The Top Table Planner Alternative

Side by side, for the seating chart specifically:

Want the wider field? See our honest comparison of the best wedding seating chart tools —Top Table Planner, and the rest, side by side.

Top Table Planner (toptableplanner.com) is a simple, web-based table-plan tool for weddings and events, with a strong following (especially in the UK). It’s a genuinely nice tool, so this is an honest comparison. The essentials:

People search for it in lots of ways — Top Table Planner, TopTable Planner, Toptableplanner (its web address is toptableplanner.com), and sometimes “table top planner” or “tabletop planner”. They all point to the same thing: the web-based seating-plan software for weddings and events covered on this page. (The “top table” is the British name for the head table where the couple sits; here’s who traditionally sits on the top table, seat by seat.)

If you typed “tabletop planner” looking for something else entirely — a desk planner or a tabletop-game organiser — this isn’t it. This page is only about wedding and event seating: what Top Table Planner does, and how Lovely Seating compares.

And if you simply want a tabletop seating planner — a table arranger that lays out round, square or rectangular tables and puts names on chairs — Lovely Seating does that too, with oval, banquet, head and sweetheart tables, and it can fill the tables for you. Not sure how many you need? The wedding table calculator works it out from your guest count.

You sign in on the web, add your guests and tables, and drag every guest onto a seat yourself. The flow is quick and entirely manual:

• Sign in on the web — no install, and it works on a tablet too.
• Import your guest list from Word or Excel, and mark RSVPs and meal choices.
• Add your tables — round, square or rectangular — and arrange them on the page.
• Drag guests onto seats yourself, one by one.
• Print or export a PDF plan, a meal summary, and a poster from A4 up to A1.

It does the basics well. The gaps are the ones that take the most effort off your plate:

• Everything is manual. You place all 120 guests by hand. There’s no auto-seat to keep families together and feuding relatives apart for you.
• Late RSVPs mean manual rework. When someone drops out, you rearrange by hand.
• Time-limited access. Your plan is tied to a 6- or 12-month access window rather than something you build free and keep going back to.

The best free alternative to Top Table Planner is one that seats guests for you. Top Table Planner and Lovely Seating are both browser tools, so the difference isn’t web-vs-desktop, it’s what the tool does for you. Lovely Seating adds the two things a manual planner can’t: it seats guests automatically by relationship, and your plan stays in your account rather than a time-limited pass.

If you’re looking for a Top Table Planner alternative, here’s specifically what changes when you switch:

• From 120 drags to one click. Instead of placing every guest yourself, tag who sits together and who to keep apart, and Auto-Seat fills every table.
• Late RSVPs mean less rework. When a plus-one appears, re-run Auto-Seat and it seats anyone still unassigned into open seats — guests you’ve already seated stay put.
• Every guest detail on the seat. Meals, dietary notes, age and accessibility flags travel with each guest, so caterer counts come straight from the plan.
• No access window. Instead of a 6- or 12-month pass, build the whole plan free at any size and only pay a one-time $39 when you want to export.
• Your list comes with you. Top Table Planner works from Word/Excel; save your list as a CSV (or paste it) and Lovely Seating matches the columns automatically.

Also weighing up desktop software? Our PerfectTablePlan alternative comparison covers a tool that does have automatic seating, but as a Windows/Mac install.

The full picture of what you get with Lovely Seating:

• Start from your Top Table Planner list. Import the guest list you already built in Top Table Planner in one step — no re-typing anyone (more below).
• A floor plan of your room. The floor plan maker lets you drag and drop your real layout — round, banquet, head and sweetheart tables, plus the dance floor, bar, stage and other venue objects — in a room set to its real size in meters or feet, then seat guests chair by chair.
• Automatic seating. Tag who must sit together and who to keep apart, and Auto-Seat places your unassigned guests in one click, honouring every rule — locked guests and reserved tables stay put, and one click undoes it.
• Every guest detail. RSVPs, meals, dietary notes, age and accessibility flags, plus-ones, groups and households — all joined to the seat.
• Complete exports (Pro). Nine export types in seven themes — a printable floor-plan seating chart, A–Z list, table list, table cards, table numbers, meal directory, place cards, welcome sign and a guest CSV — all from the same plan.
• A “find your seat” page for guests. Publish a guest page + QR code so guests search their name and see their table — and embed it on your wedding website (Pro).
• Free to build, no cap on guests. The free plan covers one wedding with unlimited guests and Auto-Seat; a one-time $39 Pro unlocks exports, place cards, the guest QR page and collaboration with your partner or planner — no subscription.

Top Table Planner tracks RSVPs and meals too. The difference in Lovely Seating is that every detail stays joined to the seat — so a plus-one, a dietary flag or a late decline updates your plan and your caterer counts at the same time. Each guest carries their RSVP, meal choice, dietary notes, age and accessibility flags, side, group and household — and you can sort, filter and bulk-edit the whole list.

Open any guest and you get the full picture at a glance — no jumping between the guest list and a separate seating canvas.

And because meals live on the guest, you get a running count the moment you need it — the exact number your caterer needs, dietary flags included:

Still pulling the list together? Lovely Seating keeps every guest in one organised list, and the guest list import brings in an existing spreadsheet, CSV or pasted list without retyping.

This is the difference couples feel most. In Top Table Planner you place all 120 guests yourself, one drag at a time — and move people by hand every time an RSVP changes. Lovely Seating lets you set relationships once and seat the whole room in a click:

• Must sit together. A hard rule — couples, families, a guest and their carer always land at the same table.
• Would prefer together. A soft preference — honoured when there’s room, relaxed when there isn’t.
• Keep apart. A hard rule — feuding relatives or an ex never share a table, and the reason stays private.

When a plus-one appears or a late RSVP comes in, you don’t rebuild the room — re-run Auto-Seat and it seats anyone still unassigned into open seats, while guests you’ve already seated stay put. Lock anyone you never want moved, and undo any run in one click. Prefer to place people yourself? You still can, on the same plan — with a warning if you seat someone who’s declined or overfill a table.

We’d rather you land in the right place than just sign up. Here’s the honest split:

Still comparing? Our honest roundup of the best wedding seating chart tools covers Top Table Planner alongside Zola, WeddingWire, Canva and more.

Export it as a CSV (or copy it from a spreadsheet) and import it into Lovely Seating — it takes minutes and you don’t re-type anyone. It matches the columns for you, links plus-ones, and flags duplicates before anything is added. Or choose AI import: it reads the list in whatever shape it’s in, groups households and plus-ones, asks a few quick questions about who sits where, and hands a plan to Auto-Seat. (It’s a one-time import, not a live sync with other platforms.)

Stuck on a step? The Lovely Seating help center walks through importing a CSV — including one exported from The Knot, Zola or Joy — merging duplicates and adding plus-ones.

Weighing up more than one option? These are the closest side-by-sides:

• SeatPlan.io alternative — a quick no-signup designer with cheap one-time plans, but paid plans keep your work for 90 days and seating is by hand.
• PlanSeats alternative — a tidy browser planner, but the free plan stops at 20 guests and 4 tables, with auto-assign on paid plans.
• Canva seating chart alternative — great for a pretty sign, but no guest list or automatic seating.