What is a ticketing system? Definition, features and how to choose one

Updated on 10 September 2026.

A ticketing system is software that sells admission tickets, collects the payment, sends the ticket to the buyer and checks it at the entrance. It replaces the separate pieces you would otherwise stitch together yourself: a sign-up form, a payment request, a list of names and someone with a pen at the door. Tickable is a ticketing system; Eventbrite, Weeztix and Ticketmaster are other examples.

What a ticketing system does

The work runs in a fixed order, from the moment you create your event to the moment the last visitor is inside.

1. 01Set up the event and ticketsDate, venue, ticket types, prices and how many of each are for sale.
2. 02Share the ticket shopA sales page of your own, shared on its own or embedded in your website.
3. 03The visitor orders and paysWith iDEAL, Bancontact, card or Apple Pay, without you having to check anything.
4. 04Ticket by emailThe buyer immediately gets a confirmation with a personal QR code.
5. 05Scanning at the doorA scanner app recognises every ticket and refuses one that has already been used.

Behind those five steps sits the part visitors never see. In a dashboard you follow sales per day and per ticket type, see who is coming, change an order or refund someone. After the sale, or during it, the money is transferred to your account.

The difference from doing it yourself is mostly in the connections. A form does not know whether someone has paid, a payment request produces no ticket, and a paper list cannot tell that the same ticket is being shown twice. A ticketing system keeps those things together.

What a ticketing system is not

A few things look similar but do something else:

• A sign-up form, such as Google Forms. Fine for a free gathering, but there is no payment attached and no check at the door. See selling tickets with Google Forms.
• A payment request, such as a Tikkie. You receive money, but the buyer has nothing to show and you keep track of who has paid.
• A resale platform, such as TicketSwap. Visitors sell tickets on to each other there. The first sale runs through the organiser's ticketing system.
• An event platform with its own audience. Some ticketing systems also list your event on their own site to find extra visitors. That is an extra feature, not a requirement.

How a ticketing system makes money

Every ticketing system has a revenue model, even when it calls itself free. There are roughly four:

Which model works out cheapest depends on your ticket price, your numbers and who gets the bill. How to work that out is in what a ticketing system costs. Tickable charges a fixed amount: €0.32 per ticket sold, excluding VAT, with no subscription and no service fee for your visitor.

What to look for when you choose

After that, these are the questions that make the difference:

• Who pays the costs? Is a service fee added for your visitor on top of the price you set? Under Dutch consumer rules (ACM), unavoidable costs must be in the first price shown, so a €15 ticket with a €1.25 service fee is advertised as €16.25.
• Which payment methods? Dutch audiences expect iDEAL, which is moving to Wero over the coming years. If Belgians are coming, you want Bancontact. International visitors pay by card or Apple Pay.
• Does it fit your event? A theatre needs numbered seats, a museum time slots, a festival multi-day tickets. Not every system can do all three.
• How does the door work? Can you scan with several phones at once, and what happens when reception is poor?
• When do you get your money? Only after the event, or during pre-sale? That decides whether you can pay the venue and the technical crew from your ticket sales.
• Whose data is it? May you email your visitors later about the next edition, and does their data stay with you or with the platform?
• Who do you call when something goes wrong? An answer within a day, in your own language, is worth more on the night than an extensive help centre.

Rates and features of thirty systems are in our overview of ticketing systems.

When you do not need a ticketing system (yet)

Not every event needs one. A free members' evening with thirty sign-ups manages with a form and a list at the door. The tipping point usually comes at one of three moments: when money has to be paid, when you need to see at the door whether someone really has a ticket, or when there are so many sign-ups that you can no longer keep up with the list.

If in doubt, start small. On a system without a subscription a free event costs nothing, so you can try it before it matters.

Frequently asked questions

Is a ticketing system free?

For free tickets, often yes. For paid tickets someone always pays: you through a rate per ticket or a subscription, or your visitor through a service fee. With Tickable free tickets are free and paid tickets cost €0.32 each.

What is the difference between a ticketing system and a ticket shop?

The ticket shop is the page where your visitor buys a ticket. The ticketing system is everything around it: the dashboard where you sell and manage, the payments, the emails with tickets and the scanner app at the door.

Can I use a ticketing system without a Chamber of Commerce number?

With Tickable, yes. Whether you need to register depends on who you are and what you organise; that is explained in do you need a Chamber of Commerce number.

What is the best ticketing system for small events?

One with no fixed costs, a rate you can work out in advance and no service fee for your visitor. At small numbers a subscription weighs heavily, and on cheap tickets fixed costs per order add up fast.