RegOnline by Cvent (Discontinued) vs. Whova

RegOnline has been well-suited for providing registration for participants as well as payment options in the same place. That is literally all that my department uses it for, and it is very well-suited for this purpose (though pricey). And although it is pricey, it was one of the only approved options by my university to accept credit card payments for our annual conference, as other options could not be properly tracked by the university. So for this purpose, RegOnline is very well-suited. I think that if someone needed to build an event registration page that did not require payment options as a necessity, then RegOnline would be less suited for use. It still can easily track participants, but I think there are better options out there for those who only need the most basic of services. I also think that since RegOnline has provided additional formatting capabilities, that it does handle the registration pages better than it has in the past. However, these still need improvement, with the ability to rearrange the order of required and optional questions.

Incentivized

Overall having the Whova app was extremely helpful to provide information and drive engagement in the audience/attendees both on-site and remote. The ability to connect with like-minded attendees both pre-event and during the event was particularly helpful. Clarifying directions for "entering" events remotely would negate user anxiety.

• Easy set up for simple and complex registration events.
• Looks very professional
• Reports are easy to set up and download
• Cost per registration is reasonable

Incentivized

• facilitated the sharing of research, perspectives, and resources on topics of interest
• enabled easier connection to new and existing relationships with conference delegates and speakers
• allowed me to catch up on content I missed due to time conflicts for concurrent sessions

• One of the areas that RegOnline could improve on is the price. Because of the expense $3.55 per registration, the Department is unable to use the software for other events. We have mine training classes that we couldn't use RegOnline for because of the expense.
• RegOnline was not able to directly deposit registration fees collected from participants for other events and as a result we are unable to use it for those events.

Incentivized

• Literature and pictures uploaded but no easy way to download the collection.
• No easy way to access information after the period after the conference ended.
• No easy way to access the list of participants and contact information - could be pdf'd.
• There was a little connectivity issues but not much.
• Some of the meetings were scheduled while we slept.
• The cost of using Whova for small meetings.

Incentivized

We already registered with Whova for our 2024 event and we will continue to use Whova for the foreseeable future as long as the price doesn't rise too high. It was a bit of a shock to see the difference between last year's price and this year's price - nearly 2k increase! We were able to negotiate, thankfully, to lower the price.

Whova is quite user friendly, and helpful for the conference planner. It has features such as sample emails to attendees and import abilities if you have your sessions on a spreadsheet to avoid having to enter each session manually. Another thing we didn't like was the inability to allow attendees to enter a pre-recorded session only when it is scheduled to be presented. It's either all pre-recorded can be viewed once the conference opens, or none.

We had no availability issues!

We had no performance issues with our event delivery. We did have some meet-ups that had some glitches for some attendees, but I believe they were quickly resolved and were more on the part of user error than anything. Once they got the hang of it, their meet-ups went more smoothly.

We've never had an issue they couldn't resolve in one phone call.

Incentivized

I only had a single issue regarding a photograph that was handled immediately and a colleague somehow ended up with two profiles which was also handled right away. Those two instances are all I have to go by. Other than that it was smooth but I did have ample information regarding who to contact if I experienced an issue

I found Whova to be similar to many social media apps that I already use. It was easy to navigate. This was my second experience using Whova in my presenter role. I liked the icebreaker section to connect with other participants before the event started. I look forward to next year’s event.

The Department also uses RegFox for training events as well as conferences. One of the main reasons they use RegFox is because of the price, it only charges $0.99 per registration whereas RegOnline charges $3.55 per registration. Because we are a state agency, that can make a big difference to our budget. That being said it is easier to build multi-track events in RegOnline.

Incentivized

I can't recall the other apps, I've used before, but did have two prior conferences with different apps. I would definitely choose Whova over those other experiences because of the overall package. I also can't say enough about the opportunity to create personal groups to meet with attendees directly. It can often be very intimidating to connect on a larger scale when you don't know anyone, but that option along with the roster (plus option to bookmark people) helped me learn more of my colleagues.

Everyone on our team had their assigned tasks to complete in Whova on a weekly basis and did so with ease and confidence.

• RegOnline has been a major time-saver. Before RegOnline, we were getting emails and calls all through the registration window. Now, 99% of attendees are able to register independently and manage their own registrations.

Incentivized

• Whova made our virtual and hybrid events possible! Our virtual attendees loved the ability to interact and engage with each other, the exhibitors, the speakers and organizers of the event. It also allowed our in-person attendees to do the same, and navigate the conference on-site.
• Whova made organizing the conference possible for our small staffed organization! We only have 1.25 FTEs and were able to pull off a hybrid conference in 2022. It wouldn’t have been possible without Whova!

Incentivized