Do I need a ticketing platform for a small event?

The short answer

Not always. If twenty friends are coming and nobody is paying, a group chat or a simple form is fine. A ticketing platform starts to earn its place when people you do not know are paying, when the room has a hard limit, or when you need a list at the door.

The test is simple: count the hours you spend chasing payments and answering “am I on the list?” If that number is growing, it is time.

When you can skip it

You probably do not need a platform if:

• everyone coming already knows you, or knows someone who does
• there is no money involved, or people pay on the night
• the venue does not care about numbers
• you are happy to keep a list in a notes app

Plenty of good events run this way for years. Our posts on running an event from a WhatsApp group and a spreadsheet and PayID are honest about where those setups work.

Signs you have outgrown the do-it-yourself setup

• You are matching bank transfers to names. Someone paid “Sarah B” and you have three Sarahs.
• You oversold. Two people were told yes for the last place.
• People ask if they are booked. Every question is a message you have to answer.
• The door is slow. Someone reads names off a phone while a queue builds.
• You need answers before the night. Dietary needs, T-shirt sizes or an emergency contact.

Any one of these on its own is a nuisance. Three of them and the tool is costing you more than a platform would.

What a platform actually does for you

A good ticketing platform takes the payment, stops sales when you are full, sends each person a ticket, reminds them before the day, and gives you a list to check against at the door. That is most of the admin of a small event, done without you.

What it should not do is take a big cut of a small ticket price, or make you pay a monthly fee for an event you run twice a year. Check the cost per ticket at your real price before you sign up. Our post on how to sell tickets for a small event without big fees has the sums.

Start small

You do not have to move everything at once. Try a platform for one event, keep your group chat for the chatter, and see whether it saves you time. If it does not, go back.

On One Ticket

One Ticket’s Free plan costs nothing to set up and has no monthly fee. Free tickets cost nobody anything. For paid tickets the buyer pays a small booking fee and you keep the full ticket price, paid into your own Stripe account.

Each person gets a ticket by email with a QR code, reminders go out the day before and the morning of, and you can check people in from any phone. If someone pays you cash, add them yourself from the box office with no booking fee.

Related: Google Forms or a ticketing platform?, Stripe Payment Link or ticketing platform? and How much does it cost to sell tickets online in Australia?