What is the break-even ticket volume?

At a $25 average ticket, roughly 1,500 paid tickets a year puts platform fees near the $4,999 license cost. Above that, ownership is cheaper in year one and dramatically cheaper by year three. Below it, staying on a percentage platform is the rational choice.

Do I still pay payment processing fees?

Yes. Stripe and PayPal charge their standard processing rates on your own account. What disappears is the ticketing platform fee layered on top, and the revenue share.

What does hosting cost on top of the license?

A standard VPS suitable for most deployments is a modest monthly cost, far below typical platform fees at volume. We advise on sizing during installation based on your expected traffic.

The cost comparison

What ticketing fees really cost you per year

Percentage fees feel small per ticket and large per year. The arithmetic is simple enough to do on the back of an envelope, so here it is in full, with the numbers you can check against your own sales report.

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	Eventbrite (published US rates)	EventMS Pro
1,000 tickets @ $25	≈ $3,440 per year in fees	$4,999, once
5,000 tickets @ $25	≈ $17,200 per year in fees	$4,999, once
2,000 tickets @ $50	≈ $10,180 per year in fees	$4,999, once
1,000 tickets @ $100	≈ $8,390 per year in fees	$4,999, once
Year 2 cost	The same again, and every year after	$0
If volume doubles	Your fees double	Unchanged
Fee cap	None	Not applicable

How to run the numbers for your own events

Eventbrite's published US rate is 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket, plus 2.9% payment processing. Multiply your annual paid-ticket count by your average ticket price, apply roughly 6.6% plus $1.79 per ticket, and you have your annual fee bill. Compare that single number against a one-time $4,999. For most organizations selling more than about 1,500 paid tickets a year, ownership wins inside the first year. (Rates verified August 2026; check current published pricing before making a decision.)

Annual fees ≈ (tickets × price × 6.6%) + (tickets × $1.79)
That figure repeats every year; a license does not
Payment processing (~2.9%) still applies to you either way, via your own Stripe account

The honest caveats

Two things this table does not capture, and both matter. First, you still pay Stripe or PayPal processing on your own account, so the saving is the platform fee, not the whole percentage. Second, self-hosting carries a server bill, typically modest but not zero. Neither changes the conclusion at volume, but you should build both into your comparison rather than take the headline number at face value.

When staying on a percentage platform is the right call

If you sell a few hundred tickets a year, percentage fees are genuinely cheaper than a license, and you should stay where you are. The same is true if most of your sales come from a marketplace's own audience rather than your own marketing, because you would be paying for discovery, not just software. Ownership pays off for organizations with volume and their own demand.

Frequently asked questions

What is the break-even ticket volume?: At a $25 average ticket, roughly 1,500 paid tickets a year puts platform fees near the $4,999 license cost. Above that, ownership is cheaper in year one and dramatically cheaper by year three. Below it, staying on a percentage platform is the rational choice.
Do I still pay payment processing fees?: Yes. Stripe and PayPal charge their standard processing rates on your own account. What disappears is the ticketing platform fee layered on top, and the revenue share.
What does hosting cost on top of the license?: A standard VPS suitable for most deployments is a modest monthly cost, far below typical platform fees at volume. We advise on sizing during installation based on your expected traffic.

The Eventbrite alternative you actually ownEventbrite alternative Self-hosted event ticketing, installed and running in daysSelf-hosted ticketing Event management software built for organizations, not solo organizersFor organizations

Own your ticketing platform

One license, installed free on your server, with 6 months of support and updates included.

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