POCtix vs Eventbrite: the honest comparison.

Side-by-side pricing, payout speed, data ownership, and the gotchas neither platform's homepage tells you.

Updated May 2026 · Researched from Eventbrite's published pricing page · ~6 min read

Per-ticket fee breakdown

Eventbrite has three pricing tiers as of 2026. Most small-venue accounts default to "Essentials," which is the fee shown publicly on the pricing page. "Professional" and "Premium" are gated behind sales calls and charge more.

Stripe's payment processing fee (2.9% + 30¢) applies on both platforms — that's Stripe's cut, not ours and not Eventbrite's. We compare apples-to-apples below by isolating the platform fee only.

What you net at 5 common ticket prices

After platform fee + Stripe processing (2.9% + 30¢). Stripe's cut is identical on both — it goes to Stripe, not to us or Eventbrite.

The fee column makes the pattern obvious: POCtix is always $2.00. Eventbrite's fee grows with the ticket price — so the more your tickets cost, the more you lose. At $75 VIP, Eventbrite takes $4.57 per ticket vs our $2.00. On a 100-ticket show that's $257 you're giving them instead of yourself.

One note on $5 covers: at that price Eventbrite's percentage platform fee is actually a hair under our flat $2.00 — so on the platform fee alone they edge us out at the very bottom. But they also add a buyer-facing service fee on top — typically $1-2 — that makes your $5 cover cost the buyer $6-7. POCtix doesn't stack a buyer fee. The price you post is the price they pay.

The buyer service fee — Eventbrite's hidden math

This is where Eventbrite's pricing gets sneaky. The fees above are what they take from you. They also add a "service fee" to your buyer's checkout — typically $2-4 per ticket — that you don't see in your dashboard. That service fee makes your $20 ticket cost the buyer $24, which suppresses conversion and trains customers to resent your prices.

POCtix doesn't add a buyer fee. The price you list is the price they pay. You can opt to pass the $2.00 platform fee to the buyer if you want, but it's your choice — not stacked silently.

Feature-by-feature comparison

When Eventbrite is actually the right choice

Honest take: there are cases where Eventbrite makes sense and POCtix doesn't.

• You depend on Eventbrite discovery traffic. Their event marketplace drives real buyers to events with no existing audience. If 30%+ of your sales come from people who found your event browsing Eventbrite, leaving costs you customers.
• You sell very low-priced tickets (under ~$6) at high volume. Eventbrite's percentage platform fee on a $5 ticket is ~$1.98 vs our $2.00 flat. Their model wins at the bottom on the platform fee — though they make it up by stacking a buyer service fee.
• You need features we haven't built yet — reserved seating with a seat-picker UI, native mobile buyer app, multi-day passes with complex rules. We're a lean stack focused on bars + clubs + venues. Eventbrite has built every feature 100 different organizers asked for.

For everyone else — particularly venues with existing audience (social media, regulars, mailing list) selling tickets above $10 — POCtix is dramatically cheaper and respects your customer relationship.

What switching looks like

About 15 minutes per event:

1. Apply at tickets.portofcams.com/for-venues — usually approved same day.
2. Connect your Stripe account (5 minutes if you already have Stripe, ~10 to sign up if not).
3. Create your event in the POCtix dashboard. Set ticket tiers, capacity, image.
4. Share your event link in the same places you used to share Eventbrite — Instagram bio, mailing list, posters.
5. Door staff opens tickets.portofcams.com/scan on any phone, scans QR codes as people arrive.

You don't need to migrate past Eventbrite events. Most venues start with their next single event, see the savings, then migrate the rest. There's no contract or migration fee either way.

Common questions

Will my customers be confused by the new system?

No. The buyer flow is essentially identical — they pick a ticket, pay via Stripe Checkout (the same checkout they use on dozens of other sites), get an email with a QR code. The only thing that changes for them is the URL they buy from.

Can I run Eventbrite and POCtix simultaneously?

Yes — many venues do this for their first month. Sell a portion of tickets on each, see what your buyers prefer. There's no exclusivity requirement.

What about refunds and chargebacks?

POCtix uses your Stripe account directly, so refunds and chargebacks flow through Stripe like any other charge — same as if you took the card yourself. When a charge is refunded, the QR code is automatically voided and capacity is released.

Does POCtix have a discovery feed like Eventbrite?

No. Eventbrite's value-add is that their app drives buyers to your event from people browsing for things to do. POCtix doesn't try to be a marketplace — we're plumbing for venues with their own audience. If discovery traffic is critical, stay with Eventbrite (or use both).

How long has POCtix been around?

Built in 2026 by Port of Cams, an indie team in Honolulu. Currently powering AlohaCalendar, LastFrontierEvents, PortOfCams Pro, and a growing roster of small venues. Newer than Eventbrite (obviously) — built for venues that find Eventbrite's pricing model exhausting.

Pricing sourced from eventbrite.com/organizer/pricing as of May 2026. We update this page when their published rates change. Have a correction? Email [email protected].