Simplify Tables Alternative That Syncs With Google Sheets
Simplify Tables is a good, inexpensive seating planner for events of any size. Seat the Day is narrower: built for weddings, around the Google Sheet you already keep. Here's where each one fits.
Quick Verdict
Simplify Tables is a browser-based seating chart builder for events from 20 to 2,000+ guests. It's free up to 30 guests per event and $9.99 once per event beyond that, with no monthly fees. That's cheaper than we are, and its guest-facing QR code with an interactive floor plan is stronger than ours.
We're built for 50–200 guest weddings. Your guest list stays in your own Google Sheet and syncs both ways, and the same list builds your catering counts, a shot list and a Who’s Who sheet for your photographer.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Simplify Tables | Seat the Day |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Any event, 20 to 2,000+ guests | Weddings of 50–200 guests |
| Price | Free to 30 guests, then $9.99 once per event | Free to 5 tables, then $14 once per wedding |
| Guest list source | CSV or Excel import | Live two-way sync with your Google Sheet |
| Seating rules | Linked guests move together | Seating notes, checked by a validator |
| Guest-facing QR code | Yes, with an interactive venue floor plan | Yes, a QR seat finder |
| Catering counts | Not listed on their site | Yes, whole guest list including vendor meals |
| Photographer handoff | Not listed on their site | Shot list and Who’s Who face sheet |
Where Simplify Tables Wins
Price
$9.99 per event is less than our $14, and its free tier covers events up to 30 guests.
The guest-facing floor plan
Guests scan one QR code and can switch between the guest list and your venue’s floor plan, tapping a table to see who’s there. It’s a genuinely good day-of experience.
Large and non-wedding events
Galas, conferences and fundraisers with hundreds or thousands of guests are what it’s built for. We aren’t.
Why Couples Choose Us
1. Your Google Sheet stays the source of truth
Simplify Tables imports a file, so a later change in your spreadsheet means another import. We sync live in both directions with your own Google Sheet: anyone you share it with edits the same list, and seating changes flow back to it.
2. Catering counts that include everyone
Meal counts are built from the whole guest list, vendor meals included, so the kitchen number is right even before every guest is seated.
3. A handoff for your photographer
The same list builds a shot list with live guest groups and table numbers, and a printed Who’s Who sheet so your photographer can find the people who matter.
4. A second pair of eyes on seating notes
The seating notes you keep for each guest are checked against the chart, so a conflict shows up before the day, not at it.
The Bottom Line
Use Simplify Tables if:- You want the lowest price per event
- A guest-facing floor plan matters most to you
- You’re seating a large or non-wedding event
- Your guest list lives in a Google Sheet and you want it to stay there
- You want catering counts, a shot list and Who’s Who from the same list
Keep your list in your Sheet
Start freeWhere the comparison stops
Everything above compares seating charts, because that is what these tools do. Seat the Day treats your guest list as the thing you keep, and seating as one of the things it builds.
The same list also builds a photography shot list covering the whole celebration, from the rehearsal dinner to the after party — with live guest groups and the table numbers your photographer needs during the reception. And Who’s Who, a printed face-reference sheet so a photographer who has never met your family can find your 93-year-old grandmother, and tell the mother of the bride from her sister.
Neither has an equivalent in the tools on this page.
Ready to build yours?
Connect your Google Sheet and start dragging guests to tables. Free for up to five tables, no credit card.
Start your seating chart →