Fees, on real numbers
Eventbrite (US, published): 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per ticket, plus 2.9% payment processing, buyer-paid by default. TixKarma: flat $2 plus 3.5% + $0.40 processing, buyer-paid.
On a $20 ticket that's about $3.18 (Eventbrite) vs $3.17 (TixKarma) — a wash. On a $50 ticket: $5.20 vs $4.22. On a $100 ticket: $8.55 vs $5.97. The flat fee pulls ahead as ticket prices rise; under $20 they're roughly even.
Where TixKarma is different
- Your event page has no competing events on it — Eventbrite's shows 'More events you may like'
- Buyers follow *your venue*, not the platform; new events email your followers automatically
- Free listing on SceneScout, a local discovery site for upstate NY
- White-label Pro option on your own domain with zero per-ticket fees
- A person answers the phone; we're a two-person company in Rochester
Where Eventbrite is still better
- National discovery — Eventbrite's marketplace has traffic we don't, outside upstate NY
- Reserved seating maps on the standard product (ours is Pro only)
- Mature integrations: Mailchimp, Zapier, Facebook ticketing
- A larger support organization and help center
Who should pick which
If you're a local venue, bar, comedy room, or promoter selling to an audience you're building in one city — TixKarma. If you're selling to strangers nationally and need the marketplace traffic, or you need reserved seating today, Eventbrite is still the right call. We'd rather you pick correctly than pick us.
Common questions
Export your Eventbrite attendee list, email them your TixKarma venue page, and ask them to follow. Their next purchase puts them in your TixKarma list.
Yes — QR scanning from any phone browser, multi-scanner sync, and attendance/no-show reports. Feature parity on the door.
At $20 tickets they're roughly even. Above $20, TixKarma is cheaper, and the gap grows with price.