Calisto Pro vs Tripleseat & Planning Pod
Tripleseat is a lead capture tool for restaurants and hotels. Planning Pod is a project management app for event planners. Neither handles your full pipeline from inquiry to execution. Calisto does: proposals, BEOs, e-signatures, floor plans, catering, POS, and 19 native products.
Lead capture tools vs. a complete venue OS
Feature by feature
Feature-by-feature comparison with leading alternatives
| Feature | Calisto Pro | Tripleseat | Planning Pod |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead Capture & Event Pipeline | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| BEO (Banquet Event Order) Generation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Event Calendar & Availability | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Invoice and Billing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Contract Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Basic Contact Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reporting & Analytics | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Interactive Proposals with Branded Templates | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Native E-Signatures (Sign) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Visual Floor Plan Builder (Seat Designer) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Full Catering Management with Kitchen Display | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Menu Builder & F&B Minimums | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| On-Site POS (Bar, Kitchen, Merch, Concessions) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Dynamic Pricing (7-Factor Algorithm) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 40+ Payment Gateways (Your Choice) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Self-Service Client Portal (Navigator) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Omnichannel Messaging (WhatsApp, SMS, Email) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Marketing Automation & Campaigns (Studio) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Milestone Auto-Emails | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Referral & Affiliate Program (Circle) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Event Ticketing & Capacity Management | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Crew Management & Call Sheets | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| TV Display System (Event Boards, Menu Boards) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Staff Training LMS (University) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Native VoIP Calling | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Video Conferencing (Meet) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Compliance & Safety Inspections (Assure) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Hotel Room Blocks (GRC) | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Accounting Sync (QB, Xero, Alegra) | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| CRM with Universal Contact Record | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Choose your processor. Not theirs.
Tripleseat has limited payment integrations and pushes their preferred processors. Planning Pod uses Stripe only. Calisto connects to 55+ payment gateways across 9 global regions. Collect deposits, process final payments, and handle refunds through your own merchant account.
From inquiry to execution. Included.
Tripleseat captures leads and generates BEOs. Planning Pod manages tasks and timelines. But running a venue requires proposals, floor plans, catering, POS, and day-of execution that neither platform delivers.
Proposals & E-Signatures: Included
Tripleseat generates basic PDFs. Planning Pod has no proposal tools. Calisto Proposals creates branded, interactive proposals that clients can review, customize, and approve online. Calisto Sign captures legally binding e-signatures with automatic reminders and counter-signing. No DocuSign subscription needed.
- ✓Branded interactive proposals with line-item customization
- ✓Native e-signatures with audit trail (Calisto Sign)
- ✓Automatic reminders and counter-signing workflows
- ✓Deposit collection triggered on signature
Floor Plan Builder: Included
Neither Tripleseat nor Planning Pod offers visual floor plan design. Calisto Seat Designer provides drag-and-drop venue layout creation with round tables, square tables, booths, bar counters, stages, and zones. Clients see interactive floor plans in their portal. Staff sees table assignments on TV displays. Same layout powers POS dine-in and Ops table board.
- ✓Drag-and-drop floor plan builder with presets
- ✓Tables, booths, bars, stages, and zones
- ✓Client-facing interactive layout in portal
- ✓Powers POS dine-in and Ops table board
Day-Of Operations: Included
Lead capture tools stop when the contract is signed. Calisto continues into day-of execution with POS for bar and catering, kitchen display system for food orders, crew management with call sheets, equipment tracking, and real-time event dashboards. BEO items auto-generate production tasks. Everything connects to the same event, the same client, the same financial record.
- ✓POS for bar, kitchen, merch, and concessions
- ✓Kitchen display system for real-time order routing
- ✓Crew rostering with automated call sheets
- ✓BEO items auto-generate production tasks
2% of revenue. Everything included.
Tripleseat charges per-user-per-month with pricing hidden behind sales calls. Planning Pod charges per-user with event limits. Calisto charges 2% of revenue with all 15 products included from day one. No per-user fees, no event limits. You pay when you earn.
Switching questions
Yes. Calisto Navigator gives every client a self-service portal where they can review BEOs, approve floor plans, sign contracts, make payments, and message your team. Changes clients request flow back to your ops dashboard for review. No email attachments or PDF round-trips.
Floor plans created in Seat Designer power both the client-facing layout view and the operational table board. POS servers see the same layout when taking dine-in orders. Ops staff see table status on TV displays. One floor plan, used everywhere.
Yes. Each venue can have multiple spaces with independent floor plans, capacity limits, and pricing. The event pipeline shows availability across all spaces. BEOs can span multiple rooms for multi-space events. Pricing rules can vary by space, day of week, and season.
Yes. Start for free with full access to all 15 products. No credit card required, no time limit, and no feature restrictions. You only pay the 2% revenue share once you begin processing transactions.
Because it makes us partners, not just a vendor. A fixed subscription means your software company gets paid whether you have a record month or an empty lobby. A revenue share means we are financially invested in building tools that actually grow your business. If you have a slow month or a seasonal closure, your bill scales down with you.