The 5 best CRMs for events in 2026: an honest comparison for promoters

You just closed the season. The festival sold out, the concerts went well, and now starts the usual process: download the ticketing lists, save them somewhere, and wait until January to start thinking about the next edition. But this year you have asked yourself a question you had not considered before: of all the attendees who came to your events, how many could you contact in a personalised way tomorrow? And more importantly: what would your early bird strategy look like if you knew each person’s complete history?

If you have already read about what an event CRM is, you know that this tool exists to answer precisely those questions. The problem is that when you search for options, dozens of names come up: Salesforce, HubSpot, Eventbrite, Nevent, Mailchimp. They all claim to do more or less the same thing. But the reality is that not all of them are designed for event promoters. And choosing wrong can cost you months of frustration and wasted budget.

This comparison is not a ranking of technical features. It is an honest evaluation of the 5 most relevant CRMs for the events industry in 2026, with their real advantages, concrete limitations, and the use cases where each one makes sense.

Quick answer: The best CRM for events in 2026 depends on your size and specialization. For festivals and small-to-medium promoters in Europe, Nevent offers the best balance of specialized features, support and price (from €90/month). For large corporations with technical teams, Salesforce. For one-off events without continuity, Eventbrite is sufficient.

Why a generic CRM doesn’t work the same way for events

Before comparing options, there is something fundamental to understand: most CRMs on the market were not designed with festivals, concerts or venues in mind. They were designed for companies that sell recurring products or continuous services. A generic CRM understands customers who buy monthly, abandoned carts, annual renewals.

But the lifecycle of an event attendee is different. They are not a customer who buys every month. They are someone who buys once a year (or every two years), who has very marked peaks of interest (when you announce the lineup), and whose value is measured not just in transactions but in recurrence across editions.

A festival promoter needs to answer questions that a generic CRM does not contemplate by default:

• How many attendees return between editions?
• What is the average spend of a VIP attendee vs. a general admission one?
• How many days do they take to buy after the sale opens?
• What percentage of last year’s attendees have NOT yet bought for this edition?

These questions can be configured manually in a generic CRM, but they require development, custom fields, workflows, and above all: someone with technical knowledge to structure all of that. That is why event-specialized CRMs exist. Not because they are more powerful, but because they already come configured to answer the right questions.

Evaluation criteria: what to look for in an event CRM

To compare usefully, these are the 7 most relevant criteria for an event promoter:

1. Events specialization: is it designed for festivals/concerts or is it a generic CRM adapted?
2. Native integrations with ticketing platforms: does it connect directly with Eventbrite, Ticketmaster, Dice, etc. or do you need APIs and Zapier?
3. Cross-edition data unification: does it identify recurring attendees automatically or do you have to do it manually?
4. Segmentation: can I segment by purchase history, ticket type, recurrence, without needing a technician?
5. Learning curve: can I use it from day one or does it need technical training and months of configuration?
6. Support and guidance: is there a team specialized in events who helps you or do you have to figure everything out yourself?
7. Real cost: base price + implementation cost + team time cost.

The 5 best CRMs for events: detailed comparison

1. Nevent — the specialist for festivals and concerts

Who it is for: Festival promoters, concert venues, recurring event organizers who need a CRM designed specifically for events with close support.

What it does well: Nevent is a CRM for events built from the ground up for the live music and entertainment industry. This means all its features are designed to answer the questions a promoter asks each season: who returns, who spends more, who stopped coming.

Its integrations with the most widely used ticketing platforms in Europe (Eventbrite, Ticketmaster, Dice, Fever, XCEED) are native, meaning data flows automatically without configuring APIs or using intermediary tools. Every time someone buys a ticket, their profile is updated in the CRM with the complete history of previous editions. This is CRM integration with ticket sales platforms done properly.

Segmentation is designed with the events world in mind: you can filter by number of editions attended, historical ticket type, accumulated spend, days since last purchase, and dozens more variables that make sense for a promoter. You do not need to know programming or build complex workflows. The tool already understands your industry.

Another competitive advantage is the support. The Nevent team is made up of people who know the events sector, not generic CRM consultants. This accelerates the setup and avoids the “bought CRM that nobody uses” syndrome.

For promoters managing a multiple event management CRM setup — handling several events simultaneously across different venues or formats — Nevent’s cross-event data structure is particularly valuable. It naturally handles the complexity of multiple simultaneous event databases, something generic tools require heavy customization to replicate.

It also includes additional features like an AI chatbot that handles attendee support 24/7, seasonal campaign automation (early bird, reminders, post-event), and dashboards showing recurrence and LTV per attendee.

Limitations: Nevent is a specialized solution, not an all-powerful platform like Salesforce. If you need to manage complex B2B sales processes, enterprise sales pipelines or project management modules, Salesforce remains more flexible. Nevent is optimized for event promoters, not for corporations with cross-functional needs.

Price: Plans from €90/month for small festivals (up to 10,000 attendees/year). Scales with contact volume and features. Includes onboarding, support and updates. No hidden implementation costs or external consulting.

When to choose it: If you are a festival promoter, concert venue or recurring events brand, with small or medium teams, who wants a CRM that works from day one without needing technical consultants, Nevent is the most direct option.

2. Salesforce — the enterprise option (with cost and complexity)

Who it is for: Large promoters, entertainment groups with multiple business units, corporations already using Salesforce for other processes and with internal technical teams.

What it does well: Salesforce is the most powerful CRM on the market in terms of flexibility. If you have an internal development team, you can configure absolutely everything: custom fields, complex workflows, integrations with any system, advanced dashboards, predictive AI.

For large organizations managing multiple events, sponsors, suppliers, artist contracts and B2B relationships, Salesforce allows everything to be unified on a single platform. You can build a CRM that does exactly what you need, without limitations.

Limitations: Salesforce is not designed specifically for events. If you want it to work as a festival CRM, you have to configure it yourself. This means:

• Hiring specialized consultants (cost of 5 to 6 figures for medium implementations).
• Spending months configuring fields, workflows, integrations.
• Training your team on a complex tool.

For an average promoter, Salesforce is overkill. You pay for flexibility you probably do not need, and the learning curve is steep.

Price: From €25/user/month (basic plan with limited features) to €300/user/month (advanced plans). But the real implementation cost can range from €10,000 to €100,000 depending on complexity. For an average festival, total annual cost can exceed €20,000.

When to choose it: If you are a large entertainment corporation with multiple simultaneous events, internal technical teams, and need a CRM that does much more than manage attendees, Salesforce makes sense. For small and medium promoters, it is excessive.

3. HubSpot — marketing automation with CRM features

Who it is for: Promoters with digital marketing teams who already use HubSpot for other campaigns, or who want an all-in-one marketing automation tool that includes CRM.

What it does well: HubSpot is not designed for events, but it is a solid marketing automation platform with an integrated CRM module. If your priority is managing email campaigns, landing pages, forms, lead nurturing automation and conversion analytics, HubSpot excels.

It has an intuitive interface, much more accessible than Salesforce, and you do not need technical staff to get started.

Limitations: HubSpot does not natively understand the concept of “recurring attendee”. For HubSpot, your attendees are “contacts” like any other lead. If you want to identify who returns between editions, you will have to create custom fields, workflows and reports manually.

HubSpot also has no deep native integrations with events industry ticketing platforms (Dice, XCEED, Fever). Everything goes through Zapier or APIs, which adds complexity and data loss risk.

If you are looking for the best event platform for Mailchimp integration, note that HubSpot and Mailchimp both sit in the generic email marketing category. Neither understands events natively. The difference is that HubSpot has a stronger CRM foundation to build on — but “building on” requires technical time.

Price: From €50/month (basic plan with limited features) to €3,000/month on professional plans with advanced automations. For a promoter wanting to use HubSpot as an event CRM, the plan you typically need runs €500-800/month.

When to choose it: If your team already uses HubSpot and you use it for other digital marketing campaigns, it can make sense to leverage its CRM module. But if you are specifically looking for a CRM to manage event attendees, you will need to invest significant time configuring it.

4. Eventbrite — ticketing with basic CRM included

Who it is for: Organizers of one-off events or promoters who prioritize ticket sales over long-term relationship management with attendees.

What it does well: Eventbrite is primarily a ticket sales platform. But it includes basic CRM features that allow you to export buyer lists, segment by ticket type, and send follow-up emails.

For one-off events without continuity (a standalone concert, a unique corporate event), Eventbrite is sufficient. You don’t need more. You sell tickets, you have buyer data, and you can communicate with them from within the platform.

Limitations: Eventbrite is not a CRM for recurring events. It does not automatically unify data across editions. If you have an annual festival, each edition lives in a separate “event” within Eventbrite. To know who returned, you have to export lists from previous years, manually cross-reference them in a spreadsheet.

Eventbrite is a ticketing platform with basic communication features, not a CRM designed for building long-term relationships with attendees.

Price: Commission per ticket sold (between 3% and 8% depending on plan). No fixed CRM cost because it is not really a CRM. If you only sell tickets, it is competitive. If you want real CRM features, you will need to complement it with another tool.

When to choose it: If you organize one-off events without continuity, Eventbrite is more than sufficient. If you have an annual festival, a regular-programming venue, or any recurring events brand, Eventbrite falls short as a CRM.

5. Mailchimp — email marketing with lightweight CRM

Who it is for: Small promoters on a tight budget who prioritize email marketing and need a simple tool to manage contacts and send campaigns, without needing a full CRM.

What it does well: Mailchimp is an email marketing platform that includes basic CRM functionality. It allows you to store contacts, segment by lists and tags, create email automations, and manage campaigns with intuitive visual editors.

For promoters just starting out whose primary need is to send newsletters, pre-sale campaigns or event reminders, Mailchimp is accessible and easy to use. It has a free plan that lets you start without investment.

Limitations: Mailchimp does not understand the concept of “event” or “attendee”. It is a generalist email marketing tool. It has no native integrations with ticketing platforms, does not unify data across editions, and offers no segmentation by attendance history or ticket type.

It is also worth noting that Mailchimp is frequently cited when people search for the best event platform for Mailchimp integration — but this search usually means people are trying to send event emails through Mailchimp, not that Mailchimp is a purpose-built event CRM. It does email marketing for events; it does not do event CRM.

Another common problem: as your database grows, costs scale quickly. Mailchimp charges by number of contacts, and when you exceed 10,000 contacts the cost can surpass that of a specialized CRM that includes far more functionality.

Price: From €0/month (500 contacts) to €299/month (advanced plans). Scales with volume.

When to choose it: If you are a small promoter organizing few events per year, your budget is very tight, and your primary need is to send emails to your attendees. It is a good starting point, but you will probably outgrow it when you want to professionalize your audience management.

Summary comparison table

Which to choose based on your situation

There is no perfect CRM for everyone. The best choice depends on three factors: the size of your operation, the maturity of your technical team, and what you genuinely need to solve today.

Annual festival or regular-programming venue in Europe

Your real problem: you have thousands of attendees spread across several ticketing platforms, you do not know how many return between editions, and each season you start communication from scratch.

The most direct option is Nevent. It is designed exactly for this case: it automatically connects with the European ticketing platforms you already use (Eventbrite, Dice, XCEED, Fever), unifies data from all editions in a single profile per attendee, and lets you segment by recurrence, historical spend and ticket type without configuring anything. The support team knows your sector, so getting up and running is fast. Plans from €90/month with everything included.

Large entertainment corporation with multiple business units

Your real problem: you manage events, sponsors, artists, contracts and B2B relationships. You need a system that connects all those processes, and you already have an internal technical team.

Salesforce offers the most flexibility. But be aware of what it implies: months of implementation, specialized consultants, and a total cost that easily exceeds €20,000/year between licenses, setup and maintenance. It only makes sense if you already have Salesforce infrastructure in other departments or if your scale justifies that investment.

Digital marketing team already working with HubSpot

Your real problem: you already have automated marketing flows in HubSpot and do not want to add another tool to the stack.

Using HubSpot as an event CRM is possible, but requires manual work. You will need to create custom fields for ticket type, edition, recurrence. Configure specific workflows. Connect ticketing platforms via Zapier. If your team has the technical capacity to build and maintain this, it can work.

Organizer of one-off events without continuity

Your real problem: you organize standalone concerts or events, sell tickets, and do not need to maintain a long-term relationship with attendees between events.

Eventbrite is sufficient. You sell, collect payment, manage access, and can send basic communications to buyers. When you start organizing recurring events and want to understand your audience better, that will be the time to move to a specialized CRM.

Very tight budget or first steps in event marketing

Your real problem: you know you should communicate better with your attendees, but you have no budget for a CRM and no experience managing databases.

Mailchimp is a good starting point. It has a free plan that lets you start building your list and sending campaigns without investment. But be clear that it is an email marketing tool, not an event CRM. It will not identify recurring attendees, connect with your ticketing platform, or segment by attendance history. When your festival grows and you need that intelligence, you will need to migrate to a specialized solution.

The most common mistake when choosing an event CRM

The most frequent mistake promoters make is not choosing the wrong tool. It is choosing a generic tool believing that “we’ll configure it over time” and ending up with a CRM nobody uses.

The reality is that most promoters do not have dedicated technical teams to configure Salesforce for months. They do not have time to build complex workflows in HubSpot. And they do not need 80% of the features that generalist CRMs offer.

What they need is a tool that, from the first day, answers the right questions:

• How many attendees return?
• Who spent the most historically?
• Who stopped coming?
• How do I segment by ticket type and previous editions?

If those questions are your priority, the answer is clear: you need a CRM specialized in events. Not because it is better in absolute terms, but because it already comes configured for your industry. And that means your team will actually use it.

If you want to go deeper on how a specialized event CRM works and what problems it solves in practice, read our full guide on what an event CRM is.

The question is not “what is the best CRM on the market?”. The question is “what is the best CRM for the size of my team, my type of events, and the time I have to get it up and running?”.