The question we get asked most
How does tickts make money?
It's the question we get asked most, so here's the straight answer, no spin.
Short version: the core tickts platform is free to use. No booking fees for your buyers, no commission from you, no contracts. The business pays for itself through optional paid plans for larger organisers, optional paid promotion, and small service fees on extras like fan-to-fan resale. Nothing is hidden. Nothing suddenly appears later.
Why we built tickts
Many ticketing platforms add a booking fee to every ticket. Eventbrite's standard UK fee, for example, is 6.95% + 59p per ticket, plus 20% VAT unless the organiser gives a VAT number. On a £20 ticket that comes to £2.38, so a sold-out night of 200 tickets hands £475.20 to the platform, paid by your buyers on top of the ticket price or taken from your own takings, depending on how the fee is set.
That felt excessive to us, so we built the alternative. tickts is a UK ticketing platform that charges no booking fee and takes no commission. On every ticket, the only deduction from your ticket money is the payment processor's standard fee: Stripe's card processing fee (roughly 1.5% plus 20p per UK card), which goes to the payment processor, not to us. It comes out of the ticket price, so your buyer always pays exactly the face value.
How the business pays for itself
We have three revenue streams. None of them comes out of your ticket money.
Optional paid plans for larger organisers
Growth (£29/mo) and Pro (£69/mo) tiers add advanced features that larger organisers tend to want: white label branding, full analytics dashboards, affiliate/rep tracking, season passes, priority support, and more team seats. These are optional. Nothing you need to run a typical event sits behind a paywall.
Sponsorship, ads and paid promotion
Organisers can pay to promote their event in our buyer newsletters (slots start at £25), clearly marked and entirely optional. As our audience grows we also plan to accept brand sponsorship on category and venue pages. Sponsored placement is never mixed into your own event pages without permission, and none of it ever costs your buyers anything.
Small service fees on optional extras
Where an organiser turns on face-value resale, and a fan sells their ticket to another fan, we keep a service fee from the seller of 5% of the resale price (minimum 50p) for handling the secure transfer and payment. The buyer pays no fee, the organiser pays nothing, and your primary ticket money is untouched. Resale is also one of the few places money passes through tickts at all: we collect the resale payment and pay the seller after the event. The same principle covers fan memberships, where we take 1.5% of each membership payment.
What's the catch?
There isn't one. For years to come we're focused on building tickts into a trusted ticketing brand. Paid tiers, optional promotion and brand-side revenue are designed to cover the running cost so we don't need to take a cut of your door. But don't take our word for it.
“As non-league is heavily reliant on its on the day attendance having a platform that doesn't cost an arm and a leg is vital. … The team running it are incredibly helpful and available at the drop of the hat.”
Lewisham Borough CFCNon-league football club
“Really quick and easy, with no unexpected booking fee.”
Jane W.Bought tickets on tickts
Read what organisers and buyers say about us on Trustpilot.
Things tickts doesn't do
- No booking fees added to your audience's checkout
- No commission taken from your ticket revenue
- No contracts. Month-to-month, walk away any time
- No minimums, no setup fees, no cancellation fees
- No selling your buyer data. Your attendee list is yours
- No surprise changes to pricing for existing organisers
How the money actually flows
When someone buys a ticket on tickts:
- The buyer pays the face value of the ticket via Stripe, or PayPal where the organiser has connected it
- The processor deducts its standard fee (Stripe roughly 1.5% plus 20p per UK card; PayPal 2.9% + 30p where the organiser takes PayPal)
- The rest goes directly into your own Stripe or PayPal account. Stripe pays your bank within 2 to 7 days; PayPal money sits in your PayPal balance to withdraw whenever you like
- tickts is not in the payment path. We don't hold your money, and we don't take a cut
A worked example on a £15 ticket. Stripe's card fee comes out of the ticket price:
Your buyer pays £15.00, and you receive £14.57.
tickts takes nothing. The £0.43 is Stripe's, for processing the card.
Your money never touches us. Buyers pay straight into your own Stripe or PayPal account, and your provider pays it out to your bank. tickts is not in the payment path, so there is nothing for us to hold, delay, or take a cut from. It is not a policy we promise to keep, it is simply how the plumbing is built.
Questions organisers actually ask
Will tickts start charging booking fees later?
No. Zero booking fees is the whole reason tickts exists, not a launch offer. Our revenue comes from optional organiser plans, optional promotion, and small service fees on extras like resale, never from your tickets, and we've committed to no surprise pricing changes for existing organisers.
Is my money safe?
Yes. Your ticket income goes directly into your own Stripe or PayPal account, and your provider pays it out to your bank. You stay in control of the funds the whole way through, with tickts acting as the ticketing layer rather than a middleman that handles your cash.
Is it really free?
The core platform is free: no booking fees, no commission, no contracts. You only pay if you choose a Growth or Pro plan, or an optional extra like promoting your event in our newsletters, and nothing you need to run a normal event sits behind a paywall.
Still got questions?
If something isn't clear or you want to see it in practice, the best thing to do is just try it. Setting up an event takes about ten minutes.
