Guide
What’s the best app to organize your TTRPG group?
It depends on what keeps breaking. For chatting, Discord or your group chat. For playing online with maps and tokens, Roll20 or Foundry VTT. For picking a date once, a poll or Google Calendar. For sessions that confirm themselves, with calendar, reminders and books in one place, Guildrest, your party’s tavern, was built for that. Most groups combine two.
Which app fits which need?
Start from the problem, not the app. If plans get lost in chat, decisions need a home; if online sessions stall, you need a virtual tabletop; if nobody remembers the date, you need a calendar. The comparison below shows who handles each part.
Do Roll20 and Foundry VTT organize the group?
They’re virtual tabletops: maps, tokens, character sheets and rules automation while you play. Booking the date, counting who’s in and reminding the party isn’t the core of either, which is why so many groups pair one with Discord.
When is Guildrest the wrong pick?
When your Discord server and bot already work and nobody gets left out; when what you’re missing is a virtual tabletop with maps and tokens, which the tavern doesn’t have; or when you play twice a year and a poll is plenty. A free tool will do.
Step by step
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List what hurts most: the date, attendance, reminders, books or online play.
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Keep what already works: don’t replace a tool nobody complains about.
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Pick one tool for each problem left, and as few tools as you can.
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Try it with the party for a few sessions before paying for anything.
Each need, who handles it
| What the table needs | Good options | In Guildrest |
|---|---|---|
| Day-to-day chat | Discord or your group chat, wherever the party already is. | The Chat, split into channels; or keep your usual app. |
| Picking a date | A Discord event, a scheduling bot or a date-poll site. | A poll with up to 20 time slots, locked by the GM or at the deadline. |
| Knowing if the game is on | Polls and bots show who’s in; someone decides. | Quorum counts itself and the session flips to confirmed. |
| Notifying the party | A channel ping or a bot. | Discord, email and an in-app bell, plus ready-to-paste text for WhatsApp. |
| Everyone’s calendar | Google Calendar or a spreadsheet, updated by hand. | A Google Calendar invite that updates itself, in each player’s time zone, plus .ics. |
| Playing online with maps | Roll20 or Foundry VTT. | No maps or tokens. The Portal opens the GM’s Foundry, and the Table has voice, video, screen and dice. |
| Books and PDFs | A shared Google Drive folder. | The Bookshelf reads the Drive folder, with a PDF reader and bookmarks. |
| Price | Discord and Roll20 free to start; Foundry VTT is a one-time license the GM buys. | From $4.49 a month for the whole table. |
Compared in November 2026 using each tool’s public features. Discord, Roll20, Foundry VTT, WhatsApp and Google Calendar are trademarks of their owners; Guildrest is not affiliated with any of them.
Want to see it in action?
Opens a demo tavern in your browser, no sign-up. Nothing you do there is saved.
Questions on this topic
What’s the best free app to organize a D&D group?
To start at no cost, a Discord server with a scheduling bot covers chat and dates. What it usually lacks is someone counting who’s in and chasing answers. The tavern has a demo you can open without signing up to see the difference.
Can I use Guildrest with Roll20 or Foundry VTT?
Yes. The tavern books and notifies; the game stays on your tabletop. With Foundry VTT, the Portal saves the GM’s address, shows whether it’s online and opens the game inside the app. There’s no Roll20 integration: schedule in the tavern and play there as usual.
Can Guildrest help me find players?
No. It organizes a group that already exists, up to 10 people, and there’s no open sign-up: the GM creates each account.