping control in local hands.