Event Ticketing Solutions That Tick All the Boxes

If you’re promoting or selling tickets to an event, you have no doubt looked into using an online event ticketing system. Like us, you would have found that there are LOADS of them available. Gone are the days of having to use big ol’ Ticketek or hustle in person door to door to sell tickets – now you can choose from a range of ticketing platforms designed to help you sell tickets and market your event.

So how do you choose an event ticketing system that is right for your needs? To help we’ve put in the hard yards, tried and tested a handful and have laid out our findings below.

We found that a lot of the online ticketing systems all have common features. Such as, none of the options we have featured below charge a fee for free events. Most of them base their pricing on a booking fee plus percentage per ticket that can be either absorbed by you or passed on to the buyer. They also all offer the ability to add team members to the event so you don’t have to manage all of the details by yourself. Another similarity is that all companies offer an app to help you at check in. Tickets can be scanned and no more checking people off a list.

So, before you choose an online ticketing system for your next event, take a read through our favs…

Ticketebo

Ticketebo is a dinky-di Australian company based in Melbourne that offers easy-to-use ticketing pages at no cost to Event Organisers.

What are the charges?

Ticketebo is free for Event Organisers to use – no setup or registration costs. A per ticket booking fee of 3.85% is on charged to the client (minimum fee of $1). There are also no charges for paying via credit card as this is included in the booking fee.

Don’t want your clients seeing a surcharge on the tickets? Then you can opt to absorb the fee yourself, the total of which will be deducted from your ticket sales before transferring you the balance post event.

Can I have reserved seating or different ticket types?

Yes, they provide access to allocated seating technology that is programmed to give you optimal utilisation of seats at your venue, whilst also ensuring groups of customers sit together and are not separated by aisles etc.

What are the payment options?

Buyers can pay for tickets using Visa/Mastercard Credit or Debit Card.

What integrations are offered?

Once you’ve created your dedicated event landing page, they offer integrations with all major social media channels to help spread the word.

When do I get paid?

You may request 50% of ticket sales to be deposited into your nominated bank account before the event, with the remaining being transferred up to 5 days post-event.

TryBooking

TryBooking is a great option at a good price point. They have a thorough help section and are based in Melbourne.

What are the charges?

TryBooking splits the payment between you and the buyer with the buyer paying a booking fee of $0.30 per ticket and you pay $0.50 + 2.1% per transaction.

TryBooking is free if your event is too.

Can I have reserved seating and different ticketing options?

Yes – the TryBooking website guides you through how to set up your floorplan and adjust the sections, and although it takes a little bit of time it is slightly easier than some of the other systems we tested.

What are the payment options?

Ticket payments are by credit card.

What integrations are offered?

Events can be embedded into your website with TryBooking widgets. The platform itself integrates with Salesforce, Google Analytics, CSV Exports and Facebook.

When do I get paid?

You can transfer money out of your TryBooking account to a nominated bank account, but it is recommended that you do not do this until after the event.

Eventbrite

Eventbrite offers a sound and well-known system with a good user help system online. It’s super easy to set up events and you can sell tickets from your own website rather than sending buyers somewhere else. Upgrade to a premium package to get access to rental equipment, product training and phone support.

What are the charges?

Eventbrite offers three main packages. Essentials is the most cost effective at $0.49 + 2% per paid ticket, but it doesn’t offer you the full suite of options. Their Professional package is $0.99 + 5% and offers a whole host of great ad-ons.

Like other platforms Eventbrite is free to use for free events.

Can I have reserved seating or different ticket types?

Not with the Essentials package, but you can when you upgrade to professional. It can be slightly fiddly to draw up your seating chart, but they offer tools that once mastered will have your seating plan looking good.

What are the payment options?

Eventbrite accepts credit card and PayPal.

What integrations are offered?

You can put your event on your own website and it is easy to link to Facebook and Twitter. You can also integrate your booking page with Salesforce, Survey Monkey and Hootsuite.

When do I get paid?

You get ticket sales post event via PayPal, although you can apply to receive some of the funds pre-event.

Humanitix

Humanitix are the feel-good option and you’ll be delighted to know they run as a not-to-profit organisation. When you set up your event you choose one of their 20+ charities to support and all profits from the booking fee are donated.

In addition to helping you meet your Corporate Social Responsibility goals, you also get to talk to real people. It’s Australian-owned and Sydney-based, so the person on the other end of the web chat is just as likely to pick up the phone and give you a call. As a smaller company they are keen on keeping their customers happy and offer lots of flexibility.

What are the charges?

Humanitix offers one membership level where paid events are $0.99 + 4%. You can choose to pass on these fees or absorb them. Free events are free to run. As a bonus they have a discounted rate for charities and other not-for-profit organisations – $0.80 + 2.1%.

Can I have reserved seating?

The ability to do reserved seating is only available from the gurus at Humanitix, so it comes at a price, and is therefore only viable for larger events. This does mean however that you don’t have to mess around with drawing tools yourself – leave it all to experts!

What are the payment options?

Amex, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal.

What integrations are offered?

Humanitix offer a range of marketing tools that encourages your attendees to help promote your event via social media. You can also create and send email campaigns from your account to attendees. Humanitix integrates with Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel and Zapier.

When do I get paid?

The total ticket sales will be deposited in your nominated bank account post-event.

Sticky Tickets

Sticky Tickets are an Australian company specialising in social events who have been running since 2007. They have a chat feature and a good knowledge base on their site so most questions can be answered easily and quickly.

What are the charges?

Sticky tickets only charge a booking fee per ticket that ranges from $1 – $4.50 depending of the cost of tickets. Once tickets cost $150+ this pricing schedule changes slightly. They offer a special rate for charities and also offer a discount to educational and not for profit institutions.

Can I have reserved seating or different ticket types?

Yes, but once again, doing this can be a bit fiddly and time consuming.

What are the payment options?

Buyers can pay for tickets with PayPal, VISA, Mastercard and American Express (although AMEX has an extra 1.75% surcharge to the buyer). They’ve also got options where buyers can pay by cash or direct deposit.

What integrations are offered?

Sticky Tickets have a ticket widget and there are two options for this, the first is the Direct Link which will insert a buy now button on your webpage. The second will create a ticket box on your webpage that will allow the ticket purchaser to select tickets on your webpage.

Sticky tickets offers integrations with MailChimp, Google Analytics, Talkbox and IGT.

When do I get paid?

You receive your money post event via direct deposit but you can make an application to receive up to 50% of funds pre event.

Accelevents

Accelevents offer an online ticketing system, along with tools to help you fundraise, including integration with their mobile fundraising tools for a silent auction, donation pages, and ‘text to give’. This one is definitely worth a look if you’re hosting charity events.

What are the charges?

Accelevents have very simple pricing for events at $1 USD per ticket + 1%. In addition, a credit card surcharge of 2.9% is added – this can be absorbed by you or the buyer can pay. There are additional costs for using their fundraising tools and these vary.

Can I have reserved seating or different ticket types?

Not currently, but we’ve been told it is coming soon, so stay tuned. They do have the option to create different ticket types at varying price points.

What are the payment options?

Acclevents offer credit card processing through Stripe.

What integrations are offered?

They conveniently offer a customisable URL and the option to embed your event within your website as well as your own landing page.

When do I get paid?

The total ticket sales will be deposited in your account post-event.

Final note…

Our recommendation is that before choosing a system have a think about what you need for your event. You may find that you use different platforms for different types of events.

Consider the following:

• Will you have reserved seating?
• How many tickets will you sell and how much will they cost?
• Are there different ticket levels or can people do group bookings?
• Do you need to collect further information about attendees beyond the standard?
• Do you need to integrate your ticketing with other programs used?
• Would you prefer to integrate the booking system with your own website or send them to a separate landing page for details and secure booking?

Once you have this information it will be easier to find the right solution for your particular event.

Did we miss one of your favourite ticketing platforms? If so, get in touch, we’d be happy to review and consider it for inclusion!