The question we get asked most
How does tickts make money?
We've been asked this so many times this week that we had to write it down. Here's the straight answer, no spin.
Short version: the core tickts platform is free to use. No booking fees for your buyers, no commission from you, no contracts. The business pays for itself through optional paid plans for larger organisers and future brand-side revenue (sponsorship and ad placement). Nothing is hidden. Nothing suddenly appears later.
Why we built tickts
Most UK ticketing platforms charge two parties at once. They add £1 to £5 in booking fees to every ticket your audience buys, and take a percentage cut from the money you receive on top. On a sold-out gig at £20 a ticket, a 15% platform cut plus a £3 booking fee means a £400 event has already lost £80 to the platform before anyone walks through the door.
That felt excessive to us, so we built the alternative. tickts is a UK ticketing platform where the price on the poster is the price the buyer pays, and the organiser keeps 100% of what they charge. The only thing your buyer pays on top is the standard Stripe card processing fee (roughly 1.5% plus 20p per UK card), which goes to the payment processor, not to us.
How the business pays for itself
We have three revenue streams. None of them comes out of your ticket money.
Optional paid plans for larger organisers
Growth (£29/mo) and Pro (£69/mo) tiers add advanced features that larger organisers tend to want: white label branding, full analytics dashboards, affiliate/rep tracking, season passes, priority support, API access, and more team seats. These are optional. Nothing you need to run a typical event sits behind a paywall.
Sponsorship and ad placement
Once we reach meaningful audience scale, we plan to accept sponsorship on category and venue pages, and highlight relevant brands to buyers on the platform. Nothing about this costs organisers or buyers anything. Think of it like sponsored slots on a listings site, clearly marked, never mixed into your own event pages without permission.
A small service fee on fan-to-fan resale
Where an organiser turns on face-value resale, and a fan sells their ticket to another fan, we keep a service fee from the seller of 5% of the resale price (minimum 50p) for handling the secure transfer and payment. The buyer pays no fee, the organiser pays nothing, and your primary ticket money is untouched. This is also the one place tickts handles transaction money: we collect the resale payment and pay the seller after the event.
What's the catch?
There isn't one. For years to come we're focused on building tickts into a trusted UK ticketing brand. Paid tiers and brand-side revenue are designed to cover the running cost so we don't need to take a cut of your door. But don't take our word for it.
"As an event promoter of smaller local shows, tickts is a breath of fresh air. The 0% booking fees for customers is a marketing dream in the current climate, and customer service is excellent. I can't recommend it enough."
Dan M.Event promoter
"It is genuinely free, which is amazing for low budget events. You get everything you would with a platform you were paying for, including QR tickets and a scanning app. The team are extremely helpful."
Sam M.Charity event organiser
Rated 4.9 out of 5 by organisers and buyers on Trustpilot.
Things tickts doesn't do
- No booking fees added to your audience's checkout
- No commission taken from your ticket revenue
- No contracts. Month-to-month, walk away any time
- No minimums, no setup fees, no cancellation fees
- No selling your buyer data. Your attendee list is yours
- No surprise changes to pricing for existing organisers
How the money actually flows
When someone buys a ticket on tickts:
- The buyer pays the face value of the ticket via Stripe
- Stripe deducts its standard card processing fee (around 1.5% plus 20p for UK cards)
- The rest goes directly into your Stripe account and is paid to your bank within 2 to 7 days
- tickts is not in the payment path. We don't hold your money, and we don't take a cut
Your money never touches us. Buyers pay straight into your own Stripe account, and Stripe pays it out to your bank. tickts is not in the payment path, so there is nothing for us to hold, delay, or take a cut from. It is not a policy we promise to keep, it is simply how the plumbing is built.
Questions organisers actually ask
Will tickts start charging booking fees later?
No. Zero booking fees is the whole reason tickts exists, not a launch offer. Our revenue comes from optional organiser plans and future brand-side sponsorship, never from your tickets, and we've committed to no surprise pricing changes for existing organisers.
Is my money safe?
Yes. Your ticket income goes directly into your own Stripe account, and Stripe pays it out to your bank. You stay in control of the funds the whole way through, with tickts acting as the ticketing layer rather than a middleman that handles your cash.
Is it really free?
The core platform is free: no booking fees, no commission, no contracts. You only pay if you choose a Growth or Pro plan for advanced features, and nothing you need to run a normal event sits behind a paywall.
Still got questions?
If something isn't clear or you want to see it in practice, the best thing to do is just try it. Setting up an event takes about ten minutes.
