What is the best event management software for small organizers on a budget?
Updated: · Alex Ryk, founder of AnyEventTool
Short answer
Start free and pay only when you sell. Luma suits free community events (QR check-in; 5% fee on paid tickets). Eventbrite brings discovery; free events cost nothing. Ticket Tailor charges a flat £0.60 per paid ticket. Zeffy is fee-free for eligible nonprofits. AnyEventTool (AET) gives a page, approvals, QR check-in and 0% ticket fees free, but only 3 new events a month. Checked 15 October 2026.
Key facts
- 7 tools compared; prices and limits checked on each vendor's own pricing or help pages on 15 October 2026
- Platform fee on a paid ticket: AET 0%; Luma free plan 5% (0% on Luma Plus, 59 USD a month billed annually); Ticket Tailor £0.60 + VAT per ticket; Eventbrite US 3.7% + 1.79 USD per ticket plus 2.9% processing
- Free events cost nothing on Luma, Eventbrite, Ticket Tailor (up to 5,000 free tickets a year) and AET
- Zeffy charges no platform or card fees, but only for nonprofits in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and Germany
- AET Free: 3 new events a month and 10 AI generations; Pro 29 USD a month or 290 USD a year for 30 events a month
- Google Forms and Tally are free for a sign-up list but are form builders: no tickets or door check-in
- On 50 tickets at 20 USD, the platform's share is 0 USD on AET, 50 USD on Luma's free plan and 126.50 USD in Eventbrite US service fees (buyer-paid by default)
- Disclosure: written by the AnyEventTool team; AET is included with its limitations
| # | Tool | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luma | Free community events with polished pages and check-in | Free: unlimited events and guests, 5% fee on paid tickets; Luma Plus 59 USD/month billed annually, 0% fee |
| 2 | AnyEventTool (AET) | Keeping all ticket revenue with approvals, QR tickets and check-in | Free 0 USD: 3 new events/month; Pro 29 USD/month or 290 USD/year: 30 events/month; 0% platform fee on all plans |
| 3 | Eventbrite | Reaching new attendees through a marketplace | Free events free; US paid tickets 3.7% + 1.79 USD per ticket + 2.9% processing |
| 4 | Ticket Tailor | Paid events that want a flat, predictable fee | Pay-as-you-go £0.60 + VAT per paid ticket (from £0.22 with prepaid credits); no fees for up to 5,000 free tickets a year |
| 5 | Zeffy | Nonprofit fundraisers, school and charity events | 0 USD for eligible nonprofits: no platform or card fees; funded by optional buyer tips |
| 6 | Google Forms | A quick sign-up list for a small or internal event | Free with a personal Google account; Workspace Business Standard 12 USD/user/month |
| 7 | Tally | A better free form with Stripe payments | Free: unlimited forms and submissions (fair use); Pro 24 USD/month |
Luma
Pros
- Unlimited free events and guests
- QR check-in with Apple and Google Wallet passes
- Up to 500 invites or newsletters a week on free
Cons
- 5% platform fee on paid tickets on free
- Check-in-only staff role requires Plus
- No seat maps
AnyEventTool (AET)
Pros
- 0% platform fee; money goes to your own account
- Approvals, QR tickets, check-in, seat maps and live quiz on free
- 19 interface languages; plata by mono for Ukraine
Cons
- 3 new events a month on free
- No marketplace or recurring-event series yet
- No native apps, Zapier or REST API
Eventbrite
Pros
- Large discovery marketplace
- Organizer app with mobile check-in and ticket scanning
- Unlimited free events at no cost
Cons
- Per-ticket service fees on paid events
- Less control over page design
- Highest platform share in our 50-ticket example
Ticket Tailor
Pros
- No percentage commission
- Free check-in app
- Cheaper per ticket with prepaid credits
Cons
- Fee on every paid ticket
- Prices published in GBP
- No discovery marketplace
Zeffy
Pros
- No fees at all, card fees included
- Ticketing with check-in and QR scanning
- Donations and raffles in one place
Cons
- Nonprofits only
- US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and Germany only
- Needs a bank account in the organization's name
Google Forms
Pros
- Free and familiar
- Responses go to Google Sheets
- No account needed for respondents (except file uploads)
Cons
- No event page or tickets
- No QR check-in
- No native payments
Tally
Pros
- Unlimited free submissions
- Stripe payments with no extra Tally fee
- Fast, simple editor
Cons
- Form builder only: no event page, tickets or check-in
- 10 MB per uploaded file on free
- No recurring payments
Which tool should I pick? The short answer
| You need... | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Free community meetups with a polished page and reminders | Luma | Unlimited free events and guests, QR check-in on the free plan |
| Registration with approval, QR tickets, check-in and paid tickets with no platform cut | AnyEventTool (AET) | All on the free plan; 0% platform fee; 3 new events a month |
| People who do not know you yet to find the event | Eventbrite | Discovery marketplace; free events free |
| Paid tickets with a predictable flat fee | Ticket Tailor | £0.60 + VAT per paid ticket, no percentage |
| A nonprofit fundraiser, school or charity event | Zeffy | No platform or card fees for eligible nonprofits |
| A name list for a small internal event | Google Forms | Free and familiar; answers in Sheets |
| A nicer free form with Stripe payments | Tally | Unlimited free submissions (fair use); no extra Tally fee |
| A weekly series of 4+ events a month | Luma, or AET Pro | AET Free stops at 3 new events a month and has no recurring series yet |
What does a budget organizer actually need?
For events of 20 to 300 people run by one person or a small team, the list is short:
- A page you can share in messengers that explains what, where and when.
- Registration that collects only the answers you need.
- A confirmation or ticket each guest can show at the door.
- Check-in on a phone, without a paper list.
- Payments, if you charge, that do not eat your margin.
- Reach, if your own audience is not enough yet.
Form builders cover points 2 and sometimes 5. Event platforms cover 1 to 5. Only marketplaces such as Eventbrite really cover 6. Most small organizers do not need a paid plan at all until they sell many tickets or run several events a month.
What do 50 tickets at 20 USD really cost?
A worked example using the fees published on 15 October 2026. Payment processing (for example Stripe) is charged on top on every platform except Zeffy, and is left out here because it depends on your processor and country.
| Platform | Platform's share on 50 × 20 USD | Note |
|---|---|---|
| AnyEventTool (AET), any plan | 0 USD | Guests pay your own account; processor fee only |
| Zeffy (eligible nonprofits) | 0 USD | Zeffy also covers card fees; buyers may tip Zeffy |
| Luma free plan | 50 USD | 5% of 1,000 USD, plus Stripe's fee |
| Luma Plus | 0 USD per ticket | 59 USD a month billed annually |
| Ticket Tailor pay-as-you-go | £30 + VAT | £0.60 per ticket; prices published in GBP |
| Eventbrite (US) | 126.50 USD service fee + 2.9% processing | 3.7% + 1.79 USD per ticket; buyers pay by default, organizers can absorb it |
For free events the picture flips: Luma, Eventbrite, Ticket Tailor (up to 5,000 free tickets a year) and AET all cost nothing, so choose on features and reach instead of fees. Try your own numbers in the ticket fee calculator.
Where do other tools beat AET?
AnyEventTool is the cheapest in the example above, but it is not the best choice for everyone:
- Reach: AET has no discovery marketplace. If you need strangers to find you, Eventbrite does that and AET does not.
- Volume on the free plan: AET Free allows 3 new events a month; a weekly club needs Pro (29 USD a month) or a tool like Luma with unlimited free events.
- Recurring events: AET has no recurring-event series yet; you publish an event calendar people can subscribe to instead.
- Nonprofits: Zeffy covers even the card fees for eligible nonprofits; AET does not touch the money, so your processor's fee applies.
- Integrations: AET has no native mobile apps, no Zapier or REST API and no live Google Sheets sync (Excel export only).
- Simplicity: for a 15-person internal session, Google Forms is quicker to set up than any event platform.
What AET adds on the free plan that the others charge for or lack: applications with approval, venue revealed only in the ticket, seat and table maps, a live quiz, a shop and a community, all at a 0% platform fee.
How did we check?
We opened each vendor's own pricing page (and help centre where the pricing page was silent) on 15 October 2026 and recorded only what those pages state; the worked example is simple arithmetic on those published rates. Where a vendor page contradicted itself we used the pricing-table figure or left the number out. No third-party reviews or invented usage numbers.
Disclosure. This page is published by the team behind AnyEventTool. AET is listed with its limits, and we name other tools where they fit better. Prices change; check the linked pages before you decide.
Questions and answers
What is the cheapest event management software for small events?
For free events, Luma, Eventbrite, Ticket Tailor (up to 5,000 free tickets a year) and AnyEventTool all cost nothing. For paid events, AET charges a 0% platform fee on every plan, so only your payment processor's fee applies; eligible nonprofits can use Zeffy, which covers card fees too. Checked 15 October 2026.
Is there event software with no ticket fees?
AnyEventTool takes 0% of ticket sales on Free and Pro. Luma charges 0% only on Luma Plus (59 USD a month billed annually); its free plan takes 5%. Zeffy charges no fees for eligible nonprofits. Everywhere except Zeffy, the payment processor (Stripe, PayPal, plata by mono) still charges its own fee.
Do I need paid software for a 30-person meetup?
Usually not. A free Luma event or an AET free-plan event gives you a page, registration and QR check-in; a Google Form is enough if you only need names. Paid plans matter when you run many events a month or want 0% fees on Luma.
Which budget tool helps new people find my event?
Eventbrite, because it runs a discovery marketplace and free events cost nothing to list. AnyEventTool has no marketplace, so you bring your own audience through messengers, social media and calendar subscriptions.
Can I run a weekly event series on AET's free plan?
Not comfortably. AET Free allows 3 new events a month, and there is no recurring-event series yet; a weekly event needs Pro (29 USD a month, 30 events) or a tool with unlimited free events such as Luma. You can still publish an event calendar that people subscribe to.
Try AET for your next event
Free: event page, registration, QR tickets and check-in. 0% platform fee on ticket sales.