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Best Nonprofit Ticketing Software 2026: 10 Platforms Compared
May 25, 2026
⚡TL;DR — The Short Answer
Verdict: Zeffy is the only 100% free ticketing platform built specifically for nonprofits. Every other platform on this list charges at least $225 in fees on a $10,000 event.
What works: Zeffy keeps $0 in platform fees, transaction fees, or card processing fees. The model is, not nonprofit revenue.
What doesn't: Zeffy is built for fundraisers, not virtual conference platforms. Multi-day hybrid conferences are better served by Accelevents or GoFundMe Pro.
Best for: Small and volunteer-run nonprofits running galas, fun runs, auctions, festivals, and community fundraisers.
Worth considering if: You need Salesforce NPSP integration or enterprise-level virtual event infrastructure and have the budget for a custom-quoted contract.
If you sold 250 tickets at $40 to your last gala, you raised $10,000 on paper. On Eventbrite, you actually kept about $8,975. That roughly $1,025 gap, made up of platform fees, per-ticket service charges, and processing, is the quiet tax most "nonprofit ticketing software" charges small, volunteer-run orgs. It's not a rounding error. It's a scholarship, a week of program supplies, or a part-time staffer's monthly stipend.
Most platforms marketed as "nonprofit ticketing" are concert-promoter software with a nonprofit discount slapped on. They charge the same fees to a 250-person fundraiser as they do to Live Nation. Zeffy's free nonprofit ticketing platform is the only ticketing tool built specifically for nonprofits where the real fee is $0: no platform fee, no transaction fee, no card processing fee. The model works because donors, not nonprofits, fund the platform through optional tips at checkout. 100,000+ nonprofits have raised $2B+ on Zeffy that way.
This guide compares the 10 best nonprofit ticketing platforms by total fee load, nonprofit-native features, volunteer-friendly setup, event-type breadth, and pricing transparency. You'll see exactly what each one costs on a $10K event, who they're built for, and where the trade-offs land.
Quick comparison: nonprofit ticketing software at a glance
Estimated total fees are based on each platform's published 2026 pricing for a $10,000 event (250 tickets at $40). Numbers are rounded to the nearest $25.
Platform
Platform fee
Processing fee
Total cost on $10K event
Best for
Zeffy
0%
0%
$0
Small and volunteer-run nonprofits — galas, fun runs, auctions, festivals
Eventbrite
3.7% + $1.79/ticket
2.9%
~$1,025
Larger events prioritizing audience discovery over cost
Donorbox Events
3.95%
2.2% + $0.30
~$700
Donorbox customers wanting ticketing alongside donation forms
Bloomerang (formerly Kindful)
~1% + $125+/mo subscription
2.9% + $0.30
~$325 + subscription
Orgs already paying for Bloomerang's CRM
GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy)
Custom (demo-gated)
Custom (demo-gated)
Not publicly disclosed
Enterprise nonprofits with $1M+ revenue
Ticketstripe
1.5% + $0.50/ticket
Stripe rates (2.9% + $0.30)
~$225
Stripe-native orgs wanting basic ticketing
Silent Auction Pro
$449+/year
2.9%
~$625 + annual fee
Auction-focused galas
Accelevents
$250-$1,500/event
Varies by processor
~$425+
Enterprise multi-day hybrid conferences
Ticketbud
1.75% + $0.99/ticket (attendee-paid)
2.9% + $0.30
~$625
General-audience events where reach matters more than nonprofit features
Zeffy: the only 100% free ticketing platform for nonprofits
Zeffy is the only zero-fee ticketing platform built specifically for nonprofits. A $100 ticket on Zeffy is $100 to your mission, versus roughly $4 lost per ticket on Eventbrite, or about $1,025 on 250 tickets. The platform is: the donor pays the tip, the nonprofit pays nothing, and Zeffy never charges you a surprise fee if a donor declines. Here's how Zeffy stays 100% free (donor tips, not nonprofit fees).
Why Zeffy wins for small and volunteer-run nonprofits:
✅ Keep 100% of every ticket: no platform fee, no transaction fee, no card processing fee
Eventbrite: best for audience reach, but fees add up
Eventbrite is the best-known general-purpose ticketing platform, with a marketplace that helps events get discovered by attendees outside your existing list. It's polished, well-documented, and easy to set up. It's also not built for nonprofits: the fee structure is identical to what it charges commercial concert promoters, and there are no automatic tax receipts or donor CRM. If you're using Eventbrite for events, you're using concert software for fundraising.
Highest fee load of any platform on this list for the typical small-nonprofit event
No automatic tax receipts for donors
No built-in donor CRM: you'll need a separate tool
No native auctions, raffles, peer-to-peer, or donation forms
Cost on a $10K event (250 tickets at $40)
Attendees pay a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per ticket. Nonprofits pay 2.9% payment processing on the order. Combined fee load on a $10K event: approximately $1,025 (estimated based on Eventbrite's published 2026 pricing, rounded to the nearest $25). Whether absorbed by attendees or your organization, it's $1,025 not going to your mission. Best for: larger events prioritizing reach over cost.
Donorbox Events: flexible forms with nonprofit DNA
Donorbox Events is a nonprofit-native ticketing add-on bolted onto Donorbox's donation platform. The strengths are real: automatic tax receipts, donation upsells at checkout, embeddable forms, and a donor CRM. The trade-off is a platform fee that stacks on top of Stripe processing, putting the all-in cost at roughly 6%+ on every ticket.
Pros
Unlimited ticket types and promo codes
Automatic tax receipts and donation upsells at checkout
Embeddable forms and QR codes
Full fee table published on donorbox.org/pricing
Cons
3.95% events platform fee stacks on top of Stripe processing
Steeper learning curve than general-purpose tools
Live Kiosk for in-person sales is a paid $80/mo add-on
Premium features sit behind paid plan upgrades
Cost on a $10K event (250 tickets at $40)
Estimated based on Donorbox's published 2026 pricing: 3.95% events platform fee + 2.2% + $0.30 Stripe processing per transaction. On a $10K event, that's roughly $700 in total fees (rounded to the nearest $25). Best for: existing Donorbox customers wanting ticketing alongside donation forms in one platform.
Bloomerang absorbed Kindful in 2023 and now offers ticketing as a feature alongside its core donor CRM. For nonprofits already paying for Bloomerang's CRM, ticketing inside the same system makes data tracking easier: tickets attach to donor records natively. For nonprofits just shopping for a ticketing tool, the math is much harder.
Pros
Native CRM integration with donor history baked in
Event tracking and reporting tied to giving data
Supports multiple ticket types
Cons
Monthly subscription on top of per-transaction fees (subscription pricing is tier-based and not fully public)
Ticketing features are basic compared to dedicated event tools
CRM-first onboarding: not designed for a volunteer to spin up in 30 minutes
Out of reach for most volunteer-run orgs without a CRM budget
Cost on a $10K event (250 tickets at $40)
Bloomerang's published nonprofit plans start at roughly $125/month and scale up with database size, plus Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30) on each ticket. On a $10K event you'd pay subscription costs plus approximately $325 in processing (estimated based on Bloomerang's published 2026 pricing, rounded to the nearest $25), and you keep paying the subscription whether you ran one event or none. Best for: orgs already invested in Bloomerang's CRM.
GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy): enterprise event ticketing
GoFundMe Pro is the rebrand of Classy (2024), now operating as the enterprise nonprofit arm of GoFundMe. Its Live Events module is purpose-built for mid-to-large nonprofits running galas, virtual events, and hybrid conferences, and it's priced accordingly. Pricing is no longer published publicly; you'll need to sit through a sales demo to get a quote. The Essentials card rate is 2.4% + $0.30 (per pro.gofundme.com/c/pricing), but the Live Events module sits under custom-quoted contracts.
Pros
Enterprise-grade security and PCI compliance
Multi-ticket forms, social sharing, and detailed reporting
In-person, virtual, and hybrid event support
Salesforce NPSP integration at the Custom tier
Cons
Live Events module pricing is custom and demo-gated: no public transparency
Requires significant team training and implementation time
Overbuilt for one-off events or small volunteer teams
Cost on a $10K event (250 tickets at $40)
Custom (demo-gated). GoFundMe Pro doesn't publish Live Events pricing; quotes typically combine a license/subscription fee with transaction fees that vary by contract. Expect annual commitments measured in thousands, not monthly rates. Best for: enterprise nonprofits with $1M+ revenue and dedicated event staff.
The other contenders: Ticketstripe, Silent Auction Pro, Accelevents, Ticketbud, SimpleTix
Ticketstripe: simple and Stripe-native
Ticketstripe is a lightweight ticketing layer built directly on Stripe. Nonprofits get timed ticketing, custom URLs, and bundles at 1.5% + $0.50 per ticket plus Stripe processing. On a $10K event, total fees land around $225 (estimated based on Ticketstripe's published 2026 pricing, rounded to the nearest $25), which is cheaper than Eventbrite but with no automatic tax receipts, no donor CRM, and no donation-side fundraising surfaces. Best for: orgs already standardized on Stripe that need basic check-in, nothing more.
Silent Auction Pro: auction-focused event tickets
Silent Auction Pro is built around silent and live auctions, with ticketing as a companion feature. Pricing starts at $449+/year plus 2.9% processing per transaction. On a $10K gala that also runs an auction, expect around $625 in combined fees on top of the annual subscription (estimated based on published 2026 pricing, rounded to the nearest $25). Best for: orgs whose flagship event is the auction itself. If your event is more auction than ticket, see how you can run a silent auction alongside your ticket sales for free on Zeffy.
Accelevents: enterprise hybrid and virtual events
Accelevents is built for complex, multi-day, hybrid or virtual conferences with deep integrations (Zapier, webhooks, API access). Nonprofit pricing runs $250-$1,500 per event plus processing fees. On a $10K event, total fee load lands around $425+ depending on tier (estimated based on published 2026 pricing, rounded to the nearest $25). Best for: enterprise nonprofits with dedicated event staff running multi-day programming. Overkill for volunteer-run fun runs or community fundraisers.
Ticketbud: general-purpose ticketing
Ticketbud offers flexible payouts (daily, weekly, or monthly) and a simple checkout. Attendees pay a 1.75% + $0.99 platform fee; nonprofits pay 2.9% + $0.30 processing. On a $10K event, total fees come to about $625 (estimated based on published 2026 pricing, rounded to the nearest $25). Best for: general-audience events where audience size matters more than nonprofit-specific features. Not built around tax receipts, donor CRM, or recurring giving.
SimpleTix: museums, galleries, timed entry
SimpleTix specializes in timed-entry ticketing for museums, galleries, and recurring-admission venues, with season passes and waivers. Online fees run 2% + $0.79 per ticket; on-site sales are $0.25 per ticket. On a $10K event, total fees come to roughly $325 (estimated based on published 2026 pricing, rounded to the nearest $25). Best for: arts and education nonprofits with recurring admission programs, a niche fit with limited fundraising features outside entry logistics.
Why ticketing fees hit small nonprofits hardest
A 3-8% fee on a Taylor Swift tour is a rounding error. The same 3-8% on a $10K PTA gala is the difference between funding a literacy program and shelving it for another year. Every 3% fee is another scholarship lost.
Here's the math most ticketing platforms don't put on their pricing page. Say you sell 250 tickets at $40 each to a community fundraiser:
Gross raised: $10,000
Eventbrite total fees (3.7% + $1.79 per ticket attendee-paid service fee, plus 2.9% nonprofit-paid processing, estimated based on Eventbrite's published 2026 pricing): roughly $1,025 in fees absorbed across attendees and your organization
Donorbox total fees (3.95% platform + 2.2% + $0.30 Stripe, estimated based on Donorbox's published 2026 pricing): roughly $700
Zeffy total fees: $0
The fee load is real money, derived directly from each platform's published fee schedule, not a third-party stat, and it compounds across every event you run. Stop juggling Eventbrite for tickets, PayPal for donations, Mailchimp for emails, and spreadsheets for volunteers: one fee-free platform handles all of it.
Which ticketing platform fits your event type?
The "best" ticketing platform depends entirely on the event you're actually running. Here's how to match the tool to the use case:
Galas and dinners with table seating: Zeffy (unlimited ticket types including tables and VIP, donation upsells at checkout, tax receipts) or GoFundMe Pro if you have enterprise budget and need Salesforce NPSP integration.
Fun runs, walkathons, and 5Ks: Zeffy (built-in peer-to-peer fundraising in the same login as tickets, plus the ability to sell tickets at the door with Tap-to-Pay on your phone for day-of registrations at the start line).
Galas with silent or live auctions: Zeffy lets you run a silent auction alongside your ticket sales in one login. Silent Auction Pro is an option if auctions are your only fundraising event of the year.
Community festivals and carnivals: Zeffy (free ticketing plus Tap-to-Pay for on-site walk-ups) or Eventbrite if you need the discovery marketplace to reach attendees outside your existing list and you're willing to pay roughly $1,025 on $10K for that audience.
Recurring members-only events: Zeffy (unlimited free RSVP tickets alongside paid) or SimpleTix for timed-entry programming.
Multi-day hybrid conferences: Accelevents or GoFundMe Pro: Zeffy is built for fundraisers, not virtual conference platforms.
5 features every volunteer-run nonprofit needs in ticketing software
When your team is volunteers, board members, or a one-person staff juggling outreach and event planning, the ticketing software has to do most of the heavy lifting. Here's what to insist on.
✅ $0 in platform and processing fees
Most platforms take 3-8% of ticket revenue in fees, derived directly from the fee schedules above. On a $10K event, that's $300-$1,025 out of your program budget. Choose ticketing software that charges $0 in fees so every ticket sale goes to your mission. Zeffy has this: it's the only platform on this list where $0 is the actual cost.
✅ QR code check-in via mobile app
Long check-in lines frustrate attendees and overwhelm volunteers stuck with paper lists. Look for QR code scanning that lets any volunteer check guests in instantly from their smartphone: no training, no card reader, no dedicated check-in station. Zeffy has this, built into the mobile app at no cost.
✅ Tap-to-Pay on a phone for day-of sales
Walk-up attendees and at-the-door upgrades are where small events leave money on the table. The right platform lets volunteers take card payments using just their phone: no hardware POS, no card reader to buy or charge. Zeffy has this via Tap-to-Pay on your phone for in-person events, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay.
✅ Automatic tax receipts and a built-in donor CRM
Manually issuing tax receipts after every event is a nights-and-weekends task volunteers shouldn't have to do. Choose software that auto-generates compliant tax receipts and stores every ticket buyer in a donor record you can email later. Zeffy has this: auto receipts plus a free built-in donor CRM with no contact-count cap.
✅ Unlimited ticket types, discounts, and group sales
Galas need table seating. Walkathons need team registration. Membership events need free RSVP tickets alongside paid ones. Look for a platform that supports unlimited ticket types (VIP, early bird, group, complimentary sponsor, pay-what-you-can) without charging extra per type. Zeffy has this with no upgrade fees.
Real results: how 3 nonprofits cut ticketing costs to zero
YWCA Lethbridge
Before Zeffy, YWCA Lethbridge used Eventbrite for ticketing and PayPal for processing, a combined fee load of almost 10% taken straight out of fundraising totals. They started small with a bands-and-brunch event on Zeffy's free ticketing, then expanded to accept donations on their website, manage volunteers, and sell tickets to their annual Royal Gala. The result: $1,000+ saved in platform and transaction fees, and counting.
Being able to set up events and have people register and buy tickets through Zeffy is a luxury we never had until now. The ease with which it operates is a huge time-saving benefit for our fundraising committee. — Karen M., small nonprofit fundraiser
PS 321 PTA (Brooklyn, NY)
The PTA at PS 321 William Penn Elementary in Brooklyn, known to the school community as Fund321, has run 47 ticketed events on Zeffy between October 2024 and May 2026, selling 6,580 tickets for $243,681 in ticket revenue. Estimated based on Eventbrite's published 2026 pricing, those same events would have lost roughly $27,850 to fees. Estimated based on Donorbox's published 2026 pricing, roughly $16,950. On Zeffy: $0. Every dollar went back to the school.
Houston Hockey Community (Houston, TX)
Houston Hockey Community is a 501(c)(3) youth hockey nonprofit running TIMBITS ice hockey and NHL Street ball hockey leagues across Houston, The Woodlands, and LaPorte, positioned around being affordable, accessible, and inclusive. Since August 2024, they've run 120 ticketed events on Zeffy, selling 8,175 tickets for $590,748 in ticket revenue. Estimated fees that would have applied based on Eventbrite's published 2026 pricing: roughly $53,625. Based on Donorbox's published 2026 pricing: roughly $38,775. On Zeffy: $0.
How we evaluated these 10 nonprofit ticketing platforms
We scored each platform on five criteria that matter most to volunteer-run and small-staff nonprofits:
Total fee load on a $10K event (250 tickets at $40): derived from each platform's published 2026 fee schedule, not vendor marketing. Numbers rounded to the nearest $25.
Volunteer and at-the-door usability: Tap-to-Pay on a phone, QR code check-in, setup under 30 minutes, no training required.
Event-type breadth: paid tickets, free RSVPs, auctions, raffles, peer-to-peer, and recurring memberships in one login.
Pricing transparency: public published pricing vs. demo-gated custom quotes.
Where a platform offers a "nonprofit discount," we tested whether that discount actually changes the math on a $10K event or just shaves a few dollars off enterprise pricing.
Zeffy is the best online ticket sales software for nonprofits (100% free)
Small nonprofits are too often forced to choose between tools that are affordable and tools that actually work. Most ticketing platforms eat into fundraising totals with per-ticket fees, processing costs, or required upgrades, and the ones that don't tend to be enterprise-priced, demo-gated, or too narrow for a community gala.
Zeffy is the only zero-fee ticketing and donation platform built specifically for nonprofits, with no hidden costs, ever. 100,000+ nonprofits have raised $2B+ on Zeffy across galas, fun runs, auctions, raffles, festivals, and recurring member events, without sacrificing any of the dollars they worked to raise. Eventbrite costs roughly $1,025 on $10K raised. Zeffy: $0, same ticketing tools, zero fees. Learn more about how a no-fee fundraising platform changes the math on every event you run.
FAQs: choosing the right event ticketing platform for your nonprofit
If you're looking for a platform that's actually free, meaning no per-ticket fees, no processing fees, and no subscription, Zeffy is the clear winner. It was built specifically for nonprofits and lets you keep 100% of what you raise. The model works because donors, not nonprofits, fund the platform through optional tips at checkout. Aside from the cost benefit, Zeffy is also built for small teams who need reliable and easy tools to fundraise with today's donors.
It's absolutely possible to sell tickets both online and in person. The experience (and the fees) vary widely by platform. Zeffy offers a mobile-friendly ticketing system that works seamlessly for virtual, in-person, or hybrid events, whether you're checking guests in at the door with QR codes or accepting card payments via Tap-to-Pay on a phone.
Most platforms charge some combination of a platform fee (a percentage of each ticket sale), a credit card processing fee, and per-ticket fees or monthly subscriptions. These fees can quickly add up and cut into your fundraising goals. That's why fee transparency, and ideally zero-fee fundraising, matters for small nonprofit teams who need to maximize every dollar raised. Zeffy is the only free online ticketing system for nonprofits that covers all fees, so you keep 100% of your revenue.
Yes. Most platforms (including Zeffy) let you export your Eventbrite attendee list as a CSV and import it into your new donor database. You won't lose past records, and on Zeffy, every new ticket buyer is automatically added to your built-in donor CRM, so you can keep nurturing them as supporters rather than one-time attendees.
Some do, some don't. Larger CRM-based platforms like Bloomerang and GoFundMe Pro offer accounting integrations on higher tiers. Zeffy provides exportable transaction reports compatible with QuickBooks, so your treasurer or bookkeeper can reconcile event revenue without manual data entry. For volunteer-run nonprofits, exportable CSV reports usually do the job without a paid integration.
Ticketing software is built primarily for paid admission: issuing tickets, collecting payment, checking guests in. Event registration software covers the broader workflow, including RSVPs (paid or free), attendee questions, dietary preferences, table assignments, peer-to-peer team registration, and donation upsells. A platform like Zeffy handles both in one login. A general-purpose tool like Eventbrite leans ticketing-first.
Not necessarily. The best affordable ticketing tools for small nonprofits are built specifically with scrappy teams in mind. They focus on the features that actually matter: transparent (or no) fees, quick mobile-friendly setup, simple check-in for volunteers, donor-friendly ticketing pages, and flexible ticket types and pricing. You might not get bells and whistles like AI-driven analytics dashboards or 20+ integrations, but you also won't pay enterprise prices for them.
When your event is powered by passionate volunteers rather than a professional events team, you need software that's intuitive, reliable, and easy to teach. Must-haves include mobile check-in tools so volunteers can welcome guests on-site with just a phone or tablet; simple drag-and-drop setup with no-code customization; flexible ticket types (pay-what-you-wish, early-bird, VIP); fee transparency so you and your guests aren't surprised at checkout; easy donation add-ons at checkout; and clean, branded pages with secure payment options. Bonus if your event fundraising software offers integrated tools like donation pages, auctions, or peer-to-peer campaigns, so your team doesn't have to juggle multiple systems.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
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