5,000+ organizers trust Hi.Events

The cheapest ticketing platform
depends on your ticket

A flat fee hurts a cheap ticket and a percentage hurts a dear one, and some platforms add card processing on top while others include it. Move the slider to your ticket price and see who is cheapest, card fees and all. On Hi.Events the buyer pays our fee at checkout, so it costs you nothing.

On a $30 ticket in the US, the cheapest platform that publishes a fee in USD for any organizer is TicketSource, at $2.04 a ticket all-in.

  1. 1Zeffyregistered nonprofits only$0.00
  2. 2TryBookingconverted*$1.69
  3. 3pretixconverted*$1.92
  4. 4TicketSource$2.04
  5. 5Tito$2.07
  6. 6Hi.Events$2.15

Platform fee plus card processing per ticket, cheapest first, out of 16 platforms with a fee in USD. Where processing is charged on top, a standard 2.9% + $0.30 is added. This is the whole cost of a ticket, whoever pays it: on Hi.Events the buyer pays the 1.25% + $0.60 at checkout and you pay only the card processing. The full table has every platform. * No published rate in this currency. Converted from the platform's published rate at approximate exchange rates (1 USD ≈ €0.92, £0.78 and A$1.55); the vendor may price differently, or not sell, in this currency.

The short answer

Cheapest, by situation

Worked out from the platforms that publish a standard USD rate, with card processing added where the platform charges it on top.

Free tickets

Most cost nothing

13 of the 17 platforms here charge nothing on free tickets, Hi.Events included. Card processing doesn't apply when nobody pays.

A $10 ticket

Tito

$0.89 a ticket all-in. Hi.Events is $1.32 on the same ticket, with our fee paid by the buyer.

A $30 ticket

TicketSource

$2.04 a ticket all-in. Hi.Events is $2.15 on the same ticket, with our fee paid by the buyer.

A $150 ticket

TicketSource

$6.24 a ticket all-in. Hi.Events is $7.13 on the same ticket, with our fee paid by the buyer.

Registered nonprofits

Zeffy

No platform fee and card processing covered, paid for by an optional contribution buyers are asked for at checkout. Only for the nonprofits it accepts.

Running your own server

Self-hosting

Hi.Events and pretix are open source, so a self-hosted install has no platform fee. You pay card processing, the hosting and the time to keep it running.

Honestly

When another platform is cheaper than Hi.Events

Hi.Events charges 1.25% + $0.60 per paid ticket, added at checkout and paid by the buyer, with Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 on top. That isn't the lowest fee on every ticket, so here is every case between $5 and $300 in the US where someone else costs less.

  • DICE is cheaper on tickets up to $10 (13%, card processing included).
  • Resident Advisor is cheaper on tickets up to $15 (10%, last known rate, card processing included).
  • Fatsoma is cheaper on tickets up to $6 (10%, plus card processing).
  • TicketSource is cheaper on tickets of $15 and up (3.5% + $0.99, card processing included).
  • Universe is cheaper on tickets up to $12 (2% + $0.79, plus card processing).
  • Luma is cheaper on tickets up to $15 (5%, plus card processing).
  • Tito is cheaper on tickets up to $33 (3%, plus card processing).
  • TryBooking is cheaper on tickets up to $82 (5% + $0.19*, card processing included, converted from another currency).
  • pretix is cheaper on tickets up to $47 (2.5% (max $16.30)*, plus card processing, converted from another currency).
  • Zeffy is cheaper at every price from $5 to $300 (0%, nonprofits only, card processing included).
  • Hi.Events costs less at every price from $5 to $300 than Eventbrite, Humanitix, Skiddle, Posh, Purplepass.

Standard published rates as of September 2026, before VAT or GST where the platform quotes them that way, excluding negotiated and subscription pricing. * No published rate in this currency. Converted from the platform's published rate at approximate exchange rates (1 USD ≈ €0.92, £0.78 and A$1.55); the vendor may price differently, or not sell, in this currency.

Selling online

The cheapest way to sell tickets online

Card processing is the one cost nobody avoids. What you add on top depends on how much of the work you want the software to do.

A payment link

Lowest cost, most work

A Stripe or PayPal payment link costs only card processing. There are no tickets or QR codes, no capacity limit and no check-in, so you keep the guest list yourself.

A ticketing platform

A fee per ticket

Tickets, capacity, refunds and check-in for a fee on each paid ticket. On most platforms, Hi.Events included, you can add the fee at checkout so the buyer pays it.

Self-hosting

No platform fee

Open-source platforms such as Hi.Events and pretix can run on your own server with no platform fee. You still pay card processing, the hosting and the time to look after it.

FAQ

Cheap ticketing, answered

What is the cheapest ticketing platform?
It depends on the ticket price and the country. On a ticket priced at 30 in the local currency, with card processing counted on every platform, the cheapest platform that publishes a rate in that currency for any organizer is TicketSource in the US ($2.04), pretix in the EU (€1.45), Hi.Events in the UK (£1.48), TryBooking in Australia (A$1.25). A flat fee is a large share of a cheap ticket and a percentage is a large share of an expensive one, so the order changes as the price does.
Is Hi.Events the cheapest ticketing platform?
Not on every ticket. On a $30 ticket in the US it is number 3 of the 11 platforms that publish a standard fee in USD open to any organizer. Between $5 and $300, DICE, Resident Advisor, Fatsoma, TicketSource, Universe, Luma, Tito, TryBooking, pretix, Zeffy are cheaper at some prices, and this page says which. What does not change is that the buyer pays our fee at checkout, so it costs you nothing, the fee is the same for every organizer, free tickets are free, and card payments settle into your own Stripe account as tickets sell.Hi.Events pricing →
What is the cheapest ticketing platform for nonprofits?
Zeffy, for the organizations it accepts. It charges registered nonprofits no platform fee and covers card processing, funded by an optional contribution its buyers are asked for at checkout. Humanitix and TicketSource also give registered charities a discount.Zeffy fees →
What is the cheapest way to sell tickets online?
A Stripe or PayPal payment link costs only card processing, but gives you no tickets, capacity limits or check-in. A ticketing platform adds a fee per ticket for all of that, and on most of them you can pass the fee to the buyer at checkout so your own cost is card processing alone. Self-hosting an open-source platform removes the platform fee in exchange for running a server.
Can the buyer pay the ticketing fee instead of me?
On most platforms, yes: the fee is added at checkout and the buyer pays it, or you build it into your price. On Hi.Events the buyer pays it at checkout, so the platform fee costs you nothing; you pay only Stripe's card processing. Luma and Tito are exceptions, because their fee cannot be added on top. Either way, the buyer sees the total before paying.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each platform's own pricing page or help centre, checked in September 2026. Standard published rates only: negotiated deals, nonprofit discounts and subscription plans are left out of the totals. Every platform's fee page lists its sources.All ticketing fees →

One low fee, the same for everyone

Free events are free. On paid tickets the buyer pays 1.25% plus a small fixed amount at checkout, so it costs you nothing, and card payments land in your own Stripe account as tickets sell.

Get started free

Free events cost nothing. Paid tickets are 1.25% + $0.60, with no monthly fee and no contract — see the full pricing.