Facts about Zola below come only from Zola’s own pages and its official App Store listing, checked on 2 November 2026. Features and prices change; check the sources before deciding.
At a glance
| Zola | SeatFinch | |
|---|---|---|
| Guest list | Pulled automatically from your Zola guest list | Import a CSV or add guests in the app |
| Tables | Round or rectangular, custom seat counts | Round or rectangular, custom seat counts |
| Floor plan extras | Dance floor, bar, cake table, head table, gifts table, doors, A/V | Dance floor, bar, stage, DJ, cake |
| Multiple events | Separate floor plans for ceremony, rehearsal dinner, reception | One plan per event |
| Seating method | Assign guests to tables; drag and drop within a table | Auto-seat with rules, then drag to fine-tune |
| Exports | PDF or Excel | PDF, PNG, escort list PDF/CSV, floor plan PNG, by-table CSV |
| Price | Free for up to 15 guests; Premium unlock to add more (listed as a $14.99 in-app purchase on the App Store) | Free incl. auto-seat for any list (1 saved chart, watermarked PNG); $19 one-time per event for clean PDF exports |
What Zola offers
According to Zola’s seating chart page, your confirmed guests are pulled in automatically from your Zola guest list, with “no importing” and groups such as family and coworkers already grouped. You drag and drop round or rectangular tables, set seat counts, and add spaces such as a dance floor, bar, cake table and head table. You can create separate floor plans for the ceremony, rehearsal dinner and reception, refine with group tags, dietary restrictions or custom labels, and download a print-ready PDF.
Zola’s help centre adds that the tool runs on desktop and the Zola iOS app with syncing between them, that you can “try it for free (for up to 15 Guests), or unlock the Premium Version to add more Guests”, that charts download as PDF or Excel, and that you can duplicate a chart to try different arrangements. Zola’s App Store listing shows “Seating Chart $14.99” among its in-app purchases.
Zola is also a registry, wedding website, invitations and vendor marketplace — if you already plan your wedding there, the seating chart is connected to everything else.
Try SeatFinch’s auto-seat free, with no guest limit.
Start planning freeAbout SeatFinch
SeatFinch is a seating chart maker built around one idea: you write the rules, it does the first draft. You import a guest list (CSV with name, household, meal and tags), add round or rectangular tables and venue objects (dance floor, bar, stage, DJ, cake), and write rules — “must sit together”, “must not sit together” and “keep households together”. Auto-seat then fills every table while keeping every rule, and tells you which rules conflict if they can’t all be kept. You fine-tune by dragging guests; manual moves respect table capacity, and rules are re-checked whenever you run Auto-seat.
Creating an event with unlimited guests, tables and rules, the floor plan and auto-seating are free for one saved chart, with a watermarked PNG export. A one-time unlock of $19 per event (launch price $14 until Feb 3, 2027) removes the watermark and adds the exports: a seating chart PDF (US Letter) or PNG in three print styles, an escort list (PDF and CSV), a floor plan image and a by-table CSV with meals. SeatFinch does not collect RSVPs, build wedding websites or sell stationery.
Which to choose
Zola may suit you better if you already use Zola for your guest list, RSVPs and website, want the seating chart linked to them without importing anything, need floor plans for several events, or want Excel export.
SeatFinch may suit you better if your guest list lives in a spreadsheet or another platform, you want the tool to produce the first full draft from rules rather than placing every guest yourself, or you want escort lists and a caterer CSV from the same plan.
Nothing stops you using both: export your guest list from any platform as CSV and import it into SeatFinch.
Sources
- Zola — Wedding seating chart maker (checked 2 November 2026)
- Zola Help Center — How do I use the Zola seating chart? (checked 2 November 2026)
- Apple App Store — Zola – Wedding Planner, in-app purchases list (checked 2 November 2026)
Last updated 2026-11-02