Eventbrite vs Ticket Tailor for a venue, worked through, with a third option.
Most venues comparing these two are trying to lower the fee. On that question Ticket Tailor wins, and we show the arithmetic before we say anything about ourselves.
Published fees checked 26 September 2026. Sources and corrections at the foot of the page.
The short answer
- Ticket Tailor is cheaper than Eventbrite at every ticket price, and the gap widens as the price rises, because its fee is flat and Eventbrite’s is a percentage.
- Ticket Tailor is also cheaper than Gatehouse, by $0.15 a ticket plus our whole subscription, at every volume.
- Eventbrite is the one with a marketplace. If you need it to find buyers for you, neither of the other two will.
Side by side
| What | Eventbrite | Ticket Tailor | Gatehouse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who takes the payment | Eventbrite collects it, then pays you out | Your own Stripe, PayPal or Square account | Your own Stripe account. You are the merchant of record. |
| Platform fee per paid ticket | 3.7% + $1.79, usually added to the buyer’s price | $0.85 pay as you go, from $0.30 on prepaid credits | $1.00, flat |
| Card processing | 2.9% per order, on top | Your processor’s rate (Stripe US: 2.9% + $0.30) | Stripe, billed to you at your own rate, not marked up |
| Fixed cost | None | None | $49.99 a month or $449.99 a year |
| Free tickets and comps | Free | Free, up to 5,000 a year | Free |
| Who keeps the buyer’s service fee | Eventbrite | You, if you add a booking fee | You do. You set it. |
| When the money reaches you | Sent three business days after the show | Straight to your processor, on its schedule | In your Stripe balance when the card clears, then on your own payout schedule, before the show |
| Money held back | 20% of net sales on any payout before the show | Not by Ticket Tailor, which does not touch the payment | None. It never passes through us. |
| Walk-up and door sales | Yes, Tap to Pay in the Organizer app | Yes, in its check-in app, while online | Not offered |
| Reserved seating | Yes | Yes, one extra credit per reserved seat | Not offered |
| A marketplace that finds you buyers | Yes, its own site and app | Check Ticket Tailor | None, by design |
What you keep on one ticket
The buyer pays the same total in every column: Eventbrite’s all-in price. On the other two, the venue adds the same amount as a booking fee and keeps it, less its processor’s cut and the platform’s fee. All single-ticket orders on Stripe’s standard US rate.
| Face value | Buyer pays | Eventbrite | Ticket Tailor, pay as you go | Ticket Tailor, prepaid from | Gatehouse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15.00 | $17.85 | $15.00 | $16.18 | $16.73 | $16.03 |
| $35.00 | $39.19 | $35.00 | $36.90 | $37.45 | $36.75 |
| $75.00 | $81.88 | $75.00 | $78.36 | $78.91 | $78.21 |
On price alone, Ticket Tailor beats us at every volume: $0.15 a ticket on pay as you go, and $0.70 at its cheapest prepaid rate, before our $49.99 a month. The affordable ticketing guide has the same arithmetic at eight prices.
When the money arrives
Eventbrite collects the money and pays it out, by default three business days after the show. Ticket Tailor never holds it: the payment goes straight to your own Stripe, PayPal or Square account, which pays you on its usual schedule. Gatehouse works the same way as Ticket Tailor here, on Stripe. On payout timing, the two of us are level and both ahead of Eventbrite’s default.
Where Eventbrite wins
- A marketplace, its own site and app, where people browse for events.
- Card sales at the door, with Tap to Pay in its Organizer app.
- Nothing to set up with a payment processor: Eventbrite takes the payment itself.
Where Ticket Tailor wins
- Price, against both of the others, at every ticket price and every volume.
- A choice of processor: Stripe, PayPal or Square.
- Reserved seating, for an extra credit per seat, which we do not offer at all.
- Discounts for charities and for very low-priced tickets, which its pricing page advertises.
Why a venue would pay more than Ticket Tailor
Only for the parts that are not the fee. The $49.99 a month pays for things that cost money to run whether or not you sold anything: your own domain, included; Apple and Google Wallet passes that update when a show moves; a door scanner that keeps refusing duplicates with no signal; holds, will-call and settlement built around a venue’s week. If Ticket Tailor covers the ones you care about, it is the better buy, and you should check before you decide.
Three of those, as Ticket Tailor’s own help centre describes them:
- Your own domain is an add-on there, $8 a month on its own or included in its $49 a month White label, which also removes its branding. Here it is part of the price.
- Its waitlist collects email addresses and leaves the telling to you. Here a returned seat is offered to the waitlist in order, never to more people than there are seats.
- Reconciling is an export you compare against your processor. Here settlement is a report per show: what you are owed, refunds and comps, derived from the orders themselves, with a CSV.
The Eventbrite comparison has the payout timeline in detail.
Questions
Is Ticket Tailor cheaper than Eventbrite?
Yes, at every ticket price on these published rates. On a $35.00 ticket with the buyer paying the same total, the venue keeps $1.90 more on Ticket Tailor’s pay-as-you-go rate.
Which one pays out faster?
Ticket Tailor, because it never holds the money: your processor pays you. Eventbrite pays after the show unless you qualify for an earlier schedule, which keeps back 20%.
Why would a venue pay more than Ticket Tailor?
Only for features it values more than $0.15 a ticket and the subscription. The section above lists what that buys here.
Sources
- Eventbrite organiser pricing, read 26 September 2026: eventbrite.com/organizer/pricing
- Eventbrite, “Get started with event payouts” and “Set up a payout schedule”, read 26 September 2026: 640593, 115913
- Ticket Tailor pricing, USD view, read 26 September 2026: tickettailor.com/pricing
- Ticket Tailor help centre, read 8 October 2026: custom domains and White label (costs, domains), waitlists (waitlist) and reconciliation (reconcile); door sales from its features page
- Gatehouse figures computed from the same pricing module the checkout uses, and asserted by an automated test on every change.
Eventbrite and Ticket Tailor are trademarks of their respective owners. Gatehouse is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. Figures are each company’s own published terms, read on the date shown; if one has changed, tell us and we will correct it and note the change.
Gatehouse, in one paragraph.
Independent ticketing for independent venues. $1 a paid ticket and $49.99 a month, or $449.99 a year. No percentage of face value, no fee on a comp, no contract and no exclusivity. Tickets sell on your own domain and the charge lands on your own Stripe account, so the money was never in ours to hold.
If price is the whole question, choose Ticket Tailor. If it is not, try two shows here; nothing is exclusive.
Other comparisons
Eventbrite
What a venue keeps on a ticket there and here, when each pays out, the 20% reserve on early payouts, and the volume below which you should stay with Eventbrite.
DICE
DICE’s published US self sign-up rate is 13% on top of face value, paid out after the show. The arithmetic at three prices, and where DICE is the better deal.
Prekindle
Prekindle is free to the venue and charges the fan $1.59 + 3%, paid out the Monday after the show. What a room keeps each way, and where Prekindle is the better fit.
Every platform, one table
Including VenuePilot, which is cheaper than us, and the platforms that publish no rate at all.