Self-Hosted Alternatives to Eventbrite
Why Replace Eventbrite?
Eventbrite’s fee structure eats into event revenue. For paid events, Eventbrite charges 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket (US pricing). For a $50 ticket, that’s $3.64 — 7.3% of your ticket price gone to Eventbrite alone, before payment processing fees. For a 200-person conference at $100/ticket, you’re paying $1,098+ in Eventbrite fees.
Updated February 2026: Verified with latest Docker images and configurations.
Even free events aren’t truly free — Eventbrite implemented fees for “free” events in certain markets, and the platform increasingly pushes organizers toward paid features for visibility.
| Eventbrite Cost | 100 Tickets ($50 each) | 500 Tickets ($100 each) | 1,000 Tickets ($200 each) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eventbrite fee (3.7% + $1.79) | $364 | $2,770 | $5,590 |
| Payment processing (~2.9% + $0.30) | $175 | $1,600 | $3,200 |
| Total platform costs | $539 | $4,370 | $8,790 |
| Self-hosted (processing only) | $175 | $1,600 | $3,200 |
| You save | $364 | $2,770 | $5,590 |
Best Alternatives
Pretix — Best Overall Replacement
Pretix is the most complete open-source Eventbrite alternative. It handles multi-day events, reserved seating, ticket types, discount codes, waiting lists, check-in management (with a mobile app), and integrations with Stripe and PayPal. It’s been used for events with thousands of attendees, including tech conferences like FOSDEM plugins.
What Pretix does:
- Multiple ticket categories with custom pricing
- Early bird and group discounts
- Reserved seating charts
- Waiting list management
- Check-in via mobile app (pretixSCAN)
- QR code tickets (PDF and Apple Wallet)
- Multi-event management from one instance
- Payment via Stripe, PayPal, bank transfer
- Customizable ticket shop design
- Attendee data export
- Invoice generation
- Plugin system for extensibility
Trade-offs vs. Eventbrite:
- No built-in event discovery/marketplace
- You handle marketing and promotion yourself
- No Eventbrite Ads or recommendation engine
- Setup requires Docker and server management
Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Pretix
Cal.com — Best for Simple Registrations
If your “events” are workshops, webinars, office hours, or training sessions — bookable time slots rather than ticketed events — Cal.com handles this elegantly. Set up a group event type, configure capacity, collect payment via Stripe, and share the booking link.
Cal.com isn’t designed for large-scale conferences with multiple tracks and seating charts. But for events under 50 attendees where you need a booking page with calendar integration, it’s simpler than Pretix.
Best for: Workshops, webinars, classes, coaching sessions, small meetups.
Not ideal for: Large conferences, reserved seating, complex ticket tiers.
Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Cal.com
Alf.io — Best for Conference Ticketing
Alf.io is a conference-focused ticketing platform built with Java. It targets the same use case as Eventbrite’s conference features — multiple ticket categories, promo codes, seating, check-in, and detailed analytics. It’s particularly popular in the Java conference community and has been used by Devoxx and other major tech events.
Strengths:
- Purpose-built for conferences
- Sponsor and exhibitor management
- Invoice generation with VAT support (EU focus)
- Attendee badge printing
- REST API for integrations
- Check-in app
Trade-offs:
- Java-based (higher resource usage than Pretix)
- Smaller community than Pretix
- Less polished UI
Migration Guide
Transitioning from Eventbrite
- Download attendee data — Eventbrite → Manage Events → Reports → Download attendee list as CSV
- Set up your self-hosted platform — deploy Pretix (guide) or your chosen alternative
- Recreate your event — ticket types, pricing, descriptions, and custom questions
- Update marketing materials — replace Eventbrite links with your new ticket page URL
- Keep Eventbrite active temporarily — for events already listed, add a note directing to your new platform
- Set up payment processing — connect Stripe directly (saves the Eventbrite fee layer)
Important: Eventbrite’s event discovery/search won’t list your self-hosted events. You’ll need to drive traffic through your own marketing channels — social media, email lists, website, partner networks.
Cost Comparison
| Eventbrite | Pretix (Self-Hosted) | Cal.com (Self-Hosted) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 3.7% + $1.79/ticket | $0 | $0 |
| Monthly subscription | $0-99/month (organizer tools) | $5-15/month (VPS) | $5-10/month (VPS) |
| Payment processing | ~2.9% + $0.30 (Stripe via Eventbrite) | ~2.9% + $0.30 (direct Stripe) | ~2.9% + $0.30 (direct Stripe) |
| 200 tickets at $50 | $728 in fees | ~$610 (Stripe only) | ~$610 (Stripe only) |
| Annual fixed cost | $0-1,188 | $60-180 | $60-120 |
| Event discovery | Eventbrite marketplace | Your own promotion | Your own promotion |
| Check-in app | Yes | Yes (pretixSCAN) | No |
| Seating charts | Yes | Yes | No |
| Multi-event | Yes | Yes | Limited |
For a single 200-person event at $50/ticket: self-hosting saves $118 in platform fees. For recurring events, the savings compound — four events per year saves $472+.
What You Give Up
- Event discovery marketplace — Eventbrite’s biggest value is its search engine where people discover events. Self-hosted events don’t appear in any marketplace. You need your own audience.
- Eventbrite Ads — paid promotion within the Eventbrite ecosystem for visibility
- One-click attendee communication — Eventbrite’s built-in email tools for attendee updates. Self-hosted requires your own email setup.
- Instant setup — Eventbrite requires no server knowledge. Pretix needs Docker and a VPS.
- Financial processing coverage — Eventbrite handles refunds, chargebacks, and tax reporting through their platform. Self-hosted means you manage these through Stripe directly.
For organizers with an existing audience (mailing list, social media following, community), the discovery marketplace loss is minimal. For organizers who rely on Eventbrite’s marketplace for attendee acquisition, the transition is harder — build your audience first, then migrate.
FAQ
Can Pretix handle events with thousands of attendees without performance issues?
Yes. Pretix has been used for conferences and festivals with 5,000+ attendees. It runs on Django with PostgreSQL and handles concurrent ticket purchases well — configure multiple Celery workers for high-demand on-sales. For very large events (10,000+ tickets going on sale simultaneously), add Redis for caching and run behind a CDN. The check-in app (pretixSCAN) works offline and syncs when connectivity returns.
Does Pretix support reserved seating and venue maps?
Yes. Pretix includes a seating chart editor for creating venue layouts with rows, sections, and individual seats. Attendees select their seats during purchase, similar to Eventbrite’s reserved seating feature. The seating plugin supports multiple seating plans per event, seat categories with different pricing, and visual seat selection in the ticket shop.
How do I handle refunds and chargebacks without Eventbrite?
Connect Stripe directly to Pretix and manage refunds through Stripe’s dashboard or Pretix’s order management. Stripe handles chargeback disputes and provides seller protection. You lose Eventbrite’s intermediary layer, but gain lower processing fees (no double markup) and direct control over refund policies. Pretix tracks refunded orders and updates attendee counts automatically.
Can I sell tickets for recurring events (weekly meetups, monthly classes)?
Pretix supports recurring events through its “event series” feature — create a base event and generate date-specific sub-events with shared settings. Each date has its own ticket availability, pricing, and attendee list. For simpler recurring bookings (classes, appointments), Cal.com is better suited with its calendar-based scheduling and automatic recurrence.
Will my events appear in Google search results without Eventbrite’s SEO?
Yes, if you add Event structured data (JSON-LD) to your ticket pages. Pretix’s ticket shop pages can be embedded in your website and enriched with schema markup for Google Events rich results. You lose Eventbrite’s marketplace discovery, but your own SEO (your domain, your content) can rank for event-specific searches. Promote through your mailing list, social media, and community channels.
How do I scan tickets at the door?
Pretix includes pretixSCAN, a free mobile app (Android and iOS) for QR code check-in. It works offline — scan tickets without internet connectivity and sync results when connected. Multiple devices can scan simultaneously for high-volume entry. The app shows attendee names, ticket types, and check-in status. For events without Pretix, any QR code scanner works with custom-generated ticket PDFs.
What payment processors work with self-hosted event platforms?
Pretix supports Stripe, PayPal, bank transfer, cash/manual payment, and Mollie (European payment methods). You connect directly to these processors — no Eventbrite middleware taking an additional cut. Stripe alone covers credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and SEPA direct debit. Payment processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 via Stripe) are the same regardless of platform, but you eliminate Eventbrite’s 3.7% + $1.79 surcharge.
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