What exactly is Zoho Backstage?
Zoho Backstage is Zoho’s event management platform designed for in-person, hybrid, and virtual events. It lets you build event websites, manage tickets, sessions, speakers, sponsors, and guide participants through the entire event journey – all within one tool. The goal: fewer tool switches, more clarity, and a thoughtfully designed experience for your attendees.
RSVP: Bringing clarity to invite-only events
The new RSVP feature in Zoho Backstage finally answers the question: “Who is actually attending?”
- You can define events as invite-only: only invited guests can register.
- Guest lists can be imported via CSV or Excel and invited directly from Backstage.
- You can set a deadline by which guests must confirm, decline, or respond with “maybe.”
- The RSVP dashboard gives you real-time insight into who has responded, who hasn’t, and who still needs a reminder.
This is especially valuable for exclusive workshops, limited trainings, or customer events. You can now plan catering, room size, and seating based on real numbers – not guesswork.
Certificate Builder: Generate certificates directly within Zoho Backstage
Workshops, trainings, or certification events often require a professional wrap-up – typically in the form of a participation or achievement certificate.
With the new Certificate Builder, you can:
- Design certificates via drag-and-drop – no design skills required
- Automatically insert event and participant data (name, event title, date, logo, signatures, etc.)
- Use templates or create your own designs from scratch
- Deliver certificates automatically via email, for example through a “Download Certificate” button in your event follow-up email
No more juggling external tools: creation, delivery, and assignment happen directly inside Zoho Backstage.
Session Registration & Ticket Grouping: More structure for complex programs
Especially for multi-day conferences or events with parallel tracks, things can get overwhelming. Two new features help streamline the experience.
Session Registration
With Session Registration, you control which sessions require additional sign-ups:
- Set a dedicated attendee limit per session (e.g., only 30 seats for a workshop)
- Add session-specific fees if needed
- Enable session-level check-in to better analyze attendance and no-shows
To ensure smooth operation, ticket classes, payments, the agenda, and (if used) registration approval should already be configured beforehand.
Ticket Grouping (Ticket Class Grouping)
Instead of showing a long list of different ticket types, you can now group them, for example:
- Tier 1 (“Platinum Pass”)
- Tier 2 (“Gold Pass”)
- Tier 3 (“Special Entry”)
This makes the ticket selection page far clearer for participants and helps them understand the differences more quickly – leading to better, more confident purchase decisions.
Accessibility: Making your events more inclusive
Zoho Backstage has taken a major step forward in 2025 in terms of accessibility. The goal is to make events as inclusive as possible for people with different visual, hearing, mobility, or learning needs.
Through the new Accessibility menu, participants can:
- Adjust contrast and colors (e.g., high contrast, grayscale, sepia)
- Change text size and typography, including dyslexia-friendly settings
- Activate reading guides and focus tools for better orientation
- Highlight important links and adjust the zoom level
- Enable keyboard navigation, large cursors, and focus highlights
All options are aligned with WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards, demonstrating that your events are not only professional but also thoughtfully inclusive.
Custom Mobile App: Your event companion in participants’ pockets
Zoho Backstage now places even stronger emphasis on custom event apps that appear in the App Store and Google Play Store with your brand’s look and feel.
In the redesigned mobile app, participants will find:
- A central dashboard with quick access to the agenda, networking, speakers, sponsors, meetings, and more
- A user-friendly agenda that can be filtered by track, topic, or day, with the ability to bookmark sessions
- A networking hub with attendee profiles, 1:1 messaging, meeting requests, and a badge scanner for on-site interactions
- A media gallery containing event photos and highlights
- A personal “Briefcase” where all bookmarked sessions, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors are automatically collected
To publish the app, you’ll need an Apple and/or Google developer account. As a Zoho Premium Partner, we support you throughout the entire process – from configuration to app launch.
More Conversion & Control: Reminders, Payments, and Workflows
In addition to the major updates, Zoho Backstage has introduced many smaller yet powerful enhancements:
- Payment Completion Reminder
Backstage detects abandoned registrations (when users start but do not complete the payment process). Based on this, automated reminder sequences can be triggered – for example after 30 minutes, after 24 hours, and after 3 days. A highly effective way to win back potential attendees who might otherwise drop off. - More flexible payment options
New payment gateways and additional methods (including expanded Stripe options) simplify international payment processing – without any break in the checkout flow. - WhatsApp integration with editable number and new templates
You can now change the phone number used for your WhatsApp integration without rebuilding your setup. New preconfigured templates help streamline communication with attendees, speakers, and sponsors. - More control over cancellations and ticket transfers
You can allow or restrict ticket transfers (including defining time windows). Cancellations can now run through an approval workflow: participants submit a cancellation request, and you decide whether to approve and process the refund.
Together, these features make your processes more professional and fully integrated – from the first booking to any potential refunds.
Make the most of Zoho Backstage now
The new features in Zoho Backstage clearly show how consistently Zoho enhances event management based on real-world needs:
- RSVP makes exclusive events far easier to plan
- Certificate Builder delivers a professional event wrap-up
- Session Registration & Ticket Grouping bring clarity to complex programs
- Accessibility features & the new Custom Mobile App significantly improve participant experience
- Reminders, payment options, and workflows strengthen your conversion and operational control
If you already use Zoho Backstage – or are considering it – now is the perfect time to explore these features and integrate them into your event strategy together with CEYOND as your Zoho Premium Partner.
Tip for further reading: If you want to stay updated on the latest features across the Zoho ecosystem, we also recommend our recent article on the Zoho Projects updates: Zoho Projects Update
