Comparison · checked September 2026
BacklotHub vs spreadsheets and Google Forms
Short answer: For one or two shows and a short crew list, a shared spreadsheet and a Google Form can be enough. BacklotHub is for when they stop keeping up: crew sign-ups you approve before anyone joins the roster, payroll confirming hires from a link, insurance expiry reminders, POs that need a second approver, and RSVPs with door check-in, for one flat price per company.
What is Spreadsheets and Google Forms?
Most production offices start with Google Sheets for the crew and vendor lists and Google Forms for sign-ups and RSVPs. Google describes Forms as a way to create forms and surveys to gather data, and says anyone with a Google Account can create in Sheets, with co-editing and comments from internal and external teams. It’s flexible and everyone already knows it. Every workflow on top, like approvals, reminders and who can see which column, is something your office builds and keeps up itself.[1][2]
Spreadsheets and Google Forms and BacklotHub, feature by feature
“Not published” means we couldn’t find it on Spreadsheets and Google Forms’s own site. It may still exist. Numbers in brackets point to the sources at the bottom of the page.
Swipe the table sideways to see both columns.
| Feature | Spreadsheets and Google Forms | BacklotHub |
|---|---|---|
| How it’s priced | Google Account; Workspace plans priced per user[2][3] | Flat monthly price per company |
| Crew database for your company | A shared sheet[2] | Yes |
| Your own crew sign-up page and self-service portal | Build it yourself: a form feeding a sheet | Yes |
| Crew hires sent to payroll, confirmed from a link | Build it yourself: email and follow-ups | Yes |
| Vendor records and insurance (COI) expiry tracking | Build it yourself: dates in a column | Yes |
| Purchase orders with approval | Build it yourself | Yes, second approver required |
| Gear and asset tracking | Build it yourself | Yes, sequential asset tags |
| Shipping requests, labels and live carrier status | Tracking numbers pasted by hand | Yes; label buying on Studio and up |
| Event RSVPs, guest lists and door check-in | A form for RSVPs; check-in by hand | Yes |
| Build call sheets | Build it yourself from a template | Yes |
Pricing: Spreadsheets and Google Forms and BacklotHub
Spreadsheets and Google Forms
As published on Spreadsheets and Google Forms’s own site, September 2026.
BacklotHub
One flat monthly price per production company, in US dollars.
- Lite · 5 staff seats$199/mo
- Studio · 15 staff seats$399/mo
- Pro · 40 staff seats$599/mo
- Enterprise · unlimited seatsCustom
- · Annual billing: 12 months for the price of 10.
- · Extra staff seat: $20/month.
- · Crew, vendors, payroll contacts and guests are never seats.
Which should you choose?
Choose Spreadsheets and Google Forms if…
- You run one or two shows a year and a shared sheet is enough.
- Your crew and vendor lists are short, and one person keeps them up to date.
- You already pay for Google Workspace and don’t want another bill yet.
Choose BacklotHub if…
- Crew phone numbers, rates and insurance dates keep going stale because several people edit the same sheet.
- You want sign-ups approved before anyone joins the roster, with crew only ever seeing their own record and rates visible only to managers.
- Payroll, vendors and guests need to confirm or update things from a signed link, without an account.
- You want an audit log of who changed what, and CSV export whenever you need a spreadsheet again.
Questions people ask
- Can we bring our existing spreadsheets into BacklotHub?
- Yes. Crew, vendor and gear lists import from spreadsheets, and AI import can read old call sheets and crew lists and flag likely duplicates before anything is saved. On Pro and Enterprise we do the import for you.
- Can BacklotHub replace our RSVP Google Form?
- Yes. Each event gets an RSVP page with capacity, a waitlist and plus-ones. Guests get their own link to change their answer, you can paste a guest list from Google Sheets, and door check-in works on any phone and updates live.
- Is BacklotHub worth it for a small office?
- The Lite plan is $199 a month (Lite: 3 active productions, 5 staff seats). If a shared sheet is still working for you, it may not be worth it yet. It usually is once hires, insurance certificates and shipping are being chased by email.
- Can we still get our data out as a spreadsheet?
- Yes. Crew, vendor and guest lists export to CSV exactly as filtered on screen, and the data belongs to your company.
Related
Other comparisons
The BacklotHub features in question
Checked September 2026 · sources
Everything we say about Spreadsheets and Google Forms comes from Spreadsheets and Google Forms’s own website or help centre, read in September 2026. Prices and features change, so check their site before you decide. Where something isn’t published, we say so rather than guess. Spot something out of date? Email us and we’ll fix it.
- [1]Google Forms product page: workspace.google.com/products/forms/
- [2]Google Sheets product page: workspace.google.com/products/sheets/
- [3]Google Workspace pricing: workspace.google.com/pricing
Google Sheets and Google Forms are trademarks of their owner; BacklotHub is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Spreadsheets and Google Forms. We name it only to compare the products.
See BacklotHub with your own shows in mind.
A 30-minute walkthrough with someone who has run a production office. Bring the spreadsheet you trust least.