Eventbrite Charges Fees on Every Ticket. Calen Is Free.
Eventbrite takes 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket and buries simple events under ticketing, checkout flows, and admin screens. Calen gives you a clean event page with one-click calendar adds — free, no fees, live in 3 minutes.
Eventbrite vs calen.events — Feature by Feature
| Feature | Eventbrite | calen.events |
|---|---|---|
| Price for free events | Free (but limited features) | Free (full features) |
| Fees on paid tickets | 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket | Stripe fees only (~2.9% + 30¢) |
| Event pages | ||
| One-click calendar add | Google only | Google, Apple, Outlook, Yahoo |
| Subscriber email notifications | Paid feature | Free |
| Auto OGP image generation | ||
| Setup complexity | 15+ fields, checkout config, fee settings | 5 fields, publish in 3 minutes |
| Recurring events | ||
| Multi-language support | Limited | EN, JA, NL built-in |
| Attendee account required | Email required at checkout | |
| Calendar auto-updates | ||
| Data ownership | Eventbrite owns the relationship | You own your subscriber list |
Why Creators Choose Calen Over Eventbrite
Eventbrite sits between you and your attendees. They own the checkout, the email, the relationship. With Calen, attendees subscribe directly to you. Your audience grows on your terms, not Eventbrite's.
Eventbrite charges 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket. On a $25 ticket, that's $2.72 gone. Sell 100 tickets and you've lost $272. Calen's free plan has zero platform fees. Paid events go through Stripe at standard rates — no markup.
Running a free workshop, a community meetup, or a webinar? Eventbrite's checkout flow, seating maps, and fee configuration are overkill. Calen gives you an event page and a calendar button. Create, share, done.
Skip the Fees. Skip the Complexity.
Create your first event page — free, no fees, no account required for attendees.
Create Your First Event →