Music ticketing software handles event listings, ticket sales, door management, and post-show analytics, and the right one mostly comes down to size: Humanitix or Eventbrite for small and mid-size shows, Dice for club shows where fan data and face-value-only resale matter, See Tickets or Ticketmaster once you are negotiating a contract at festival and arena scale. The platforms that publish their rates charge roughly 5% to 13% of the ticket price, and some add a fixed per-ticket fee on top. The platforms used at the top of the market do not publish rates at all.
Ticketing is one of those decisions that feels small until it costs you. The wrong platform eats your margins through hidden fees. The right one gives you clean data on who showed up, what they paid, and whether they came back. For venues, promoters, and managers running live music operations, ticketing software is infrastructure, not an afterthought.
This comparison covers the platforms that music industry professionals actually use, ranked by the use case they fit best. For a broader look at tools that support the business side, see What Is Music Management Software.
Platform Comparison
Platform | Best For | Service Fee (Who Pays) | Payout Timing | Fan Data to Organizer | Reserved Seating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eventbrite | Small-mid venues, DIY shows | 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket, plus 2.9% payment processing per order. Buyer pays by default; organizer can absorb | Sent 3 business days after the event; 6-8 business days to reach a US bank | Yes (exportable attendee report) | Yes |
Dice | Artist-friendly, no scalping | Shown all-in, so nothing is added at checkout. Dice's published US self sign-up terms are 13% on the face value the organizer sets, payment processing included; larger deals are negotiated | Within 5 business days of the event | Yes (fan data via MIO and the Ticket Holders API) | Yes |
See Tickets | Mid-large venues, festivals | Negotiated per event with the venue or promoter; rates not published | Weekly ACH settlement; up to 14 business days for large festivals | Yes (client is the data controller) | Yes |
Ticketmaster | Large venues, arena shows | Not publicly disclosed; negotiated per venue and event, buyer pays | Negotiated | Limited (client reporting and marketing through TM1) | Yes |
Humanitix | Socially-minded events, nonprofit | 5% + $1.29 per paid ticket in the US, processing included; 3.9% + $1.29 for registered charities and schools. Buyer pays by default; organizer can absorb | 2-5 business days after the event, plus bank transfer time | Yes | Yes |
Shotgun | Electronic, club, and dance events | Variable and not published. Added to the organizer's price and shown all-in to the buyer. Resale is priced separately at 15%, capped at $30 (€15) per ticket | Transfer starts 24 hours after the event; 2-3 business days to arrive | Yes (contact list with CSV export) | Yes |
US figures are used where a platform prices by region, and the published rates above were current in July 2026. Fees change. Always confirm current pricing directly with the platform before committing to a contract.
Choosing by Event Type
Small venues and DIY shows (under 300 capacity)
Eventbrite works because it is simple and widely recognized. Fans already have accounts, which reduces friction at checkout. The fees are predictable: 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket, plus 2.9% payment processing on the order, passed to the buyer unless you choose to absorb it. You do get an exportable attendee report covering names, emails, order details, and answers to any custom questions you add. The downside is the add-ons: email marketing beyond what the standard plan includes is a paid Eventbrite Pro subscription starting at $15 a month.
Dice is the stronger choice if you care about fan data and hate scalping. What Dice blocks is resale above face value, not resale itself. Where the wait list is switched on for a sold-out event, a fan who cannot attend can return the ticket through it for the price they paid, another fan buys it, and the original fan gets refunded; where the transfer feature is available, tickets can also be sent to friends or family in the fan's Dice contacts. Selling above what you paid breaks Dice's purchase terms and can get the ticket cancelled. Prices are shown all-in, so nothing is added at checkout. Dice's published US self sign-up terms set a 13% service fee on the face value the organizer sets, with payment processing included in that 13%. Larger promoters negotiate their own terms.
Mid-size venues and touring shows (300-2,000 capacity)
See Tickets and similar B2B platforms offer negotiated rates and white-label options. If you are running a venue with regular programming, these platforms let you customize the checkout experience and keep it branded. The downside is more setup overhead and longer onboarding compared to self-serve platforms.
For touring acts, the ticketing platform often comes with the venue. You do not always get to choose. But tour management tools cover the planning around the show regardless of who sells the tickets.
Festivals and large events (2,000+ capacity)
At this scale, ticketing is a negotiation. See Tickets, Ticketmaster, and AXS all work with festivals through custom contracts. The fee structures are not public and vary based on volume guarantees, exclusivity agreements, and ancillary services (access control, RFID wristbands, on-site box office). One broad public benchmark is old: in a 2018 review of a sample of events, the US Government Accountability Office found primary-market ticketing fees averaged 27% of the ticket price.
Ticketmaster dominates this tier. It does not publish a fee rate. Its own help pages say fees are negotiated with the venue or event organizer, vary by event, and are largely kept by the venue rather than by Ticketmaster. Clients get reporting and audience segmentation through TM1, but the fan account relationship sits with Ticketmaster. If owning that relationship matters to your operation, that is a significant downside.
What Actually Matters Beyond Fees
Fan data ownership
This is the most overlooked factor. Some platforms share full attendee data (name, email, location, purchase history) with the organizer. Others keep that data locked in their own platform.
If you are building a venue or promotion company, owning your audience data is worth more than saving 1% on fees. That data powers your email marketing, your retargeting ads, and your ability to fill the next show without starting from zero.
Payout timing
Cash flow matters for independent venues and promoters. A platform that holds your money for two weeks after the event creates real problems when you need to pay the artist, the sound engineer, and the door staff. Check payout timing and whether advance payouts are available for confirmed events.
Integration with your other tools
Does the platform connect to your email marketing, your CRM, or your accounting software? If you are manually exporting CSV files and importing them into Mailchimp after every show, you are spending hours on something that should be automatic.
For industry professionals managing multiple events per month, integration saves more time than fee optimization.
Door and access management
Mobile scanning, will-call lists, and real-time attendance tracking are standard features on most platforms, but the quality varies. Test the door experience before committing to a high-volume show. A clunky scanner app at the door creates lines, bad first impressions, and lost revenue from walk-ups who leave.
The Hidden Cost of Free Ticketing
Some platforms offer free ticketing for free events or absorb fees into the organizer's margin. This sounds good until you realize the tradeoff: you usually lose data ownership, customization, and priority support. Free tiers work for casual events. For anything that generates revenue or builds an audience you plan to market to again, paid features pay for themselves.
When to Use Multiple Platforms
Some promoters use different platforms for different event types: Dice for the 200-capacity club shows where fan data matters, See Tickets for the annual festival where the volume discount makes sense. This works, but it fragments your data. You end up with attendee information spread across three dashboards with no unified view.
If you go multi-platform, build a system (even a simple spreadsheet) that consolidates attendee data monthly. Otherwise, you are sitting on valuable audience information that you never use.
For managing the broader planning around booking and touring, the ticketing platform is one piece of a larger system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell tickets on my own website instead?
Yes, most platforms offer embeddable ticket widgets. This keeps the buying experience on your site while the platform handles payment processing and fulfillment.
Do ticketing platforms handle refunds?
All major platforms have refund capabilities, but policies vary. Some charge fees on refunded tickets that the organizer absorbs. Check refund terms before your first event.
What is the cheapest ticketing platform for music events?
It depends on your ticket price and how many tickets are in an order, because the published rates mix percentages with fixed per-ticket fees. Humanitix charges 5% + $1.29 per paid ticket in the US with payment processing included, and 3.9% + $1.29 for registered charities and schools. Eventbrite is higher at 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket plus 2.9% payment processing. Dice shows an all-in price so nothing is added at checkout, and its US self sign-up terms are a flat 13% of face value with processing included and no fixed per-ticket fee, so it is cheaper on low-priced tickets and more expensive on higher ones: $1.30 versus Humanitix's $1.79 on a $10 ticket, but $6.50 versus $3.79 on a $50 ticket. See Tickets, Ticketmaster, and Shotgun do not publish rates.
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Where Orphiq Fits:
Ticketing is one part of running live events. Orphiq is an insights platform for artists and their teams. Its AI, Apollo, draws audience and career insights from the data you share or connect, starting with TikTok and adding more sources over time.