Zola seating chart alternative

The strength of Zola’s chart is that it is part of the rest of your planning. Its page says your confirmed guests are pulled in from your Zola guest list with their groups already set, so there is nothing to import. You build floor plans with round or rectangular tables, add a dance floor, bar, cake table or head table, and keep separate plans for the ceremony, rehearsal dinner and reception. Guests can be tagged by group, dietary restriction or a label of your own. Zola’s help page adds that the chart is available on the iOS app and on desktop, that the two sync, that you can duplicate a chart to try another arrangement, and that you can download it as a PDF or an Excel sheet.

If your RSVPs are already on Zola and your guest count is small, that is hard to beat.

The help page says you can try the chart free “for up to 15 Guests”, or unlock the Premium version to add more. It is enough for a small ceremony or an elopement dinner. A reception with a hundred guests is more than six times the limit, and the pages we read do not give a Premium price or a higher limit. We tested this planner with 48 made-up guests, more than three times Zola’s free limit, at 6 tables of 8:

The Guests view lists everyone with their group, meal and table in one place, and each cell can be changed in place. It is the quickest way to check a list of 48 against the poster.

• Use Zola if your RSVPs are there, you have 15 guests or fewer, or you are happy to unlock Premium, and you want ceremony, rehearsal and reception in one account.
• Use this planner if you have more guests than that, do not want another account, or want the plan made from a list you already have, with rules such as keeping two people apart.

The limits here are real too: the plan is stored in your browser, there are no RSVPs, and one plan is open at a time. The WeddingWire seating chart page makes the same comparison for WeddingWire, and the place cards page covers the cards that come after the chart. Prices are on pricing.