Looking for a BandHelper alternative?
What BandHelper does well, from its own website; what that site does not mention; and what Event Band Manager does instead — for bands where the fee is split between the players. Checked against BandHelper’s website on 23 September 2026.
What BandHelper does well
A cloud-based service with companion mobile apps to take the organising out of playing in a band: repertoire, schedule, contacts and finances, shared with the band.
- Songs, set lists, lyrics and chord charts synced to every device
- On-stage tools: auto-scrolling, backing and click tracks, MIDI and footswitches
- Event scheduling with availability requests and reminders (Plus)
- Booking contacts with follow-up reminders (Plus)
- Income and expense tracking, invoices and a payment share calculator (Pro)
- Stage plots, checklists and a practice log (Pro)
What it does that Event Band Manager does not
- Native iOS, Android and Mac apps that work without a connection
- Lyrics and chord charts, with transposing for other singers or horn keys
- Backing tracks, click tracks, MIDI and lighting control on stage
- Reference recordings with speed and loop controls for rehearsal
- Stage plots to send to venues
- A practice log
Price, as published on 23 September 2026: By level and band size, in US dollars. For 2–5 users: Basic $4, Plus $6, Pro $8 a month. For 6–20 users: Basic $6, Plus $9, Pro $12 a month. 30-day free trial. Website plus iOS, Android and Mac apps.
What its site does not mention
Five things matter most to the people who play in a function band: their travel, their share, deps, expenses, and not paying to take part. Here is what we could not find on BandHelper’s website. Not mentioned is not the same as not there — if one of these matters to you, ask them.
- Each player’s travel from their own postcode, taken off the top — what its site does say: transport can be logged as an expense category.
- Deps: travel from where the dep lives, and the member settles with the dep — what its site does say: gives sub players the charts and recordings for a gig.
What Event Band Manager does instead
Travel comes off the top, per player. Each person’s round-trip driving distance is worked out from their own postcode to the venue, at the mileage rate the band sets, and paid back to them before anything is divided. On Band Pro the journey builder counts stops, when somebody picks two others up.
What is left splits equally, to the penny. The odd pennies are handed out rather than rounded away, and at the end of the month each person gets a statement of their own — every gig, the share, the travel back and the expenses — as a page and a PDF. A correction supersedes the old version instead of quietly rewriting it.
Deps are people, with their own journey. When a dep covers, the travel is worked out from where the dep lives, the band pays its own member, and the member settles with the dep. Who owes whom is on the statement, not in somebody’s memory.
Expenses ride with the gig. Photograph the receipt on the night and file it against the gig; whoever looks after the band’s money approves it, and it lands on the right statement.
Members are free. Every member and every dep has an account of their own at no cost, with one diary for every band they play in.
What it costs: Free for every member and dep, and for a band running itself. Band Pro £12 a month per band; Manager £15 a month per band you manage (£12 from the third); Bookings £9 a month per person.
Who should stay with BandHelper
If your band lives in its charts — lyrics, chords, backing tracks and rehearsal — and the money is simple, BandHelper does that side far more deeply than we do.
To put it plainly: a band that wants setlists, charts or rehearsal tools first, and whose money is simple, may be better where it is. Event Band Manager is for the band where the arithmetic is the argument — different drives, deps most weekends, and a statement each member can check.
How to move
Create an account and the band, and add the people in it with their postcodes. Put your next gig in with its fee and venue, and the split and everybody’s travel are worked out straight away. If your gigs already live in a shared sheet — the one your agency keeps, for example — Band Pro connects it and brings the gigs in, synced daily, with a conflict shown rather than a silent overwrite.
Then invite the band. Members join free, by a link, and see their own gigs, travel and statement from the first gig. Want to see the arithmetic before any of that? The pay split calculator does the same sum with no account.
Questions
Is Event Band Manager connected to BandHelper?
No. Event Band Manager is a separate product and is not affiliated with BandHelper. This page is our own comparison, made from BandHelper’s website as it read on 23 September 2026.
Is Event Band Manager free?
Every member and every dep uses it free, and a band running itself can stay on Free for good — the pay split, travel, expenses, statements and deps are all in it. Band Pro is £12 a month per band and Manager £15 a month per band you manage; every new band gets a month of Band Pro to try, with no card to start.
Is there an iPhone app?
Not in the App Store. Event Band Manager installs as an app on an iPhone or an Android phone straight from the browser, opens full screen, and keeps your gig list for a venue with no signal. A Google Play listing is on its way.
Put your next gig in and see the split
Members are free. Every new band gets a month of Band Pro, and it drops to Free on its own afterwards.
BandHelper is a trademark of its owner; this page is Event Band Manager’s own comparison, checked on 23 September 2026.