Eventbrite fees vs your own site.
Your ticket price, your sales. See what Eventbrite and seven other platforms take per event and per year, next to your own site with Stripe, and when the difference pays for a site.
Some fields were filled in from your link. Change any of them.
Uses published nonprofit rates and compares you against Zeffy, which is free for registered nonprofits.
Starting prices. Whether a direct checkout fits a given scope depends on your ticket setup, so I confirm it on a call.
My published prices. What event sites include.
Event sites I keep running take a share of ticket sales instead of a monthly maintenance bill: updates, schedule and vendor changes, and a checkout that keeps working. Mine is 6%. Put 0 if you'd run the site yourself.
Eventbrite vs your own site
$0/yr
more in fees than your own site
Pays back in
-
Gap over 3 years
-
3-year net
-
Every platform at your numbers
What each one keeps with fees absorbed, most expensive first.
| Platform | Per ticket | Per event | Per year | 3 years |
|---|
Fees checked Sep 22, 2026. US rates, domestic cards, online sales.
Sources: Eventbrite, Stripe, Ticket Tailor, Humanitix, Tito, Universe, TicketLeap, Square, Zeffy. Not affiliated with Eventbrite or any platform listed.
When the money lands
- Eventbrite pays after the event. The payout goes out three business days after it ends and should reach a US bank within 6 to 8 business days of the end. After your first paid event you may qualify for earlier payouts, with 20% of net sales held until it's over.
- Stripe pays as you sell. The first payout typically lands within 7 to 14 days of your first live payment, then as often as every business day. Stripe may hold a reserve when a business "belongs to an industry with longer-than-average delivery windows," and selling months ahead may count.
Sources: Eventbrite Help Center and Stripe docs, checked Sep 2026.
Want this in writing?
Get your comparison, plus what I'd move
I'll reply with your numbers and a plain plan: which sales to move to your own site, which to leave on the platform, and what a direct checkout needs. One email, no drip campaign.
On its way. Check your inbox today. Want to talk it through? Book the free call →
How the math works
Per ticket, fees absorbed, at each platform's published US rates:
Eventbrite
= 3.7% × price + $1.79
+ 2.9% ×
price
Your own site with Stripe
= 2.9% × price
+ 30¢
÷ tickets per order
+ 6% × price for upkeep
- Absorb or pass on. Absorbed fees come out of your price. Passed-on fees sit on top so you net your full price (with no fee line, as on Tito, that means pricing up). Eventbrite shows US buyers the all-in price either way.
- Tickets per order starts at 2, my round guess; set yours. Stripe's 30 cents is per order, so bigger orders spread it thinner.
- Upkeep starts at 6%, my share of ticket sales in place of a monthly maintenance fee. It pays for updates, schedule and vendor changes, and a checkout that keeps working. Put 0 if you'd run the site yourself: Stripe lists no setup or monthly fees.
- The build is a one-time cost, divided by the fee gap for the payback. A platform's fee also buys its ticket emails, check-in and refunds, so ask what your own setup includes.
- Small print. US domestic cards only (Stripe adds 1.5% for international ones), taxes left out, TicketLeap's published 3% used (its calculator uses 3.09%), Tito's €25 cap left out, and Universe's 3% assumed to cover the whole order.
Worked examples at $15, $30 and $75
400 tickets a year, 2 per order, fees absorbed, 6% upkeep:
| Ticket | Eventbrite | Your site + upkeep | Gap, 400 tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $2.78 | $1.49 | $518 |
| $30 | $3.77 | $2.82 | $380 |
| $75 | $6.74 | $6.83 | -$34 |
Eventbrite's flat $1.79 hurts cheap tickets most: it keeps 18.5% of a $15 ticket and 9% of a $75 one. With upkeep counted, your own site costs more per ticket than Eventbrite from about $71 up, so at those prices the reason to own is the site, not the fees. Pass the fees on instead and a $30 ticket costs buyers about $33.85 on Eventbrite. On your own site, $33.10 nets you the same $30.
How to read your number
- Pays back within a year: the fees are real money at your size. Price out selling direct.
- One to three years: worth it if you'll run the event that long. The $500 page is the smaller bet.
- Over three years: stay put for checkout, and build a site for the schedule, sponsors and list, not the fees.
- Your platform costs less: with upkeep counted, low-fee platforms often beat your own checkout. Keep them for payment, and build a site for the schedule, sponsors and list.
- Registered nonprofit: Zeffy is $0. Keep it for payment, behind a site of your own.
- Free event: no ticket fees anywhere here, so nothing to recover.
How to avoid Eventbrite fees
On Eventbrite you can't: every paid ticket carries both fees, whoever pays them. You can stop paying them on sales that don't need Eventbrite.
- See where buyers come from. Eventbrite's Traffic and Conversion report credits each sale to a channel. Search and Browse mean its marketplace found that buyer.
- Keep those sales there. Eventbrite says its marketplace reaches 89 million monthly users. If it finds you buyers, that reach earns its fee.
- Sell the rest on your own site. Send your posts, emails and past attendees to your site and sell direct through Stripe.
- Check the gap first. Against Ticket Tailor or Tito, your own checkout with upkeep costs more per ticket.
The Oregon Ghost Conference sells its passes through its own cart and a Stripe checkout on the site I built. More on how I build event websites.
Questions people ask
How much does Eventbrite charge per ticket? +
In the US, a service fee of 3.7% of the ticket price plus $1.79 per paid ticket, and a processing fee of 2.9% of the total order. Buyers pay them by default, or you absorb them. Free events pay nothing. On a $30 ticket with fees absorbed, that's about $3.77. Source: Eventbrite Help Center, checked Sep 2026.
What is a cheaper alternative to Eventbrite? +
On fees alone, several. At a $30 ticket, Ticket Tailor, Tito, Square and your own site with Stripe all cost less per ticket, and Zeffy is free for registered nonprofits. Fees aren't the whole story: Eventbrite's marketplace can find buyers the others won't. The table above compares them all at your numbers.
Is it cheaper to sell tickets on my own website? +
Against Eventbrite, usually, on tickets under about $70. Stripe's standard US card rate is 2.9% plus 30 cents per order, and event sites I keep running add a 6% upkeep share in place of a monthly maintenance fee. Against low-fee platforms like Ticket Tailor, Tito or Square, your own checkout costs more per ticket. The calculator shows the gap at your numbers, and when fees alone would pay for a site.
I run a nonprofit. What's the cheapest way to sell tickets? +
Zeffy, if you're a registered nonprofit. It charges $0, covers card fees, and asks buyers for an optional contribution. In the US you need an EIN. No checkout I can build beats $0, so keep Zeffy for payment and use your own site as the front door that links to it.
Want your tickets selling on your own site?
I build event sites that sell tickets: from $500 for a focused single page, and from $4,500 for a full site with your schedule and vendors. Upkeep is a share of ticket sales, not a monthly bill. Whether direct checkout fits your scope, I confirm on the call. I take on a limited number of builds each month. Free call, real plan either way.
Keep measuring