If you run a small event in the UK, such as a quiz night, a school fireworks display, a comedy club, a charity ball or a village show, the ticketing platform you pick decides how much of each ticket you actually keep. On a £10 ticket the difference between the cheapest and the most expensive option here is well over £1 a ticket. Across a hundred tickets, that is the cost of the raffle prizes, the PA hire or the hall.
This guide compares the platforms UK organisers most often ask us about, using fees we have checked on each platform's own pricing pages, and shows what a real small event costs on each one.
If your buyers come from your own Facebook page, mailing list, posters and word of mouth, a platform with no booking fee and no commission will leave you the most money. On 100 tickets at £10, tickts costs £35 in card processing, Ticket Tailor about £107 and Eventbrite £154.20. If you need a big marketplace to find buyers for you, Eventbrite's audience can be worth its fee.
What matters for a small event
Small events do not need arena software. They need a checkout that a hundred parents or regulars can get through on their phones without giving up, and a fee structure that does not quietly take a tenth of the takings. In order of how much they affect you:
- What you keep from each ticket. Some platforms take a percentage, some a flat fee per ticket, some both, and some add VAT on top. Card processing is either included or charged separately. Always work out what lands in your account, not the headline rate.
- What your buyers pay. A booking fee added at checkout makes your £10 ticket feel like £11.50, and buyers notice. The price on the poster should be the price they pay.
- When you get paid. Some platforms hold your money until after the event. Others pay into your own Stripe or PayPal account as each ticket sells, so you can pay deposits before the night.
- The door. QR scanning from a phone, a printable list and a way to sell on the night, so the queue moves and nobody gets in twice.
- No minimums or contracts. A one-off fundraiser should not need a monthly plan.
What 100 tickets at £10 actually costs
The fairest way to compare is one worked example. Here are 100 tickets sold at £10 each, one ticket per order, paid with standard UK cards, with the fees coming out of the ticket price so the buyer pays exactly £10.
| Platform | Fees on 100 tickets | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| tickts | £35.00 | £965.00 |
| Ticket Tailor (pay as you go) | £107.00 | £893.00 |
| Eventbrite | £154.20 | £845.80 |
How the figures are worked out, from each platform's own pricing page (checked October 2026):
- tickts adds no booking fee and takes no commission. The only deduction is Stripe's card fee of 1.5% + 20p for a standard UK card, which is 35p on a £10 ticket.
- Ticket Tailor charges £0.60 + VAT per paid ticket on pay as you go (72p with VAT), and card processing is paid separately to Stripe, PayPal or Square. We have used Stripe's standard UK rate. If you are VAT registered and can reclaim the VAT, the total is £95. Buying credits in advance brings their fee down to as little as £0.22 + VAT a ticket, and registered charities get 50% off.
- Eventbrite charges 6.95% + £0.59 per paid ticket in the UK, with card processing included. That is £1.285 a ticket, £128.50 on 100 tickets, plus 20% VAT on the fee unless you give Eventbrite a VAT number. With a VAT number the total is £128.50 and you keep £871.50.
Premium, business and international cards cost more to process where processing is charged separately, so treat those card figures as the lowest they will be. To try your own ticket price and numbers, use the booking fee calculator.
The platforms, one by one
tickts
tickts is a UK platform built around one idea: no booking fee for the buyer and no commission for the organiser. The price you set is the price your audience pays, and buyers pay straight into your own Stripe or PayPal account, so the money is yours as each ticket sells. Stripe then pays it out to your bank, usually within 2 to 7 days.
The free Starter plan covers unlimited events and tickets, promo codes, QR scanning from any phone with no app to download, door sales, add-ons such as parking or merchandise, multi-date events, seating, checkout questions and Apple and Google Wallet tickets. Paid plans (Growth at £29 a month, Pro at £69 a month) add things like payment plans, waitlists, reps and larger email allowances, but you never need one to sell tickets.
Best for: organisers who bring their own audience and want to keep the whole ticket price, such as PTAs, sports clubs, charities, community groups, local promoters and theatre groups. Worth knowing: tickts does not have a marketplace the size of Eventbrite's, so most of your buyers will still come from your own promotion.
Eventbrite
Eventbrite is the best known name, and its biggest strength is reach: it says its discovery marketplace reaches 89 million people a month. Free events cost nothing to list. For paid events in the UK the fee is 6.95% + £0.59 per ticket, card processing included, plus VAT on the fee unless you are VAT registered and tell them.
Best for: events that genuinely need new buyers to discover them, such as workshops, talks and networking events, where the marketplace can earn its fee. Worth knowing: on low-priced tickets the fixed 59p is a large share of the price. On a £5 ticket it comes to about £0.94 before VAT, nearly a fifth of the ticket.
Ticket Tailor
Ticket Tailor charges a flat fee per ticket rather than a percentage: £0.60 + VAT on pay as you go, or from £0.22 + VAT if you buy credits in advance. Card processing is on top, through your own Stripe, PayPal or Square account. Registered charities get 50% off, discounts are available for PTAs and not-for-profits, and they reduce the fee on very low-priced tickets.
Best for: organisers who sell regularly and can buy credits upfront, or charities using the discount. Worth knowing: the per-ticket fee applies on top of card processing, so on pay as you go the total is roughly three times tickts' on a £10 ticket.
Skiddle
Skiddle describes itself as ticket sales and club listings, and its strength is nightlife and music, where its listings bring in buyers looking for a night out. For a daytime community event, a school fundraiser or a sports club dinner, its audience is less likely to be yours. Check their own pricing page for current fees.
WeGotTickets
WeGotTickets sells tickets for music, comedy, theatre, film and festivals. Check their own pricing page for current fees.
Fatsoma
Fatsoma calls itself an all-in-one ticketing and event marketing platform, with a rep dashboard for selling through a street team. That suits club nights and other events where reps drive sales. Check their own pricing page for current fees.
OutSavvy
OutSavvy focuses on inclusive events such as Pride events, drag shows, club nights and charity events, and supports LGBTQ+ charities. If that is your audience, its community is a real advantage. Check their own pricing page for current fees.
We only quote a platform's fees where we have checked them on that platform's own website, which is why some of the entries above have no figures.
Which platform suits which event
| If you are running | Look at |
|---|---|
| A school, PTA or charity fundraiser sold to your own community | tickts, so every pound goes to the cause. Ticket Tailor if you prefer their charity discount. |
| A sports club matchday, dinner or presentation night | tickts, with door sales and scanning on the free plan |
| A gig, comedy night or theatre run with a local following | tickts or Ticket Tailor |
| A club night driven by reps | Fatsoma or Skiddle, or tickts with reps on the Growth plan |
| A workshop or talk that needs strangers to find it | Eventbrite, for its marketplace |
| A free event | Any of them. tickts, Eventbrite and Ticket Tailor all let you issue free tickets at no charge (Ticket Tailor up to a yearly limit). |
Switching without starting again
If your event is already on Eventbrite, you do not have to rebuild it. On tickts you paste your Eventbrite link and the title, date, venue, description, image and ticket types come across as a draft for you to check and publish, in about ten seconds. There are similar routes for other platforms, and a full tickts vs Eventbrite and tickts vs Ticket Tailor comparison if you want the detail first.
Questions organisers ask
What is the cheapest ticketing platform in the UK?
For a paid event where you bring your own buyers, a platform with no booking fee and no commission is the cheapest, because the only cost left is card processing. On tickts that is Stripe's 1.5% + 20p for a standard UK card, so a £10 ticket leaves you £9.65. Card processing is charged on every platform, either separately or built into the fee.
Is there a free ticketing platform for small events?
Yes. tickts is free to use for both free and paid events: there is no booking fee, no commission and no monthly charge on the Starter plan. For paid tickets the only deduction is the card fee charged by Stripe or PayPal. Eventbrite and Ticket Tailor are also free for free events, with Ticket Tailor's free allowance capped each year.
Do I need a platform with its own marketplace?
Only if you need strangers to find your event. Most small events sell to people who already know about them: parents at the school gate, club members, regulars and friends of the band. For those, a marketplace adds cost without adding buyers, and your own Facebook posts, emails and posters do the selling.
How quickly will I get paid?
It depends on where the money goes. On tickts, buyers pay into your own Stripe or PayPal account as they book, and Stripe pays out to your bank on its normal schedule, usually 2 to 7 days. Some platforms collect the money themselves and pay you after the event, so check before you sign up if you need the takings for deposits.
Can I sell tickets on the door as well as online?
Yes. On tickts the free plan includes a box office for selling and recording tickets at the door, and your door staff scan the QR tickets bought online from their own phones, so all your numbers stay in one place.
What counts as a small event?
For ticketing, small usually means a few hundred people or fewer: school discos and fireworks, quiz nights, club dinners, gigs in pubs and small venues, comedy nights, amateur theatre, workshops and village shows. Every platform here copes with that size, so the deciding factors are fees, payouts and how easy the checkout is for your audience.
Which kind of event do you run?
The right setup changes with the event. A school fundraiser needs a hundred parents to pay without a booking fee eating the profit, while a comedy night needs a door list and a rep link. These guides cover the settings and wording for each kind of organiser:
- PTA and school fundraisers: quiz nights, discos, fireworks and summer fairs.
- Sports clubs: matchdays, season passes, presentation nights and sportsmen's dinners.
- Live music: grassroots venues, promoters and per-band links.
- Comedy: club nights, tours and previews.
- Theatre: runs, matinees and reserved seating.
- Charity events: balls, auctions and fundraisers, with donations at checkout.
- Community groups and village halls: events that live on local word of mouth.
- Festivals: multi-day, multi-stage and camping.
Related reading: the best Eventbrite alternatives in the UK, a detailed ticketing fees comparison and how Stripe Connect pays you directly.
Ready to keep the whole ticket price? tickts charges organisers 0% commission and buyers £0 booking fees. See how pricing works or create your first event free.
