When Google Forms is the correct choice
Use Google Forms, and do not feel bad about it, if:
- Your event is one occasion at one time — no separate functions
- Everyone on the list is invited to the same thing
- Meals are simple, or there is no catering to count
- You are comfortable in Sheets and happy to build your own summary
- The guest list is small enough that manual follow-up is not a burden
It costs nothing, everyone already has a Google account, and the results land in a spreadsheet you control. That is a good deal. Roughly half the events we get asked about would honestly have been fine on a Form.
Where it starts to hurt
Forms is a general-purpose form builder. It does not know what an event is. Every event-shaped concept has to be reconstructed by you, by hand, every time.
| What you need | Google Forms | Hloo Events |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance for one occasion | Works well | Works well |
| Separate counts per function | One form per function, or a checkbox grid you total yourself | Built in — each function has its own count |
| Different guests see different functions | Not possible in one form | Guest lists control what each person sees |
| Meal totals by type | You build a pivot table | Counted live, per function |
| Who has not replied yet | You compare the responses against your list manually | Shown on the dashboard |
| Guest edits their own answer | Only if you enabled it and they kept the link | Reopen the same link and update |
| Caterer-ready export | Raw responses, reformat yourself | CSV structured per function |
| Invitation and reminder wording | You write it | Generated per guest list, English or Hinglish |
| Cost | Free | Free up to 500 guests, then CAD $50 per event |
The multi-day trap
This is the specific point where most people give up on Forms. Your event has five functions. Forms gives you two bad options.
Option one: five separate forms. Five links to send, five response sheets, and no combined view of a guest. When your aunt replies to three of them and ignores two, you cannot tell whether she is skipping those or has not got round to it.
Option two: one form with a checkbox grid. Now you have one sheet, but the meal question applies to the whole event rather than to each function, so you cannot tell how many vegetarian plates Saturday needs versus Sunday. You are back to counting by hand.
Neither is a disaster. Both cost you an evening and introduce mistakes at exactly the moment mistakes are expensive.
The honest maths
Forms is free. Hloo Events is free up to 500 guests and CAD $50 per event after that. So the question is whether the paid version saves you more than CAD $50.
At Canadian catering prices of $35 to $50 a plate, being twenty plates over on one function costs about $800. If a better count avoids that once, the fifty dollars is not really a decision. If your event is one evening with one meal option, it probably is not worth it, and you should use Forms.
Our actual recommendation: if your event is a single occasion, use Google Forms. If it runs across more than one day or has more than one guest list, the manual reconciliation is where you will lose your evenings.
What Forms does better
To be fair about it, there are things Forms wins on:
- Nobody needs convincing. Everyone recognises a Google Form and trusts it.
- Total flexibility. It will collect literally any question you can think of.
- The data is yours in Sheets, in a tool you already know how to manipulate.
- No limit at all on the number of responses.
If those matter more to you than function-wise counting, Forms is the better tool for your event. We would rather tell you that than sell you something you do not need.
If you want to try the other way
The free plan covers 500 guests with function-wise attendance and meal counts, which is enough to run a real event and find out whether it suits you. There is no card required to start.
Questions people ask
Is Google Forms actually good enough for a wedding?
For a single-ceremony wedding with simple catering, yes. For a wedding running across several days with different guests at each function, you will spend a lot of time reconciling spreadsheets by hand.
Can I import my existing Google Form responses?
You can bring your guest list in as a CSV, which is the part that matters. Past responses are usually easier to re-collect than to migrate.
Why not just use a Google Sheet with a pivot table?
You can, and plenty of people do. It works until the event has multiple functions with different guest lists, at which point the pivot table becomes a second job.
What happens if I go over 500 guests on the free plan?
You upgrade to Pro at CAD $50 for that event, which removes the limit and adds custom questions plus transport, accommodation and drinks tracking.
Do my guests need a Google account?
Not with Hloo Events — the link opens in any browser with no sign-in. With Google Forms it depends on your settings, and requiring sign-in noticeably reduces replies.
Can I try it without paying?
Yes. The free plan needs no card and covers up to 500 guests, which is a real event rather than a demo.
Other things Hloo Events handles
Start free, upgrade only if you need to
Free up to 500 guests. Pro is CAD 49. Ultimate Planner is CAD 199 for up to 5 events.