Brunchie vs Eventbrite

Eventbrite is a public ticket booth and discovery marketplace — great for selling to strangers, but it skims a per-ticket fee that's uncapped and non-refundable, and its "free events" still make guests create an account. Brunchie runs the event for a group you already have — RSVPs, a QR ticket emailed to every guest, seating, shared expenses — free, with no per-ticket fee.

Updated 2026-07-13

Eventbrite is a public ticket booth and event-discovery marketplace — its job is to sell access to strangers and get your listing found.1 That works, but it comes with a per-ticket fee that is uncapped and non-refundable, and even its free events route guests through an account. Brunchie does the other job: it runs the event for a group you already have — RSVPs, a QR ticket emailed to every guest, seating, shared expenses, the day itself — free, with no per-ticket fee.

Quick comparison

Brunchie Eventbrite
Built for Running an event for a group you already have Selling tickets + public discovery to strangers1
Per-ticket fee None — free, no per-ticket fee2 Service fee (≈3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket) + ≈2.9% payment processing; uncapped, non-refundable1
Free events Free; guest RSVP is login-optional, no account Free of ticketing fees, but guests register through an Eventbrite account1
Nonprofit fees No per-ticket fee 50% off the Pro marketing plan — but not off per-ticket ticketing fees3
Ticket + day-of check-in QR code emailed to every guest; QR self-check-in built in QR ticket + organizer check-in scanning app1
Guest-list import CSV, Excel, PDF, screenshot → reviewed before send Manual add / upload
Seating chart Drag-and-drop, AI auto-assign, PDF import, PDF export Reserved-seating add-on for paid ticketing1
Expense splitting / settle-up Built in, with net settle-up Not a feature
Itineraries Multiple per event, each multi-day, with its own audience (guest / host-only / vendor) Single date/time/location
Polls / date-finding Built in (single, multiple, ranked) Not a feature
Shared photo album Photobooth (photos, video, voice memos) Not a feature
Public discovery No — Brunchie is for a group you already have Yes — searchable public marketplace1
Platform Web + iOS + Android Web + iOS + Android1

Why hosts choose Brunchie

  1. You already have the group. When the people are your guest list — a wedding, a fundraiser dinner, a league, a reunion — you don't need a marketplace to find them. Brunchie runs the event; it doesn't charge you to reach people you already invited.
  2. No per-ticket fee. Eventbrite's paid-ticket fee is uncapped and non-refundable — on a cancelled event you still owe it.1 Brunchie collects from your group with no per-ticket fee, and its shared expense splitter tracks who owes whom with net settle-up. See expense splitting.
  3. A real ticket, without the friction. Every guest gets a QR code emailed to them that works as their ticket, and check-in is a QR self-scan at the door — no account wall for a free gathering.
  4. Everything the ticket doesn't cover. Seating chart, multi-audience itineraries, polls, and a shared photobooth live in the same room as the guest list — not scattered across a ticket page and four other tools. See seating charts.
  5. One room for the whole event. Guest list, RSVPs, seating, money, itinerary, and photos together — free.

The honest reason to switch

If your job is to sell tickets to the public at scale — strangers finding your event through search and buying in — Eventbrite's discovery marketplace and ticketing machinery are built for exactly that, and Brunchie isn't trying to be a public ticket marketplace. But most events aren't that. The guest list already exists, and the real work is running the day: RSVPs, who sits where, who's paid for what, the run-of-show, a ticket in each guest's inbox, and the photos afterward. That's coordination — and coordination, free and without a per-ticket fee, is what Brunchie is built for.

Sources

  1. Eventbrite — organizer pricing (service fee, payment processing, free events, ticketing features), as of 2026-07-13: eventbrite.com/help/en-us/articles/755615
  2. Brunchie — Free forever commitment: https://brunchie.app/free-forever
  3. Eventbrite — nonprofit plan (50% off Pro plan; free listing for free events), as of 2026-07-13: eventbrite.com/organizer/event-type/npo/

Common questions

Is Eventbrite really free for free events?
There are no per-ticket ticketing fees on free events, yes.1 But guests still register through an Eventbrite account, and organizer email marketing sits behind a paid Pro subscription. Brunchie's guest RSVP is login-optional — no account, one link on any phone. The canonical statement of what stays free on Brunchie is the Free forever page.
Does Eventbrite charge nonprofits a ticket fee?
On paid events, yes — the same per-ticket service and payment-processing fees apply. Eventbrite offers nonprofits 50% off its Pro marketing plan and free listing for free events, but that discount does not reduce the per-ticket ticketing fees on a paid fundraiser.3 Brunchie takes no per-ticket fee.
Can I collect money on Brunchie without a per-ticket fee?
Yes. Brunchie has shared expense splitting with settle-up tracking built in, and Brunchie takes no per-ticket fee to collect from your group. Brunchie's pricing is governed by the Free forever page.
Does Brunchie give each guest a ticket?
Yes — every guest receives an emailed QR code that works as their ticket, and day-of check-in is a QR self-scan built in. Brunchie is built to run an event for a group you already have; it is not a public marketplace for selling tickets to strangers at scale — for that job, a public ticketing platform is the right tool.

Try Brunchie free

Brunchie replaces the spreadsheet, the group chat, and the half-finished invite list. Free forever for the people we built it for.

Get started