Free tool
Event head count estimator
A yes count is not an attendance count. Put your replies in and get a low, likely and high figure you can order against.
Count people, not replies — one household of four counts as four.
Assumptions you can adjust
Low
34
Likely
43
High
70
These are your own assumptions applied consistently, not an industry benchmark. Order fixed-cost items to the likely figure and let flexible items cover the high figure.
Why the gap exists and what widens it: how many guests actually show up. To get these four numbers automatically, see guest list management.
Questions people ask
- How do I estimate a head count from RSVP replies?
- Start with confirmed attending guests, count people rather than replies, then treat maybes and non-repliers as a range instead of a number. This tool turns your inputs into a low, likely and high figure so you can order against a range.
- What percentage of maybes will attend?
- There is no reliable universal figure — it depends on your event, your lead time and how easy it is to change an answer. The tool defaults to a conservative share of maybes and lets you adjust it, because you know your guests better than any average does.
- Should I plan food for the high or low number?
- Plan anything that scales badly — plated meals, seats, per-person venue fees — to the likely figure, and let flexible items like drinks and sides cover the gap to the high figure. That way being wrong costs you leftovers, not a shortfall.
- Is anything I type here saved?
- No. The whole calculation happens in your browser. There is no account, no submission and no stored data.
Stop maintaining the count by hand
Publish an event page and watch attending, maybe and no-reply update themselves.