Colara

Overview

Colara is wedding-planning software that connects couples and wedding professionals in a shared workspace, with separate CRM tools for vendors. It is best suited to planners and photographers who want to coordinate weddings while managing client work in one product. Couples can start free, but vendors should weigh the free CRM’s online-payment fees and its lack of an owned wedding workspace.

Key features

A live timeline sits at the center of Colara’s shared planning tools. Planner workspaces bring timelines together with vendors, contracts, couples, and floor plans, helping multiple roles coordinate around the same wedding. Couples’ tools include guest management, vendor coordination, checklists, and a photo gallery; the listed Couples Pro plan adds full timeline editing and premium features for a one-time payment.

The free vendor CRM covers much of the client journey: a lead and client pipeline, proposals, e-signature contracts, invoices, payment reminders, scheduling, questionnaires, an inbox, email templates, finances, a calendar, and a task board. Its unlimited clients, leads, jobs, proposals, contracts, and invoices make it a substantial starting point for a small vendor business. The important compromise is that vendors do not receive an owned wedding workspace on the free plan.

Free-plan online payments incur a 1% platform fee on cards or 1.5% total on bank payments, capped at $30 per payment including Stripe’s fee. Manual payments have no platform or Stripe fee. Vendor CRM Pro removes the online-payment platform fee, so it may suit businesses that process enough payments online for that charge to matter.

AI features include a timeline builder for planners and photographers and an assistant for wedding and client work. Colara connects with QuickBooks Online, Google Calendar, Zapier, Make, and webhooks. Its Chrome extension can search client records, save notes, update workflows, and query the workspace assistant from a browser tab. It uses the existing secure workspace session, requests access for client lookup and requested updates, and has no advertising or behavioral tracking.

Pricing

Colara is freemium, with no free trial. Couples and Vendor CRM Free both cost nothing. The Couples plan includes guest management, vendor coordination, checklists, and a photo gallery. Vendor CRM Free provides unlimited leads, clients, jobs, proposals, contracts, invoices, payments, and core business tools, but no owned wedding workspace; online-payment fees apply as described above.

Vendor CRM Pro costs $29 a month, billed monthly, and adds advanced tools while removing the online-payment platform fee. It is the natural next step for vendors who need more than the free CRM or want to avoid that platform fee. The available plan description does not enumerate its advanced tools, so the free CRM’s listed capabilities are the clearer basis for comparison.

Photographer Starter costs $39 a month and is built around photography-first timelines, family photo lists, client management, and day-of tools. It fits photographers who need those workflow tools without the unlimited-wedding tier. Planner Starter costs $49 a month for a full workspace covering timelines, vendors, contracts, invoicing, couples, and floor plans.

Photographer Unlimited costs $69 a month and adds unlimited weddings to the photography-first toolset. Planner Unlimited costs $99 a month and combines unlimited weddings with the full planner workspace. Couples Pro costs $99, paid once as a one-time payment, adding full timeline editing and premium features. The plan descriptions do not state seat limits or quotas beyond the unlimited-wedding distinction.

Platforms

Colara is available as a web product, an iOS app, and a Chrome extension. The maker says its iPhone and iPad app is free on the App Store. The extension is useful for updating client workflows or consulting the workspace assistant without leaving a browser tab.

Who it's for

Colara is strongest for wedding planners and photographers who need both coordination tools and client-business workflows, and for couples who want a shared planning workspace. The maker developed it from her experience as a wedding photographer, and says users who send feedback speak directly with someone who has worked as one. Vendors seeking only a CRM should compare the free-plan workspace limitation and payment fees with the paid Pro option; couples do not need to pay for the basic Couples plan.

Pros and cons

• Pro: The free CRM includes a broad set of business tools and unlimited core records, making it a capable starting point for vendors.
• Pro: Shared wedding workspaces combine timelines with vendors, contracts, couples, and floor plans, keeping several planning roles within one system.
• Pro: The browser extension supports practical client lookups and workflow updates, with no advertising or behavioral tracking.
• Con: Free-CRM vendors do not get an owned wedding workspace, so the free business tools do not provide the full shared-planning setup.
• Con: Online payments on the free plan carry a platform fee; manual payments avoid it, but change the payment workflow.
• Con: Moving to a paid photography or planner tier means a monthly commitment, with plans ranging from $39.00 USD to $99 a month.

Alternatives

For a broader comparison, browse Wedding Planning Software.

Choose ForeverAfter if you want a free wedding-planning option with Android support and a free trial; its free Starter includes unlimited guests, one contributor, and five AI assistant messages. Marry Planner is another free-trial option, with a free plan for one wedding and up to 30 guests, plus unlimited vendors, venues, budget tracking, and checklist items.

WeddingWire Planning Tools is a free alternative for readers who want free wedding-planning tools and an app. Choose Folia if a web-based free plan capped at 500 guests and 10 vendors, with budget tracking, better fits your needs. RSVPify offers a free plan for 100 guests and paid tiers described by monthly registration quotas.

Lumière may suit readers seeking a web-based planner with a free tier that caps AI messages, tasks, vendors, and guests. WedSetGo is a free, ad-supported option for Android and web users who want to avoid subscriptions. Zola Wedding Planner is a free option for personal, non-commercial use on iOS and web.

Verdict

Choose Colara if you are a wedding planner or photographer who wants wedding coordination and client-business tools in one workspace, or a couple looking for a free starting point. Its breadth of free CRM tools is a strong entry point for vendors, but the missing owned wedding workspace and online-payment fees are meaningful limits. Look elsewhere if you need a free vendor workspace or do not want to pay monthly for the full planner or photographer tools.