Name in Place compared with QR seating apps and DIY planners
Name in Place differs from QR seat-finder apps and drag-and-drop planners in one way: you upload the table plan you already made and get the finished chart, place cards, table numbers and QR page typeset for you. Apps cost $29 to $137 and planners run free to $29; Name in Place is $39 once.
Which kind of seating chart tool do I need?
An app if guests only need a phone search box, a planner if you still have to decide who sits where, and Name in Place if the plan is done and you want the printed set.
- QR seat-finder apps (InviteQR, Please Find Your Seat, Wedibox) give your guests a search box on their phone. No printed chart, no place cards, no table numbers. You still make those yourself, or go without.
- DIY planners (Table-plan.com, SeatPlan.io) give you a floor plan to arrange, and some will export PDFs. You do the dragging, the styling and the checking. Their largest chart is a Tabloid or A3 sheet.
- Name in Place takes your spreadsheet and does the typesetting. You get the chart at easel size, matching cards and a QR page, checked for missing tables and duplicate names, and editable until the day.
How do they compare side by side?
On a phone, scroll the table sideways to see all three columns.
| Name in Place | QR seat-finder apps | DIY planner with PDFs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you start with | Your guest list with tables, as a spreadsheet or pasted text | You type or import names, then assign tables in the app | You drag every guest onto a seat on a floor plan |
| Who typesets the files | We do. Names sized to fit, grouped, sorted, split across posters when needed | No print files | You do, from a font and colour picker |
| Printed seating chart | Yes: 16 × 20, 18 × 24, 24 × 36 in, A2 or A1, in two layouts | No | Tabloid 11 × 17 in or A3 |
| Place cards | Yes, matching tent cards, 4 per sheet | No | Tent cards on some plans |
| Table number cards | Yes, matching, one per table | No | Page per table on some |
| QR find-your-seat page | Yes, with a matching printed sign and a backup list | Yes, this is the product | Yes on paid plans |
| Checks your data | Flags missing tables and possible duplicate names. Never guesses or merges | No | No |
| Late changes | Edit until the event; every file and the guest page regenerate | Guest page updates; nothing printed to update | Re-export each PDF yourself |
| Room floor plan | No | Some | Yes, this is the product |
| Expiry | Files are yours. Guest page stays up until 30 days after the event | Typically 1 year, or 1 week after the event | Premium plans expire after 3 months |
| Published price | $39 once, $59 for 251–500 guests | $29 to $137 one time | Free to $29 per event, or a monthly plan |
Prices and features as published on each company's own pricing page on 8 November 2026: InviteQR seating chart $29; Please Find Your Seat Pro $64.95, Pro Plus $97, Pro Max $137; Wedibox All-In-One $79; Table-plan.com Premium $29 for 3 months, up to 250 guests; SeatPlan.io free to $35. They may change. We have no affiliation with any of them.
Looking at one tool in particular? Named, sourced head-to-heads: Name in Place vs SeatSprig and Name in Place vs Seatful.
What about place card makers and all-in-one planners?
Two more kinds of tool make printable pieces from a guest list. Both cost less than we do, and both are good at what they do.
| Name in Place | Place Card Us (placecard.net) | planning.wedding | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A finished, matching seating suite made from a list you upload | A place card, escort card and table number maker, with a free seating planner | A full wedding planner: guest list, RSVPs, website, budget, seating chart and stationery |
| Seating | You bring the finished plan; we don't seat guests | Drag guests to tables in their planner, with sit-together rules | Build the seating chart in their planner |
| Seating chart poster | 16 × 20 to 24 × 36 in, A2 or A1, eight designs or your own artwork | Free "Find Your Seat" poster in two themes, up to Tabloid or A3 | Seating sign generated from the chart |
| Place cards and table numbers | Included, matching the chart, with meal marks and blank spares | Yes, from templates; meal fields on the Pro pack | Yes, generated from the seating chart |
| Also included | Welcome sign, QR find-your-seat page, venue and caterer sheet, proofing link, reprint file for changed cards | Name tags, food tent cards, a wedding program maker | RSVP tool, wedding website, checklist, budget, menu cards |
| Published price | $39 once, $59 for 251–500 guests | $12.99 up to 100 guests, $39.99 up to 500, $99.99 lifetime | Free up to 5 tables; $29 per project for Premium |
As published on each company's own pages on 12 November 2026. They may change. We have no affiliation with either.
- Choose Place Card Us if place cards or a small free poster are all you need, or if you plan many events: its lifetime plan is built for that.
- Choose planning.wedding if you want one tool for the whole wedding, RSVPs and website included, and you're happy to build your seating inside it.
- Choose Name in Place if your seating is already decided in a spreadsheet and you want a designed, matching suite at real poster sizes, with checks before you print and a safety net when the list changes.
When is an app or a planner the better choice?
- You don't want anything printed. If a sign with a QR code on an easel is the whole plan, a $29 seat-finder app does that job, and so does ours, but you'd be paying for files you won't use.
- You're still deciding who sits where. A drag-and-drop planner is a good place to work that out. We don't decide seating; we typeset the plan you bring. Many couples plan in a spreadsheet or a free planner, then upload the result here.
- You want a floor plan on the guest's phone. Some apps highlight the table on a map of the room. Our guest page shows the table name and nothing else, on purpose, so a guest list is never published.
- Thirty guests or fewer. Several planners are free at that size, and a chart that small is quick to make by hand.
When is Name in Place the better choice?
- You want the chart on the easel, not just a phone. Most guests still walk to the board. Ours prints at 18 × 24 or 24 × 36 in with names measured to be readable from a few feet away; see the size guide.
- You want everything to match. Chart, place cards, table numbers, QR sign and backup list come from one list in one design, so nothing is typed twice and nothing disagrees.
- You don't have an evening to spend in a design tool. The week of a wedding is the wrong week to learn one. Upload, check the flags, preview, done.
- Names that need care. Accents, Irish and Vietnamese names, two guests with the same name: we print what you typed and ask before merging anything.
How this guide was written
Written and published by Name in Place, a one-person studio in Utah. The measurements and layout advice come from our own typesetting software, run on fictional guest lists. Drafting was AI-assisted; Alex reviewed and edited every sentence before it went live, and reviews it again whenever the "Updated" date changes. Nothing here is sponsored.
Sources
- InviteQR, seating chart page and pricing (checked 8 November 2026)
- Table-plan.com, pricing (checked 8 November 2026)
- Please Find Your Seat, pricing (checked 8 November 2026)
- Wedibox, pricing (checked 8 November 2026)
- SeatPlan.io, pricing (checked 8 November 2026)
- Place Card Us, pricing and seating chart maker (checked 12 November 2026)
- planning.wedding, pricing and day-of stationery (checked 12 November 2026)
See it with your own names first
The preview is free and uses your real guest list. If an app turns out to be all you need, you've lost nothing.