---
title: Understanding Booths and Categories
description: "VendorHearth Pro uses **booths** and **vendor categories** to help organizers control event availability. Although they work together during the application process, they serve different purposes. ## What Is a Booth Type? A booth type represents the type of space or…"
url: "https://vendorhearth.com/docs/understanding-booths-and-categories/"
updated: "2026-09-22"
category: "Booths & Categories — booth types, capacity, category limits, booth selection/assignments"
---

# Understanding Booths and Categories

VendorHearth Pro uses **booths** and **vendor categories** to help organizers control event availability.

Although they work together during the application process, they serve different purposes.

## What Is a Booth Type?

A booth type represents the type of space or participation option available to a vendor.

A booth type can include information such as:

- Booth name
- Price
- Location type
- Capacity

Examples could include:

- 10' × 10' Indoor Booth
- 10' × 10' Outdoor Booth
- 10' × 20' Outdoor Booth
- Food Truck Space

The booth types you create should reflect the spaces actually available for your event.

## What Is Booth Capacity?

Booth capacity determines how many spaces of a particular booth type are available through the normal VendorHearth workflow.

For example, if an event has:

**10' × 10' Indoor Booth — Capacity: 30**

VendorHearth can use that capacity when determining availability for that booth type.

Booth capacity is covered in more detail in **Setting Booth Prices and Capacity**.

## What Is a Vendor Category?

A vendor category describes the type of business, products, or services represented by a vendor.

Examples could include:

- Jewelry
- Candles
- Apparel
- Baked Goods
- Woodworking
- Art
- Food Trucks

Categories help organizers organize applications and control the mix of vendors accepted into an event.

## Booth Types and Categories Are Different

Booth types control **space availability**.

Vendor categories control **vendor-type availability**.

These are separate limits.

For example, an event could still have 15 open booth spaces while its Jewelry category has already reached its configured limit.

In that situation, physical booth capacity remains available, but Jewelry availability may be full.

## Categories Can Vary by Event

Your organization can maintain a set of vendor categories in VendorHearth while controlling which categories are available for individual events.

This means a category can be available for one event and unavailable for another.

You can also configure event-specific category limits.

## Booth Types Can Vary by Event

Booth options can also be configured according to the needs of each event.

One event might offer indoor and outdoor spaces, while another might offer only outdoor booths.

Pricing and capacity can also vary between events.

## Booth Type vs. Booth Assignment

A **booth type** is the type of space the vendor is applying or paying for.

A **booth assignment** identifies the actual location the vendor receives.

For example:

**Booth Type:** 10' × 10' Indoor Booth
**Booth Assignment:** Booth 27

These should not be treated as the same thing.

## Vendor Booth Selection

VendorHearth can also support workflows where vendors select from available booth locations.

The organizer controls the available booth options, while VendorHearth tracks selections and assignments.

Vendor booth selection is covered separately in **Vendor Booth Selection**.

## Why Both Systems Matter

Using booth capacity and category limits together gives organizers more control than relying on a single event-wide capacity number.

VendorHearth can help track both:

**Do we still have physical space?**

and

**Do we still have availability for this type of vendor?**

## Before Opening Applications

Before opening an event for vendor applications, review:

- Available booth types
- Booth prices
- Booth capacities
- Location classifications
- Available vendor categories
- Category limits

Making sure these are correct before applications begin reduces the need to make changes after vendors have already submitted information.

## Next Step

Continue to **Creating and Managing Booth Types** to learn how booth options are configured for an event.