The short answer
On One Ticket a free ticket costs $0, to you and to the person booking. Make a ticket type with a price of nothing and set a cap at the number the room holds. Everyone who registers gets a ticket with a QR code and a reminder the day before, which is what keeps the no-shows down.
When the cap is reached, the waitlist opens. If someone cancels, the next person on it is emailed that a place has opened. Ask what you need at registration, such as company, dietary needs or how they heard about it, and the answers come with the list.
If you only want a list of names and no ticket at all, use registration without tickets: people register, you see who is coming, and there is nothing to scan. Either way there is no fee, no Stripe account needed, and the attendee list exports as a CSV.
Ready-made template
Free Information Evening
Free information session, already set up as an event you can open now. Pick a date and a venue, change what you like, and publish. Nothing is saved until you do, and you can start without an account.
- A free ticket capped at the room
- How they heard about you, asked at registration
- The waitlist when it fills
Which fits your event?
Start from the one requirement that decides it.
| Your main requirement | Start with |
|---|---|
| A drop-in where anyone can turn up | A post with the time and place |
| A free event with a cap and a door | Free tickets, capped, on One Ticket |
| A guest list with no tickets to scan | Registration without tickets, on One Ticket |
| A free event with a paid extra, like a dinner after | A free ticket type and a paid one, on One Ticket |
If nobody is turned away and nobody is counted, you do not need registrations at all.
How it works in practice
There is no booking fee on a free ticket, and no Stripe account is needed to run one.
| You need | Set up |
|---|---|
| A headcount for the venue | Free tickets with a cap |
| Fewer no-shows | The reminder the day before, sent for you |
| A full event to keep filling | The waitlist, told when a place opens |
| Names and nothing to scan | Registration without tickets |
| Details about each guest | Questions at registration |
One Ticket for a recurring room
Everything below follows from one decision: a series is one object, not a list of dates.
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Who came back | After every session: how many came, how many had been before, who is new and who has stopped coming, by name, with an address to write to |
| Subscriptions | One subscription covers every session in a series. Each night's ticket is minted ahead of time |
| Paid out | Every ticket is charged to your own Stripe account. A new account is paid out to your bank two days after each event, once guests have said how it went; after a first clean event it is paid out as it sells |
| Fees | No platform fee on the ticket price. The buyer pays a booking fee: a platform tier of 35c to $1.45 a ticket, then 1.5% of the price above $100, plus card processing. On a $25 ticket that is $1.45 all in, so the buyer pays $26.45. Free tickets cost nothing |
| Refund if it changes | Move the date, start time or place after people have booked and every one of them can refund in full, booking fee included, until it starts, whatever your refund policy says. You are warned before you save, and everyone booked is emailed the new details |
| Refund requests | On a case-by-case event the buyer asks from their ticket. You have 3 days to refund or decline; a request nobody answers goes to One Ticket support, and your payouts are held until it is settled |
| Guest ratings | After each event, ticket holders rate it: stars and a few words. From 5 ratings the average shows under your name on every event page, good or bad. Notes are for you alone, and never say who wrote them |
| Scam protection | Every page is read before it can send an email, and our emails carry none of an organiser's own links or phone numbers. A new organiser's money is held until after the event, and anyone can report an event from its page |
| Verified tick | Earned by selling here: 3 past events, 25 tickets, no chargebacks, no ignored refund requests, and an average of 4 stars once there are 10 ratings. A chargeback or an ignored request takes it away at once |
| Block a person | Block an address from a ticket type, for this event or every one after it. No public list, no conversation at the door |
| Your page | Your colours, your title font, your cover. Nobody else's event on it |
| Import | Paste an Eventbrite link and the title, description, date, venue and ticket types come across |
| Not included | A marketplace. There is no search page and no audience to sell into; the people are the ones you bring |
Common questions
- Is it free to take registrations for a free event?
- Yes. Free tickets cost nothing for the organiser or the guest.
- Do I need Stripe for a free event?
- No. Stripe is only needed when a ticket has a price.
- Can I cap free registrations?
- Yes. Set a cap on the ticket type or the event, and a waitlist opens when it is reached.
- Can people register without getting a ticket?
- Yes. Registration without tickets keeps a guest list with nothing to scan.
One Ticket
Sell tickets. Keep every dollar.