Best Eventbrite Alternatives for Nonprofits & Fundraising Events (2026)
The honest answer depends on the job. If you are a registered nonprofitrunning a donation drive, Zeffy is genuinely $0 (funded by optional donor tips) and Givebutter is 0% with tips on — hard to beat. But if you are a nonprofit, club, PTA, church or booster group running ticketed or free events — especially one that is not a registered 501(c)(3) — Who's In is the lowest-fee full event platform: free for free events, a flat 2.7% on paid tickets (refunded if you refund a ticket), with no forced attendee accounts and no buyer-facing tip prompt. Every competitor fee below is sourced and dated.
The one-sentence answer
For pure donation fundraising by a registered charity, use Zeffy or Givebutter. For running events — ticketed or free — Who's In is the lowest-fee full platform open to any organiser: $0 for free events, 2.7% flat on paid tickets.
Figures below are PLATFORM fee only, from each platform's published pricing (retrieved 2026-07-13). Card processing (~2.9% + $0.30) is separate and universal unless a row says the platform covers it.
First, separate the two jobs
Most "best nonprofit platform" advice muddles two different jobs. Nail down which one you actually have and the shortlist collapses to one or two names.
Job 1 — Raise donations
Donation forms, recurring giving, tax receipts, peer-to-peer, raffles. You are a registered nonprofit and money comes in as gifts. Winners: Zeffy ($0, tip-funded) and Givebutter (0% with tips, strong donor CRM). This is not what Who's In is built for — we will say so plainly.
Job 2 — Run events
A gala with tickets, a paid workshop, a charity 5K with entry fees, a free members' meetup, a recurring class. You need RSVPs, waitlists, reminders and check-in. Winner: Who's In — lowest flat fee, free for free events, open to any organiser (no nonprofit registration required).
The comparison: 7 platforms, sourced fees
The Who's In row is highlighted. "Fee on $25 ticket" is the platform's own cut on a single $25 event ticket — before card processing, except where the eligibility column notes the platform covers it. Scroll horizontally on mobile.
| Platform | Fee model (event tickets) | $25 ticket | Free events | Full event platform? | Eligibility & catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who's In | 2.7% flat on paid tickets | $0.68 | Yes — $0, all features | Yes | Any organiser. No nonprofit registration, no buyer-facing tip prompt. Platform fee refunded if you refund a ticket. |
| Zeffy | $0 platform fee (donor-tip funded) | $0.00 | Yes | Partial | Registered nonprofits only. Covers card processing. Funds itself via an optional, adjustable donor "contribution" shown at checkout (~60% of donors leave one, per Zeffy). |
| Givebutter | 0% with tips on · 3% with tips off | $0.00 / $0.75 | Yes | Partial | Nonprofit-focused. 0% platform + 0% processing when donor tips are enabled (Givebutter covers processing for nonprofits). Turn tips off and it is a flat 3% + 2.9% + $0.30 card processing. |
| Humanitix | 1% + $0.99/ticket (charity rate) | $1.24 | Yes — zero | Partial | Registered charity itself — all booking-fee profits go to charity. Charity/school rate 1% + $0.99; standard rate 2.1% + $0.99. Card processing 2.9% + $0.30 separate. |
| Ticket Tailor | $0.43/ticket (charity rate, PAYG) | $0.43 | Yes | No | Registered charities get 50% off fees forever ($0.85 PAYG → $0.43; pre-paid credits from ~$0.30). Ticketing only — no RSVPs/waitlists/CRM. Processing separate. |
| Donorbox | 3.95% event ticketing (free plan) | $0.99 | n/a — donation-first | Partial | Free Standard plan charges 3.95% on event ticketing (2.95% on donations); paid Pro plan drops ticketing to 2%. Card processing 2.2% + $0.30 separate. Donation/recurring-giving-first. |
| Eventbrite | 3.7% + $1.79/ticket | $2.72 | Yes | Yes | No nonprofit discount advertised (the pricing FAQ raises the question but states no charity rate). 2.9% processing per order on top. |
Sources (retrieved 2026-07-13): Who's In: whos-in.app/pricing (verified in-product) · Zeffy: zeffy.com + Zeffy Help Center · Givebutter: givebutter.com/pricing · Humanitix: humanitix.com/us/pricing · Ticket Tailor: tickettailor.com/charities + Help Centre · Donorbox: donorbox.org/pricing · Eventbrite: eventbrite.com/organizer/pricing. Card processing (~2.9% + $0.30) is separate and universal unless noted. Who's In fee math from the open CC-BY dataset.
Platform fee on a $25 nonprofit event ticket, ranked
| Platform | Platform fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Zeffy (nonprofit) | $0.00 | processing covered |
| Givebutter (tips on) | $0.00 | processing covered |
| Ticket Tailor (charity) | $0.43 | ticketing only |
| Who's In | $0.68 | full event platform |
| Donorbox (free plan) | $0.99 | donation-first |
| Humanitix (charity) | $1.24 | profits to charity |
| Eventbrite | $2.72 | no charity rate |
The honest read: on raw fee, Zeffy ($0.00) and Ticket Tailor's charity rate ($0.43) are cheapest — but Zeffy is registered-nonprofits-only and Ticket Tailor is ticketing only. Among platforms that actually run the event, Who's In at $0.68 is the cheapest and is open to any organiser, and it is 4x cheaper than Eventbrite's $2.72 on the same ticket. Givebutter is $0.00 with tips on, at the cost of showing your buyers a tip prompt.
When a competitor is the better choice (honestly)
We would rather point you to the right tool than win a bad fit. Here is exactly when to pick someone else.
Pure donation fundraising, registered nonprofit → Zeffy
If most of your money arrives as donations rather than ticket sales and you are a registered nonprofit, Zeffy is genuinely $0 and covers card processing. Nothing here beats free. Read our honest Zeffy vs Who's In and Zeffy alternative breakdowns.
Donor management + free events with a CRM → Givebutter
Givebutter's 0%-with-tips model and built-in donor CRM are strong if fundraising and donor relationships are the point. The trade-off is a tip prompt shown to your supporters (turn it off and it is a flat 3% + processing).
You want ticket fees to fund charity → Humanitix
Humanitix is itself a registered charity and donates its booking-fee profits. Its charity/school rate is 1% + $0.99 per ticket. If the mission of where the fee goes matters to you more than the raw number, it is a genuinely good story.
Recurring giving depth → Donorbox · Cheapest flat ticket for a charity → Ticket Tailor
Donorbox is built around recurring donations and donation management (event ticketing is 3.95% on its free plan). And a registered charity that only needs to sell tickets — no RSVPs, waitlists or CRM — gets Ticket Tailor's 50% charity discount, about $0.43 per ticket.
Where Who's In is the right call for a nonprofit
The donation platforms are excellent at donations. The gap they leave is running events — and the fact that many "nonprofits" (clubs, PTAs, HOAs, church groups, booster clubs, chapters) are not registered charities and cannot use the nonprofit-only free tiers at all. That is where Who's In fits:
- Free for free events — unlimited RSVPs, waitlists, reminders, QR check-in and recurring events at $0, no eligibility check.
- A flat 2.7% on paid tickets — the lowest fee of any full event platform open to everyone, and it is auto-refunded if you refund a ticket.
- No forced attendee accounts — supporters RSVP or buy in one tap; no Eventbrite-style sign-up wall.
- No buyer-facing tip prompt — your members and donors are never asked to tip a platform at checkout.
- Money paid straight into your own Stripe account — direct payouts, not held by the platform.
- For membership-heavy orgs, Who's In Clubs (from $10/mo) adds member management, dues and 0% on member payments; Studio (from $19/mo) adds class scheduling.
Plain about what we are not: Who's In is an event platform, not a fundraising suite. We do not do dedicated donation forms, tax-receipting or recurring-giving management. If that is your core need, one of the platforms above is the better tool — and we said so.
How we sourced this
- Each competitor's fee was taken from its own published pricing page or help centre on 2026-07-13 (sources listed under the table and below). Where a platform did not advertise a figure — e.g. an Eventbrite nonprofit discount — the table says "not advertised" rather than guessing.
- All figures are the platform fee — the platform's own cut — on event tickets / paid registrations. Card processing (~2.9% + $0.30) is separate and universal, except where a platform explicitly covers it (Zeffy always; Givebutter for nonprofits with tips on).
- Who's In's numbers (2.7% flat, free for free events, fee refunded on refund) are verifiable in-product and in the open CC-BY-4.0 ticketing-fee dataset (CSV).
- Pricing changes. We re-check and re-date this page; if you spot a stale figure, the source links let you verify against the current rate card directly.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free Eventbrite alternative for a nonprofit in 2026?
It depends on what you are running. For a pure donation drive by a registered nonprofit, Zeffy is genuinely $0 — no platform fee and card processing covered, funded by an optional donor contribution at checkout — and Givebutter is 0% when donor tips are enabled. For a nonprofit, club, PTA, church or booster group running ticketed or free EVENTS — especially one that is not a registered 501(c)(3) — Who's In is the lowest-fee full event platform: free for free events, a flat 2.7% on paid tickets (refunded if you refund a ticket), with no forced attendee accounts and no buyer-facing tip prompt.
Is Zeffy really free for nonprofits?
Yes — genuinely, for registered nonprofits. Per Zeffy's own pricing and help pages (checked 2026-07-13), it charges no platform fee and covers card processing; it funds itself through an optional, adjustable donor contribution suggested at checkout, and the nonprofit receives 100% of the donation whether or not the donor tips. The condition is eligibility, not hidden fees: you must be a registered nonprofit, and the toolkit is fundraising-first (donations, tax receipts, raffles) rather than general event management. If you run ticketed community events, or you are not a registered charity, Who's In's free tier plus a flat 2.7% on paid tickets is the cheaper full-platform route.
Does Eventbrite give nonprofits a discount?
As of 2026-07-13, Eventbrite's public pricing does not advertise a nonprofit or charity discount — its pricing FAQ raises the question but states no special rate. Nonprofits pay the same 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket (plus 2.9% processing per order) as anyone else. Free-admission events are free, but attendees still create an Eventbrite account to register. That is why many nonprofits running paid events look for a lower-fee alternative.
What is the cheapest way for a nonprofit to sell event tickets?
For a $25 event ticket, the raw platform fee is lowest with Zeffy ($0.00, registered nonprofits only) and Ticket Tailor's charity rate ($0.43, ticketing only). Among platforms that run the whole event — RSVPs, waitlists, reminders, QR check-in — Who's In is cheapest at $0.68 (2.7% flat), versus Eventbrite's $2.72. Givebutter is $0.00 when donor tips are on but shows a tip prompt to your buyers. Always separate the platform fee from card processing (~2.9% + $0.30), which is universal unless a platform explicitly covers it.
We are a club / PTA / booster group, not a registered charity. What should we use?
The nonprofit-only free tiers (Zeffy, Humanitix charity rate) require a registered nonprofit number for payouts, so an unincorporated club, PTA, HOA, church group or booster club usually cannot use them. That is exactly the gap Who's In fills: any organiser can run free events at $0 and paid events at a flat 2.7%, with automatic waitlists, WhatsApp + email reminders, QR check-in, recurring events and money paid straight into your own Stripe account — no eligibility gate, no tip prompt shown to your members.
When should a nonprofit choose a competitor over Who's In?
Be honest about the job. If your primary activity is soliciting donations (not selling event tickets) and you are a registered nonprofit, use Zeffy (genuinely $0) or Givebutter (0% with tips, strong donor CRM). If you specifically want your ticket fees to fund charity, Humanitix donates its profits and offers a 1% + $0.99 charity rate. If you need recurring-giving and donation-management depth, Donorbox is built for that. Who's In is the best fit when the job is running events — ticketed or free — and you want the lowest flat fee plus the full event toolkit in one place.
Sources
Retrieved 2026-07-13: Zeffy pricing & Zeffy Help Center; Givebutter pricing; Humanitix pricing; Ticket Tailor for charities; Donorbox pricing; Eventbrite pricing; Who's In figures from whos-in.app/pricing and the CC-BY dataset. Licence for the fee dataset: CC-BY-4.0.
The lowest-fee event platform for your cause — free to start
Whether you are a registered charity or a scrappy community group, run your next event — ticketed or free — with automatic waitlists, reminders and check-in. $0 for free events, a flat 2.7% on paid tickets, paid straight to you.
Related Reading
Cheapest Ticketing Platform 2026
The full 8-platform fee comparison with the open dataset.
8 Best Eventbrite Alternatives (2026)
The broader RSVP-tool comparison across every use case.
Who's In vs Zeffy
The honest head-to-head for nonprofits and community groups.
Charity Fundraising Event Planning
A practical guide to planning and running a fundraising event.
