The High Cost of "Free" Event Software

"Free" is the most dangerous word in event planning.

It is a powerful marketing hook. It lures you in with the promise of zero upfront costs, allowing you to launch your idea without touching your savings. But "free" in the software world is rarely an act of charity. It is a business model.

Too often, organizers discover the true cost only after the event is over. You check your bank balance expecting a certain number, only to find it significantly lighter because the platform quietly skimmed a percentage off every single ticket. Or worse, you find out that the data you worked so hard to collect (your attendee list!) is held hostage behind a paywall.

This is a guide on how to spot the trap before you step in it. We’ll cover what "free" actually means in this industry, how to calculate the hidden costs before they hit your bank account, and the features you absolutely need to run a successful event without getting fleeced.

What "Free" Actually Means

If you are not paying for the product, you are the product - or in this case, your attendees are.

When a platform offers you $0 setup fees, they aren't doing it to be nice. They are doing it to capture market share. They know that once you build your event page, upload your images, and share the link, the "switching cost" becomes too high for you to leave. You are locked in.

That is when the fees start to appear. They might show up as "processing fees" charged to your guests, making your affordable workshop look expensive. They might show up as "data removal fees" when you try to export your email list.

Knowing which business model you are dealing with is the only way to avoid a surprise bill.

The Three Flavors of "Free"

There are three primary ways software companies disguise costs. Identify which one you are looking at, and you will know exactly how they plan to make money from you.

1. The Freemium Model (The "Gatekeeper")

This is the classic "try before you buy" approach. You get a stripped-down version of the tools to launch a simple event. It works fine if you are hosting a potluck for 10 people.

The Catch: The moment you need a professional feature like removing their logo, sending a custom email, or exporting your data - you hit a paywall. The software is designed to let you start, but preventing you from growing unless you pay up.

The Verdict: Great for a test drive, but dangerous for a scaling business. You will eventually be forced to upgrade.

2. Free with Transaction Fees (The "Skim")

This is the most common and most insidious trap. The platform costs absolutely nothing to set up. There is no monthly subscription. instead, they take a bite out of every ticket you sell. Usually this is a percentage (2–5%) plus a flat fee per ticket.

The Catch: It feels free today, but it punishes you for succeeding. If you sell a $20 ticket, they take a cut. If you sell a $200 ticket, they take a massive cut, even though their servers did the exact same amount of work. It is a tax on your revenue.

The Verdict: This model bleeds your margins. The more successful your event becomes, the more money you lose to the platform.

3. Open Source (The "Free Puppy")

This is technically "free" software. You download the code, and you own it forever. There is no company to pay.

The Catch: It is free like a puppy is free. The code costs nothing, but now you have to feed it. You need to pay for hosting. You need to manage security updates so credit card data isn't stolen. You need to fix bugs when the site crashes. Unless you are a developer, this is the most expensive "free" option in terms of time and stress.

The Verdict: Only viable if you have a technical team on staff. For independent creators, it’s a distraction.

The Non-Negotiable Features

Don't get distracted by shiny dashboards or "AI-powered" marketing tools. A ticketing tool only needs to do four things well. If a free tool fails at any of these, walk away immediately.

1. The Page Builder (First Impressions)
You should be able to create a clean, professional event page in under 15 minutes.

Why it matters: If your event page looks broken on mobile or loads slowly, people will assume your event is disorganized. You lose trust before you even ask for the sale. If you are wrestling with code or fighting a clunky editor, the tool is costing you time.

2. The Checkout (The 60-Second Rule)
Can someone buy a ticket in under 60 seconds?

Why it matters: Friction kills sales. If the checkout flow requires a user account, a password, a captcha, and three redirects, you will lose 20% of your buyers. The best checkout is the one that ends quickly.

3. The List (Ownership)
You need a simple, exportable list of who is coming. At a minimum, you need names and emails.

Why it matters: If the platform goes down or bans you, do you still have your list? If you can't export your attendees to a CSV file, you don't own your business.. the platform does.

4. The Money (Direct Payouts)
The software must connect to a trusted processor like Stripe or PayPal.

Why it matters: Your money should go directly to your bank account. Many free platforms force you to use their internal wallet, holding your funds for 30 days "for security" or until the event ends. If you need that cash to pay a caterer next week, you are out of luck.

Free vs. Paid: The Trade-Offs

When you stay on a free tier, you are usually trading control for savings. Here is the reality of what you lose when you don't pay upfront.

Feature	Typical Free Tier	Typical Paid Tier
Capacity	Capped. Often limited to 50-100 attendees. You cannot grow without upgrading.	Unlimited. Scale as big as you want without hitting a wall.
Branding	Their Brand. Their logo is at the top, bottom, and on the ticket. Your event looks like an ad for them.	Your Brand. Your logo, your colors, your custom URL. It looks professional.
Data	Hostage. Basic list export only. No analytics on where traffic came from.	Open. Full traffic reports, sales sources, and clean CSV exports.
Support	"Good Luck." Check the community forum. Response times are 48+ hours.	Priority. Real human help via chat or email when things break.

Working Around the Limits

We get it. Sometimes the budget is literally $0. If you must use free software, you need to know where the bodies are buried so you can step around them.

The Branding Problem
Your event page will likely look like a billboard for the software company. You can’t remove their logo, but you can overpower it.

The Fix: Use bold colors and high-quality header images. Create a visual hierarchy that draws the eye to your headline and your button, making their logo fade into the background noise.

The Cap Problem
Many free plans cut you off at 50 attendees. If you expect 75 people, the software will block new sales.

The Fix: The "Multiple Sessions" hack. Instead of one event for 75 people, create two events for 40 people each (e.g., an "Early Session" and a "Late Session"). This keeps each distinct event under the free cap while allowing you to sell the total inventory.

The Support Problem
When you pay $0, you get $0 worth of support. If the server crashes during your launch, there is no phone number to call.

The Fix: You must become your own Quality Assurance team. Before you launch, buy a ticket yourself using a real credit card. Go through the entire flow. Check the confirmation email. Ensure the money landed in your Stripe account. Find the bugs yourself so your guests don't have to.

The Sanity Check Checklist

Before you commit to a tool, run it through this 4-point test. It takes ten minutes and saves hours of headache.

The Math: Go straight to the pricing page. If they take a percentage, do the calculation. On a $200 workshop, a 5% fee is $10 per person. For 20 people, that’s $200 lost. Ask yourself: Is this tool providing $200 worth of value?
The Speed: Time yourself. Can you build a test page in 15 minutes? If it takes an hour to figure out the dashboard, imagine how hard it will be to manage the guest list.
The Experience: Is the checkout smooth? Does it feel trustworthy? If it feels sketchy to you, it will feel sketchy to your customers.
The Payout: Do they hold your money? Check their payout terms. If they say "Payouts 3 days after event conclusion," run. You want direct deposits.

Why We Built Ticketsmith

We fell into the "free software trap" ourselves. We spent days setting up an event, designing the assets, and writing the copy. Everything looked great until we launched and realized the platform planned to skim 5% off every single ticket we sold.

It felt dishonest. It felt like they were penalizing us for doing the hard work of selling tickets.

We built Ticketsmith to be the "Honest Alternative."

No Percentages: We charge a simple, flat fee per ticket. Whether you charge $10 or $1,000, our work is the same, so our fee is the same.
No Penalties: We don't charge you more just because you sold more.
Total Control: You get the branding, the data, and the payouts without the "tax" on your revenue.

It works for events from 5 to 5,000 people. It’s not free, but it’s fair. We are currently in waitlist mode, but you can join at ticketsmith.co for early access.

Common Questions

Can I really plan an event for free?
Yes, if the event itself is free. Most platforms (like Eventbrite or Luma) won't charge you if you aren't charging your guests. If you are hosting a free meetup, use their free tools. But the moment you sell a ticket, the fees kick in.

What is the biggest hidden cost?
Transaction fees. Always transaction fees. Platforms often advertise "Free Setup" and "No Monthly Fees" in big bold letters. But in the fine print, they reveal they take a cut of every sale. This is on top of the standard credit card processing fees. Always read the fine print.

Is using a PayPal link or Venmo cheaper?
Technically, yes. But operationally, it’s a nightmare. You have to manually track who paid, manually send them the calendar invite, and manually check them in at the door. You save a few dollars in fees but lose hours in admin work. A flat-fee ticketing tool is usually the happy medium between "expensive software" and "spreadsheet hell."