Looking for a TryBooking Alternative? Read This First

If you're searching for a TryBooking alternative, you're probably a P&C treasurer, a community group secretary, or someone who just inherited "the ticketing" at a committee meeting they now regret attending. Fair enough. The trouble is that page one of that search is software directories comparing forty products you've never heard of, written by nobody who has ever stood at a school gate with a scanner in the rain.

I run one of the alternatives, so let's get the bias out in the open early. I'm the founder of Ticketted. Consider the moustache twirled where you can see it. What follows is the honest version anyway, including the section where I tell you when to stay put.

What TryBooking actually charges (fair's fair)

Before anyone sells you an alternative, you deserve the incumbent's real numbers. TryBooking's published Australian pricing is a 50c ticket fee (15c for tickets of $5 or less), charged to the buyer by default, plus a 2.5% processing fee charged to you, the organiser, by default.

Honestly, that's cheap. Anyone telling you TryBooking will bleed you dry is selling something. What the headline hides is the structure: the cost is split across two line items with two different payers, and by default a slice of it quietly comes out of your revenue rather than being shown to the buyer. Nine times out of ten, the organisers who move aren't fleeing the price. They're moving because of how it's charged, when the money lands, or what happens when something breaks at 8pm on a Friday.

When staying with TryBooking is the right call

Here's the section my accountant wishes I wouldn't write.

If your school has run the same three events on TryBooking for five years, the committee knows the dashboard, and the fees haven't caused a single complaint, stay. Switching platforms costs attention, and volunteer attention is the scarcest resource in any P&C. A working system you understand beats a marginally better one you don't.

And if you're running one free trivia night a year for 40 people, you might not need any ticketing platform. A Google Form and a headcount will do it. Come back when there's money on the door.

Switch when something is actually wrong: fees you can't explain to the committee, money that isn't there when the venue deposit is due, or support that answers in days when your on-sale breaks in minutes.

The alternatives worth your time

Ticketted

Mine, so read this paragraph with appropriate suspicion. Ticketted charges one flat fee, all-in, shown before checkout: 3.95% + 95c per paid ticket, or 2.45% + 45c for registered charities and schools. Free events are $0, unlimited. No monthly subscription, no setup fee, no lock-in. You choose per event who covers the fee — buyer, you, or a split — and the default is buyer-covers, so nothing comes out of your revenue unless you decide it should.

For a school, that 2.45% + 45c matters twice. It's one line item instead of two, and it's slightly under TryBooking's 2.5% + 50c all-in. Not a life-changing gap on one ticket; a tidy one across a 400-ticket fete. Payouts run through Stripe as sales come in, first payout 2 to 3 days after your first sale. QR check-in runs off any phone, and support is a person (usually me) in under an hour, 24/7. Run your own numbers through the event fee calculator rather than taking my word for it, and the full pricing is on one page with no "talk to sales" button.

Humanitix

The not-for-profit with the strongest story in the market: their profit funds children's charities, and that's a genuinely good reason to like them. Published Australian pricing is around 4% + $0.99 per ticket, with a reduced rate for registered charities. Solid platform, good features, and if the charity angle is what gets your committee over the line, that's a fine reason. We've written a detailed Ticketted vs Humanitix comparison if you want the two side by side.

Eventbrite

The biggest name, and the one your interstate cousin has heard of. Published Australian fees land around 6.6% + $1.79 per ticket for paid events, typically covered by the buyer. You get the largest marketplace and brand recognition; you also get the highest checkout total in this list and payout schedules worth reading closely. For a $25 school event ticket, that's roughly $3.44 added at the card form. Our Ticketted vs Eventbrite comparison has the long version.

The numbers, side by side

Published rates at the time of writing — always check the platform's own pricing page before you commit, because fees change and blog posts don't.

One opinion, and I'll back it with the number: charities and schools should never pay standard ticketing fees. A P&C fundraiser exists to raise money for the school, not to tidy up a platform's margins. That's exactly why our not-for-profit rate is 2.45% + 45c. If the platform you're weighing has no reduced rate for a school, that's a choice they made, not a law of physics.

What to check before you switch (learned the hard way)

A community group I know signed up somewhere new, sold well, then went to pay the venue deposit and discovered the platform held all funds until after the event. Great sales, no cash, deposit overdue. Ticketing is plumbing: you don't check it until it backs up.

So before you move anywhere — including to us — check four things:

1. Payout timing. Ask exactly when the money reaches your account. "After the event" is a cash-flow problem wearing a policy costume. On Ticketted, funds move via Stripe as sales come in, first payout 2 to 3 days after your first sale.
2. Data export. Can you download your attendee list and leave whenever you like? If leaving is hard, that tells you what they think of you staying.
3. Who covers the fee. Get the total the buyer pays on your actual ticket price, not the headline rate. Then decide deliberately whether the buyer covers it, you do, or you split it.
4. Test the checkout. Buy a real ticket on your own phone and refund yourself before you announce. Thirty seconds, and it catches about half of the "why isn't it working" panics before they happen.

Frequently asked questions

Is TryBooking free? Free events are free, and there's no subscription. Paid tickets carry a 50c ticket fee (buyer, by default) plus a 2.5% processing fee (organiser, by default), per their published pricing.

What is the cheapest TryBooking alternative for schools? On published rates, Ticketted's charity and school rate of 2.45% + 45c all-in sits slightly under TryBooking's combined 2.5% + 50c. Run your actual ticket price through a fee calculator, because "cheapest" depends on your price point and who covers the fee.

Is Humanitix cheaper than TryBooking? Usually not on raw numbers — Humanitix publishes around 4% + $0.99 against TryBooking's 2.5% + 50c combined. People choose Humanitix for the charity mission, not the maths.

Can I switch platforms mid-year without losing my attendee data? Yes, if your current platform lets you export your list — check before you need it. On Ticketted there are no lock-ins or contracts, and your attendee data exports whenever you want.

Do TryBooking alternatives hold your money until after the event? Some platforms do, and it's the single most expensive surprise in ticketing. Always confirm payout timing in writing before your on-sale. Ticketted pays out via Stripe as sales come in.

What should a P&C look for in a ticketing platform? A reduced not-for-profit rate, one fee the committee can explain in a sentence, payouts before the bills arrive, an attendee export, and check-in that runs off a phone at the gate.

Does Ticketted charge schools the standard rate? No. Registered charities and schools pay 2.45% + 45c per ticket, and free school events cost $0 with no attendee cap.

Still weighing it up? Give us a call

Switching ticketing platforms is like changing banks: everyone means to compare properly, most people just stay wherever the queue was shortest in 2019. If TryBooking is working for you, keep it and spend your energy on the event. If the split fees, the payout timing, or the support queue are costing you, the alternatives above are all real options — and one of them is mine.

Flick us an email at support@ticketted.com or give us a call on 0452 590 455. Usually you'll get me, usually in under an hour. I'll give you the honest maths on your actual event, even if the honest maths says stay put. My wife says I'm too honest to run a sales funnel. I've chosen to hear that as five stars.