MagicTablePlanner

MagicTablePlanner is the most affordable table planning tool available — genuinely free for events under 30 guests and just £14.99/year for unlimited capacity. It handles the core job well: drag-and-drop seating, Excel import with automatic household grouping, and shareable floor plans. But it's a small bootstrapped operation, and that shows in the lack of integrations, desktop-only editing, and limited development pace.

Event Planning & Management Freemium

Free (up to 30 guests) → £14.99/year (unlimited)

Visit MagicTablePlanner →

Tool Nutrition Label

Founded 2012

Headquarters Roubaix, France

Company Size <10 employees

Funding Bootstrapped (unfunded)

Pricing Model Flat annual fee (no per-guest pricing)

Free Trial No trial needed — free tier with up to 30 guests, unlimited table plans, and RSVP tracking

Contract No contract — single annual payment, no auto-renewal

Attendee Capacity Free: up to 30 guests; Premium: unlimited

Mobile App No native app — web-based only; guest list and RSVP viewable on mobile/tablet, but table plan editing requires a desktop browser

Offline Capability No

Data & Compliance EU (France-based company)

Expertise Level Beginner

Event Types

WeddingsCorporate EventsBirthday PartiesBar MitzvahsReunionsGalasConferences

Key Integrations

Excel/CSV Import (Native)

Support Channels

EmailChat (7 days/week)

Best For

+ Budget-conscious couples planning wedding seating for under 30 guests (completely free)
+ Event planners who want a simple, no-install web tool for drag-and-drop table arrangements
+ Corporate event coordinators needing staging areas, sponsor booth positioning, and VIP seating zones
+ Anyone who wants to share view-only floor plans with venues via link — no spreadsheets required

Not For

− Planners who need mobile table editing — the table planner only works on desktop browsers
− Teams requiring integrations with CRMs, event platforms, or registration tools — only Excel import is supported
− Large enterprises needing enterprise-grade features, SLAs, or dedicated account support
− Events requiring offline access — the tool is entirely cloud-dependent

Key Capabilities

✓ Import guest lists from Excel/CSV with automatic household grouping, tags, and dietary notes

✓ Drag-and-drop guests onto round or rectangular table layouts

✓ Resize, rotate, and duplicate table arrangements to compare different layout versions

✓ Share view-only floor plan links with venues and co-planners

✓ Export completed table plans as PDF for printing and event-day reference

✓ Track RSVPs and dietary preferences per guest

✓ Use check-in mode to track guest arrivals, meals, and last-minute changes on event day

✓ Create corporate layouts with staging areas, sponsor booths, networking zones, and VIP seating

Honest Limitations

Desktop-Only Table Editing

Guest lists and RSVPs work on mobile and tablet, but the actual table plan editor only functions on desktop browsers. No responsive editing capability.

No Third-Party Integrations

The only data import path is Excel/CSV. No connections to CRMs, event management platforms, Zapier, or any external tools.

No Mobile App

Entirely web-based with no native iOS or Android app. Check-in mode works in mobile browsers but isn't a dedicated app experience.

Small Team, Slow Development

As a bootstrapped company with fewer than 10 employees, feature development and support capacity are limited compared to funded competitors.

GBP-Only Pricing

Pricing is displayed exclusively in British pounds, which may cause confusion or unexpected currency conversion fees for international users.

Pricing Breakdown

Plan	Price	Details
Free	£0	Up to 30 guests, unlimited table plans, RSVP tracking, 7-day email/chat support
Premium	£14.99/year	Single payment, no auto-renewal; unlimited guests, prioritized support, 5-day money-back guarantee

Cost at Common Event Sizes

attendees

£0

Covered entirely by the free tier

100

attendees

£14.99 (£0.15/guest)

Premium tier required; flat fee regardless of guest count

500

attendees

£14.99 (£0.03/guest)

Same flat fee — cost per guest drops dramatically with scale

1000

attendees

£14.99 (~£0.01/guest)

Effectively negligible per-guest cost at any large event

Hidden Costs to Watch

! No hidden costs — pricing is straightforward with no per-guest fees or add-ons
! Currency conversion fees may apply for non-GBP payment methods

MagicTablePlanner is a web-based table seating tool built in Roubaix, France since 2012. It has quietly grown to power over 270,000 weddings and events with a remarkably simple proposition: drag guests onto tables, share the plan with your venue, and show up on the day with a PDF or check-in mode ready to go.

The core experience is straightforward. Import your guest list from Excel and the app auto-groups households, applies tags, and tracks dietary notes. From there, you drag-and-drop guests onto round or rectangular tables, resize and rotate layouts, and duplicate versions to compare arrangements. When you’re happy, share a view-only link with your venue or co-planners — no spreadsheets or email attachments required.

What makes MagicTablePlanner stand out is pricing. The free tier covers events up to 30 guests with unlimited table plans, and the Premium upgrade is just £14.99 per year — a single payment with no auto-renewal. At 500 guests, that works out to £0.03 per head. No other table planning tool comes close on cost. The trade-off is scope: there are no third-party integrations, table editing only works on desktop, and as a small bootstrapped team, development moves slowly. For straightforward seating needs on a budget, it’s hard to beat.

Comparing this with other event tools?

Get a shortlist of the best-fit options for your event workflow.

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Pairs Well With

RSVPify

A polished event registration and ticketing platform with drag-and-drop seating charts, QR check-in, and industry-low ticketing fees — genuinely usable free tier, but non-ticketed business plans escalate fast.

Registration & Ticketing Freemium

Handles advanced RSVP forms, meal selection, and plus-one management that MagicTablePlanner's basic RSVP tracking can't cover

Eventbrite

Mass-market ticketing and event marketing platform with unmatched discovery reach, fast setup, and fee-heavy economics for paid events.

Registration & Ticketing Event Marketing Freemium

Provides registration, ticketing, and payment processing — complementing MagicTablePlanner's seating-only focus

Canva

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.

Event Marketing Freemium

Design custom signage, table cards, and floor plan graphics to pair with the exported PDF layouts

Alternatives

PerfectTablePlan

Desktop table-seating software for weddings, banquets, galas, and professional events with complex guest placement.

Event Planning & Management Paid

Desktop software with deeper seating logic (auto-assign, conflict avoidance) and offline capability; $40 one-time purchase vs. £14.99/year

Social Tables

Collaborative event diagramming and seating platform, now inside Cvent, for planners and venues that need floor plans, 3D visuals, and setup precision.

Event Planning & Management Paid

Enterprise-grade with 3D diagramming, Cvent integration, and venue management; built for hotels and large-scale corporate events, not individual planners

Planning Pod

All-in-one venue and event business platform for bookings, registrations, contracts, invoices, floor plans, and operational workflows.

Event Planning & Management Paid

Full event management suite including floor plans, budgets, timelines, and vendor management; higher price point but replaces multiple tools

Questions to Ask the Vendor

1
Are there plans to add integrations with event management platforms like Eventbrite or Cvent?
2
Will mobile table plan editing be supported in the future, or is desktop-only a permanent design choice?
3
Where is user data hosted, and do you comply with GDPR data residency requirements?
4
What is your development roadmap — how frequently are new features shipped?
5
Can you provide pricing in currencies other than GBP, or is multi-currency support planned?

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