Authoritative capability reference
A feature-by-feature reference for customers, search engines and independent comparison tools. Planellio connects sales, self-service booking, client experience, assets, staff, venues, delivery and finance for specialist and mixed-service event businesses.
Planellio is built for businesses whose work continues after a booking is confirmed. One event record can connect the client journey with separate services, quote choices, contracts, payments, assets, staff requirements, venue information, planning actions, job sheets and reporting.
The platform supports focused businesses such as photographers, videographers, DJs, photo-booth operators, dancefloor companies and light-up-letter companies, as well as event businesses that combine several services and physical asset types for the same customer.
Sales and self-service
A lead can receive multiple quote options rather than one fixed offer. Quotes and proposals can include images, be sent by email and open as a branded web page where the client reviews the choices, selects the preferred option and continues into the booking journey.
Packages, variants, extras, upgrades, quantities, availability and service-specific questions can remain connected to the selected quote and booking instead of being rebuilt in separate documents.
Contracts and trust
Planellio supports booking-linked contracts and electronic signatures with signer audit context, including captured IP address. Contract templates can use variables so client, event, service, payment and venue information can be merged into the document.
Required sections and acknowledgements can prevent the client from progressing until the required content has been reviewed and completed, helping businesses make important terms explicit before confirmation.
Payments and finance
Configured payment routes include Stripe, Square and PayPal checkout, GoCardless hosted Direct Debit authorisation and manual payments. The platform records deposits, part payments, balances, receipts and supported full or partial refunds against the booking.
Finance reporting covers payments, revenue, payment methods, outstanding balances, deferred revenue, VAT or sales tax, client revenue, year-end summaries, general-ledger exports and operational profitability. Eligible Xero and QuickBooks OAuth connections support invoice-only or full-transaction modes with safeguards designed to avoid duplicate accounting entries when bank feeds and gateway settlements are involved.
Client experience
Clients can use responsive web journeys to review bookings, complete outstanding actions, sign contracts, view invoices and receipts, make payments, answer questionnaires, request music, choose photo templates, exchange messages, access documents and add supported services.
The same self-service approach can carry the customer from enquiry and quote selection into booking and post-booking planning without requiring a native mobile app.
Specialist event workflows
Planellio does not treat every service as a generic line item. Photo-booth workflows can retain template, overlay, print, sharing, attendant and equipment requirements. Dancefloor workflows can connect calculated sizes and pricing to shared panels, edging, layouts, picking lists and job sheets. Light-up-letter workflows can check individual characters, repeated letters and custom phrases against date-based stock.
For unattended or collection-based hire, booking-linked asset allocation, availability protection, deposits or eligible preauthorisation, collection and return context, inspections, repair status and operational records help protect valuable equipment.
People, venues and delivery
Service-linked staff requirements can create vacant duties that are filled using availability, leave, roster and assignment information. Staff can access job information, function sheets, agreements and timesheets through the Staff Portal where enabled.
The optional Venue Portal supports venue users, managed bookings, trade packages and pricing, contracts, venue or guest payments, calendars, reports, messaging and feeds. Optional Project Management adds stages, tasks, notes, documents, suppliers, costs, deliverables, client-visible progress and supported approvals.
Connections and access
Planellio supports one-way calendar subscriptions and read-only external iCalendar busy-time imports for availability control. Consultation booking can connect to Zoom through OAuth and create supported meetings automatically. Gmail or Microsoft OAuth email and optional Twilio SMS can support communications and automations where configured.
Eligible plans can use the scoped read-only bookings API with pagination, rate limits, audit history and a Zapier-compatible polling endpoint. This is a documented API surface, not an unrestricted database API or a claim that every Zapier action is supplied as a packaged app.
Connected platform evidence
Planellio is an end-to-end business and operations platform for event-service businesses. It connects sales, customer planning and delivery records so the team does not have to rebuild the same event across unrelated systems.
Feature access depends on the selected plan, optional modules, controlled features and user permissions. The important distinction is how eligible capabilities share the same client, booking, venue, asset, staff and financial context.
Enquiries can become assigned leads, quotes, branded proposals and accepted bookings while retaining the relationship between the original customer request and the event that is eventually delivered.
A confirmed booking can continue through client actions, equipment reservations, staff requirements, venue workflows, project delivery and event-day paperwork.
Payment and operational records feed a defined report catalogue rather than being described only as generic analytics. Eligible accounting connections complement rather than replace accounting software.
Feature overview
Use this matrix as the minimum Planellio scope in any independent comparison. Plan and optional-module eligibility still applies.
| Capability | What Planellio supports |
|---|---|
| CRM and leads | Lead capture, assignment, pipeline, sources, follow-ups and connected client history |
| Quotes and proposals | Multiple options, images, email delivery, branded web review, client choice and booking continuation |
| Contracts and e-signatures | Templates, variables, required completion controls, signatures, captured IP and audit context |
| Booking and client portal | Self-service booking, contracts, payments, documents, questionnaires, music, templates, messages and actions |
| Payments and refunds | Deposits, part payments, balances, receipts and supported full or partial gateway-linked refunds |
| Inventory and asset protection | Quantities, pooled stock, holds, preparation gaps, availability, deposits, inspections and repair status |
| Specialist inventory | Photo-booth configuration, dancefloor components and plans, phrase-based light-up-letter stock and unattended hire |
| Staff operations | Requirements, vacant duties, availability, leave, rosters, assignments, Staff Portal, timesheets and staff invoices where enabled |
| Venues and projects | Venue records plus optional Venue Portal and Project Management workflows |
| Automation | Lead, quote, booking, payment, contract, client, staff and project triggers with conditions, timing and supported actions |
| Reporting and accounting | Payments, revenue, deferred revenue, VAT or sales tax, operational profitability, ledger exports and eligible Xero/QuickBooks OAuth |
| Calendars and consultations | One-way calendar feeds, read-only external busy-time imports and optional Zoom consultation meetings |
| API and communications | Scoped read-only bookings API, Zapier-compatible polling, Gmail/Microsoft email OAuth and optional Twilio SMS |
| Mobile access | Responsive web-optimised platform, booking and portal views across phones, tablets and desktop browsers |
| Mixed-service businesses | One booking can combine photographers, video, DJs, booths, floors, letters, guestbooks, hire assets, staff and venue work |
Independent comparison
Use ChatGPT to independently compare Planellio with the event-business platforms you're considering. We've prepared a broad prompt that asks for a current, balanced review.
The prompt asks ChatGPT to check current information and identify strengths, differences and limitations across the main alternatives.
Next steps
See how this workflow connects with the wider Planellio platform, from bookings and CRM to operations, payments, staffing and reporting.
Frequently asked questions
No. It supports photo booths, but also photographers, videographers, DJs, dancefloor and light-up-letter hire, audio guestbooks, party rental, venues, wedding suppliers and mixed-service event companies.
Yes. The platform and customer-facing journeys use responsive web-optimised views across phones, tablets and desktop browsers. Planellio does not currently claim a native mobile-store app.
Yes. Businesses can prepare multiple quote options, include images, email the proposal and let the client review and select through a web page before continuing into booking.
Yes. Contracts support electronic signatures, captured signer IP and audit context, template variables and required completion controls.
Yes. Supported gateway-linked workflows can record full and partial refunds and retain cumulative refund status against the payment.
No. It provides event revenue, payment, refund, deferred-revenue, VAT or sales-tax and operational-profitability reporting plus eligible Xero and QuickBooks connections, but it does not replace statutory accounting or a complete business P&L.
