Organizing a festival is no small feat. You’re juggling vendors, artists, food trucks, volunteers, toilets (so many toilets)… and of course, ticketing.
Your ticketing platform should be the easy part—and in 2025, there are more great options than ever. Whether you’re hosting a weekend music fest, a film screening series, a wellness retreat, or a local craft fair, having the right software makes everything smoother.
We’ve rounded up the top festival ticketing platforms that are making waves in 2025—comparing features, pricing, and what makes each one shine.
🥇 Hi.Events – Best All-in-One Festival Ticketing Platform (Cloud-Based & Open Source)
Hi.Events is a modern, user-friendly ticketing platform built specifically with festivals in mind. From weekend passes to VIP upgrades and merch bundles, Hi.Events makes it easy to create beautiful, mobile-friendly event pages, manage sales, and check guests in on the day.
What really sets it apart? It’s packed with pro-level features—without the enterprise price tag. And you don’t need to be techy to use it.
- ✅ Sell different types of tickets: free, paid, donation-based, tiered
- 🎟️ Lock tickets behind promo codes or limit them by quantity
- 📦 Sell merch and add-ons (like t-shirts or parking passes!)
- 📊 Real-time sales, revenue, and attendee numbers at a glance
- 📲 Fast and friendly check-in with mobile scanning
- 📅 Manage capacity across multiple days or sessions
- 💬 Message attendees directly, resend tickets, export reports
- 🧑🎨 Customize your event page, colors, and layout with zero coding
- 🌍 Multi-language support for international events
- ⚡ Instant payouts via Stripe Connect
✨ Bonus: Tech-savvy organizers can self-host Hi.Events for free. But most choose the Hi.Events Cloud version for ease, support, and speed.
Whether you’re running a one-day music event or a multi-day festival with 10+ ticket types, Hi.Events takes the chaos out of planning.
🎉 Eventbrite – Well-Known, Easy to Start, but Fee-Heavy
Eventbrite is the go-to name in event ticketing for a reason—it’s easy, fast, and familiar. For smaller festivals or organizers just starting out, it can be a great entry point.
But once you start charging for tickets, fees can really add up, especially for high-volume events. You’ll also run into limits when it comes to customization and advanced features.
- ✔️ Easy to set up
- ✔️ Free for free events
- ✔️ Built-in promotion tools
- ❌ Higher fees for paid tickets
- ❌ Limited control over branding and layout
- ❌ No merch sales or complex capacity options
🎭 Pretix – Powerful and Customizable (For Tech-Friendly Teams)
Pretix is an open-source ticketing platform with serious flexibility. You can configure all sorts of pricing rules, ticket formats, and multilingual options.
But this level of customization comes with complexity—it’s not ideal if you want something that “just works” out of the box.
- ✔️ Open-source and free to self-host
- ✔️ Supports multiple currencies and languages
- ✔️ Widget for embedding ticket sales
- ❌ Not beginner-friendly
- ❌ Requires setup and hosting know-how
- ❌ Less polish compared to modern cloud platforms
✨ Tito – Clean Design, Premium Price
Tito is a beautifully designed platform that works well for conferences and smaller boutique festivals. It’s simple, elegant, and focuses on creating a frictionless experience for both organizers and guests.
However, Tito’s pricing can be steep, especially if you have high-volume sales, and its features are more limited than others on this list.
- ✔️ Gorgeous UI and checkout
- ✔️ Strong privacy focus
- ✔️ Supportive team and docs
- ❌ 3% fee on paid tickets (plus Stripe fees)
- ❌ No merch sales or capacity tools
- ❌ Not ideal for complex festival setups
💖 Humanitix – Great for Nonprofits & Purpose-Driven Events
Humanitix is a not-for-profit ticketing platform that donates 100% of its booking fees to education and social impact projects. If your event has a charitable mission or you’re a registered nonprofit, this platform could be a perfect fit.
It’s solid in terms of features, but the costs can be higher than average if you don’t qualify for discounted pricing.
- ✔️ Ethical and impact-driven
- ✔️ Good support and reporting tools
- ✔️ Discounts for nonprofits
- ❌ Higher fees for standard events
- ❌ Fewer customization options
- ❌ Not designed for complex festival needs
🎯 Final Thoughts: Which Ticketing Platform Should You Choose?
If you’re planning a real-world festival—with attendees, merch, multiple ticket types, and a need for things like check-in, reporting, and promo codes—Hi.Events is your best bet in 2025.
You get powerful tools, great-looking event pages, real-time insights, and the freedom to scale your festival without the sky-high fees.
Want it fully hosted? Use our cloud version and go live today.
Want to self-host later? You can—no vendor lock-in, no headaches.
🎟️ Ready to Simplify Your Festival Ticketing?
👉 Try Hi.Events Cloud – The smarter way to sell tickets, manage guests, and grow your event in 2025 and beyond.
