We hope you all had an amazing year of events, because we for sure had a blast! In fact, we had an eventful year of events (pun intended).
While events kept happening around the world, something equally exciting was unfolding behind the scenes. With every event hosted, Zoho Backstage was growing—learning from real-world use, evolving based on organizer needs, and enriching the end-to-end experience.
From powering large-scale community events like Zoholics to enabling thousands of unique stories, 2025 was a year of milestones and meaningful progress for Zoho Backstage.
As we pause for breath this holiday season, we wanted to rectify something. We haven't spoken to you nearly enough these past few months. We hope to rectify that starting 2026 :)
A year, by the numbers
Before we talk about releases and roadmaps, let's look at the real story with numbers. They’re a testimony to what’s been steadily built behind the stage on Backstage.
Every event created, every session hosted, every attendee checked in, and every experience delivered adds up. We are grateful for every single milestone, and very grateful for the years of opportunity to listen, learn, and build alongside event organizers.
A year of Zoholics
The growth of our product, and our customers has coincided with our own company's event journey. The past 12 months, Zoho has delivered 45 editions of Zoholics, in 38 countries, engaged with over 25,000 customers in these events. The incredible part is that all this was made possible with a team of just 25 event organisers!
Since everything was brought together by one single tech platform (Zoho Backstage), we take deep pride in our skill and commitment to the cause represented by events. And in 2025, that effort peaked.
This became our biggest year ever in terms of updates—not just in volume but in intent. We didn’t just ship features; we laid the foundation for what the future of events should look like.
Zoho Backstage 3.0: A smarter, more inclusive future
In 2025, we reinforced our commitment to building accessible event experiences with the launch of Zoho Backstage 3.0. At its core, the release was about moving toward a smarter, more inclusive, and more flexible future of events. We also reimagined Backstage through the lens of the entire event lifecycle—from the first RSVP to the final certificate issued.
And let's now take a look at how the 2025 releases shaped every step of the event journey.
1. Before the event
RSVP management: Organizers can now manage invite-only events, internal meetups, and limited-capacity sessions.
Ticket pricing & discounting: Introduced tiered pricing and dynamic discount rules, giving organizers the freedom to reward early birds, offer group discounts, or personalize pricing based on audience segments.
Ticket waitlist: Attendees can now queue up for events, and fill spots as they open for sold out events.
New PGs and smarter tax: With new payment integrations, organizers can handle transactions with greater confidence. Along with that, managing region-specific taxes and compliance became far simpler, especially for global events.
2. During the event
New mobile app: The all new 2025 refresh makes the app faster, and more intuitive. Usage in terms of actions have increased manyfold.
SUNMI printers: The new integration makes event-day check-ins and badge printing faster and better. An upgrade which uplifts attendee experience instantly.
Exhibitor Pro: Exhibitors can now measure RoI (manage leads, track engagement) without organizer intervention. Event organizers get unlimited exhibitor listings on the website too!
3. After the event
- Certificate builder: Organizers can now design and issue certificates for all stakeholders, be it attendees or exhibitors from within the software.
In case you missed it...
Yet another Zoholics ran on Zoho Backstage, but this time we documented it for you!
Have you ever looked at a Zoholics event and wondered what it takes to organize Zoho's flagship event annually on such a large scale, not just in one country but in over 40 around the world?
Well, it does take a lot of preparing, planning, coordinating, and executing, backed by one platform in Zoho Backstage. We naturally got curious and were given the backstage pass to one of the largest Zoholics ever organized.
Watch how Zoholics Kenya is built on Backstage.
What's next: Abstract management and beyond
2026 has a lot in store for you. The Abstract management module is right around the corner. You'll be able to manage abstracts, manage submissions, and assign blind reviews—all within our tool. Get ready for early access.
Many more enhancements are coming too, and we'll bring them to you throughout the year. There are murmurings of a late year 4.0 release too. Shhh!
And Finally, here’s to everything we built in 2025 and to everything that’s coming up. Because the best events are always built (on) backstage.
Cheers to a very eventful new year, and full of eventful events!
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