Every ticketing platform says it's free. Almost none of them mean the same thing by it.

If you're comparing Bix and Eventbrite, the word "free" is doing very different jobs on each platform - and the difference shows up in your payouts, your attendees' checkout totals, and what you're allowed to use without paying extra.

So let's skip the marketing and look at how "free" actually works on both.

What "free" means on Eventbrite

To be fair to Eventbrite: if your event is free, Eventbrite is genuinely free. Publish as many free events as you like - no fees for you, none for your attendees.

The picture changes the moment you charge for a ticket. Paid tickets on Eventbrite carry two separate charges:

• A service fee - a percentage of the ticket price plus a flat amount per ticket

• A payment processing fee - a percentage of the order total

By default, these fees are added on top of your ticket price and paid by your attendees at checkout. You can choose to absorb them instead - but then they come straight out of your revenue.

A few structural things worth knowing:

• There's no fee cap. The more your tickets cost, the more the fees grow - with no ceiling.

• The flat per-ticket component hits cheap tickets hardest. On a low-priced ticket, a fixed fee is a much bigger slice of the pie than it is on an expensive one. Community events, classes, and school programs - the events with $10 and $15 tickets - feel this the most.

• Some features sit behind a subscription. Tools like expanded email marketing live on paid monthly plans, priced on top of the per-ticket fees.

• Payouts arrive after your event. Your ticket revenue is typically held and paid out days after the event ends - worth knowing if you need funds for upfront costs.

None of this is hidden - it's all on Eventbrite's pricing page. But it does mean "free" on Eventbrite really means: free to list, with fees on every paid ticket, and extras sold separately.

What "free" means on Bix

Bix takes a different approach: every feature is included from day one, for every organiser.

• No subscription. Ever. There are no tiers, no locked features, and no monthly plan to upgrade to. Seat maps, session scheduling, QR check-in, fundraising - it's all in the box, whether you run one event a year or one a week.

• Free events are completely free. Same as Eventbrite here - no charges for you or your attendees.

• Paid tickets carry one small transaction fee. That's it. No separate platform fee stacked on top, no add-ons to buy.

• Payments go straight to you. Bix runs on Stripe, the world's leading payment platform - secure checkout for your attendees, and your money lands directly in your account. Refunds are one click when plans change.

So "free" on Bix means: the software is free, full stop - you only ever pay a small fee when money actually moves.

The real difference isn't the fees - it's the structure

Put the two models side by side and the comparison isn't really about percentages. It's about where the costs live:

• On Eventbrite, costs stack: per-ticket fees, plus processing, plus optional subscriptions for extra features - with attendees usually footing the ticket fees at checkout. Higher checkout totals are something your buyers see and feel.

• On Bix, there's one cost, and everything else is included. What you set as the ticket price is what the platform is built around.

For organisers running low-priced, high-volume events - classes, school programs, community fundraisers, club sessions - that structural difference compounds fast. Flat per-ticket fees and feature paywalls are exactly the costs that punish small tickets and small teams.

What Eventbrite gives you that Bix doesn't

An honest comparison cuts both ways.

Eventbrite's fees fund something real: a huge discovery marketplace. Millions of people browse Eventbrite looking for things to do, and if your event benefits from being found by strangers - public gigs, big one-off events in major cities - that reach has genuine value. You're paying for distribution, not just software.

If that's you, Eventbrite's model may earn its keep.

But most organisers we talk to aren't relying on marketplace browsing. They're selling to their own community - students, members, parents, followers, past attendees. If your audience already knows you, you're paying marketplace fees for a marketplace you don't use.

The bottom line

• Eventbrite is free to list on. Paid tickets carry stacked fees with no cap, and some features cost extra via subscription.

• Bix is free to use - all of it. One small transaction fee on paid tickets, every feature included, money direct to your account.

If your events are free, both platforms will treat you well. If you sell tickets - especially affordable ones, to an audience you already have - the structure of "free" starts to matter a lot.

Bix was built for exactly that: everything you need to run your event in one place, free from day one. No premium tiers, no locked add-ons, no subscription.

Create your event and start taking bookings today - and keep more of every ticket.