Event Registration Software for Aviation Events: Choose a Unified Platform

When you pick event registration software, one question matters more than price, design or brand: is it a unified platform? A unified platform runs registration, badges, check-in, the event app, the agenda and exhibitor lead retrieval on one system, with one list of attendees. Everything else is a tool that does one part and sends you to another tool for the rest.

We read the pricing and product pages of the platforms below on 23 October 2026. This article shows which ones are unified, profiles the four best known for events and trade shows, and compares what they cost. We are not paid by any of them.

Why a unified event platform is the metric that matters

An aviation conference or trade show has many people who need the same data: delegates, speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, press. Each tool you add holds a separate copy of that list.

• Badges match registration. A person pays once, and the badge, check-in and session scan all use the same record. No spreadsheet in between.
• Exhibitors scan real people. Lead retrieval only works if the badge links to the registration data. On a unified platform it does by design.
• One report after the show. Who came, who scanned whom, who attended which session. On separate tools, you build that report by hand.
• Fewer things to break on the day. One login, one support team, one place to fix a wrong name.

A registration only tool can still be the right choice. It costs far less. But you then need to add badge printing, an app and lead retrieval yourself, and join the data afterwards.

Four unified platforms for conferences and trade shows

Cvent

Cvent was founded in 1999 by Reggie Aggarwal and is based in Tysons, Virginia. Blackstone took the company private in 2023 for about US$4.6 billion. Public profiles put its customer base at more than 20,000 companies.

What it covers: online registration, badges and check-in (OnArrival), trade show lead capture (iCapture), a mobile event app, meeting scheduling, surveys and reporting. It also runs a large venue and supplier marketplace.

Price: not published. You get a quote after a demo.

Fits best: large events and associations with a full event team and several events a year.

Swapcard

Swapcard is a Paris based company, founded in 2013. It sells software for in person, virtual and hybrid events.

What it covers: registration and ticketing with conditional logic and promo codes, on site self check-in, AI recommended connections between attendees, exhibitor lead retrieval with badge scanning, and analytics.

Price: we could not read Swapcard's pricing page on 23 October 2026, so we give no figure. Ask for a quote.

Fits best: shows where meeting the right person matters more than the talks, such as trade shows and buyer meetings.

VisitCloud

VisitCloud, sold under the name Visit (see the Visit by GES page), is part of the GES group, one of the large exhibition services companies. It is built for exhibitions and trade shows, and its own site calls it a "unified platform" that covers every step of an event.

What it covers: before the show, event registration with badge design and digital wallet passes, exhibitor and event management, and event accommodation. During the show, a visitor app, an exhibitor app, onsite access control, lead retrieval, and networking that matches visitors with exhibitors and sessions. After the show, analytics, data exports and an API.

Price: not published.

Fits best: trade show organisers who want one system for visitors, exhibitors and onsite entry. The customer logos on its site are exhibition organisers, and we found no aviation clients named.

Whova

Whova is an event platform for in person, hybrid and virtual events. Its site names Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Ford among its customers.

What it covers: registration and ticketing, an attendee app with agenda and networking, badges and check-in, exhibitor and sponsor management with lead retrieval, abstract management for call for speakers, and an event website builder.

Price: not published. You fill in a quote form with your event size, format and number of events a year.

Fits best: conferences with a call for speakers and a strong networking goal.

Other platforms compared

Platform	Type	How it charges
Cvent	Unified	Quote after a demo
Swapcard	Unified	Quote (price page unavailable on the day)
VisitCloud	Unified	Not published
Whova	Unified	Quote, based on event size and format
Bizzabo	Unified	$499 per user per month billed yearly, 3 users minimum, or from $17,999 a year
Accelevents	Unified	Professional from $7,500 for one event. Business from $13,500 for unlimited events.
RegFox	Registration, with badges and an app on Premium	Standard: $0.99 plus 1% per registration, capped at $4.99. Premium: $1.99 plus 1%, capped at $5.99. Professional: $499 a month billed yearly.
Eventbrite	Registration and marketplace	3.7% plus $1.79 per paid ticket, plus 2.9% payment processing
Tito	Registration	3% per ticket, capped at €25
Ticket Tailor	Registration	£0.60 per paid ticket, or from £0.22 with prepaid credits

Card processing by Stripe, PayPal or Square is a separate charge on most of these, usually about 2.9% plus 30 cents per payment.

What 500 tickets at US$400 cost on the registration tools

This is our own arithmetic from the published prices. It shows the platform fee only, without card processing and without extras.

Platform	Fee per ticket	Total for 500 tickets
Ticket Tailor (pay as you go)	£0.60	about £300
RegFox Standard	$4.99 (the cap)	$2,495
RegFox Premium	$5.99 (the cap)	$2,995
Tito	$12.00 (3%)	$6,000
Eventbrite	$16.59 (3.7% plus $1.79)	$8,295
Accelevents Professional (unified)	flat price	from $7,500
Bizzabo (unified)	flat price	from $17,999 a year

Percentage fees grow with your ticket price. Flat and capped fees do not. For a $400 ticket, a capped fee can save thousands of dollars compared with a percentage fee. A unified platform costs more up front, but it replaces the badge printing, app and lead retrieval tools you would otherwise add.

How to choose

1. List what you need on the day. Badges, check-in, app, exhibitor lead scanning, several ticket types, payment by invoice.
2. If you need three or more, choose a unified platform. The cost of joining separate tools is higher than it looks.
3. If you only sell tickets, a registration tool is enough. Ticket Tailor, RegFox and Tito keep costs low.
4. Ask each vendor: is lead retrieval included or paid per exhibitor? Does the fee apply to free speaker and exhibitor passes? Can buyers pay by invoice? Can you export all attendee data after the show?

Registration is only half the job

The platform sells tickets. It does not find the buyers. Make sure people can see your event: list it on an aviation events calendar, such as our aviation events calendar, which lists 463 events in 63 countries. Then follow our 9 month plan to promote an aviation conference.

If you run an event, you can add it or claim it on our list your event page.

Disclosure: the author, Adrian Balint, works at Visit by GES, one of the platforms in this article. The Flying Engineer checked the facts and prices of every platform on the same terms, from each vendor's own pages.

Prices are as published on each vendor's pricing page on 23 October 2026, and change often. Cvent and Swapcard facts come from public company profiles; Whova and VisitCloud facts from their own websites. Fee totals are our own calculation. We did not test the software.