Top Picks: Free & Low-Cost Online Ticketing Platforms

Saving costs to boost your bottom line and providing your ticket buyers with the convenience they demand in terms of ticket sales is a balancing act. Here are some of the most cost-effective online ticketing platforms to help you achieve that.

Buying tickets online is getting really popular for folks keen on joining your event. In 2023, about 689 million people are buying event tickets online, which will climb to 864 million by 2030.

Nowadays, we barely see people lined up outside ticketing booths to buy tickets to their favorite concerts, sports matches, theater performances, etc.

They’d rather buy them from the comfort of their homes, with a few taps on their phones, than stand in queues and get tired.

So, it totally makes sense for you, as an event organizer, to provide your customers with the convenience they crave.

But here’s the kicker: Working with popular online ticketing platforms will put a dent in your bottom line as they take the lion’s share of your revenue. And if you decide to pass on the cost to your buyers, the ticket price will no longer be attractive enough for them to go through with the purchase.

So, what’s the solution? Look for a cost-effective online ticketing platform for your small event that provides similar features, if not more, as the top ones in the market.

In this article, we’ll share the top cost-effective online ticketing platforms for your small event so you can make the savvy choice and give your customers the convenience they deserve.

Source: Statista

The Features You Should Look For in a Cost-Effective Online Ticketing Platform

Getting the word out about your event and selling those tickets can be a real challenge—there’s a fair bit to consider when marketing event tickets online.

Knowing your target crowd and picking a ticketing platform to get your tickets into the hands of your potential buyers is deadset important, especially when you’re just starting out in the game.

Look for a platform that’ll suit your event’s needs and can give you a hand when needed, all while being cost-effective for your small events business.

Does that mean you have to compromise on the features? Absolutely not—that’ll defeat the purpose of working with an online ticketing platform in the first place. You need a particular set of features to make your event a success story.

Here are a few features you can’t have your chosen online ticketing platform skimp on when planning your upcoming event, even if the platform is a cost-effective solution.

Marketing Tools

Using the built-in marketing tools is super important for getting your event out there. These tools help you keep an eye on how many folks are checking out your event, whether your sales are going up or down, and how your promotion campaigns are going.

You can easily track and watch all the stuff going on to fine-tune your sales game plan.

Plus, if you want a full house at your event, online marketing is your best bet.

Some of those big ticket-selling websites don’t do much to give your event a fair go. They’ll probably just list your event on their site.

But the right ticketing solution will go the extra mile. They’ll promote your event on their socials and shoot out emails to folks who are already keen to come to your event. We’ll mention one such online ticketing platform later in the article, so read on.

Ease of Use

Nobody enjoys dealing with complicated stuff; simple is always better. Since you’ll most likely be flat-out managing ticket sales behind the scenes on your chosen platform, having one with a user-friendly interface is important.

Don’t forget about the folks on the other end—your ticket buyers. Your goal should be to give them the smoothest experience you can muster—your profits ride on it. The longer it takes them to hit that checkout button, the fewer sales you’ll snag. People’s attention spans are shrinking faster than ever after all.

An easy-to-use user interface can jack up the conversion rate by 200%, and a great user experience can send it soaring by 400%.

Source: Zippia

On the flip side, a confusing website that’s hard to figure out makes things tough for both you and the people trying to buy tickets.

To make things smoother, make a list of what you need from the website in terms of its usability. This way, you can compare different ticket websites and find the best one for you.

Assessing The Platform’s Reliability

Booking tickets is where your event actually kicks off. It’s when your potential attendees size up the event from the get-go, judging it on how efficient the whole deal is.

Your chosen cost-effective online ticketing platform should be able to cop a load of unexpected traffic without interrupting the user experience. Ticketing websites often get crowded, especially during promotions and the final days of sales.

A newbie platform might find itself in a real pickle handling that kind of traffic, getting knocked off. Check the reliability of a platform using a website like “Is it down right now?.”

They shouldn’t have a history of going down frequently when facing an influx of traffic. If they do, look for another platform, as you can’t afford them dropping the ball at such a crucial stage when your money is on the line.

Customer Data Collection

When you’re putting together an event, you’ll want to get hold of some customer information to build an email list—it’s the holy grail of online marketing.

Email marketing delivers a return on investment (ROI) of $40 against every dollar you spend.

Source: Oberlo

Most event ticketing platforms nab the basics like names, email addresses, gender, and ages when folks are buying their tickets.

But sometimes, you might want to dig deeper and ask for extra stuff like t-shirt sizes, birthdays, or whatever you need in particular.

So, you have to double-check that your event ticketing platform can handle these extra details just the way you want them.

24/7 Customer Support

There’s always a bit of wiggle room when you’re putting together an event. Surprises can pop up out of nowhere, even if you’ve planned things down to a tee.

So, the ticketing platform should have a solid support crew who can give your attendees the heads-up immediately. The customer support team should be on the ball, ready to answer questions around the clock.

Ultimately, how well your ticketing platform deals with unexpected hiccups can make or break the whole event.

White Label Options

For event planners keen on hosting corporate gigs or events that shine a light on their brand, being able to showcase your own marketing instead of relying on the ticketing website is a real win.

As a business, you’ve got a story to tell your potential ticket buyers, one that’ll help forge that emotional connection with your event.

You see, sharing your brand’s values with folks who resonate with them is the name of the game. And to do that, you need customization.

Plus, you need to keep your branding consistent throughout your buyers’ journey to make it stick in their minds, and studies show it can boost your revenue by 10 to 20%.

Depending on your chosen platform, you can tweak things like themes, ticket types, promo codes, and social media links and even slap your logo on there.

The Most Cost-Effective Online Ticketing Platforms

When you’re picking an online ticketing platform, don’t compromise on functionality just to save a few bucks (not that you have to, as you’d read below). Your long-term success depends on giving your customers a seamless experience through and through.

So, go for a solution that fits your budget, vibes with your brand’s values, and puts the customer experience front and center in your ticket-selling process.

No two ticketing websites are cut from the same cloth. Finding the perfect mix of features in an online ticketing platform takes a bit of research. And that’s exactly what we did for you when we picked the following most cost-effective ticketing solutions with the best features:

TicketsCandy

Features	TicketsCandy
Free to use
User-friendly ticketing widget
Hassle-free checkout flow
Multi-channel event promotion
Versatile ticket sales options
Instant event setup
Multiple merchant providers
Reserved seating

TicketsCandy is the best and the most cost-effective ticketing platform in the market and is designed to make your ticket-selling journey smooth and successful. This user-friendly platform has powerful features that can crank your ticket sales up by 30%.

With TicketsCandy, you get an all-in-one event ticketing software that covers everything from start to finish. You can create events, sell tickets, handle attendees, give your event the push it needs, and take care of payments. And it plays nicely with other platforms like WordPress, too.

Creating stunning event landing pages is super easy with TicketsCandy’s event page builder. Plus, it’s multilingual, so folks from all over the globe can get in on the action. You can even spread the word about your event on partner websites for some extra exposure.

Worried about payouts? TicketsCandy offers instant payouts without any fees nibbling away at your profits. And if you ever need a hand, their 24/7 customer support is just a message or call away.

Best part? TicketsCandy is free to use. So, whether you’re organizing a small or a massive event, TicketsCandy is the best choice.

Pricing

When you’re working with TicketsCandy, there’s no need to stress about any upfront or sneaky costs. As an event organizer, you can reap the rewards without it costing your business a single cent.

Ticketleap

Features	Eventbee
Free to use
Intuitive setup process
Flexible event page themes
Host a wide variety of events
Ticket promotion tools
Customer support

Ticketleap is another great platform that makes hosting your small event simple and easy. It’s dead easy to use, so you’ll have your event up and running in no time. It’s got all the handy tools for event pages, marketing, and keeping track of your attendees.

Now, what’s really ace about Ticketleap is their great event pages. You can pick from a bunch of themes, chuck in your own logo, and jazz up the colors to match your event’s style. Plus, you can tweak how the checkout works so it’s just right. This makes Ticketleap take second place in our list of the most cost-effective ticketing platforms, making it a top choice, especially if you’re new to the whole ticket-selling gig.

Ticketleap’s got some other nifty features, too. Their user-friendly setup makes it easy to create events, and their event pages look great on mobiles with themes you can play around with.

It works for all sorts of events, even the ones that need a bit of extra security. You can collect payments through PayPal and other methods, making life easy for both you and your ticket buyers.

They even throw in a drag-and-drop editor for sorting out venues and seats. And here’s the best bit – you can start raking in the cash every week, even before your event kicks off.

Pricing

If your ticket’s $5 or less, they’ll hit you with a flat 25 cents per ticket. For all the other tickets, it’s $1 plus 2% of the ticket price for each one sold. And there’s a 3% payment processing fee for all ticket sales, no matter the ticket price. The price can get a bit steep, especially if you’re peddling high-priced tickets.

Eventbee

Features	Eventbee
Free to use
Various event types
User-friendly dashboard
Flat fee structure
Modern interface
Unlimited features

If you’re not a fan of those percentage fees, especially when you’re dealing with high-priced tickets, your best bet is to check out Eventbee.

They’re the best when it comes to charging a flat fee per ticket, and they’ve got some sweet perks for creating and selling event tickets. The basic plan starts at just a buck per ticket and covers all the essentials.

What’s great about Eventbee is its clean and user-friendly interface. It won’t leave you scratching your head.

Here are the Eventbee’s key features:

• A simple, no-fuss ticketing service for any type of event.
• That flat fee makes it great for big events with pricier tickets.
• You can set up any type of event.
• You can jazz up your event page with a custom URL and your own branding.
• Selling tickets through your Facebook page and website? It’s super easy with Eventbee.
• You can add event sub-managers as backup for managing a massive event
• They work with multiple payment processors, including PayPal and Stripe.

Pricing

Eventbee’s got a flat fee per ticket, but it varies depending on which plan you’re on. They’ve got four plans in the mix, each with its own set of features and ticket fees:

1. Basic: It’ll set you back $1 per ticket, but there’s a limit of $100 per ticket. You’ll get the basics here and create up to 3 ticket types.
2. Pro: For $1.5 per ticket, you can go up to $500 per ticket. This plan beefs things up with more features compared to the Basic one, and you can create up to 10 ticket types.
3. Advanced: It’s $2.50 per ticket, and you can go as high as $1,000 per ticket. This plan offers even more features, and you can have 20 types of events.
4. Business: Now, if you want to make the most of that flat pricing, you’ll want to go for the Business plan. It’s $3.50 per ticket, but there’s no limit on the ticket price. You get access to all the features, including unlimited ticket types.

Just so you know, the real value in Eventbee’s flat pricing structure shines through when you choose the Business plan. The other three plans have a cap on ticket pricing, which might not be as tempting and can get a tad pricey.

Wrapping Up

Picking a ticketing platform with low fees is a savvy move for event organizers keen on boosting their earnings. But it’s not just about the dollars; you’ve also got to understand the features, how it runs, and the overall experience for your buyers.

With all the options we’ve shared, there’s bound to be one that’s spot-on for your event and business needs.

TicketsCandy is a genuinely free ticketing platform with some great features. Why not give it a try and potentially boost your ticket sales by 30%? Sign up with TicketsCandy today.