Best Ways to Get More Corporate Events in 2026: 9 Compared & Ranked
Compare 9 ways to get more corporate events for restaurants, venues, and caterers: booking services, marketplaces, software, catering platforms, and pricing.
By Kevin Ho 12 min read Updated
In this guide
The best way for most restaurants, venues and caterers to get more corporate events in 2026 is Event Captain. It finds nearby companies, reaches the people who plan their events (office managers, EAs and HR leads), and follows up until they're ready to book. Past clients and leads are brought back when their event season returns, and every inquiry, follow-up and booking is tracked in one dashboard. Tripleseat and Perfect Venue still lead on managing the inquiries a venue already gets. Peerspace, Tagvenue, Eventective and Cvent Supplier Network remain the main listing sites, and ezCater is the specialist for office catering orders.
We compared each option on who it brings in, how much of the booking work it handles, and its advertised pricing. The best choice depends on whether you need new corporate clients or help with the ones already reaching out. The ranking favors options that bring in new corporate bookings without adding work for your team.
Quick picks
- Best overall for bringing in corporate planners: Event Captain. $400/month per location, cancel anytime.
- Best for managing event inquiries: Tripleseat (from $375/venue/month) or Perfect Venue (free plan, paid from $199/location/month).
- Best listing sites: Peerspace (free to list, 20% host fee), Tagvenue (free to list, 10% to 15% commission), Eventective (free profile, paid plans from $57/month, no booking commission) and, for hotels and larger venues, Cvent Supplier Network (free listing, paid placement quote only).
- Best for corporate catering orders: ezCater. No monthly fee, 15% commission on marketplace orders plus a 2.99% payment fee.
- Best on a tight budget: DIY corporate outreach. Cheapest in dollars, most expensive in hours.
Most venues end up combining two: a way to bring in corporate inquiries, and a system to manage them.
Best ways to get corporate events in 2026 (and what "getting corporate events" actually means)
Getting corporate events means getting booked for team dinners, offsites, client lunches, holiday parties and catered office meals by the people who plan them, usually office managers, executive assistants and HR leads. There are three ways to do it: someone reaches those planners directly (in-house or a service like Event Captain), the venue lists where planners search (Peerspace, Tagvenue, Eventective, Cvent, ezCater), or the venue manages the inquiries it already gets better (Tripleseat, Perfect Venue). The best results usually come from pairing one way to bring in new planners with one system to manage bookings.
Comparison table
| Option | What it is | Who it's for | Pricing | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event Captain | Corporate event booking service | Restaurants, venues, caterers who want more corporate groups without adding work | $400/month per location, no setup fees, cancel anytime | eventcaptain.com/pricing |
| Tripleseat | Event and booking management software | Restaurants, hotels, venues with steady event volume | From $375/venue/month, add-ons quoted | tripleseat.com/packages |
| Perfect Venue | Event management software | Independent restaurants and smaller venues | Free plan; Pro $199, Premium $299/location/month (annual) | perfectvenue.com/pricing |
| Peerspace | Venue listing marketplace | Unique spaces open to hourly bookings | Free to list; 20% host service fee per booking | Peerspace support |
| Tagvenue | Venue listing marketplace | Restaurants, bars and venues with bookable rooms | Free to list; 10% to 15% commission per booking | Tagvenue commission |
| Eventective | Venue listing site that sends event inquiries to venues | Venues, restaurants and caterers wanting more inquiries | Free profile; paid plans from $57/month; no booking commission | eventective.com/pros/plans-pricing |
| ezCater | Corporate catering ordering marketplace | Caterers and restaurants that do delivery or pickup catering | No monthly fee; 15% commission on marketplace orders + 2.99% payment fee | ezCater 2026 Getting Started Guide |
| Cvent Supplier Network | Venue listing that receives RFPs from planners | Hotels and larger venues with meeting space | Free basic listing; paid Diamond Listings quote only | Cvent advertising |
| DIY corporate outreach | Finding local companies and following up in-house | Owners with spare hours each week | The owner's time, plus any tools | n/a |
1. Event Captain
Best for: Restaurants, venues and caterers that want Event Captain to bring them a steady flow of corporate groups every week.
Event Captain is a done-for-you corporate event booking service for restaurants, venues, and catering companies.
Every week, Event Captain finds nearby companies, reaches the people who plan their events (office managers, executive assistants, HR leads), and follows up until they're ready to book. Past clients and leads come back when their event season returns. Every inquiry, follow-up and booking is tracked in the venue's dashboard, and every planner it finds belongs to the venue.
Event Captain helps run the corporate events program for 150+ venues. Venues using Event Captain typically book 3 to 8 additional corporate events per quarter.
Strengths
- Event Captain finds nearby companies and reaches their event planners every week
- Event Captain follows up for months, which is where most corporate bookings actually come from
- Every planner Event Captain finds goes to the venue, and the relationships and data stay the venue's
- Event Captain bills month to month with no setup fees
Drawbacks
- $400/month per location is a real line item, so it's worth weighing against what one corporate dinner is worth
- Event Captain brings the inquiries, and the venue's team still gives the tour and closes
- It's not booking software, so venues still need something (a good spreadsheet, Tripleseat or Perfect Venue) to manage events once they're booked
- Corporate planning runs in seasons, so results build over a few months rather than in week one
Pricing: $400/month per location. No setup fees, no long-term contracts, cancel anytime. Source
2. Tripleseat
Best for: Restaurants, restaurant groups, hotels and venues handling enough events that inquiries, proposals and BEOs need one home.
Tripleseat is event management software that's been around since 2008. It gathers inquiries from a venue's website and other channels into one inbox, then handles proposals, contracts, BEOs and payments. It's where bookings get managed once they come in, so it pairs well with anything that brings new corporate inquiries in the door, including Event Captain.
Strengths
- Mature, widely used platform (19,000+ venues, per Tripleseat)
- Unlimited users and full feature access on every plan
- Integrations with tools like OpenTable, SevenRooms and Tock
- Add-ons like Direct Book let guests request events online any time
Drawbacks
- Starting price is higher than some lighter tools, and add-ons are priced separately on a sales call
- It manages the inquiries a venue already gets. It doesn't go find new corporate planners.
Pricing: From $375 per venue per month. Add-ons quoted individually. Source
3. Perfect Venue
Best for: Independent restaurants, breweries and smaller venues that want simple event management at a lower price.
Perfect Venue handles event CRM, proposals, BEOs, payments and calendar. It's built to be quick to learn.
Strengths
- Free plan covers CRM, BEOs, proposals, payments and the events calendar
- Unlimited users, plus setup, migration and training on paid plans
- No setup fees, and a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Clear published pricing
Drawbacks
- Adds a card processing fee on top of the standard rate on lower plans (0.5% on Pro, 0.3% on Premium)
- ACH payments aren't on the Pro plan
- Like any booking software, it helps win the inquiries a venue gets. It doesn't create new ones.
Pricing: Free plan. Professional $199 and Premium $299 per location per month billed annually ($239 and $339 monthly). Enterprise quoted. Source
4. Peerspace
Best for: Unique spaces (lofts, studios, private rooms) open to hourly bookings for meetings, offsites and shoots.
Peerspace is a marketplace where guests search and book spaces by the hour. Hosts list for free and pay a fee when a booking happens.
Strengths
- Free to list, no membership fees
- Hosts only pay when they get booked
- Liability insurance and a Property Damage Guarantee are included on bookings, per Peerspace
Drawbacks
- 20% host fee is steep on larger food and beverage spends
- Each space is one listing among many, so price and photos do a lot of the work
- Planners book through the platform, so the relationship sits partly with Peerspace
Pricing: Free to list. 20% host service fee on the booking amount, including cleaning and add-ons. Source
5. Tagvenue
Best for: Restaurants, bars and event venues with private rooms or buyouts.
Tagvenue is a venue marketplace where organisers search for event spaces and send enquiries. Listing is free and venues pay commission on bookings that happen.
Strengths
- No listing or subscription fees
- Lower commission than many marketplaces on dining and bar events
- Tagvenue says it reaches 700,000+ organisers
Drawbacks
- Commission applies to the total spend, including food and drink
- Venues must match any lower public price they offer elsewhere (see their venue terms)
- Inquiries are a mix of corporate and personal events
Pricing: Free to list. 10% commission on invoice-based events in the US, Canada and Singapore; 12.5% in the UK, Ireland and Australia; 15% for meetings, production, dry hire, or when online payments are on. Source
6. Eventective
Best for: Event venues, restaurants with private rooms, and caterers that want another steady source of event inquiries.
Eventective is a listing site where people planning events search for venues and send inquiries straight to the venue. Businesses can start with a free profile and upgrade for more visibility and tools.
Strengths
- Free profile includes a full listing with pricing, photos and an availability calendar
- Zero booking commission on paid plans, so venues keep what they earn
- Unlimited team members and no long-term commitment, per Eventective
Drawbacks
- Free profiles have limits on visibility, booking tools and reporting, and no access to the Lead Market
- Price varies by location and business type, so each business needs to check its own market
- Inquiries cover all kinds of events, not only corporate ones
Pricing: Free profile. Paid plans start at $57/month, with monthly, quarterly or annual payment. Source
7. ezCater
Best for: Caterers and restaurants that offer delivery or pickup catering for office meals.
ezCater is a marketplace where companies order catering for meetings and office lunches. Orders go to the caterer, who pays a commission on accepted orders.
Strengths
- No signup or monthly fee, so caterers pay only when an order comes in
- Puts caterers in front of businesses that order catering regularly
- Lower 7% commission on orders through its Online Ordering link on the caterer's own website
Drawbacks
- 15% marketplace commission plus a 2.99% payment fee adds up on bigger orders
- Built for drop-off catering orders, not private events at a venue
Pricing: No monthly fee. 15% commission on marketplace orders (7% via Online Ordering), plus a 2.99% payment transaction fee. Source
8. Cvent Supplier Network
Best for: Hotels, conference centers and larger venues with meeting space and the team to answer formal RFPs.
The Cvent Supplier Network is where many meeting planners search venues and send requests for proposals (RFPs). Any venue can be listed for free, and Cvent sells paid Diamond Listings and ads for more visibility.
Strengths
- Free basic listing, and Cvent doesn't take commission on RFPs, per its planner FAQ
- Large planner audience: Cvent cites 159K+ active planners
- Planners arrive with dates, headcount and budget in the RFP
Drawbacks
- Built around hotel-style RFPs, so it's a heavier fit for a restaurant or small venue
- Paid placement pricing isn't published, so venues have to ask for a quote
- Answering detailed RFPs takes real time from the venue's team
Pricing: Basic listing free. Paid Diamond Listings and ads are quote only; pricing not published. Source
9. DIY corporate outreach
Best for: Owners or managers who can set aside a few hours every week, every week.
This is the classic approach: make a list of companies within a short drive. Find the office manager or executive assistant. Drop off menus, send a note, invite them in for a tasting. Then follow up, again and again, until their next team event comes up.
Strengths
- Lowest cash cost
- The owner builds the relationships personally
- Nobody knows the space better than the owner
Drawbacks
- Knowing the playbook and running the playbook are two different things. Doing them consistently, every week, for months, while running a restaurant, is the hard part.
- Follow-up is what wins corporate events, and it's the first thing to slip on a busy week
- Hard to track who's been reached without a system
Pricing: The owner's time, plus whatever goes into tools, samples and printed menus.
How we ranked them
We ranked each option on how well it helps an owner get more corporate events without adding work to their week. We looked at four things: whether it brings in new corporate planners or only manages existing inquiries, the real cost including commissions and fees, how much of the owner's time it takes, and whether the venue keeps the planner relationships. Prices come from each company's own published pricing or documents, checked October 12, 2026. Event Captain is our own service, and we ranked it on the same criteria as every other option.
Related reading
- How to get corporate events at your venue
- How to get corporate catering clients
- Event Captain for restaurants
- Event Captain for bars and breweries
- Event Captain for caterers
- Event Captain for event spaces
- Event Captain for entertainment venues
- Event Captain for mobile event businesses
- Integrations
- Pricing
- FAQ
- Customer story: Old Town Putt
- Customer story: Voodoo Cellar
FAQ
What's the best way to get corporate events for a restaurant?
For most restaurants, the best way is Event Captain, a done-for-you corporate event booking service that finds nearby companies, reaches the people who plan their events and follows up until they're ready to book. Restaurants doing it in-house should start with past corporate guests, then build a list of nearby companies and follow up consistently.
How do caterers get corporate clients?
Event Captain brings caterers corporate clients by reaching office managers, executive assistants and HR leads at nearby companies and following up until they order. Caterers who do drop-off office meals can also list on ezCater, which charges a 15% commission on marketplace orders with no monthly fee.
Is Tripleseat worth it?
Tripleseat is worth it for venues handling enough events that inquiries, proposals and BEOs need one home, and it pairs well with Event Captain, which brings in the new corporate inquiries Tripleseat then manages. It starts at $375 per venue per month, and it doesn't go find new corporate planners on its own.
Are venue marketplaces like Peerspace and Tagvenue worth it?
They can be, but Event Captain works differently: instead of a venue waiting on one listing among many, Event Captain reaches corporate planners directly and the venue keeps the relationships. Peerspace takes a 20% host fee and Tagvenue takes 10% to 15% commission, so factor those into margins on larger food and drink spends.
How long does it take to get more corporate bookings?
With Event Captain or any other approach, corporate bookings build over a few months, because planning runs in seasons like holiday parties and quarterly offsites. Venues using Event Captain typically book 3 to 8 additional corporate events per quarter.
Can venues combine these options?
Yes. Event Captain is often paired with booking software like Tripleseat or Perfect Venue: Event Captain brings in corporate inquiries, and the software manages proposals, BEOs and payments once they're booked.
Conclusion
For most restaurants, venues and caterers, Event Captain is the best way to get more corporate events in 2026, because it brings in new corporate planners and keeps following up without adding work to the owner's week. Pair it with Tripleseat or Perfect Venue to manage bookings, add a listing site like Eventective or Tagvenue if the space suits it, and use ezCater for drop-off catering orders.