Eventbrite vs Guestlist For Event Ticketing

We definitely don’t have anything in particular against Eventbrite, but sometimes when you see that everyone is using the same thing you being to wonder “are we sheep?” So, for most of our recent events we decided to stray from the flock and use something else... if there was anything else?

No surprise, it didn’t take us long to find alternatives. In fact, what we discovered was that there is a plethora of alternates. Here in Canada, the most popular one is Guestlist, and since we are partial to Canada (eh?), we decided to use it for our own hosted events.  Having now used both Eventbrite and Guestlist, we’ve certainly got some thoughts.

Ready?  Here they are. 


THINGS WE LIKE ABOUT GUESTLIST

  • Both credit card and Paypal payments can be processed (With Eventbrite, you can only choose one or the other which prevents some people from buying. )

  • Your event page can be dressed up with background images or colours, and adding logos, which is better for your branding (Eventbrite wants the page to look like Eventbrite)

  • Fewer options for extras in the background - great for smaller events, or one off events

  • The ticket form can be embedded right into your website, and code is provided to create buttons

  • Very easy to set up

  • Wysiwyg (What You See Is What You Get) editing

  • Canadian

  • No ticket fee for charities


THINGS WE LIKE ABOUT EVENTBRITE

  • You can upload a list of people to the event and send the invite out through Evenbrite

  • Eventbrite will export last year’s attendees so you can invite them this year

  • Email report is very comprehensive and can email people via segments eg. “bought already”, “opened but didn’t buy”, “didn’t open”

  • Your event can be promoted via the Eventbrite home page, as well as the Eventbrite mailing to their list

  • Eventbrite is a monolith in the event business so it’s user base is huge which ensures a much larger audience for your event

  • Eventbrite has a beefy analytics package which shows you how often your event was seen thanks to Eventbrite’s huge user base (this is brilliant marketing on their part)


Generally, we believe you should choose which ticketing system you use based on the anticipated size and ticket price of your event. If you want to reach the largest number of people possible because you want many people there go with Eventbrite to help. Of if you have a high ticket price, or need to cover a lot of hard costs, use Eventbrite. If you anticipate doing the same event year after year, Eventbrite is also a good idea.

If you have an exclusive event, something casual, or something where you are already in contact with all the people you believe will come, Guestlist is great. Especially if you want the ticketing system to be seamless with your own or your event branding and website.
Or, if you are like us and you really just like supporting local and Canadian made products, go with Guestlist.

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