Comparison

BANDANA vs Gigwell

Reviewed August 2026

Gigwell is subscription booking-management software built primarily for booking agents and agencies — contracts with e-sign, online payments, a large venue and contact database, and automated ticket-count reporting, with published plans starting at $33 a month. BANDANA is free and built for the other end of the business: an independent venue's own booking calendar, the bands requesting dates on it, the gig advance they share, and low-fee ticketing — with the band-side tools (set lists, chords, recordings) included rather than sold separately.

BANDANA dashboard on a phone listing a band and a venue the same person runs — One dashboard for every band you play in and every room you run.

A BANDANA gig advance page showing set times, backline and band details — One advance page the venue and every band on the bill share.

A venue booking calendar in BANDANA with open and closed dates marked — One shared calendar with the dates you are actually taking requests on.

Incoming band booking requests listed for a venue in BANDANA — Requests arrive in one queue instead of five inboxes.

A venue's public BANDANA booking form embedded on a website — The request form, embedded on your own site and styled like your room.

A venue's upcoming shows calendar embedded on its own website — Your upcoming shows on your site, dropping off after the show's day ends.

Recurring open mic and jam sessions listed for a venue in BANDANA — Recurring open mic and jam nights generate themselves week to week.

Editing a BANDANA tix ticket page with a hero image and rich text description — Build the ticket page visually, using what bands already submitted.

A live public BANDANA tix ticket page styled with a venue's colors — The public page carries your venue's colors and fonts.

A fan buying a ticket in BANDANA tix with pricing and fees shown — Checkout shows the price and fees plainly before anyone pays.

A venue's upcoming ticketed shows with sales counts in BANDANA — Upcoming and past ticketed shows with sales counts in one list.

Public page styling card in a venue's Info tab with background, accent, and font choices — Pick the background, accent color, and fonts your public pages and embeds use.

What Gigwell focuses on

End-to-end booking management for agents and agencies: contracts, payments, advancing, and tour data.

BANDANA and Gigwell, side by side

Competitor details below are from their own public pages, checked August 2026. Pricing changes — confirm on their site before you decide. Gigwell pricing

Price: BANDANAFree for bands and venues; GigwellPublished plans from $33 a month (Discover), $39 (Book), $79 (Track); agency tiers quoted
Built for: BANDANAIndependent venues and the bands playing them; GigwellBooking agents and agencies first, with artist and venue products
Contracts and e-sign: BANDANANot offered; GigwellYes, and a core strength — customizable contracts with e-signature
Payments: BANDANATicket payouts via Stripe; no artist-fee invoicing; GigwellYes — online payments and revenue tracking
Venue database: BANDANAPublic directory of independent venues with the dates they have open; GigwellTour IQ database of 65,000+ venues and contacts, from $33 a month
Ticketing: BANDANABANDANA tix — $0.25 per ticket plus Stripe's own fee, paid direct to the venue; GigwellTicket count tracking and box-office reporting, not ticket sales
Gig advancing: BANDANAShared gig page for the venue and every band on the bill, free; GigwellArtist advancing included in their platform
Band-side tools: BANDANASet lists, chords and transposition, recordings, scheduling, stage plots; GigwellNot published

What you get	BANDANA	Gigwell
Price	Free for bands and venues	Published plans from $33 a month (Discover), $39 (Book), $79 (Track); agency tiers quoted
Built for	Independent venues and the bands playing them	Booking agents and agencies first, with artist and venue products
Contracts and e-sign	Not offered	Yes, and a core strength — customizable contracts with e-signature
Payments	Ticket payouts via Stripe; no artist-fee invoicing	Yes — online payments and revenue tracking
Venue database	Public directory of independent venues with the dates they have open	Tour IQ database of 65,000+ venues and contacts, from $33 a month
Ticketing	BANDANA tix — $0.25 per ticket plus Stripe's own fee, paid direct to the venue	Ticket count tracking and box-office reporting, not ticket sales
Gig advancing	Shared gig page for the venue and every band on the bill, free	Artist advancing included in their platform
Band-side tools	Set lists, chords and transposition, recordings, scheduling, stage plots	Not published

Choose Gigwell if

You are an agency running contracts, payments, and a roster across many artists
You need e-signed contracts and settlement paperwork as a system of record
A large searchable venue and contact database is worth a monthly subscription to you

Choose BANDANA if

You are an independent room or a self-booking band, not an agency
You want booking, advancing, and ticketing without a monthly fee
The bands you book should be able to use the same tool for free

Common questions

Is BANDANA a free alternative to Gigwell?

For an independent venue or a self-booking band, largely yes: booking requests, a booking calendar, gig advances, and band tools are free in BANDANA. Gigwell's contracts, e-sign, and agency payment tooling have no BANDANA equivalent — check gigwell.com for their current plans.

Does BANDANA do contracts and settlements?

No. BANDANA covers the request, the confirmed date, the advance, and the ticket page. Contracts and settlements happen outside it.