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bagevent vs Swapcard for conference registration and check-in
Choose bagevent when paid registration, settlement, and an offline staffed door are the system you are buying. Stay with Swapcard when the main purchase is exhibitor operations, matchmaking, and attendee networking at a trade show. Put both on one shortlist only when the RFP actually asks for both jobs.
This page does not invent Swapcard's current fee schedule or feature matrix. Where their product differs by plan or contract, check their site. bagevent facts below match /pricing. All comparisons.
| Topic | Exhibitor / networking lane | bagevent |
|---|---|---|
| Who the product is for | By its public positioning, a unified platform for trade shows, conferences and associations — exhibitor tools, matchmaking, an event app. Confirm current positioning on their site. | Professional conferences and corporate events that treat registration, the door, and settlement as the primary system. |
| Primary job | Exhibitor ROI, lead capture and attendee networking first. Registration and payments sit in the same platform — verify depth against your RFP. | One line for a mid-size conference: registration → agenda → staffed door → settlement. |
| Platform fee on tickets | By their public help centre, paid tickets go through Stripe and they also collect a per-ticket service fee that varies by plan. Confirm current rates there; we do not restate the schedule. | bagevent's platform fee is 0% on every plan. You connect your own Stripe account. |
| Who is merchant of record | They describe connecting Stripe for ticket payouts. How the charge appears on the attendee's statement, and whether a service fee sits on top — confirm in their docs for your country. | You connect your own merchant account. Ticket revenue settles to you; finance sees your entity's name on the payout. |
| Several legal entities | Ask how several companies each receive their own money — confirm before you sign if agencies or regional entities are in play. | One Stripe account per organisation; one organisation per legal entity, switched in one login. |
| Door when Wi-Fi drops | They describe onsite check-in and session tracking, including offline session attendance. Verify staffed-desk behaviour at your peak against a live demo. | Staff apps download the list first, keep scanning offline, and sync when the network returns. |
| When bagevent is the wrong fit | Stay when the primary buy is exhibitor operations, AI matchmaking, and trade-show lead capture — and a light registration module is enough. | If the real buy is Fortune-500 meeting-and-event management, venue sourcing, or a deep sponsor/CRM stack, stay in those categories. |
Choose bagevent when…
- Paid registration, invoices, and settlement are the primary system—not a module inside an exhibitor and networking platform.
- Ticket revenue must land in your own Stripe account, not a platform balance, and you do not want a second per-ticket service fee on top of Stripe.
- The door must keep working without venue Wi-Fi.
- You want a published 0% platform fee on every plan.
Stay with Swapcard when exhibitor operations, AI matchmaking, and trade-show lead capture are the main purchase—and a light registration module on that stack is enough.
bagevent vs Swapcard — questions
By its public positioning, Swapcard is an event engagement platform: exhibitor tools, lead capture, AI matchmaking, and an attendee app, with registration and onsite as part of the same stack — confirm on their site. bagevent is a mid-market conference stack from registration through agenda, a staffed door, and settlement: a subscription, a 0% platform fee on tickets, money into your own Stripe. Swapcard's current fees and packages are on their site; we do not restate them.
Yes when the buy is professional-conference registration, a staffed door, and payouts to your own Stripe. Stay with Swapcard when the primary buy is exhibitor operations, matchmaking, and attendee networking at a trade show — and registration is one module in that stack. Do not assume every mid-market event product sells the same job.
Yes — they sell registration, ticketing, and onsite as part of the platform. The question is which job you are actually buying. If exhibitor ROI and networking are the system, evaluate Swapcard on that. If paid registration, invoices, and an offline staffed door are the system, evaluate bagevent on that.
bagevent's platform fee is 0% on every plan. You connect your own Stripe account. Card processing still goes to Stripe — that is a separate fee from the platform fee.
Each bagevent organisation connects one Stripe account, so an event settles to the entity that organisation belongs to. When one brand sells tickets through several companies, create one organisation per company, connect that company's Stripe, and switch between them in one login.
Yes. The mobile and desktop check-in apps keep the attendee list on the device, keep scanning offline, and sync when the network returns.
Published on the pricing page: Pro at $99/mo billed annually ($129 month-to-month), Business at $479/mo billed annually ($599 month-to-month), Enterprise on request. 0% platform fee on tickets on every plan, and a 14-day free trial.
Field guides
- Is bagevent worth it for a serious conference team?When bagevent is worth it as a mid-to-large conference stack—and when a lighter or heavier tool fits better.
- What should exhibitors finish before the show opens?The pre-show handoff for exhibitors: seats, questions, export rights, consent, and what still belongs to the organiser.
- What is the best conference registration software in 2026, and who is each one for?Conference registration in 2026: who Cvent, Bizzabo, Swoogo, Eventbrite, Whova, EventsAir and bagevent each suit.
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