Our Seating Chart Maker vs Plan Seats

Plan Seats is free and simple. But simple has limits.

Quick Verdict

Plan Seats is a lightweight, no-frills seating chart maker. It's free. It works. If you have 30 guests and want a quick, basic chart, it's fine.

But it has zero collaboration features and no guest data management beyond names and tables. If your wedding is more complex—or you're sharing the planning with anyone—you'll outgrow it fast.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Plan Seats	Our Tool
Free tier	Completely free	Free up to 5 tables
Drag-and-drop	Yes, basic	Yes, full-featured
Guest limit	None stated	Unlimited
Dietary tracking	No	Yes
Collaboration	No	Live Google Sheet sync — share access, no re-exporting
Guest list source	Manual entry	Not needed — live Google Sheets sync instead
Export to PDF	Basic	Yes, professional
Mobile support	Limited	Full
Account/login	Not clear	Optional (free designer doesn't require)

Why People Choose Us Over Plan Seats

1. Collaboration Beyond Yourself

Plan Seats is solo-only. If you want your partner, planner, or family to help, they need to sit next to you at your computer. With us, you share your Google Sheet and they can update it from anywhere — your chart reflects it automatically.

2. Dietary & Accessibility Tracking

Plan Seats is names and tables. Our tool tracks dietary needs, meal preferences, and accessibility requirements—then exports per-table summaries for your caterer.

3. Professional Exports

Plan Seats exports a basic PDF. Caterers need: per-table guest lists, dietary breakdowns, name card order, head count by meal type. We export a professional PDF with all of that.

4. Guest Data Lives Somewhere

With Plan Seats, you type names in, make a chart, and that's it. No record. With us, your guest list is your Google Sheet — a real data source you already maintain, not something locked inside our app.

5. Handle Last-Minute Changes

Two guests cancel the day before the wedding. With Plan Seats, you manually move people around and re-export by hand. With us, you update the Sheet or remove them in the app, and the chart reflects it immediately.

Where Plan Seats Wins

Simplicity

Plan Seats is genuinely simple. No login. No complexity. Click, drag, done. We're more powerful but slightly more opinionated.

Completely Free

Plan Seats is free with no cap. Our free tier caps at 5 tables, then unlocks for a one-time $14 fee. If you'll never need more than that, Plan Seats has no ceiling at all.

No Account Required

Plan Seats doesn't make you sign up. We don't require signup to design, but we do for advanced features.

When to Use Each

Use Plan Seats if:

• You have fewer than 50 guests
• You're planning alone (no partner, planner, or family input)
• You don't care about dietary tracking
• You want a quick, basic PDF to print

Use us if:

• You're collaborating with someone
• You have dietary, accessibility, or meal requirements to track
• Your guest count is changing (RSVPs, cancellations)
• You want to manage your guest data as a real source of truth

Real Example

Jamie uses Plan Seats:

• Types 45 guest names into Plan Seats
• Arranges them across tables
• Exports to PDF
• Guest cancels 2 weeks later
• Jamie manually re-arranges tables by hand
• Exports new PDF, emails to venue
• Another guest cancels
• Repeat

Jamie uses us:

• Connects a Google Sheet with 45 names already in it
• Arranges them across tables
• Shares the Sheet with her partner and planner—both can help
• Guest cancels, Jamie updates the Sheet
• The chart reflects the update right away
• If Jamie wants to export for caterers, she gets a PDF with dietary info per table

Pricing

Scenario	Plan Seats	Our Tool
Simple one-time chart	Free	Free
Chart you'll change	Free (but manual work)	Free to design · $14 to unlock unlimited
Sharing with planner/partner	Not possible	Included

The Bottom Line

Plan Seats is for:

• Solo planners with a small, simple guest list
• Anyone who wants zero setup and no ceiling on free use

We're for:

• Couples sharing the planning with a partner or planner
• Weddings with dietary or accessibility needs to track
• Guest lists that are still changing right up to the wedding

If Plan Seats meets all your needs, it's genuinely free and genuinely simple. But if you discover you need to share, track dietary needs, or export for a caterer, we let you start simple and grow into more power without leaving the tool.

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