Free ticketing platforms in the UK compared (2026)
The short answer
If you want guests to pay only the ticket price, Partache and Tickts charge no platform fee and no booking fee: the only cost is Stripe's card fee, £0.50 on a £20.00 ticket. Ticket Tailor charges a flat £0.60 + VAT per paid ticket, TryBooking 5% + 20p, and Eventbrite 6.95% + £0.59, usually added to the buyer's price. All of them are free for free events.
Partache publishes this guide, so we're one of the platforms in it. We've kept it fair: every fee comes from the provider's own pricing page (linked under Sources), checked in October 2026, and we say where another platform is the better choice.
Fees compared
| Platform | Fee on a paid ticket | Card processing | Who pays the fee | Free events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partache | None | Stripe, 1.5% + 20p | No fee to pay. Organiser pays Stripe | Free |
| Tickts | None | Stripe, 1.5% + 20p (or PayPal) | No fee to pay. Organiser pays Stripe | Free |
| Ticket Tailor | £0.60 + VAT per ticket (from £0.22 + VAT prepaid) | Extra: Stripe, PayPal or Square fee | Organiser, unless you add a booking fee | Free up to 5,000 a year |
| TryBooking | 5% + 20p per ticket | Included | Organiser, unless you pass it on | Free |
| TicketSource | 7% + VAT, minimum £0.25 + VAT (as reported) | Included | Usually the buyer | Free |
| Eventbrite | 6.95% + £0.59 per ticket | Included | The buyer, by default | Free |
What a £20.00 ticket really costs
One £20.00 ticket, bought with a standard UK card, with each platform's default setting.
| Platform | Buyer pays | Organiser keeps |
|---|---|---|
| Partache | £20.00 | £19.50 |
| Tickts | £20.00 | £19.50 |
| Ticket Tailor | £20.00 | £18.78 |
| TryBooking | £20.00 | £18.80 |
| TicketSource | £21.68 | £20.00 |
| Eventbrite | £21.98 | £20.00 |
What "free" means in ticketing
"Free" gets used for three different things, and it's worth knowing which one a platform means:
- Free for free events. Every platform here charges nothing when the tickets themselves are free.
- No fee for the organiser. The platform takes nothing from you, but may add a booking fee to the buyer's price instead.
- No fee for anyone. No platform fee and no booking fee: the buyer pays the ticket price and you pay only the card processor. Partache and Tickts work this way.
Card processing is never free. Someone pays Stripe, PayPal or the platform's own processor on every paid ticket; the question is whether that cost is all you pay.
The platforms
Partache
No platform fee and no booking fee on any plan; guests pay the ticket price, and you pay Stripe's fee from the money that lands straight in your own Stripe account. Built for independent hosts: club nights, gigs, supper clubs, workshops and community events, with QR check-in, waitlists, approvals, members-only events and checkout on your own website. An optional Pro plan adds branding, custom links and automated emails. It doesn't do reserved seating.
Tickts
Also no commission and no buyer fees, paid out through your own Stripe or PayPal. Its free Starter plan covers unlimited events; paid plans (£29 and £69 a month) add seating layouts, more venues and team members, season passes and white-label pages. A good fit if you need seating plans.
Ticket Tailor
A flat fee per paid ticket instead of a percentage, so it stays cheap on expensive tickets, and cheaper still with prepaid credits. You connect your own payment processor and pay its fees on top. Strong on seating and box office features.
TryBooking
A simple percentage that already includes card processing and VAT, popular with schools, clubs and community groups. If you connect your own Stripe, the fee becomes a flat 75p per ticket plus Stripe's charges.
TicketSource
Free for organisers, with a percentage booking fee that's usually passed on to buyers. Widely used by theatres and venues, with seating and box office tools.
Eventbrite
The best known, with a large marketplace that can bring you buyers who've never heard of you, and features for big conferences. The trade-off is the highest per-ticket fee here, added to your guests' price by default.
How to choose
- You want guests to pay only the ticket price: Partache or Tickts.
- You need reserved seating: Tickts (paid plans), Ticket Tailor or TicketSource.
- Your tickets are expensive: a flat fee (Ticket Tailor) beats a percentage; no fee (Partache, Tickts) beats both.
- You don't want to set up Stripe: TryBooking, TicketSource or Eventbrite take the payment for you.
- You want to be found by new people: Eventbrite's marketplace is the biggest; Partache lists your events by city and lets followers and friends see what's on.
See also: what Partache costs, with worked examples and Partache compared with Eventbrite.