What is an event app? What attendees and organisers use one for, and the three ways to get one.
An event app is the phone app attendees carry through your event — agenda, speakers, exhibitors and their entry code — and the system your team uses to register and check them in. Here is what it does, how organisers get one, and how to choose.
Written by WebMobi, a self-service event app builder — with what our own app does not do
What an event app is
An event app is a phone app built around one event, or a series of them. For attendees it is the programme in their pocket: which session is next, in which room, who is speaking, which sponsors and exhibitors are there, and the QR code that gets them through the door. For the organiser it is the other half of the same system — the registration list, check-in at the entrance and at session rooms, and a record afterwards of who attended what.
WebMobi’s answer to “how do I get one” is the self-service route: you build the event yourself and attendees open it in the WebMobi app on iPhone and Android. If you already know that is the route you want, the WebMobi Event App Builder page walks through the product. If you are comparing named apps, start with the best event apps of 2026 or, for multi-track programmes, the best conference apps; if a conference is what you are running, the conference app page covers the attendee side of a multi-track programme. This page is for the step before all of these: deciding what an event app should do for you and which way of getting one fits your team.
WebMobi Event App Builder · Build and launch your event app yourself.
WebMobi Event App Builder is a self-service event app builder that helps conference organizers, associations, agencies and event teams create and launch branded event apps — with registration, check-in (including offline check-in and walk-ins), session attendance, agenda, speakers and exhibitors in one platform.
What attendees use an event app for
Attendees open an event app for a handful of jobs, most of them in the minutes between sessions. A good app makes each one take seconds, on a phone, in a crowded corridor.
- The agenda. Sessions with their times, rooms and speakers — and the current version of it, because programmes change until the last morning. In WebMobi the agenda you build once appears on the event page and in the app.
- Speakers. Who is talking, their title and biography, and which sessions they are in. Speaker profiles show on the event page and in the app without the speaker’s email address.
- Sponsors and exhibitors. Who is supporting the event, under the tier names you use, and which exhibitor is at which booth.
- Their way in. Every WebMobi registration gets its own QR code, which staff scan at the door and, if you track sessions, at the session room.
Some apps go further into engagement features and virtual attendance. Before you assume any of those, read the list of what WebMobi does not do further down this page — it is specific.
What organisers use an event app for
For the people running the event, the app is less a brochure than an operations tool. The jobs that decide whether event day goes well are on this side.
One list of people
People register on your own event page, so the person — not just a click — stays with you. You can add people by hand or import a spreadsheet, and headings such as first_name or company_name are recognised rather than dropped. The registration platform page covers that list in detail.
Check-in at the door and at session rooms
Staff scan QR codes with the WebMobi app or a phone browser, find people by name, and register walk-ins at the desk in one step. In the app, check-in keeps working when the venue has no signal and sends every check-in when the connection returns, with the time it was made at the desk — see offline event check-in. Staff can also scan people into a specific session, and the attendance report lists who attended each one; that is on the session check-in page.
A record of what happened
The event’s History shows every change to your event content and every check-in: who was let in, by which staff member, on which device, and whether it was taken offline. Teammates you make admins can edit the programme, so the person who built the event is not the only one who can fix a typo on the morning.
Event app or event website?
An event website and an event app overlap: both can carry the agenda and the speakers. The website is what people find before the event and register on; the app is what they carry during it, and what your staff check people in with. Many events need both, and with WebMobi the event page and the app are fed by the same content. If you are deciding between them, the event website vs event app comparison sets out which jobs need which.
The three ways to get an event app
Organisers get an event app in one of three ways. They differ less in what the attendee sees than in who does the work, how long it takes before anyone can use it, and who owns the result.
1. Build it yourself on a self-service platform
You sign up, create the event, enter or import the programme, open registration and publish. Attendees find your event inside the platform’s app. The effort is your team’s time: entering content, preparing spreadsheets, rehearsing check-in. There is no project to commission, and you can usually start before you have spoken to anyone. The trade-off is that you get what the platform does — no more — so the feature list matters. This is the route WebMobi is built for.
2. Hire an agency or developer to build a custom app
You write a brief, review designs, and the agency builds an app to your specification and submits it to the App Store and Google Play under your name. You get exactly what you specified, but the effort is a project: briefing, design rounds, testing, store review on Apple’s and Google’s timetable, and maintenance afterwards — an app nobody updates between annual events stops working on new phones. Registration and check-in are often separate systems you still have to connect.
3. Buy an enterprise event suite
Large platforms sell the app as one module of a suite that may also cover venue sourcing, marketing and virtual events. The breadth is real; so is the effort: procurement, an implementation project, training, and a contract that is often priced on request rather than published. The risk is paying for modules you will not use, and a timeline set by the implementation rather than by your event. Our event app pricing research shows which platforms publish a price at all.
| Self-service platform | Agency or developer | Enterprise suite | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the setup | Your team | The agency, from your brief | The vendor’s implementation team, with yours |
| When attendees can use it | When you publish | After the build and app-store review | After the implementation project |
| How the price is set | A plan, often published | A project quote, plus upkeep | A contract, often priced on request |
| Whose name is in the app stores | Usually the platform’s | Yours | Depends on the vendor — ask |
| Best when | You want control and speed | You need something no platform does | You want one vendor for many jobs |
How to choose
Whichever route you lean towards, the same five checks separate a good fit from an expensive surprise.
- Write down the event-day jobs, not features. How many entrances and session rooms will you scan at? Will the venue have signal? Will people turn up who never registered? The event app features checklist turns each job into a question for the vendor.
- Decide whose name the app carries. A shared app that hosts many events and an app published under your own name are different products. Our app-store benchmarks record which model each platform ships.
- Find out what is inside the plan you are quoted. Many capabilities are sold above the base plan. The event app RFP questions are written to be hard to tick.
- Test the hard parts yourself. Check people in with the Wi-Fi off, add a walk-in, scan into a session, import your real spreadsheet. The event app buying guide has the full demo script.
- Read what each vendor publishes, with dates. Our sourced capability matrix of event platforms records each vendor’s own words, a source link and the date it was read — and scores WebMobi by the same rule.
Where WebMobi fits
WebMobi is a good fit for in-person events where your own team wants to set things up and run the door: conferences, association meetings, training days, corporate and public-sector events. You create the event, bring your spreadsheets, open registration on your own event page and rehearse check-in before the day; attendees open it in the WebMobi app.
Prices are published. There is a Free plan for 50 participants a year; paid plans start at $19 a month, and a single event can be bought as a one-off pass from $49. Everything is on the pricing page. It is not a good fit if your event depends on something in the list below — better to know now.
What it does not do
Written down here so you find out now, not on event day.
Attendee networking is not a standard feature
WebMobi networking is in private beta and is not enabled by default. Request activation at /contact-sales or support@webmobi.com.
No ticket payments
WebMobi does not take ticket payments. For a paid event, the event’s button links to the ticketing you already use.
No app under your own name
Your event runs inside the WebMobi app on the App Store and Google Play. On paid plans attendees see your event’s branded experience; on other plans, the standard WebMobi layout.
No streaming or hybrid attendance
WebMobi runs the in-person event. People who cannot travel cannot attend sessions through it.
No exhibitor lead retrieval and no badge printing
Only your own check-in staff scan attendee codes, and attendees show their QR code at the door. Print badges from your own template if you need them.
No push notifications, live polls, surveys or CRM connectors
None of these is part of WebMobi’s live feature set today. Attendance leaves WebMobi as CSV files you download.
Offline check-in is in the app, not the browser
The web check-in page needs a connection. Offline check-in happens in the WebMobi app; what works offline on iPhone and on Android is set out under “What organisers use an event app for” above.
Read the step-by-step guides
The screens, labels and checks for each step are in the product guide on events.webmobi.com.
Getting started with WebMobi
The path from an empty account to a published event.
Create your first event
The ways to start an event, including from a spreadsheet.
Build the program
Sessions, speakers and sponsors — by hand or by spreadsheet, and what an import never does.
Publish your event
The publishing checklist and your public event address.
What each plan includes is on the pricing page.
Event app questions
What is an event app?
A phone app for one event or a series of events. Attendees use it to find the agenda, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors and to show their entry code; the organiser’s team uses the same system to take registrations, check people in at the door and at session rooms, and see afterwards who attended what.
Is an event app the same thing as an event app builder?
Not quite. The event app is what attendees hold. An event app builder is the self-service tool an organiser uses to make one without a developer. WebMobi Event App Builder is that tool; this page explains the category, and the builder has its own page.
Do attendees have to download an app to register?
Not with WebMobi. People register on your event page in a browser. The app is for the event itself — the agenda, speakers and exhibitors, and the entry QR code — and attendees get it from the App Store or Google Play.
Will my event app be listed in the App Store under my own name?
No. With WebMobi your event runs inside the WebMobi app, listed as “WebMobi: Event App Builder” on the App Store and Google Play. On paid plans attendees see your event’s branded experience inside it.
Does an event app work when the venue has no Wi-Fi?
It depends on the app. In the WebMobi app, check-in does: each staff phone saves the attendee list beforehand, keeps checking people in without a connection, and sends every check-in when the connection returns, with the time it was made at the desk. The web check-in page needs a connection.
How much does an event app cost?
It depends on the route. An agency build is quoted as a project; enterprise suites are often quoted on request. WebMobi publishes its prices: a Free plan for 50 participants a year, paid plans from $19 a month, and one-off passes for a single event from $49.
Does WebMobi’s event app include attendee networking?
No. WebMobi networking is in private beta and is not enabled by default. Request activation at /contact-sales or support@webmobi.com.
Can attendees buy tickets inside the app?
No. WebMobi does not take ticket payments. For a paid event, paste the link to the ticketing you already use and the event’s button sends people there; registrations for free events happen on your WebMobi event page.
Build your event app yourself — or talk it through first.
Create your event on the Free plan and see the attendee app for yourself, or book a demo and we will walk through your event with you.