Ticket fees compared: Eventbrite, TicketLeap, Humanitix
What buyers pay in fees on a $10 and a $25 ticket at Eventbrite, TicketLeap, Humanitix and ExpoRight, with each site's own pricing page linked.
Comparison · 5 min read · By the ExpoRight team · Updated October 27, 2026
The short version
- Fees on a $10 ticket
- $1.50 to $2.51
- Cheapest for paid tickets
- TicketLeap, then ExpoRight
- Free events
- $0 elsewhere, $0.57 here
When you sell tickets online, the price on the poster is rarely the price at checkout. Every ticket site adds its own fee, and someone also has to pay the card processor. Those two charges are worded differently on every pricing page, which makes them hard to compare. So we read the pricing pages of the sites hosts ask us about most and worked out what a buyer actually pays.
Fair warning: one of these sites is ours. We've linked every source so you can check the numbers yourself, and we say plainly where another site comes out cheaper.
The short answer
| Site | $10 ticket | $25 ticket | Free ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
| ExpoRight | $1.58 | $2.34 | $0.57 |
| Eventbrite | about $2.51 | about $3.52 | $0.00 |
| TicketLeap | about $1.50 | about $2.25 | $0.00 |
| Humanitix | about $1.79 | about $2.54 | $0.00 |
On paid tickets, TicketLeap came out cheapest by under 10¢ a ticket, ExpoRight second, Humanitix third and Eventbrite the most expensive. On free events the others charge nothing, while ExpoRight charges a small flat fee per free ticket ($0.57 to the buyer, including the card fee). If you only run free events, one of the others will cost you less.
Try your own ticket price
Type the price you're planning to charge and see what a buyer would pay in fees on each site.
How each site charges
Ticket fees come in two parts: the site's own fee, and a payment processing fee for taking the card. Some sites quote both, some fold them together, and some charge processing on the fee as well as the ticket.
- Eventbrite: a service fee of 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket, plus 2.9% payment processing worked out on the whole order, service fee included. Free events have no ticketing fees. There's a paid Eventbrite Pro plan for email marketing, but you don't need it to sell tickets.
- TicketLeap: $1 + 2% per ticket (49¢ for tickets of $5 or less), capped at $20 a ticket, plus a 3% online transaction fee. Its pages don't make clear whether the 3% is worked out on the ticket price alone or on the price plus the fee, which is why our table says "about". Free events have no fees.
- Humanitix: its pricing page lists 2.1% + 99¢ per paid ticket with processing of 2.9% + 30¢ shown underneath, and its help center gives the US booking fee as 5% + $1.29. We used 5% + $1.29 as the all-in figure. Free events are free, and Humanitix gives its profits to education charities, which matters to some hosts.
- ExpoRight: 74¢ + 2% per ticket of 99¢ or more, 25¢ per free ticket or one under 99¢, plus Square's 2.9% + 30¢ to take the payment. There's no monthly fee and no fee to list an event.
Who pays the fees: you or the buyer
Every site here lets you choose. Either the buyer pays the fees on top of the ticket price, or you cover them and take a little less from each sale. There's no right answer. For a $5 show where people pay at the door anyway, covering the fees keeps the price simple. For a $40 ticket, most buyers expect a fee line and won't think twice.
On ExpoRight you make that choice for each ticket type, so you can cover the fees on vendor tables and pass them on for general admission. If you cover them on a $25 ticket, you receive $22.73 of it. Either way, the buyer sees the full total before they pay.
Why tickets per order matter
The 30¢ part of a card fee is charged once per order, not once per ticket. A family buying four tickets in one order pays it once, so the fee per ticket drops. The same is true at Eventbrite, where processing is a percentage of the whole order.
What the fee doesn't show you
The cheapest site isn't always the best deal. Check these before you pick one:
- When you get paid. Some sites hold your money until after the event. On ExpoRight a paid ticket goes straight to your own Square account, and Square deposits it to your bank on its usual schedule.
- Reserved tables and booths. If you sell vendor tables or reserved seats, you need a floor plan buyers can pick from. ExpoRight's floor plan designer is included.
- Check-in at the door. Look for something that works on the phone you already have. On ExpoRight you scan each ticket's QR code with your phone's camera.
- Refunds. Find out who pays the fees when a ticket is refunded. On ExpoRight, ExpoRight returns its own fee and Square keeps its processing fee, as our refund policy explains.
Questions
What are Eventbrite's fees for a $10 ticket?
In the US, Eventbrite charges a service fee of 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket, and payment processing of 2.9% on the whole order. On a $10 ticket that comes to about $2.51 when the buyer pays the fees, according to Eventbrite's pricing page as of October 27, 2026.
Which ticket site has the lowest fees?
For paid tickets in our comparison, TicketLeap came out lowest, ExpoRight second by under 10¢ a ticket, and Eventbrite highest. For free events, Eventbrite, TicketLeap and Humanitix charge nothing, so they're cheaper than ExpoRight.
Can I make the buyer pay the ticket fees?
Yes, on all four sites. On ExpoRight you choose for each ticket type, and the buyer always sees the total before they pay.
Are there monthly fees?
None of these four requires a subscription to sell tickets. Eventbrite sells an optional marketing plan. ExpoRight has no monthly fee and no listing fee.
Want to see the exact fees for your own event? Set it up on ExpoRight; it stays a private draft until you publish. Create your event