Event Ticketing Fees, Compared: What Hosts Actually Pay

Ticketing fees usually have three parts: a platform fee (a percentage of the ticket, often plus a fixed amount), payment processing (commonly around 2.9% plus a small fixed charge), and, in some cases, a monthly subscription. Free events are almost always free across platforms.

The platform fee is where models diverge most. Commission tools like Eventbrite, Posh, and Luma’s free plan take a cut per paid ticket. Subscription tools like Tock/Resy (Tock moved onto Resy, American Express’s restaurant-first app, in August 2026) charge a flat monthly rate and reduce or remove per-ticket fees at higher tiers.

• Platform fee: a percentage, plus sometimes a fixed per-ticket amount
• Payment processing: typically around 2.9% plus a fixed charge, often separate
• Monthly subscription: fixed cost on some platforms, zero on commission-only tools
• Who absorbs it: added on top for the guest, or deducted from your payout

Payout timing also varies. Some platforms release funds days after the event rather than at purchase, which matters for cash flow on larger events.

The table below compares published fee models for six ticketing platforms plus Oxto. Where a platform does not publish a flat rate, the model is described qualitatively. Payment processing is usually separate and not included in the platform-fee column.

Read the fee column against your ticket price. A percentage-plus-fixed model looks cheap on a $150 ticket and expensive on a $20 one, because the fixed portion is a larger share of a small ticket.

For an independent host, Oxto is free to list and charges 3% per paid ticket, or 1.5% on the $29 a month plan and 0% on the $299 a year plan. Luma is free with a 5% fee, or 0% at $708 a year. Posh sets its fee at checkout and does not publish a fixed rate; third-party 2026 reports put it near 10% plus $0.99 a ticket. Eventbrite charges 3.7% plus $1.79 a ticket. Tock/Resy (Tock moved onto Resy, American Express’s restaurant-first app, in August 2026) and CellarPass start at $229 to $289 a month plus 2% to 3%, with no free reservation tier. Card processing is extra on all of them; on Oxto it is charged by Stripe at its standard rate, currently 2.9% plus 30 cents per paid ticket.

On $5,000 in ticket sales (100 tickets at $50), here is what each platform keeps in platform fees before card processing:

What each platform actually charges, plainly:

• Oxto: free to join and list. 3% Oxto fee per paid ticket sold, or Oxto Reserve at $29 a month (1.5% per ticket) or $299 a year (no per-ticket Oxto fee). Stripe card processing, currently 2.9% plus 30 cents, applies to paid tickets. Free events are free. Takes seated reservations and ticketed events, keeps a taste profile on every guest, and lists you next to wineries in taste-matched discovery with the Oxto AI assistant and AI search.
• Luma: free plan with a 5% platform fee on paid tickets and free events free. Luma Plus removes the fee for $59 a month billed annually ($708 a year). Events only, no seated reservations.
• Posh: free to publish, no monthly fee. Posh does not publish a fixed rate; its fee is set at checkout and shown all-in, and third-party 2026 reports put it near 10% plus $0.99 a ticket with card processing included in that figure. Built for nightlife and music. Events only.
• Eventbrite: free events free. Paid tickets carry 3.7% plus $1.79 per ticket and 2.9% payment processing per order, passed to the buyer by default. The largest general event marketplace. Events only.
• Tock/Resy and CellarPass: venue reservation platforms with no free reservation tier. Tock Essential is $289 a month plus 3% on prepayments. CellarPass Professional is $229 a month plus 2%, and CellarPass Enterprise is $799 a month with no reservation fee. Neither lists independent hosts.

Included and Not offered reflect each company’s public pricing and feature pages as of September 2026 and our reading of them. Company names are trademarks of their owners. Capabilities change; if you spot an error, tell us and we will fix it.

It depends on the platform and your settings. Several tools add fees on top of the ticket price so the attendee pays them, which protects your payout but raises the price guests see. Others let you absorb the fee, lowering your net but keeping the advertised price clean.

Eventbrite adds fees to the attendee’s total by default, though you can choose to absorb them. Posh, since April 2026, displays fees all-in, baked into the price the buyer sees rather than reducing your payout. Partiful lets you decide whether to absorb fees or pass them to guests. Luma’s free plan charges a 5% platform fee on paid tickets, which you remove by subscribing to Plus.

There is no free option here, only a choice of where the cost lands. Guest-paid fees can push a $25 ticket toward $28 or $29, which affects conversion. Host-paid fees keep the advertised price honest but come out of your margin.

The cheapest setup depends on ticket price and volume. For low-volume or occasional events, commission-only pricing costs nothing until you sell: Oxto’s free host plan charges 3% per paid ticket with no monthly bill. For high volume, a flat plan such as Oxto Reserve’s annual tier, $299 a year with no per-ticket fee, beats paying a percentage on every ticket.

Run an estimate: multiply your expected paid tickets by the per-ticket fee, then compare that total against any monthly subscription. If the commission total exceeds the subscription, the flat plan is cheaper at your volume.

• Low ticket price, low volume: commission-only tools keep costs near zero
• High ticket price, high volume: subscriptions spread fixed cost thin
• Frequent events: a flat monthly plan avoids paying per ticket every time
• One-off event: avoid a subscription you will use once

Luma removes its 5% platform fee if you subscribe to Plus at $59 a month billed annually ($708 a year), so heavy Luma users cross over to the subscription once fees exceed that. The same crossover logic applies to any commission-versus-subscription decision.

Fees are one input. Payout speed, discovery reach, and whether the platform brings new attendees also shape real value. A slightly higher fee that fills seats can beat a lower fee on a tool that only manages the guests you already have.

Eventbrite, Posh, and Luma each carry consumer discovery audiences, though their crowds differ. Eventbrite skews general and mass-market. Posh leans nightlife and social. Luma skews tech and community. Partiful is invite-driven and social rather than a discovery marketplace.

Tock/Resy and SevenRooms sit at the higher end. Tock/Resy sells prepaid, reserved experiences from $289 a month. SevenRooms is a restaurant-first CRM for restaurant groups, with custom pricing and onboarding fees. Oxto Reserve covers prepaid seats, deposits, and a guest CRM at host pricing.

Oxto Reserve for independent hosts and operators is either $29 per month or $299 per year, or free with a 3% fee per ticket sold. Guests are always free to browse and book. Payouts go to the host’s own bank. You pick the model that fits your volume: flat monthly at scale, or pay-as-you-go when events are occasional.

Oxto’s real difference is not the fee. It is a discovery marketplace that brings new guests matched by taste and atmosphere, combined with reservations and event ticketing in one system. Most ticketing tools manage the guests you already have. Oxto also helps you reach new ones.

Oxto lists wineries and independent operators, including sommeliers, chefs, guides, and experience creators, that other platforms do not cover. Guest taste intelligence travels with each booking, so hosts learn who is coming. It runs on web and iOS, with an embeddable booking widget for your own site.