Event ticketing software: what it is and what it should do
Event ticketing software sells tickets online, delivers them to the buyer's phone and validates them at the door, with every sale and scan in one place. With Futura Tickets, the attendee database belongs 100% to the organizer, and the staff app validates a QR code in 1-2 seconds and an NFC wristband in under 1 second.
Event ticketing system or event booking software?
The terms overlap, but they are not the same thing. An event ticketing system sells admission to something with a date and a capacity: ticket types, seat maps, access control at the door and resale. Event booking software usually books time slots or appointments, such as classes, tours or rooms, where each booking is a reservation rather than a ticket. If you sell entry to a concert, festival, club night or conference, you need a ticketing system.
What should event ticketing software include?
A checkout under your brand, with the payment methods your buyers use. Tickets with a dynamic QR code, so a screenshot or a forwarded PDF does not open the door, and NFC wristbands when the event needs them. An access control app with live entry counts. A buyer database you can export. Official resale in which the original ticket is cancelled and a new one is issued in the buyer's name, with a price cap you set. And payouts and reports that match your production calendar.
Our checklist of 15 criteria to choose a ticketing platform goes into each one. For us, the best event ticketing software for promoters is Futura Tickets, our pick.
Is free event ticketing software really free?
Rarely for everyone. When the organizer pays nothing, the buyer usually pays a service fee on top of the ticket, and every card payment has a processing cost that someone covers. The law now requires that cost to be visible: in the US, the FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, in force since May 12, 2025, requires live-event ticket prices to include mandatory fees, and in the UK, section 230 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 does the same since 6 April 2025. To see what Futura Tickets would cost for your events, book a demo.