A Prekindle alternative for music venues that want to keep the service fee.

The short answer

• Prekindle has no monthly cost, so at low volume it is the cheaper of the two for the venue outright.
• Its $1.59 + 3% service fee is Prekindle’s, set by Prekindle. On Gatehouse the same fee is yours: on a $35.00 ticket, at the same fan price, that is $1.27 more for the venue.
• Prekindle pays the Monday after the show. Gatehouse charges land in your own Stripe account when the card clears, before the show.
• Prekindle does reserved seating and door sales. We do neither yet.

Side by side

What you keep on one ticket

The fan pays Prekindle’s all-in price in both columns. On Gatehouse the venue sets the same total, keeps the service fee, and pays Stripe and our dollar out of it. Single-ticket orders on Stripe’s standard US rate, with Prekindle’s processing 3% charged to the fan, which is the reading that leaves a Prekindle venue the most.

A Prekindle venue can close some of that gap with a rebate: an extra fee, bundled with Prekindle’s, that goes to the venue. It also makes the fan’s total higher, so it is a different trade, not the same one. The ticket fee calculator has the same sums for Eventbrite, DICE and Ticket Tailor.

When the money arrives

On Prekindle’s own processing, it collects the ticket money into its account and settles shows that have happened each Monday. Its seller agreement also lets it hold back 10% of gross sales for 90 days. A venue on its own Stripe account is paid face value directly, and invoiced for Prekindle’s fees weekly.

On Gatehouse the charge is on your own Stripe account from the start, so the money is in your balance when the card clears and reaches your bank on your Stripe payout schedule, weeks before a show that went on sale a month out. Nothing passes through us, so there is nothing for us to hold.

The door

Prekindle’s iOS entry app scans tickets and sells at the door. Its help centre says the phone needs cell service or wifi to load the event’s data. The Gatehouse scanner keeps the whole door list on the device, so it goes on admitting tickets and refusing duplicates with no signal at all, and syncs when the connection comes back. It does not sell at the door; Prekindle does.

Where Prekindle wins

• No monthly cost, which at low volume makes it cheaper for the venue.
• Reserved seating, with seat holds, which we do not offer.
• Selling at the door in the same app that scans.
• No processor to set up if you use Prekindle’s own card processing.

Why a venue would switch

• The service fee becomes revenue. On Prekindle it is set by Prekindle and is Prekindle’s; here you set it and keep it.
• The money arrives before the show, with nothing held back, which matters most when the deposit for the act is due first.
• Your own name, on your own domain. Prekindle’s seller agreement asks the organiser to display the Prekindle logo on its website. Here the box office is yours, in your colours, and our only mark is one line of small print in its footer.
• A door that works in a basement. See above.

If none of those is worth $49.99 a month to you, Prekindle is the better buy. The music venue guide has the five questions that usually decide it.

Questions

Is Prekindle really free for venues?

For the venue, yes: its fee is passed to the fan. On a $35.00 ticket the fan pays about $38.69, of which $2.64 is Prekindle’s service fee.

When does Prekindle pay venues?

Shows that have happened are settled on the following Monday, by its own description, and it may hold 10% of gross sales for 90 days.

Can I keep part of the fee on Prekindle?

Yes, by adding a rebate, which is an extra fee on top of Prekindle’s that goes to you. The fan pays both.

Is there a cheaper option than both?

Yes. Ticket Tailor charges $0.85 a ticket with no subscription; see Eventbrite vs Ticket Tailor.

Sources

• Prekindle pricing, read 8 October 2026: prekindle.com/pricing
• Prekindle homepage (“our service fees are passed along to the customers”), read 8 October 2026: prekindle.com
• Prekindle seller agreement, last revised 30 September 2024 (weekly settlement, the 10% holdback, the logo clause), read 8 October 2026: prekindle.com/seller-agreement
• Prekindle features (“we pay quickly on the Monday after the event”), read 8 October 2026: prekindle.com/features
• Prekindle help centre, on rebates and on the iOS scanner app, read 8 October 2026: rebates
• Gatehouse figures computed from the same pricing module the checkout uses, and asserted by an automated test on every change.