Open-source Eventbrite alternatives in 2026

Eventbrite is free to publish on, then charges a fee on every paid ticket. The fee scales with your ticket sales; your costs don't. Here is what the open-source route looks like, and what it actually costs.

• Eventbrite charges 3.7% plus $1.79 per paid ticket, then 2.9% to process each order. On a $25 ticket, that is about $3.44 a ticket.

• Pretix is the mature open-source ticket shop and registration system. Raphael Michel's team in Heidelberg has built it since 2014. It has sold millions of tickets across thousands of events.

• Run by DANIAN, Pretix is €9 a month, flat, with no per-ticket fee. At 2,000 tickets that is roughly $6,880 in Eventbrite fees versus €9–27 plus your own payment processing.

• You bring your own audience and your own payment gateway — Stripe, PayPal, or Mollie. Eventbrite's discovery marketplace is the one thing you give up.

• The trial is 7 days, no card. You own the platform, the data, and the export.

Why people are leaving Eventbrite in 2026

Publishing on Eventbrite is free. Every paid ticket then carries a 3.7% plus $1.79 service fee, and each order carries 2.9% for processing. On a $25 ticket that is about $3.44. Sell 2,000 tickets and the platform's cut clears $6,800 — a number tied to your success, not your costs.

The model is a cut of every ticket. There is no flat plan that caps it. The published rate is 3.7% plus $1.79 per paid ticket, on top of 2.9% per order for payment processing.

The math is easy to run. Sell 500 tickets at $25 and you pay Eventbrite about $1,720 — roughly $1,358 in service fees and $363 in processing. Sell 2,000 of the same ticket and the total is about $6,880, of which $5,430 is the service fee alone.

The trigger for most organizers isn't a single price hike. It is the shape of the pricing. The more tickets you sell, the more you pay, with no ceiling and no volume break for a self-serve account.

Eventbrite earns that fee in real ways. It is free to start, quick to set up, and its marketplace puts events in front of buyers who are already searching. For a first event with no audience, that reach is worth paying for.

The ceiling shows up later. Once you have your own audience — a mailing list, a member base, a returning crowd — you are paying a percentage for software, not for discovery. That is the point where the open-source route starts to pay off.

What “alternative” actually means here

An open-source alternative to Eventbrite means running a ticket shop you control instead of renting one. You have four routes: stay on a hosted platform, self-host the software yourself, use the project's own hosted plan, or have someone run it for you. Each trades cost against effort differently.

Stay on a hosted platform. Eventbrite or a similar service. No setup, marketplace reach, and a per-ticket fee that grows with sales. The right choice when discovery is doing the selling for you.

Self-host the software yourself. Full control and no per-ticket fee, but you run the server, the security patches, the daily backups, the payment integration, and the 2am pager. A fair route if you have a developer in-house who enjoys that work.

Use the project's own hosted plan. Pretix's makers run pretix Hosted at 2.5% per ticket, capped at €15 a ticket, with no monthly fee and their own support. A solid option if you want the team that builds the software to operate it.

Have DANIAN run it. Pretix on managed hosting at €9 a month, flat, with no per-ticket fee, alongside the other open-source apps you already run with us. You get managed Pretix ticketing without touching a server.

This article is about the open-source software, not about which company hosts it. Pretix is open source on every route; the routes differ only in who carries the operational work and how the bill is shaped.

Pretix — the open-source ticketing platform to beat Eventbrite

Pretix

Pretix is a full-featured ticket shop and event-registration system, written in Python and released under the AGPLv3 licence. It handles presales, reserved seating, invoicing, check-in, and box office. It carries more than 2,400 GitHub stars and a decade of active development behind it.

Raphael Michel started building Pretix in 2014 as a freelance developer who needed better open-source ticketing. His company — rami.io, renamed pretix GmbH in 2025 — develops it from Heidelberg. That named, accountable maintainer matters when you are trusting software with ticket money.

It is proven at scale. Pretix has been used by KotlinConf, FOSSGIS, ContainerDays, Messe Berlin, and the Heise media group, among others — thousands of events that have sold millions of tickets between them. This is not a weekend project.

The feature set covers what an organizer needs: a customizable shop, marketing tools, individual named tickets, quotas and waiting lists, invoicing, and reports. Check-in runs through the pretixSCAN app; on-site sales run through the pretixPOS register. You also get a free choice of payment provider, which is the part Eventbrite doesn't give you.

Run by DANIAN, Pretix is €9 a month per instance, flat. It is the right fit for conferences, workshops, cultural institutions, associations, and any organizer who already has an audience to sell to.

The rest of the open-source field

Pretix is the most mature option, but it is not the only one. Three others are worth knowing, depending on the event you run.

• Indico — built and used by CERN and released under the MIT licence. It is strong for academic and scientific conferences with complex schedules, abstracts, and review workflows.

• Alf.io — a lighter, privacy-minded ticket reservation system aimed at smaller events. It is written in Java and gives organizers full control of attendee data.

• Hi.Events — a newer, modern ticketing platform under the AGPLv3 licence. It is growing fast and worth a look for a clean, current interface.

For most paid-ticket events, Pretix is the one to beat — the deepest feature set, the longest track record, and the one DANIAN runs.

Formbricks for attendee surveys

Ticketing handles the sale; surveys handle the follow-up. Formbricks is an open-source survey platform that pairs cleanly with Pretix for registration questions and post-event feedback. The responses stay in a database you own.

Use it to collect dietary needs or session choices at registration, then send a feedback survey after the event.

DANIAN runs Formbricks for attendee surveys at the same €9 flat, so the survey side costs no more than the ticketing side.

Eventbrite vs managed Pretix — at a glance

The trade is concrete. Eventbrite gives you a marketplace and zero setup, paid for per ticket. Managed Pretix gives you a platform you own at a flat €9 a month, with your own payment gateway. Here is the side by side.

The real cost at 500 and 2,000 tickets

Run the numbers on a €25 ticket. Eventbrite's per-ticket fee grows with volume; pretix Hosted's percentage grows more slowly; DANIAN's €9 doesn't move at all. Payment-processor fees are separate on all three and don't go away.

The flat fee is the whole point. At 500 tickets the gap runs from a few hundred to more than a thousand. At 2,000 it is thousands. DANIAN's price is the same whether you sell 50 tickets or 5,000.

Be clear about what the €9 covers and what it doesn't. It covers the platform — the server, patching, daily backups, monitoring, and support. It does not cover payment processing. Your gateway — Stripe, PayPal, or Mollie — still takes its usual cut, somewhere around 1.5% to 2.9% plus a small fixed fee per transaction. You pay that on Eventbrite too; its 2.9% processing line is the same kind of charge. The fee you actually drop is the per-ticket service fee.

How DANIAN runs Pretix

You do not touch a server. You sign up, pick a region, and we deploy Pretix to your own subdomain. You connect your domain and your payment gateway, then build your event. We patch, back up, monitor, and answer chat — a named person, not a queue.

1. Start the 7-day trial and pick the datacenter region closest to your attendees, from 21 regions across six continents.

2. We deploy your Pretix instance and hand you the admin login. No Docker, no patch cycle, no server to rent.

3. Point your domain at the ticket shop — tickets.yourevent.com, on your own branding.

4. Connect your payment gateway — Stripe, PayPal, or Mollie — so ticket payouts land in your account, not ours.

5. Build your event, set ticket types and quotas, and open sales. We keep the instance patched, backed up daily off-site, and monitored 24/7.

We don't take a percentage of your ticket sales. The price is €9 a month, whatever you sell. You also get a terminal and file manager for your container from the dashboard, and you can download a full backup any time.

The data is yours; we operate the software. Ready to test it? Start a 7-day trial — no card needed.

How to pick: three questions to ask yourself

The right route depends on three things: where your audience comes from, how many tickets you sell, and whether you want to own the platform. Answer these honestly before you switch anything.

1. Do you rely on Eventbrite's marketplace for discovery? If walk-up discovery drives your sales, Eventbrite's reach is worth the fee, and you should stay. If your audience already comes from your list, your site, or your community, you are paying a percentage for software you could own.

2. Do you sell enough tickets that the percentage hurts? At a few dozen tickets a year, the fee is small and switching isn't worth the effort. Past a few hundred paid tickets per event, a flat €9 starts to win clearly, and the gap widens from there.

3. Do you want to own the attendee data and the platform? Open source means the database, the export, and the design are yours. If that matters for your members, your sponsors, or your auditor, Pretix answers it in a way a closed marketplace cannot.

Frequently asked questions

Is Pretix really free?
The software is open source under the AGPLv3 licence, free to download and run yourself. You pay only for hosting and your payment-processor fees. Run by DANIAN, that hosting is €9 a month per instance, flat, with no per-ticket fee on top.

How much does Pretix cost compared to Eventbrite?
Eventbrite charges 3.7% plus $1.79 per paid ticket, then 2.9% per order to process. On a $25 ticket that is about $3.44. Run by DANIAN, Pretix is a flat €9 a month with no per-ticket fee. At 2,000 tickets that gap is roughly $6,880 against €9 plus your own payment processing.

Does Pretix charge a fee per ticket?
The open-source software charges nothing per ticket. The makers' pretix Hosted plan takes 2.5% per ticket, capped at €15. Run by DANIAN, Pretix is a flat €9 a month with no per-ticket fee at any volume. Your payment processor still charges its own per-transaction rate on every route.

Do I still pay payment-processing fees?
Yes. Your gateway — Stripe, PayPal, or Mollie — charges its standard rate, usually around 1.5% to 2.9% plus a small fixed fee per transaction. That fee exists on every platform, including Eventbrite, whose 2.9% processing line is the same kind of charge.

Is it worth switching from Eventbrite to Pretix?
It depends on where your buyers come from and how many tickets you sell. If your own list drives sales, you are paying a percentage for software you could own. Past a few hundred paid tickets per event, a flat €9 beats per-ticket fees clearly. For a first event with no audience, Eventbrite's reach may still earn its cut.

What's the difference between Pretix's hosted plan and running it on DANIAN?
Pretix's makers offer pretix Hosted at 2.5% per ticket, capped at €15, with their own support. DANIAN runs the same open-source Pretix at a flat €9 a month, bundled with the other apps you host with us. Pick by fee model and whether you want one stack.

How does this compare to running Pretix on my own VPS?
Self-hosting on a production-class VPS costs less in rent but more in time — patching, backups, certificate renewal, and the payment integration. If you have a developer who enjoys that work, it is a fair route. If not, €9 a month buys the work back.

Can I migrate my Eventbrite events and attendees to Pretix?
There is no one-click importer, but the move is straightforward. Export your attendee list from Eventbrite as a CSV. Import it into Pretix, then rebuild the event settings. Keep your Eventbrite event live as a fallback while you test the Pretix one. Most organizers move one upcoming event first, then shift the rest on their own schedule.

What do I give up by leaving Eventbrite?
Eventbrite's discovery marketplace, where about 89 million monthly users browse events. If walk-up discovery drives your sales, that reach is real and worth weighing. If your audience comes from your own list and site, you keep the audience and drop the per-ticket fee.

Does Pretix support free events?
Yes. Pretix handles free registration and free tickets. On DANIAN the price stays a flat €9 a month either way. One honest note: Eventbrite is free to publish free events and adds marketplace reach. If you only run free events and lean on that discovery, its free tier may suit you.

Can I use my own domain and branding?
Yes. Your ticket shop runs on your own subdomain, such as tickets.yourevent.com, with your own logo and colours. Attendees buy on your brand, not on a third-party marketplace page. You point your domain at the instance during setup, and we keep the certificate renewed for you.

Does Pretix support reserved seating, invoicing, and multiple languages?
Yes to all three. Pretix includes seating plans for assigned seats and automatic invoices with configurable tax and VAT rules. It also ships a multi-language shop. You can sell in the currency your gateway supports and present the shop in your attendees' languages. These are built in, not paid add-ons.

Is there a mobile app for check-in at the door?
Yes. The pretixSCAN app scans tickets at entry and works offline. A weak venue connection will not stall the queue. For on-site sales, the pretixPOS app runs a box-office register. Both connect to your Pretix instance and sync once back online.

Which payment providers does Pretix support?
Pretix gives you a free choice of payment provider. Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, and SEPA bank transfer are all supported, among others. You connect your own account, so payouts land with you directly. This is the part Eventbrite does not offer, since it processes payments itself.

Do ticket sales pay out directly to me?
Yes. Because you connect your own payment gateway, ticket revenue lands in your account, not ours. We host the software and never touch the money. Payout timing follows your processor's schedule, often a few business days. No platform holds your funds until after the event.

Can I issue refunds in Pretix?
Yes. Pretix supports full and partial refunds, processed back through your own payment gateway. You can also cancel orders, reissue tickets, and adjust quantities from the admin. Refund fees follow your processor's rules, the same as on any platform that handles card payments.

What access do I get to my Pretix instance?
You get the full Pretix admin, plus a terminal and file manager for your container from the dashboard. Daily off-site backups run on their own, and you can download a complete export whenever you want. The data and the event are yours.

Where is my attendee data stored, and who can access it?
Your data lives in your own Pretix instance. You pick the datacenter region from 21 across six continents. You own the database and can export it in full whenever you want. Access runs through your admin login; we operate the software but do not use your attendee data. No marketplace pulls it into a shared pool.

What happens to my data and events if I cancel?
You can download a complete export before you go, including orders, attendees, and event settings. The data is yours; cancelling stops the hosting, not your ownership. Pretix is open source, so you can stand the same export up elsewhere. Run it on your own server or another host. Nothing locks your events inside our platform.

Who handles updates, backups, and security on managed Pretix?
We do. DANIAN applies security patches, runs daily off-site backups, and monitors the instance around the clock. You do not run a server, schedule a patch cycle, or carry the 2am pager. You still get a terminal and file manager for your container, if you want a closer look.

What are the best open-source alternatives to Eventbrite?
Pretix is the most mature, with the deepest feature set and a decade of development behind it. Indico, built and used by CERN, suits academic and scientific conferences. Alf.io is a lighter, privacy-minded option for smaller events. Hi.Events is a newer, modern platform worth a look. Pretix is the one DANIAN runs and the one most paid-ticket events should start with.

What to do this week

If your ticket sales have outgrown the per-ticket fee, the switch is straightforward. Pretix is mature, you keep your audience and your data, and the cost is a flat €9 a month. Here is a concrete next step you can take today.

• Pull your last event's numbers: tickets sold, ticket price, and total Eventbrite fees. The fee line sits on your payout report.

• Multiply this event's expected tickets by the per-ticket fee, then compare it to €9 a month plus your processor's cut.

• If the gap is in your favour, start a trial, deploy Pretix, and rebuild one upcoming event on it. Keep Eventbrite live for that event as a fallback while you test.

• Connect your own Stripe or PayPal, run a test order, and confirm the payout lands in your account.

When the test event checks out, move the rest across on your own schedule. See managed Pretix ticketing for the deployment details and the region list.

Sources

• Eventbrite organizer pricing — eventbrite.com/organizer/pricing

• Pretix — pretix.eu

• Pretix on GitHub — github.com/pretix/pretix

• Pretix documentation — docs.pretix.eu

• pretix Hosted pricing — pretix.eu/about/en/pricing