The verdict in three sentences
A London DMC running 60 events a year with 50 to 2,000 attendees pays an event management SaaS 2,500 to 13,000 GBP a year (3,000 to 15,000 EUR), plus a per-attendee fee that inflates the bill on large conferences. A custom registration and logistics platform costs 45,000 to 100,000 EUR, but it carries your own processes (transfers, hotel blocks, rooming lists, client rebilling) and connects to your accounting software. The tipping point sits around 11,000 attendees a year over 3 years, or as soon as clients demand a fully branded registration flow with specific business rules.
What SaaS does well, and where it falls short
Market event platforms handle registration, badges, attendee apps and check-in very well. They fall short on DMC-specific logistics: assigning attendees to flights and shuttles, managing hotel room blocks, tracking last-minute changes, and itemised rebilling to corporate clients.
| Item (DMC, 60 events a year) | Event SaaS | Custom platform |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription or licence | 3,000 to 15,000 EUR per year | none |
| Per-attendee fee | 1 to 4 EUR per registrant depending on modules | none |
| Upfront investment | 0 to 5,000 EUR setup | 45,000 to 100,000 EUR |
| Maintenance and hosting | included | 600 to 1,500 EUR per month |
| Transfers and rooming logistics | Excel export, then manual work | built-in module |
| White label per client | partial, plan-dependent | complete |
| Accounting integration | CSV export | API or dedicated connector |
SaaS remains the best option for a young DMC or one with standardised events. The hidden cost lies elsewhere: project manager hours spent reworking Excel exports for coach companies and hotels.
3-year cost simulation by volume
Per-attendee fees change everything. Here are three London DMC profiles, as 2026 orders of magnitude, with a SaaS at 9,000 EUR a year plus 2.50 EUR per registrant, versus a custom platform at 70,000 EUR plus 1,000 EUR monthly maintenance.
| Profile | Attendees per year | SaaS over 3 years | Custom over 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small DMC, seminars | 6,000 | 72,000 EUR | 106,000 EUR |
| Mid-size DMC, mixed | 15,000 | 139,500 EUR | 106,000 EUR |
| Conference DMC | 35,000 | 289,500 EUR | 106,000 EUR |
| Logistics rework hours per year | 15,000 attendees | 600 to 900 h | 100 to 200 h |
| Time to go live | 2 to 4 weeks | 4 to 6 months |
Beyond cost, ownership of attendee data matters to FTSE 100 clients: UK or EU hosting, a UK GDPR data processing agreement, automatic purge after the event. A custom platform makes procurement security questionnaires far easier to answer. Commissioning it from a French-speaking nearshore agency also keeps the build well below London agency day rates of 700 to 1,000 GBP.
Quick decision grid
Pick SaaS if you handle under 8,000 attendees a year, your events follow the same pattern and clients accept a standard registration page. Pick custom if you exceed 12,000 to 15,000 attendees, if transfers and accommodation take more than 30 % of project managers' time, or if you want to sell the platform as a differentiating service. A middle path exists: keep SaaS for registration and build a custom logistics module connected by API, for 20,000 to 40,000 EUR.
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Sarah, operations director of a DMC in London, handles 15,000 attendees a year. Her SaaS costs 9,000 EUR plus 37,500 EUR in per-registrant fees, or 46,500 EUR a year. Her project managers spend 750 hours reworking files for coach operators and hotels, at 55 EUR an hour loaded, or 41,250 EUR. A 70,000 EUR custom platform with 12,000 EUR annual maintenance cuts rework to 150 hours (8,250 EUR). Annual running cost drops from 87,750 EUR to 20,250 EUR before depreciation: the investment pays back in just over a year.
FAQ
How much does event management software cost for a DMC in 2026?
An event SaaS costs 3,000 to 15,000 EUR a year plus 1 to 4 EUR per attendee. A custom platform ranges from 45,000 to 100,000 EUR, plus 600 to 1,500 EUR monthly maintenance.
At what volume does custom become profitable?
As an order of magnitude, around 10,000 to 12,000 attendees a year over a 3-year horizon, with a SaaS charging 2.50 EUR per registrant. The threshold drops when logistics take a large share of team time.
Can the platform connect to our accounting software?
Yes, through APIs or structured exports to common accounting tools such as Xero or Sage. The connector costs 3,000 to 8,000 EUR and removes re-keying of client rebilling.
How long does a custom event platform take to build?
Allow 4 to 6 months for a first version with registration, logistics and rebilling. Pilot it on 2 or 3 events before moving the whole portfolio.
How should attendee data be handled under UK GDPR?
Host in the UK or EU, sign a processing agreement with each client and purge data 3 to 12 months after the event. These rules are configured once in a custom platform.
Let's scope your project. Share your event and attendee volumes, and we will price a custom registration and logistics platform, or an add-on module for your SaaS, with an indicative budget and a 4 to 6 month plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
