Best Fan Convention Software: 5 Tools

The best fan convention management software depends on where your con earns and loses time. For an all-in-one platform that covers badges, artist alley, the dealer hall, schedules and volunteers, Eventeny is the most complete fit for fandom events. Ticket Fairy and Showpass start from badge sales and check-in and add exhibitor tools. Convention Master is a long-running convention suite with badge printing and dealer and art show applications. Map D fits cons whose dealer hall and artist alley are big enough that selling tables from a live, to-scale map is the hard part.

Map D publishes this post and includes its own product, which is a conflict of interest. Map D is ranked fourth because most fan conventions start with fan badges, and Map D's ticketing and registration are only on its quoted upper tiers. If you are still planning the show, read our guides on how to start a comic con and how to plan an anime convention.

How We Chose

We looked for tools whose own websites describe comic, anime, fandom or pop culture conventions, or conventions in general, as a core use. We judged them on the jobs a con organizer actually juggles:

• Badges and registration: day, weekend and VIP badges, upgrades, add-ons such as photo ops, and check-in at the door.
• Artist alley: applications, review, table fees and table assignment.
• Dealer and exhibitor hall: booth packages, payments, contracts and a hall map.
• Schedule: panels, guests and rooms, published to fans.
• Volunteers and staff: shifts, departments and staff access.
• Pricing transparency: whether fees are published. We report what the vendor's own pages say.

Every claim below comes from the vendor's own website, checked in November 2026. Features and fees change, so confirm anything critical with the vendor before you sign.

The 5 Fan Convention Software Tools

1. Eventeny

Eventeny has a dedicated fandom event management page, and its pricing page lists fandom conventions among the event types it serves.

• Best for: Cons that want one platform for fan tickets, artist alley, vendors, programming and volunteers.
• Strength: Ticketing and memberships with add-ons, discount codes, upgrades and QR check-in on site.
• Strength: Artist and vendor applications with custom questions, attachments, payments, one-click approval or wait-listing and juror scoring.
• Strength: Interactive maps with booth assignments, schedules filtered by tracks, tags and locations, and volunteer shifts with check-in and hour reports.
• Limitation: Its fandom page does not mention badge printing, and its pricing page lists platform fees on tickets and applications that differ by plan. Model those fees against your expected badge sales.

Our Eventeny alternatives page compares it with Map D in more detail.

2. Ticket Fairy

Ticket Fairy is a ticketing platform with a pop culture convention page that covers badges, traders and exhibitors.

• Best for: Cons whose biggest job is selling and scanning fan passes, with a growing trader area.
• Strength: Weekend, day, VIP and child passes, add-ons such as photo ops, autographs and parking, early bird pricing and accreditation passes for crew, guests and booth staff.
• Strength: An artist and trader application form with accept or decline in one list, trader invoices and pitches placed on the site map.
• Strength: Online booth packages for exhibitors with deposit or full payment, and a door scanning app with once-a-day entry limits on weekend passes.
• Limitation: Its convention page describes a timetable on the website but no fan-facing app, and does not list platform fee amounts.

3. Showpass

Showpass has a fan convention page that names comic cons, anime cons, horror conventions, pop culture events and fan expos.

• Best for: Cons that want fast badge checkout and strong door operations.
• Strength: Day, weekend and VIP passes with upgrades, merchandise and memberships in the same checkout, and digital wallet passes for fans.
• Strength: Photo op and autograph add-ons with guest schedule and inventory management.
• Strength: Scanning from any phone or tablet, RFID access control for VIP areas and panels, and box office tools for walk-ups and will-call.
• Strength: Per-ticket fee tiers published on its convention page.
• Limitation: Its page says booth sales, contracts and floor maps are handled in one place but gives few details, so ask to see the dealer hall and artist alley workflow in a demo.

4. Map D

Map D runs floor plans, booth sales and exhibitor management for trade shows, expos and conventions. For a fan con, its strength is the exhibit hall: a dealer room and artist alley drawn to scale, where every table and booth has a price and exhibitors pick and pay online.

• Best for: Mid-size and large cons with a dealer hall and artist alley worth selling from a map, and sponsors to place on it.
• Strength: A to-scale, interactive floor plan built with an AI-assisted editor, with 2D wayfinding so fans can find a booth.
• Strength: Online booth sales from the map: an exhibitor or artist picks an available table, sees the price and checks out, and the table turns sold. Dynamic pricing handles corners, end caps and table sizes.
• Strength: Sponsorship sales and sponsor profiles, a marketplace of exhibitor profiles, and website embeds and an API.
• Strength: Professional and Enterprise plans, quoted by the team, add ticketing and registration, check-in and badge printing on Zebra, Epson and Brother printers, a mobile app with sessions and speakers, and an exhibitor portal.
• Limitation: The Basic plan, from $3,499, covers the map and booth sales only, not fan badges. A con that needs fan ticketing must move up to a quoted plan or pair Map D with a ticketing tool.
• Limitation: Its mobile app covers sessions, speakers, session ratings and polls. Its convention features are built for exhibitors and attendees, not fandom-specific extras such as photo op scheduling.

Our convention management software page shows how Map D fits a convention floor.

5. Convention Master

Convention Master, from Civet Solutions, is an event software suite built with PHP and MySQL. Its home page describes conventions in general rather than fan cons by name, but its feature list covers jobs fan cons know well.

• Best for: Volunteer-run cons that want badge printing, dealer and art show applications and an offline mode in one suite.
• Strength: Multiple membership types, badges that vary in size and shape by membership level, photo badging and an on-site register that prints badges.
• Strength: A dealer application and approval system, an art show application system with status tracking and booth or table fee management.
• Strength: Volunteer hour tracking and an offline operating mode for on-site kiosks.
• Limitation: Its features page does not describe a panel schedule, and pricing is not listed on its home page.

Comparison Summary

• Eventeny: tickets, artist alley, vendors, maps, schedules and volunteers for fandom events. Free plan with platform fees.
• Ticket Fairy: fan passes, add-ons, trader applications and door scanning. Fees not listed on its convention page.
• Showpass: badge checkout, photo ops, RFID access and box office. Publishes per-ticket fee tiers.
• Map D: dealer hall and artist alley sales from a live map, with badges and an app on quoted plans. Basic from $3,499.
• Convention Master: memberships, badge printing, dealer and art show applications and volunteer hours. Pricing not on its home page.

How to Choose Comic Con Software

Start With Your Biggest Income Stream

For most cons, fan badges are the largest income line, followed by dealer hall and artist alley tables, then sponsors. Pick the tool that handles your biggest stream best, then check how it handles the next one. A badge platform with a weak exhibitor module can work for a small con; it gets painful once the dealer hall has a waitlist.

Map Out the Artist Alley Workflow

Artist alley is where cons get the most email. Write the steps down: application, portfolio review or jury, acceptance, table fee payment, table assignment, load-in time and badge for the artist and an assistant. Then ask each vendor to show every step. A clear table map stops the yearly argument over who gets the aisle end.

Price Badges and Tables Before You Compare Fees

Per-ticket fees, percentage fees, per-event plans and card processing add up differently. As a planning assumption, model your fee cost at your expected badge count and table count, and decide whether fees are passed on to fans or absorbed. Our exhibitor pricing calculator helps you set dealer hall and artist alley rates before you compare platforms.

Check Door Operations

The first morning of a con decides how fans remember it. Ask how fast badges scan, whether scanning works without internet, whether you can print badges on site, and how staff handle walk-ups, will-call and lost badges.

Publish the Schedule Where Fans Look

Panels, guest signings and photo ops change right up to the weekend. Check that the schedule updates in one place and shows on your website and phone, and that guest time slots tie to any add-ons you sell.

Where Map D Is Not the Right Choice

If you run a small first-year con with a handful of tables and your main job is selling fan badges, Map D is more than you need, and a ticketing platform such as Showpass or Ticket Fairy is the better start. Map D is a good fit when the dealer hall and artist alley are large, tables have different prices and exhibitors want to pick their spot, the way our booth sales software page describes.