Best Ticketing Platforms in 2026

Ticketmaster is the ticketing business of Live Nation Entertainment, the Beverly Hills-based live-entertainment company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It is the largest platform in this list by reported volume. In the third quarter of 2026 Live Nation's Ticketing segment generated revenue of US$870.3m, up 9%, and adjusted operating income of US$315.7m, on a record 98 million fee-bearing tickets; concerts accounted for 95% of fee-bearing ticket growth and international markets for 75%. Ticketing revenue for the first nine months of 2026 was US$2.49bn.

Ticketmaster works under long-term contracts with venues and promoters, sells through its consumer marketplace and apps, and also operates secondary resale; secondary gross transaction value was flat in the third quarter of 2026. Its scale is its main advantage for very large on-sales.

Its main drawback is legal and reputational. The US Department of Justice antitrust case filed in May 2024 sought remedies including divestiture of Ticketmaster; Live Nation settled with the United States in March 2026, but a jury found for the remaining litigating states on 15 April 2026, and the company has recognised US$450m in connection with that verdict while it pursues post-trial motions and an appeal. A separate FTC lawsuit filed in September 2025 concerns advertised prices and ticket limits. Fees are not published as a standard schedule.

CTS Eventim is a European ticketing and live-entertainment group that reports two segments, Ticketing and Live Entertainment. It generated group revenue of €3.1bn in 2025 across more than 25 countries and says more than 300 million tickets a year are marketed through its systems, including its online and mobile portals and box-office networks.

In the first nine months of 2026 group revenue rose 8.1% to €2.322bn, and Ticketing segment revenue rose 13.1% to €708.7m. Retail ticket sales in the Ticketing segment increased from 121.3 million to 123.2 million tickets over the period. Growth in Live Entertainment was helped by newly consolidated companies.

CTS Eventim's business model is similar to Ticketmaster's: it combines primary ticketing contracts with venues and promoters, consumer ticket shops under the Eventim brand in many European countries, and its own concert promotion. For a European venue it is the most direct alternative to Ticketmaster. Its limitations for smaller organisers are that standard fees are not published and that its systems are designed for large-scale contracted ticketing rather than self-service sign-up. On 30 September 2026 the company announced that its chief financial officer had left the executive board with immediate effect.

Eventbrite is a self-service ticketing and event-discovery marketplace. It was a NYSE-listed company until 10 March 2026, when it was acquired by Bending Spoons, the Italian technology company, under a merger agreement signed on 1 December 2025; Eventbrite became a wholly owned subsidiary and ceased to be publicly traded. Its final annual report showed net revenue of US$291.8m for 2025, down 10% from US$325.1m in 2024, mainly because of a US$20.8m decline in ticketing revenue on lower paid ticket volume; the United States accounted for US$209.1m of 2025 revenue and the UK for US$30.6m.

The platform is free for events with free tickets. For paid tickets the buyer pays, by default, a service fee of 3.7% plus US$1.79 per ticket and a 2.9% payment processing fee per order, and organisers can choose to absorb the fees. Eventbrite says it has transacted 270 million tickets for more than 4.7 million events and has 89 million monthly users, which explains its main attraction: buyers find events through its marketplace. Paid options include Eventbrite Ads in some markets and Eventbrite Pro email marketing from US$15 a month.

Its limitations are the relatively high fixed fee on low-priced tickets and the uncertainty that typically follows a change of ownership.

DICE is a mobile-first ticketing app for live music, club nights, festivals and comedy that has operated since 2014. It sells tickets through its app rather than printable barcodes, and its partner pitch is built around fighting resale: tickets are locked to the fan's phone, returned tickets stay with the organiser at face value or with resale revenue uplift, and DICE positions this as a replacement for unofficial secondary sites.

For venues and promoters DICE combines ticketing with discovery and marketing. It says it syncs listening data from streaming services so each fan sees a personalised feed, auto-lists events on streaming platforms, and that 22% of tickets sold come from recommendations and 70% of sales from repeat purchasers. Tools include Running Low alerts at 80% sell-through, automatic abandoned-cart follow-up, an On Site App for door sales, DICE Access scanning, Extras add-ons that DICE says lift revenue by 40%, a live dashboard called MIO and DICE Encore for post-show re-marketing. These figures are company statements rather than independently audited data.

DICE is a strong fit for independent music venues and promoters in the cities it serves. Its limitations are that it is focused on music and nightlife, that its partner fees are not published, and that buyers must use the app, which some audiences resist.

vivenu describes itself as an enterprise-grade event ticketing platform for live entertainment. Instead of selling tickets through a consumer marketplace under its own brand, it provides white-label ticket shops and an API-first platform, so the organiser keeps the customer relationship and first-party data. It has also added an AI assistant for organisers.

Customers named on its site include Cornell University, Stanford Athletics, FC Schalke 04, the Country Music Association, the Grammy Awards, ESL Gaming, Hyrox, the Zurich Film Festival, The Second City and the Straz Center, and its FAQ refers to Major League Cricket, KKL Luzern and Bad Bunny's stadium shows. vivenu says its pricing and yield tools can grow online revenue by up to 23%, a company claim.

vivenu is an option for organisations that have outgrown self-service tools but do not want a marketplace ticketer controlling the buyer relationship: sports teams, universities, festivals, theatres and touring productions. Its limitations are that pricing is entirely quote-based, there is no self-serve sign-up for small events, and an API-first platform benefits most from in-house technical resources for integration with CRM, access control and websites.

Universe is a self-service ticketing platform for independent organisers and growing event brands. Its pricing page links it to the Ticketmaster and Live Nation network: higher-tier customers can sell events on Ticketmaster, use partner affiliate channels and access Live Nation network marketing.

Universe publishes a simple fee structure. Its Starter plan, for independent organisers, and its Standard plan, for growing brands, both charge 2% plus US$0.59 per ticket, excluding VAT and payment processing, with no service fees for free events. A custom plan for established organisers allows an à la carte mix of features, including selling on Ticketmaster, a dedicated account manager, pricing and marketing strategy, partner affiliate channels, Ticket Runner and Social Ladder promotion tools, payment plans, partner marketing services and sponsorship opportunities. Developers can use a GraphQL API and webhooks, and organisers can sell on their own website, on Facebook and on the Universe Discover marketplace. Payment processing is charged by Stripe directly rather than collected as a Universe fee.

Its percentage fee is lower than Eventbrite's on most ticket prices. Its limitations are that the most valuable distribution options sit in the custom tier, and that its link to the Ticketmaster ecosystem may not suit organisers trying to avoid it.

Ticket Tailor is a self-service online box office that charges a flat fee per ticket rather than a percentage of the ticket price. It does not run a subscription model: organisers either pay as they go at £0.60 per ticket (plus VAT) or buy credits upfront, which reduces the cost to as little as £0.22 per ticket. Free tickets are free up to 5,000 a year, registered charities get 50% off fees permanently, and prices are available in pounds, euros and US, Australian and Canadian dollars.

Because the fee does not rise with ticket price, Ticket Tailor is economical for higher-priced events. On its own worked example, a £20 ticket with fees absorbed leaves the organiser £19.60 after illustrative processing costs. Payment processing is handled by Stripe, PayPal or Square, at their standard rates; Stripe's example rates are 1.5% plus £0.20 in the UK and 2.9% plus US$0.30 in the US. Organisers can pass fees to buyers or absorb them.

Ticket Tailor is a box office rather than a marketplace, so organisers bring their own audience. Its other limitation is reserved seating: all tickets sold using seating charts incur a fee, including free ones, and very high-volume free events need to contact support.

TicketSpice is a self-service ticketing product aimed at events and attractions of growing size, sold with three per-ticket price tiers. Every plan lets organisers pass ticketing fees to buyers.

The Standard plan costs US$0.99 per paid ticket plus standard card processing and includes ticketing pages and branding, a page builder, conditional logic, a custom payment gateway, purchase protection, email blasts and dynamic emails, and an AI marketing agent for one event; chargeback protection on this tier costs 1%. Premium costs US$1.49 per paid ticket and adds integrated waivers, removal of TicketSpice branding, payment plans, offline payments, win-back emails and lower 0.9% chargeback protection. Pro costs US$1.99 per paid ticket and adds a white-label domain, daily payouts and 0.75% chargeback protection, with purchase protection optional.

The flat-per-ticket structure is predictable and, like Ticket Tailor's, favours higher-priced tickets. TicketSpice's range of marketing automation, such as drip campaigns and win-back emails, is broader than many self-service rivals'. Its limitations are that the Standard plan carries TicketSpice branding, payment plans and offline payments require Premium, and the organiser still pays card processing on top of the per-ticket fee.

Showpass is an all-in-one event ticketing platform that prices in Canadian dollars and works with organisers in many currencies. It markets itself on transparent pricing with no hidden fees and has expanded into on-site tools for fairs and festivals and a buyer app.

The Essential plan costs 1% plus $0.59 per ticket (prices shown in CAD) and is aimed at organisers who need a reliable, feature-rich ticketing solution. The Professional plan costs 2.5% plus $1.69 per ticket and adds comprehensive event tools, including ticket packages for bundled pricing and custom design. Premium is custom-priced and offers fully branded event setup and broader support. Payment processing is charged separately at 2.9% plus $0.30 CAD per paid item.

Showpass's Essential rate is among the lowest percentage fees in this list, which makes it competitive for small and mid-sized events. Its on-site emphasis, including tools for fairs and festivals, is useful for organisers who sell a lot at the gate. Its limitations are that the Professional tier's fixed fee of $1.69 is relatively high on low-priced tickets, that the platform is less known to buyers outside Canada, and that Premium terms are not published.

Humanitix is an event ticketing platform that directs 100% of its profits to charity; its pricing page displays a running total of more than US$13.8 million donated. It competes with mainstream self-service tools on price as well as mission, with no subscription fees, no sign-up fees and no contracts.

Free events cost nothing. Paid tickets on the Standard plan carry a fee of 2.1% plus US$0.99 per ticket, and charities and schools pay 1% plus US$0.99; payment processing in both cases is 2.9% plus US$0.30. A custom plan is available for larger organisers. All plans include all features, among them reserved seating, sales on the organiser's own website, unlimited ticket types, a scanning app, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Facebook and Canva integrations, email campaigns, gift cards, invoicing, waitlists, merchandise sales, private virtual events, tour pages, live analytics and ticket resale through Tixel.

Humanitix's fees undercut Eventbrite's on most ticket prices, and the inclusion of reserved seating in every plan is unusual. Its limitations are a smaller buyer marketplace than Eventbrite or DICE, and that its charitable model is a reason to choose it rather than a functional advantage for event operations.

Tito is a ticketing and registration tool used by conferences, meetups and community events. It charges one percentage fee with all features included: 3% per ticket for standard events, 2.5% for charity, community and non-profit events (on application), and nothing for free events. Tickets priced above €833.33 incur a flat fee of €25, which caps Tito's take on expensive conference passes. Fees are quoted excluding VAT.

Payments go through the organiser's own Stripe or PayPal account, so the gateway charges its own fees separately; Tito's example rates include 1.4% plus €0.25 for European cards and 2.9% plus US$0.30 for US Stripe transactions. Tito supports 139 currencies and does not restrict which countries it can be used in, provided Stripe or PayPal is available.

Tito's strengths are its simplicity and its conference-oriented features, such as registration questions, updates to attendees and check-in. For free events it is entirely free. Its limitations are that the 3% fee is higher than flat-fee rivals on mid-priced tickets, that it has no consumer discovery marketplace, and that it is less suited to seated venues and festivals than to conferences.

Ticket Fairy is an event ticketing and promotion platform that combines ticketing, door management, a website builder, marketing and production planning. Its pricing model differs from most rivals: organisers can run unlimited events on a free plan with no monthly fee, while buyers pay Ticket Fairy's ticketing fee on each paid ticket, which includes card processing and the VAT or GST on the fee; organisers can instead include the fee in the ticket price. The company's own example is a fee of US$5.00 on a US$50 ticket.

Paid plans add usage of Ticket Fairy's AI assistant, Fai, equal to the plan price each month, plus the organiser's own domains and the ability to add the organiser's own fee on top of Ticket Fairy's. The plans are Plus at US$20 a month, Pro at US$100 a month (US$85 a month billed yearly) and Business at US$500 a month. On Pro, Ticket Fairy's ticketing fees after payment processing can reduce the plan bill by up to US$100 a month. Plus can be trialled for 30 days with a card. Fai drafts campaigns and answers buyers, and organisers can advertise on Google, Spotify, Reddit and ChatGPT.

Its limitations are a relatively high per-ticket fee in the company's own example and a usage-based AI model that adds complexity to budgeting.