One night sells tickets. A recurring community can build something that lasts between events. Here's how the two models compare, including the fees.
Is Memberly an Eventbrite Alternative?
Yes, Memberly is an Eventbrite alternative for US organizers who want to sell event tickets and build recurring memberships around their community. Memberly charges no platform fee on tickets. It earns from an 8% fee on membership transactions, which organizers can choose to pass to members and which decreases as communities grow. Stripe payment-processing fees apply to both tickets and memberships.
Eventbrite's US pricing lists a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per paid ticket and a 2.9% payment-processing fee per order. Buyers pay ticketing fees by default, unless the organizer chooses to cover them. Eventbrite also offers a discovery marketplace, so the right choice is about how you attract attendees as well as what checkout costs.
This comparison is for the United States, with Eventbrite pricing checked on October 19, 2026 and Memberly's terms confirmed by its founder. I built Memberly, so this is a founder's comparison, not an independent ranking. The goal is to make the tradeoffs clear enough for you to decide.
Memberly vs Eventbrite: US Fees at a Glance
| What you're comparing | Memberly | Eventbrite, US |
|---|---|---|
| Paid-ticket platform or service fee | 0% ticket platform fee | 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per paid ticket |
| Ticket payment processing | Stripe processing fees apply | 2.9% per order |
| Who pays ticketing fees? | Buyers by default; organizers can cover fees | Buyers by default; organizers can cover fees |
| Membership platform fee | 8% per membership transaction, decreasing as the community grows | The ticket pricing above is not a recurring-membership fee schedule |
| Who pays Memberly's membership fee? | Organizers can choose to pass it to members | Not applicable to Memberly's membership fee |
| Membership payment processing | Stripe processing fees also apply | Confirm pricing for any separate membership solution |
No ticket platform fee does not mean no payment-processing fee. Memberly's 0% applies to the platform fee on tickets, not to Stripe processing, taxes, refunds, or every possible charge associated with running an event. Check your applicable Stripe rates rather than assuming one card-processing rate covers every transaction.
How Eventbrite's Ticket Fees Work
Eventbrite separates its service fee from its payment-processing fee. According to its official US pricing page, the service fee is 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket, while processing is 2.9% per order. Free events have no ticketing fees. Paid-ticket fees are charged to buyers by default, with the option for organizers to absorb them.
That distinction matters. If you pass the fees on, they affect what your attendee pays. If you absorb them, they affect your event margin. Neither option makes the service fee disappear, and it is misleading to describe every fee as a deduction from the organizer's revenue when buyers are covering it.
For example, the listed service fee alone on one $40 paid ticket is $3.27: $40 × 3.7%, plus $1.79. That is not the complete checkout total. The per-order processing fee and any applicable taxes still need to be accounted for. On Memberly, the ticket platform fee for that $40 ticket is $0, but Stripe processing still applies. Compare the actual checkout totals with the same ticket price, order size, and fee allocation.
How Memberly's Membership Fees Work
Memberly's business model is different: we do not charge a platform fee on tickets. We make money on memberships. The fee is 8% on membership transactions, and organizers can choose to let their members pay that fee. Stripe processing applies in addition.
The membership transaction fee drops over time as a community grows in size. This comparison does not quote reduced rates or size thresholds because those details have not been supplied. Confirm the rate that applies to your community before setting prices, rather than building a budget around an assumed future discount.
Passing the membership fee to members changes who pays it, not whether it exists. Keep member-facing pricing clear and account for the benefits you promise, processing costs, and your applicable fee allocation when deciding whether a membership is sustainable.
Discovery Marketplace or Recurring Community?
Eventbrite highlights its discovery marketplace, email campaigns, advertising tools, ticket types, and check-in tools. Those can be useful when finding new ticket buyers is a priority. Advertising spend and some additional services have separate costs. A platform that genuinely brings you new attendees may be worth paying for, so look at your own sales sources rather than assuming all platform traffic has the same value.
Memberly focuses on communities, event Passes, and recurring memberships. An organizer creates a community, publishes an event, and sells Passes with no ticket platform fee. At checkout, attendees can choose membership when its discounts and perks make sense for them. That creates a path from an individual ticket purchase to an ongoing relationship, not a promise that every attendee will convert.
The better question isn't just what a ticket costs to sell. It's what gives people a reason to come back.
Memberships still require work. Pick benefits you can deliver repeatedly, price them sustainably, and make cancellation and billing terms clear. Recurring billing is not guaranteed recurring profit. If the perks cost more than the membership brings in, a subscription only makes the problem repeat.
When Each Platform Is Worth Evaluating
- Evaluate Eventbrite when discovery is central to your plan. If its marketplace already sends you meaningful sales, weigh that contribution alongside service and processing fees.
- Evaluate Memberly when regulars are the foundation of your events. Recurring club nights, creator meetups, venue programs, and other repeat gatherings can be candidates for member benefits alongside individual ticket sales.
- Do not choose on a headline fee alone. Check the complete checkout experience, audience communication options, refund terms, and payout timing before moving your calendar.
For more on the community model, see Memberly for event producers and promoters or Memberly for venues. Our guide to why independent music venues aren't profitable explores why a recurring revenue stream can matter between shows.
A Practical Checklist Before Switching
- 1.Compare one real order. Use the same US ticket price, currency, and number of tickets. Separate platform fees, processing, and taxes, and confirm who pays each charge.
- 2.Measure discovery. Check how many attendees your current provider brings you versus your own email list, social channels, and returning audience.
- 3.Confirm refunds and payouts. Ask about refund-related charges, whether processing fees are returned, payout timing, and any payout charges. Memberly's specific refund and payout charges are not documented in this comparison.
- 4.Check audience access and consent. Confirm what attendee data you can export and how you can communicate with people who opt in.
- 5.Define the membership offer. Set benefits, billing frequency, cancellation terms, and a price that works after the membership fee, processing, and delivery costs.
- 6.Test one event before moving everything. Review the ticket checkout and the membership choice from an attendee's perspective, then check the reporting you need to run the next event.
Common Questions About Memberly vs Eventbrite
Is Memberly free for ticket sales? Memberly charges no ticket platform fee. Stripe payment-processing fees still apply, so it is more accurate to say zero platform fees than completely free ticketing.
Does Eventbrite charge for free events? Its US pricing page states that free events have no ticketing fees. The 3.7% + $1.79 service fee applies to paid tickets, with 2.9% payment processing per order.
How does Memberly make money? Memberly earns from an 8% fee on membership transactions. Organizers can choose to pass that fee to members, and the rate decreases as the community grows. Stripe processing applies to memberships too.
Will memberships automatically increase revenue? No. Results depend on demand, your benefits, pricing, retention, and costs. Memberships give you a recurring product to offer; they do not guarantee that people will buy or stay.
Build for the Next Event, Not Just This One
If your priority is marketplace discovery, evaluate what Eventbrite actually brings to your events. If your priority is giving regulars an ongoing reason to belong, evaluate Memberly's community and membership model, with the full fee picture in view.
The starting point is not a promise of effortless growth. It is a community you understand, an event people want, and benefits worth coming back for. Read how memberships change the live-event model, then explore communities already on Memberly or create your own.
