Event ticketing

SimpleTix v. TicketSpice: The Features Make the Difference When Picking Alternatives to Eventbrite

  • Riley Manning
    by Riley Manning • September 16, 2022

Riley Manning has worked as a travel and entertainment writer for more than 10 years. Today, he writes about unique events and the technology that helps make them happen.

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Bumping along on the hayride tractor, picking the perfect pumpkin, or standing around the campfire roasting marshmallows and sipping steaming cocoa—this is how your attendees want to interact with your farm! Instead, many guests spend their time messing around on a farm’s clunky and unresponsive ticketing webpage; wasting their precious time or experiencing enough frustration that they don’t even purchase a ticket. Choosing the right event ticketing software can make or break the experience of the attendees you host. The first point of contact you have with many of these potential, life-long customers is through your event ticketing app. As they move through the ticketing process, you begin the attendee’s farm event journey and start to nurture customer loyalty and the desire to share their experiences with their social network. When you begin to consider different Eventbrite alternative platforms, it is important to keep in mind the functionality you need to run your farm-based events. SimpleTix leads the alternatives to Eventbrite, and the features are what make this platform stand out. 

Eventbrite Alternatives that Play Well with Square.

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Not all ticketing solutions were created equal; the proof is in the features of the system. Some alternatives to Eventbrite have a bit of a rocky reputation among event planners and managers. For example, TicketSpice has made many promises to their customers that they just haven’t been able to deliver on. Unfortunately, these broken promises have led to integration hiccups for event planners seeking a top-performing Eventbrite alternative. Several of these speedbumps have involved compatibility with Square, and as of this writing, these issues haven’t been resolved, creating needless friction points and unnecessary workarounds.

But it’s not just the farm event managers that have been slighted in these oversights. Customers have been affected as well. In today’s app-hungry consumer base, your event ticketing software must have the functionality that your attendees have come to expect. And of all the modular components that fit into your platform, seamless integration with Square should be at the top of your list. 

Being a Square partner matters. Square does the heavy lifting when it comes to easing your financial operations at your farm. Square is almost universally recognized as a quality and trusted product by your customers. On the back end, Square generates sales, inventory, and food preparation reports with ease and accuracy. As a Square partner, you get paid immediately and don’t have to wait for several weeks for your ticket sales to post to your bank account. This financial flexibility provides your farm with positive cash flow that you can leverage when sudden needs pop up.

Unlike TicketSpice, SimpleTix can accept Square gift cards online. This functionality greatly expands your market segment and makes the customer experience even smoother by increasing the number of payment options patrons can use. Additionally, the integration allows you to upsell Square Catalog Items; merch your ticket purchasers may not even know exists. 

Issues that arise with other Eventbrite alternative ticketing systems’ Square integrations delay the time it takes to get paid. SimpleTix adopters simply don’t face these issues. The integration is seamless. This is just one of the features that make SimpleTix stand above other alternatives to Eventbrite.   

Communicate with your attendees for free

Farm event operators need to be able to communicate with event attendees. Weather, road construction around the farm, or even farm equipment maintenance can affect a customer’s experience, and you need to be able to quickly and confidently communicate any issues that may pop up in this regard. 

One of the most desired features of SimpleTix is the messaging options. Through the platform, SimpleTix offers free communication with your attendees. Messages can be delivered through a myriad of options (text, email, etc.), and emails can include all sorts of marketing or messaging possibilities, such as invitations to future events, survey follow-ups, and last-minute sales offers for underperforming dates. TicketSpice charges $.02 per email, which can stack up quickly for a busy farm event operation. Restrictions like these can limit your marketing and communications initiatives and campaigns. 

Season Tickets and Peak/Off-Peak Pricing and Ticketing

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As a farm event operator, you understand the concept of building customer loyalty to your operation and the connection that is established when they purchase season tickets. Not only is this ticketing option a fantastic revenue stream, but it also moves your attendee past the “one-off event” and creates a lasting bond with them, their families, and their friends. By making a community of season ticket holders, you create year-after-year attendees; a captive market that devours your newsletters and emails and demonstrates their loyalty by purchasing merchandise, apparel, and concession upsells while at your events. SimpleTix even requires the purchaser of the season pass to upload a selfie; first, to dissuade “pass sharing” between attendees; and second, to foster a deeper connection with the farm. Season ticketing is not an option supported by TicketSpice, so users of that platform miss out on all the opportunities created by this subclass of ticketing.

Peak and off-peak ticket types are very important options for farm operations. Everyone wants a hayride through the pumpkin patch on weekend dates and doesn’t mind paying a premium for those specific time slots. But other customers may be more inclined to purchase a ticket to a Tuesday afternoon tractor ride if a discount was applied to that specific time. Or consider a year when Halloween falls on a Monday. Tuesday is typically a slow night of the week for events, but premium pricing would be warranted on a holiday. By providing off-peak pricing, your farm can create more revenue by enticing customers to consider these dates. 

SimpleTix allows vendors to create peak and off-peak ticket types with ease and apply them to specific days and/or dates for ticket sales. TicketSpice makes peak/off-peak ticketing more difficult to achieve. Permissions, integrations, and ticket codes bog down the system on their platform, and the user-friendly interface and workflows found in the SimpleTix platform are absent in TicketSpice. 

Reduce your headaches and focus on your fantastic farm events!

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When selecting an alternative to Eventbrite for your event ticketing needs, look beyond the flashy sales videos and canned customer comments. SimpleTix is the leader in event ticketing software and allows the users (both operator and attendee) more options, functionality, and seamless Square integration than the competitors in their field. SimpleTix just runs as it should; you don’t need to monkey around with additional updates or workarounds. It is exactly the ticketing solution that you need! By deploying SimpleTix for your farm event ticketing software, you create more space in your day so you can focus on what matters; delivering impactful, engaging, and memorable experiences, year after year, for your appreciative, loyal attendees.

SimpleTix has offered an affordable, premium event ticketing platform that outperforms Eventbrite and similar apps for over 12 years. Compared to the competition, SimpleTix offers better options at a better price point. To learn more, call us at +1 (855) 550-3670 or email us at support@simpletix.com.

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Season Ticket Software for Fall 2026: Subscriptions, Reserved Seating & Renewals

  • Vikram Bodas
    by Vikram Bodas • July 23, 2026

Fall subscription sales are the single biggest revenue moment for most performing arts organizations. Season packages, member renewals, and early access windows all open between July and September. So the season ticket software you pick this summer decides how the fall series actually sells. This guide covers what season ticket software needs to do in 2026, how to configure it for a theater, symphony, or concert series, and what SimpleTix costs for season-driven event programs. What season ticket software actually needs to do Selling season tickets is nothing like selling single-event tickets. First, one subscriber buys 4 to 20 events in a single package. Second, seats need to lock across the entire season. Third, renewals from prior subscribers happen weeks before the general public gets access. And fourth, add-ons like parking, pre-show dinner, and backstage passes attach to the subscription, not the event. So the operational checklist for season ticket software looks like this: Season pass or subscription products that group multiple events into one purchase Reserved seating with locked seats across the whole season, so the subscriber sits in the same seat every night Priority access windows for existing subscribers before general on-sale Payment plans or full-payment options so patrons can split large subscription costs Renewal workflows that let last year's subscribers re-up with one click Comp ticket management for donors, sponsors, and press seats Membership tiers with different pricing, benefits, and priority access Reporting by subscriber, not just by event If your current tool cannot handle these, you are probably running Excel spreadsheets on the side and losing renewals every year. What is season ticket software? Season ticket software is a ticketing platform designed to sell multi-event packages (season subscriptions) alongside individual tickets, with reserved seat continuity, subscriber priority access, and renewal workflows built in. The core difference...

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Holiday Event Ticketing Software: Timed Entry, Reserved Seating & Capacity Control for...

  • Vikram Bodas
    by Vikram Bodas • July 23, 2026

If you run a holiday event, you are booking dates now. So the ticketing platform you pick this month determines how November and December actually go. This guide covers what holiday event ticketing software needs to do in 2026, how to configure it for the season crunch, and what SimpleTix costs for holiday events of any size. What holiday event ticketing software needs to do Holiday events compress a whole year of sales into six weeks. First, most tickets sell in a 4 to 8 week window between mid-November and January 1. Second, weather cancels outdoor events without warning. Third, family groups buy 4 to 8 tickets in one order, not 1. And fourth, capacity is measured per time slot, not per venue. So the ticketing checklist for holiday operators looks like this: Timed entry with per-slot capacity for drive-throughs, walk-throughs, and Santa visits Reserved seating for holiday theater, Nutcracker, and holiday concerts Group and family bundles so a family of six is one checkout, not six Fast scanning at the gate, including offline mode for cold outdoor venues Waitlists for when peak-hour slots sell out Add-ons for hot chocolate, photo packages, VIP tiers, and holiday merch Automated email reminders so guests do not forget their timed slot Same-day payouts to fund the season's operational costs If your current tool cannot do all of that, October is too late to switch. Move now. How do timed entry tickets work for holiday events? Timed entry lets you release a fixed number of tickets per time slot (typically every 15 or 30 minutes) so guests arrive in waves instead of one 6pm surge. For a Christmas light drive-through with a 45-minute route, that usually means 30 to 60 vehicles per 15-minute window. Over a 5-hour evening, you can process 600 to 1,200...

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Eventbrite Pricing 2026: Fees, Refunds & What’s Actually Changed

  • Vikram Bodas
    by Vikram Bodas • July 8, 2026

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