Free Event Check-In App
Event Flo is a free event check-in app for parties, meetups, run clubs, galas and conferences. Import your guest list or take sign-ups, and guests get QR passes by email. At the door, your team scans passes or searches names on their own phones and adds walk-ins. Afterwards you export who came. Nothing to install and no paid plan.
What is an event check-in app?
An event check-in app records who has arrived at your event, usually by scanning a QR pass at the door. Event Flo's check-in app runs in the phone browser, so nobody installs anything. You import a guest list or take sign-ups, guests get QR passes, and on event day you and your staff scan passes or search names. You can add walk-ins at the door and export who came afterwards. It is free, with no cap on guests or door staff and a 0% platform fee on paid tickets, because guests pay you directly.
What's free
Everything below comes with every event, except where a row says otherwise. There is no plan to upgrade to and no charge per guest.
| Included | What you get |
|---|---|
| QR passes | Each guest gets a QR code. Registered guests get their ticket by email once confirmed. For imported guests, one button on the Imports & walk-ins tab emails the passes; for anyone without an email address, you share the door code. |
| Guest list import | Upload a CSV, XLSX or XLS file. Importing more guests than your capacity closes public registration. |
| Registration | Share the event page and guests sign up there. You can require approval and ask your own questions. |
| Guest ID check | An optional per-event setting, on by default. Guests can ask for a spot first and are confirmed once their ID is verified. Turn it off for any event that doesn't need it. |
| Door scanning | Camera scanning in the browser, with torch and camera-switch buttons on phones that support them. When a pass won't scan, type the code or search the guest's name. |
| Walk-ins | Add a guest who isn't on the list from the scanner. They are checked in on the spot and count toward your capacity. |
| Door staff | Invite as many people as you need by email. Each accepts the invite with their own Event Flo account and scans from their own phone. |
| Live count | Your own check-in screen shows the live checked-in count, each arrival as it happens and the gender mix of your confirmed guests. |
| Offline backup | Scanning keeps working when the wifi drops and syncs when it returns. The scanner needs signal to open, and admits made offline stay provisional until the sync. |
| Exports | Every event exports the guest list CSV, with each check-in marked and imported guests and walk-ins included. On a Business conference or Business training event, a CSV or PDF attendance report of everyone on the list, imports and walk-ins included, comes too. |
| Fees | 0% platform fee. For paid tickets, guests pay you directly and Event Flo never holds the money. |
How the check-in app works, in six steps
1. Create the event. Name, date, place and capacity. Leave the ticket price empty for a free event. Guest ID checks are an optional setting for each event, on by default.
2. Verify your ID for public sign-ups. Only for events people you don't know can find or join: your ID is verified once, before an event is listed publicly or opened to sign-ups. A private event goes live now, with the guests you import or add at the door.
3. Import your guest list. Upload a CSV or Excel file, and each guest gets a QR pass. Email the passes in one go from the Imports & walk-ins tab. Or share the event page and take sign-ups.
4. Invite your door team. Add staff by email from the event's check-in screen. Each person accepts with their own Event Flo account and scans from their own phone.
5. Check guests in on the day. Scan a pass with the phone camera or search a name. Someone not on the list? Add them as a walk-in and they are checked in at once.
6. Export who came. Download the guest list CSV with each check-in marked, imported guests and walk-ins included. On a Business conference or Business training event, you also get a CSV or PDF attendance report of everyone on the list, imports and walk-ins included.
What your door team sees
The scanner gives one verdict per scan, in type you can read at arm's length in a dark doorway. These are its own labels, shown on sample guests.
Someone at the door who isn't on the list? You or your door staff can add them from the scanner as a walk-in, with a name and an email or phone if they give one. They are checked in at once and count toward your capacity. Adding a walk-in needs a connection.
Scanning keeps working when the wifi drops and syncs when it returns. Those admits are checked against the list the phone saved, so they show as pending until the sync.
| What the scanner shows | What it means |
|---|---|
| Checked in | A valid pass for this event. The guest's name fills the screen, then the scanner clears itself for the next guest. |
| Already checked in at 9:42 PM | The pass was scanned before, and the time of the first scan shows. A forwarded screenshot is caught at the second scan. |
| Let in, pending sync | The connection dropped while the scanner was open. The admit is provisional: the server confirms or refuses it when the phone reconnects. |
| Guest of Maya R. · not ID-checked | A plus-one on someone else's booking. The booker passed the ID check and the guest did not, so the scanner says so and your staff can look at an ID in person. |
| Entry denied · Banned | The guest is on your block list. The reason you saved shows under the verdict. |
| Cancelled, rejected or for another event | Cancelled and rejected registrations are refused, and so is a pass for a different event, each with its own reason on screen. |
What it doesn't do
Worth knowing before you plan your door.
No kiosk or self check-in. A member of your team scans each guest. There is no tablet mode where guests check themselves in.
No badge printing. Event Flo does not print name badges or labels.
Walk-ins need a connection. Your team can add a walk-in from the scanner, and they are checked in on the spot, but only while the phone has a connection.
Staff need their own accounts. Each door staffer signs in to Event Flo and accepts your email invite. There is no shared link to hand to a volunteer.
An email cap before ID verification. Until your ID is verified, you can send 300 pass and certificate emails a day, counted together. Once it is verified, that cap no longer applies.
A test scan is a real check-in. Check-in works any time, so you can scan your own pass before the event to see it work. That check-in counts: undo it from your Guests screen. Door staff can't undo a check-in.
Offline admits are provisional. The scanner needs a connection to open. If it drops afterwards, scanning carries on from the saved list, but those admits can't see a ban or cancellation made since the last refresh until the phone syncs.
No payment processing. Event Flo never takes card payments. For paid tickets, guests pay you directly.
The attendance report is for Business events. Only a Business conference or Business training event has the CSV or PDF attendance report. Every event has the guest list CSV, with each check-in marked and imported guests and walk-ins included.
Free tiers compared
Choosing a check-in app mostly means comparing free tiers. The Event Flo row describes this page; the others quote each tool's own pricing page, in the currency it shows.
Sources, checked on 19 October 2026: the pricing pages linked below.
| Tool | Free tier | Paid plans | Door check-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event Flo | Everything on this page, with no cap on guests or door staff. | None. 0% platform fee on paid tickets; guests pay you directly. | Any phone browser. Staff sign in with their own Event Flo account. |
| Guest Manager | “Check in your first 50 guests, free, with access to every feature.” | Planner: $39 a month billed annually ($468), with 3,600 credits a year and 4 devices. On Demand credit packages start at $30 for 100 credits. | A device limit on each paid plan: 2 on On Demand, 4 on Planner. |
| Eventbrite | “Publish unlimited free events at no cost”, with no ticketing fees on free tickets. | Paid tickets: 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per ticket, plus a 2.9% payment processing fee per order (US pricing). | “Organizer app” and “Mobile check-in” are listed features. |
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Frequently asked questions
Is the Event Flo check-in app really free?
Yes. There is no paid plan to upgrade to: QR passes, guest list import, door scanning, walk-ins, staff invites, guest ID checks and exports come with every event, with no cap on guests or door staff. If you sell tickets, the platform fee is 0% because guests pay you directly; Event Flo never handles the money.
Do guests or door staff need to install an app?
No. Guests show the QR pass from their email or ticket page, and staff scan it with the phone camera in the browser. Staff do need an Event Flo account: you invite them by email, they accept, and your event's scanner opens for them. Guests who register on the event page sign in to do it; guests you import need no account.
Can I import my guest list from Excel?
Yes. Upload a CSV, XLSX or XLS file. Each imported guest gets a QR code that works at the door scanner. Then send the passes from the Imports & walk-ins tab: one button emails everyone with an address, and you share the door code with anyone without one. Each file can hold up to 500 guests; split a longer list into several files. Importing more guests than your capacity closes public registration.
How do door staff check guests in?
On event day, each staffer opens the scanner in their phone browser and points the camera at a pass. The screen shows the verdict in large type: Checked in, Already checked in with the time of the first scan, or Entry denied with the reason. If a pass won't scan, staff type the code or search the guest's name. Someone who isn't on the list can be added as a walk-in, which needs a connection. You can invite as many staff as you need.
Can several entrances scan at the same time?
Yes. Invite as many staff as you need; each scans from their own phone, and every scan lands on the same guest list. With a connection, a pass already scanned at one entrance shows as Already checked in, with the time of the first scan, at any other. Two phones that are both offline can't see each other's scans until they reconnect; if both let in the same pass, the phone that syncs second flags it as already used.
Does it work offline?
Partly. The scanner needs a connection to open. Once it is open, scanning keeps working when the wifi drops and syncs when it returns, recording each scan once. Offline admits show as "Let in, pending sync" and are provisional: they can't see a ban or cancellation made after the last refresh. Refresh the scanner just before doors open.
Can I check guests in on each day of a multi-day event?
Yes, with agenda sessions. One registration covers the whole event, and the main entrance scans each pass once. Add sessions named Day 1, Day 2 and so on; staff switch the scanner to that day's session and scan the guest's usual pass, once per session. Guests you import and walk-ins can be scanned into sessions too, and session scans don't change the live headcount.
Does it check guests' IDs?
Before the event, not at the door. Guest ID checks are an optional per-event setting, on by default: guests can ask for a spot first and are confirmed once their ID is verified. Guests you import or add at the door are not ID-checked. At the door the scanner checks the pass, and a plus-one on someone else's booking is marked "not ID-checked" so your staff can look at their ID in person.
What doesn't Event Flo's check-in app do?
There is no kiosk or self check-in mode: a member of your team scans each guest. It does not print badges, and adding a walk-in at the door needs a connection. Each staffer needs their own Event Flo account, and Event Flo does not process payments. Check-in works any time, so a test scan of your own pass is a real check-in: undo it from your Guests screen.
What is the difference between check-in software and a check-in app?
Where it runs. A check-in app is installed from an app store on each door phone; Event Flo opens in the phone's browser, so there is nothing to install or update, and the same account works on a laptop when you set up the guest list.
Can I check guests in on an iPad?
Yes. Open the scanner in Safari or Chrome on the iPad, the same way staff do on a phone. Nothing is installed, and the iPad's camera scans the passes. You can set up the event and import the guest list from a laptop with the same account.
Do I need a scanner or a badge printer?
No. Event Flo does not print badges, so there is no printer to set up. There is no handheld scanner to buy either: your staff scan QR passes in the browser, with the camera on their own phones.