How Much Does Eventbrite Cost in 2026? Real Math on a $20 Ticket
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Eventbrite charges 3.7% + $1.79 in service fees per paid ticket on its Flex plan, plus a 2.9% payment processing fee per order. On a $20 ticket, that comes out to roughly $3.11 in total fees, or about 15.5% of the ticket price. Source: Eventbrite Help Centre — Ticketing Fees.
This is the short answer. The longer answer matters if you sell more than a few tickets per month, because the structure changes with volume, with package, and with whether you pass fees to buyers.
How much does Eventbrite charge per ticket?
Eventbrite charges 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket on the Flex plan, plus a 2.9% payment processing fee per order.
Two fees, two purposes:
- Service fee (3.7% + $1.79): Eventbrite’s cut for using the platform.
- Payment processing fee (2.9%): The cost of moving money through credit card networks.
Free events have no fees on Eventbrite. Add-on products and upgrade features may incur their own charges.
How much does Eventbrite cost on a $20 ticket?
A $20 ticket on Eventbrite Flex costs about $3.11 in total fees, or 15.5% of the ticket price.
The math:
- Service fee: 3.7% of $20 = $0.74, plus the flat $1.79 = $2.53
- Payment processing: 2.9% of $20 = $0.58
- Total fees: $2.53 + $0.58 = $3.11
- Effective fee rate: $3.11 ÷ $20 = 15.55%
The effective rate scales with ticket price because the fixed $1.79 is the same on every ticket:
- On a $50 ticket, total fees are about $5.13 (10.3%)
- On a $100 ticket, total fees are about $7.69 (7.7%)
Lower-priced tickets feel the fixed $1.79 the most. If most of your tickets are under $25, Eventbrite’s effective fee rate is closer to 15% than the headline 3.7%.
What are Eventbrite’s pricing packages in 2026?
Eventbrite offers three plans: Flex (pay-as-you-go), Pro (monthly subscription), and Premium (custom enterprise).
- Flex: No monthly cost. Pay per ticket sold. Standard for most organizers.
- Pro: Monthly subscription. Lower per-ticket fees in exchange for the recurring cost. Targeted at higher-volume organizers.
- Premium: Custom pricing for large-scale or enterprise event programs.
The Flex plan is the default for new accounts. Switching plans is a manual decision based on volume.
Can organizers pass Eventbrite fees to attendees?
Yes. Organizers can choose to absorb the fees or pass them through to attendees at checkout.
If you pass fees through, attendees see a higher checkout total. If you absorb them, your net per ticket drops by the fee amount. Most small organizers pass fees through.
This is configurable per event in your Eventbrite dashboard.
Are free events free on Eventbrite?
Free events are free to list on Eventbrite. Standard ticketing fees do not apply.
Some premium features (advanced reporting, custom branding, marketing add-ons) may still carry costs. If your event is genuinely free with no upsells, you can run it on Eventbrite at zero platform cost.
How does Eventbrite’s pricing compare to alternatives?
Most Eventbrite alternatives charge significantly less than Eventbrite’s 15.5% effective rate on a $20 ticket. SimpleTix, for example, charges $0.79 + 2% per ticket with no contracts.
Here is the same $20 ticket on each platform:
Eventbrite Flex:
– Service fee: 3.7% + $1.79 = $2.53
– Processing: 2.9% = $0.58
– Total: $3.11 (15.5% of the ticket price)
SimpleTix:
– Per-ticket fee: 2% + $0.79 = $1.19
– Processing: handled by your connected processor (Stripe/Square/PayPal at their standard rates)
– Total: $1.19 (5.95% of the ticket price), before processing
The gap widens at scale. On 500 tickets at $20 each, Eventbrite fees total $1,555. SimpleTix fees total $595. That is $960 in retained revenue on a single event.
What’s the cheapest Eventbrite alternative?
SimpleTix is among the cheapest Eventbrite competitors at $0.79 + 2% per ticket, with no monthly subscription, no contracts, and no fees on free events.
Other low-fee alternatives include Ticket Tailor, TicketSpice, and Brown Paper Tickets. Each has tradeoffs around feature depth, payment processor support, and onsite operations.
The questions that matter when picking an alternative:
- What is the per-ticket fee, broken into service + processing?
- Is there a monthly subscription on top of per-ticket fees?
- Does it support reserved seating, season passes, or memberships if you need those?
- Does it work with your payment processor (Stripe, Square, PayPal)?
- Does it have an onsite check-in app?
- Is there a fee on free events?
The bottom line on Eventbrite fees
Eventbrite costs about 15.5% on a $20 ticket once service and processing fees are combined. That is the number to start with when comparing platforms.
If you sell low-priced tickets, the fixed $1.79 per ticket hits hardest. If you sell high-priced tickets, the percentage matters more. If you run free events, Eventbrite is free.
SimpleTix runs the same $20 ticket at $1.19 (5.95%) with no subscription, no contract, and no fees on free events. Run the math on your own volume here: SimpleTix pricing.
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