# bzar vs Google Forms and Square

Many organizers start with Google Forms or Jotform for applications and Square or PayPal for booth fees. It costs little, but matching payments to vendors, assigning booths, refunds, tickets and check-in all happen by hand. bzar keeps applications, payments, booths, tickets and check-in together.

## Choose bzar if

- You want vendor applications, booth payments, ticketing and check-in in one dashboard.
- You're tired of matching payments to applications in a spreadsheet.
- You want rejected vendors refunded without logging into a separate payment app.
- You want vendors placed on a booth map, not a list.
- You want emails to go out on their own when vendors apply, get approved, and before and after the event.

## Choose Google Forms and Square if

- You run a small one-off event with a handful of vendors and don't mind tracking payments yourself.

## Features

| Feature | bzar | Google Forms or Jotform + Square |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor applications with your own questions | Yes | Yes |
| Application scoring and jurying | No | Partly |
| Vendor badges and track record | No | No |
| Booth types with prices and limits | Yes | Partly |
| Booth map | Yes | Not listed |
| Booth fees paid by card | Yes | Yes |
| Refunds from the platform | Yes | Partly |
| Insurance and permit collection | Yes | Yes |
| Vendor agreements to sign | Yes | Yes |
| Free and paid ticketing | Yes | Partly |
| QR check-in | Yes | Partly |
| Promo codes | Yes | Yes |
| Public vendor directory | Yes | Not listed |
| Messaging and announcements to vendors | Yes | Partly |
| Email automations | Yes | Yes |
| One inbox for platform messages, email and Instagram | No | Not listed |
| AI operator | No | Yes |
| Organizer page with followers | Yes | No |
| Built-in audience of vendors and attendees | Yes | No |
| Payouts and revenue analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Shopper preorders from vendors | Yes | Not listed |
| Weekly market seasons | Yes | Not listed |
| Organizer mobile app | No | Yes |

## Fees for the same event

### Market with paid entry: 40 booths at $75, 300 tickets at $10

| Platform | Total fees |
|---|---|
| bzar | $313 |
| Forms + Square + Eventbrite | $846 |

### Free-entry market: 40 booths at $75

| Platform | Total fees |
|---|---|
| Forms + Square + Eventbrite | $111 |
| bzar | $223 |

### Festival: 120 booths at $150, 2,000 tickets at $5

| Platform | Total fees |
|---|---|
| bzar | $1,598 |
| Forms + Square + Eventbrite | $4,909 |

## Switching from Google Forms and Square

1. Create a free organizer account and set up your event.
2. Rebuild your form's questions in the bzar application form; the answers and payments now land in one place.
3. Send the new application link instead of your form link.

Checked 2026-10-09 against Google Forms or Jotform + Square's own website. All comparisons: https://bzar.app/compare