Event Espresso makes sense when WordPress is already the home of an event program and the team wants registration to remain there. Compare the free plugin's transaction cost with an active paid license, and budget for WordPress maintenance and the specific add-ons the event needs.
Decaf carries a 3% transaction fee. The published policy also applies 1–3% transaction charges to expired paid licenses; payment-provider fees remain additional.
Core add-ons are purchased separately, while All Access includes the current add-on collection. Do not budget upcoming features as already delivered.
This is a self-hosted plugin, so hosting, updates, compatibility and backups belong in the implementation plan. The official FAQ supports one transaction currency per installation.
Nancy S.'s July 2025 review describes extra bookkeeping steps for tax reporting into Keap. It is a dated user experience, and some current integration-related enhancements are labelled coming soon.
| Plan | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Decaf | $0/year plus 3% platform fee | Free WordPress plugin; processor fees remain additional and add-ons are not included. |
| Core — current displayed offer | $129/year | Displayed against $199; one live site plus a staging site, with eligible add-ons purchased separately. Confirm renewal price and billing currency. |
| All Access — current displayed offer | $399/year | Includes the current add-on collection and eligible support. Confirm renewal price; roadmap items are not guaranteed current capabilities. |
Event Espresso keeps registration within an existing WordPress website. That can be useful for organizations with a site owner who can maintain plugins and test the payment flow before each event.
Choose the license from the required workflow, not only the advertised annual price. Transaction charges, renewal status and scanning or payment add-ons can change the total, while hosting and site upkeep remain part of the operating budget.
Sources
Get a shortlist of the best-fit options for your event workflow.
The fastest way for most event teams to produce polished promo assets and decks, though it is still a design platform rather than a true event-ops tool.
Create event artwork for the WordPress registration pages.
A polished Q&A and polling layer for conferences, webinars, and hybrid sessions, though the best features skew toward paid annual or enterprise use.
Provide session questions and polling after registration.
Cloud event registration, ticketing, event websites, agendas, check-in, and marketing tools for in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.
Compare hosted event registration without maintaining a WordPress installation.
Low-fee event registration platform with public capped pricing, strong customization, and practical paid-event economics.
Compare hosted configurable registration and payment forms.
Affordable event ticketing platform with free-ticket allowance, low per-ticket fees, seating charts, embedded checkout, check-in app, and strong payment processor choice.
Compare ticket sales that can be linked or embedded in a website.
We research each tool by reviewing official documentation, pricing pages, and user feedback from Trustpilot, G2, and Capterra. If something's out of date or inaccurate, use the link below to flag it.
