Eventbrite fees in 2026: what a ticket costs

Eventbrite charges a US organiser a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee on every paid ticket, plus a 2.9% payment processing fee on the order. Free tickets carry no fee, and who pays the rest is your choice. The worked examples below come from the same engine as the Eventbrite fee calculator; every rate is quoted from Eventbrite's official organizer pricing page, verified on 3 September 2026.

What Eventbrite charges

Eventbrite calls the whole deduction a Ticketing Fee. In the United States and Canada it has two parts: a service fee on each paid ticket, a percentage of the price plus a fixed amount; and a payment processing fee on each order, a percentage of the order total. The United Kingdom and Australia have no second line, because processing is bundled into a single, higher service fee. Publishing an event costs nothing in any market.

For a US organiser absorbing the fees, the fee on $100.00 is $8.55 ($5.49 service fee (per paid ticket) plus $3.06 payment processing fee (per order)) and you keep $91.45, an effective rate of 8.55%.

The two parts are not charged on the same base — the detail organisers most often get wrong. Eventbrite's help centre is explicit: "Service fees are calculated using the ticket price. Payment processing fees are calculated using the total order (including service fees and tax)." The processing percentage is therefore applied to the ticket price plus the service fee, making that line larger than the price alone would give.

Who pays: absorb the fees, or pass them on

When you create a paid ticket type, Eventbrite gives you a checkbox and describes both settings:

• Absorb fees — "the fees to be included in the ticket price you set. Fees will be deducted from your sales at the time of your payout."
• Pass fees on — "attendees pay the fees on top of the ticket price you set."

Leaving it unchecked is Eventbrite's default, so unless you change it the buyer pays. The fee is the same number either way, because it is always worked out from the ticket price; only who pays it moves.

The same ticket with the fees passed on to the attendee, the fee on $108.55 is $8.55 ($5.49 service fee (per paid ticket) plus $3.06 payment processing fee (per order)) and you keep $100.00, an effective rate of 7.88%.

Fees by country

Eventbrite publishes one schedule per payout country: the rate follows where you are paid, not where the attendee lives.

The fixed part of the service fee matters most on cheap tickets: the same $1.79 comes off a $100 ticket and a $10 one.

For a UK organiser absorbing the fees, the fee on £100.00 is £7.54 and you keep £92.46, an effective rate of 7.54%.

Pricing a ticket so you keep a set amount

If you absorb the fees, adding the percentage to your target undershoots: the fee is charged on the whole price, including the part meant to cover it.

To keep $50.00 you charge $55.57, and the fee is $5.57.

Pass the fees on and there is nothing to solve: you price at what you want to keep.

What this guide leaves out

The calculator models the service fee and the payment processing fee — what Eventbrite's pricing page states. It leaves out donation tickets, at-the-door and organiser-app sales, and the legacy Essentials and Professional packages, which apply only to countries not covered here. Eventbrite Pro, the email-marketing add-on, is a monthly subscription rather than a per-ticket fee: it is listed in the fee table for reference and never deducted. Taxes you collect are also outside the calculation. Eventbrite publishes no worked example of its own, so the order-total base is applied exactly as its help centre words it.

When these rates last changed

No Eventbrite pricing page carries an effective date, so this schedule is dated from the day it was verified: 3 September 2026, the first entry in the Eventbrite fee changelog. Later changes are recorded there, and the schedule is re-checked at least every 60 days.

It is marked medium confidence: the US and Australian rates appear on both the organizer pricing page and Eventbrite's "Ticketing Fees" help-centre article, while the UK and Canadian service fees come from that table alone, because eventbrite.co.uk and eventbrite.ca served US copy when fetched. The methodology explains that judgement, and the schedule is quoted line by line, with the verbatim source text behind every rule, in the calculator's fee table. If a figure disagrees with what Eventbrite shows you, report it.

Frequently asked questions

Does Eventbrite take a cut of ticket sales?

Yes, one Ticketing Fee per paid ticket: in the United States a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee plus a 2.9% payment processing fee on the order total. There is no listing fee and no subscription.

Is Eventbrite really free for free events?

Yes. Its pricing page offers "unlimited free events at no cost", and the help centre adds that free tickets carry no Ticketing Fees for you or your buyers.

Can I make attendees pay the Eventbrite fee?

Yes, and by default they do: leave the "Absorb fees" box unchecked and the fee is added at checkout.

Why does my payout not match 2.9% of the ticket price?

Because payment processing is charged on the total order, which includes the service fee, while the service fee is charged on the ticket price alone. The two bases differ, so that line comes to more than 2.9% of the ticket price.