The Zola Seating Chart Alternative

Side by side, for the seating chart specifically:

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

Yes, and it’s free for up to 15 guests — beyond that you unlock Zola’s Premium version. It’s also the strongest seating tool among the big all-in-one platforms. Zola’s seating chart lets you place tables and drag guests from your Zola guest list onto them, then export the result. A few things to know up front:

Open it in the Zola iOS app or on a computer (Zola supports desktop — there’s no Android app), add tables, then drag guests from your Zola guest list into seats. Step by step:

• Open the seating chart in the Zola iOS app or on a computer. Your confirmed guests come in from your Zola guest list.
• Add your tables. Choose how many tables you need and their shape (round or square) and size; Zola drops them onto the layout around a dance floor to start.
• Arrange the room. Move tables, and add a dance floor, bar, cake table or head table as needed — with a separate floor plan for the ceremony or rehearsal dinner if you want one. (Laying out ceremony rows? Our ceremony chair layout template shows the common setups.)
• Seat your guests. Open a table, tap to add guests, and drag people from your Zola guest list into seats — one by one.
• Export it. When you’re done, export a PDF or Excel version to print or share.

Zola’s tool is fine for a small, simple wedding. But for a full guest list it runs into the same walls every all-in-one platform hits — plus a couple of its own:

• No Android app. It works in the iOS app and on desktop — Android users plan on a computer.
• The 15-guest free cap. A real wedding needs the premium upgrade.
• 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.

Zola’s seating chart costs nothing for up to 15 guests; to add more you unlock the Premium version, per Zola’s help center. At the time of writing, Zola doesn’t publish the Premium price on its seating chart pages, so check the current price in the app before you commit — we’d rather send you there than quote a number that may be out of date. For what every seating tool charges, and how long you keep access, see our seating chart app pricing comparison.

Whether it’s worth it depends on what you want from the chart:

• Worth it if you want your wedding website, registry and seating under one Zola login, and you’re happy placing guests yourself.
• Less worth it if you’re paying mainly to seat a full guest list — Premium lifts the 15-guest cap, but every guest is still placed by hand.

For comparison, Lovely Seating lets you build the whole plan free at any guest count, with Auto-Seat included; Pro is a one-time $39 only when you want to export. You can keep Zola for everything else in its suite and use a dedicated tool for seating.

Whether you finish in Zola or move to another tool, it helps to know how to get your data out. On a computer (the export isn’t in the app):

• Go to your Guest List and use the “···” menu (top right) to export as a CSV or Excel file.
• For meal choices, use Track RSVPs → Export RSVPs — that file includes RSVP status and meal selections.

That CSV is all you need to move your list somewhere with more powerful seating. If it's coming to Lovely Seating, here's how the Zola import works.

The best Zola seating chart alternative is a dedicated seating tool, because on Zola seating is one small corner of a giant all-in-one. Zola is building your wedding website, your registry, your RSVP tracking and a dozen other things — the seating chart is a side feature, and it shows in the 15-guest free cap and the drag-every-guest-by-hand experience.

Lovely Seating does one thing: the seating chart. No website, no registry — just the best possible tool for the single job of getting everyone into the right seat. And because it’s all we do, it goes far deeper than a side feature ever could, on any device, right in your browser:

• Start from your Zola list. Import the guest list you already built in Zola 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.

In Zola you drag a name onto a seat. That’s it. Lovely Seating keeps a full record behind every guest, so the seating chart doubles as the source of truth your caterer and venue keep asking you for. Each guest carries their RSVP, meal choice, dietary and access needs, age group, 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 Zola 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:

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.)

Pick Zola in the import screen and we show the exact export steps (Guest List → “···” → export as CSV, or Track RSVPs → Export RSVPs for meal choices), then match the columns — even a single full-name column.

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:

• The Knot seating chart alternative — a great free guest list, but its help center says a seating chart builder is still in the works.
• Joy seating chart — simple table assignments tied to Joy’s guest list, with no automatic seating.
• WeddingWire seating chart — a capable free all-in-one chart, but every guest placed by hand.