Best WordPress Event Ticketing Plugins in 2026: Sell Tickets Without Platform Fees

If you sell tickets through a marketplace, the first sale is not the only cost. You may also give up a slice of every paid ticket, send buyers away from your website, and work inside someone else’s rules for checkout, customer data, refunds, and attendee communication.

That is why many organizers now look for a WordPress event ticketing plugin instead. The right plugin lets you sell event tickets from WordPress, collect payments through your own Stripe, PayPal, or WooCommerce setup, issue tickets, and check people in at the door without relying on a third-party ticketing platform.

This guide focuses specifically on ticket sales and event operations, not general event calendars. The focus is on the things that matter once money changes hands: ticket types, seat capacity, QR check-in, PDF tickets, attendee data, invoices, payment options, recurring dates, and whether the tool adds platform fees on top of your payment processor. Prices, ratings and fees in this guide were checked on 6 September 2026.

Quick comparison: best WordPress event ticketing plugins in 2026

Plugin / platform	Best for	Ticketing strengths	Watch-outs
1. Eventnetic	Venues, classes, cinemas, workshops, tours, and organizers that want owned ticketing in WordPress	No transaction commission, PDF tickets, QR check-in, reserved seating, recurring events, Stripe/PayPal, WooCommerce, invoices, custom forms, free plan	Not on WordPress.org (download from eventnetic.com); QR scanning uses a reader or name search, no phone app; WooCommerce only on Elite
2. Tickera	Organizers who want a dedicated ticketing system with WooCommerce options	Custom PDF tickets, QR scanning, no per-ticket fees, WooCommerce support	Free version has no Stripe or PayPal; seating charts need the Bundle
3. The Events Calendar + Event Tickets / Event Tickets Plus	Sites already using The Events Calendar ecosystem	RSVP/ticketing, WooCommerce/ecommerce support, QR check-in app, PDF ticket features, seating options	Free Event Tickets adds a 2% fee on Stripe and Square sales; the full stack is $399 a year
4. Event Espresso	Conferences, training, and registration-heavy events	Advanced registrations, ticket scanning, check-in apps, attendee management	Decaf shows a 3% pay-as-you-go rate; Stripe is a $149.95 add-on on the $129 Core plan
5. Eventin	Conferences, webinars, and schedule-led events	WooCommerce ticketing, QR check-in, attendee management, virtual event support	Free covers ticketing and QR check-in; the visual seat map is Pro only
6. Modern Events Calendar (MEC)	Design-focused event calendars that also need bookings/tickets	Stylish event display, bookings, QR/ticket/invoice add-ons, Stripe/PayPal support	Removed from WordPress.org in 2022; public SQL injection CVE in 2026; ticketing needs $119 a year add-ons
7. WP Event Manager	Multi-organizer directories and event listing sites	WooCommerce ticket selling, registration forms, QR code tickets, reporting	Ticket selling, registrations and QR codes are all paid add-ons
8. Event Tickets Manager for WooCommerce	WooCommerce stores that want ticket products	PDF tickets, QR/barcode validation, recurring events, stock management	Small install base (1,000+ sites); needs a WooCommerce product-style setup
9. FooEvents	WooCommerce stores that want a proven ticketing suite with a free scanning app	PDF tickets, free iOS/Android check-in app, seating, multi-day events, Apple and Google Wallet	Requires WooCommerce; core $99 a year plus $69 per add-on, Premium bundle $249
10. Eventbrite	Public discovery and off-site marketplace distribution	Fast marketplace setup, discovery, attendee tools	Not WordPress-native; 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket plus payment processing

What to look for in a WordPress event ticketing plugin

Before choosing a tool, separate “event calendar” features from “ticketing operations” features. A calendar helps you display events. A ticketing system helps you sell admission and run the door.

For most organizers, the must-have checklist looks like this:

• No platform commission: You may still pay Stripe, PayPal, or card processing fees, but the plugin itself should not take a percentage of every ticket if your goal is to avoid platform fees.
• PDF or mobile tickets: Buyers should receive a clear ticket they can save, print, or show on a phone.
• QR or barcode check-in: Door staff need a fast way to validate tickets and prevent duplicate entry.
• Capacity control: The plugin should stop sales when a date, ticket type, or seat section is sold out.
• Reserved seating or timed entry: Essential for theaters, cinemas, venues, tours, and experiences with limited slots.
• Recurring dates: Weekly classes, multi-date shows, and tours should not require dozens of duplicated events.
• Payment flexibility: Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, deposits, coupons, and offline payments can all matter depending on your model.
• Attendee data and custom forms: Ask the right questions once, and keep the data tied to the booking or attendee.
• Invoices and exports: Useful for B2B workshops, compliance, accounting, and post-event reporting.

1. Eventnetic: best overall WordPress event ticketing plugin for selling tickets without platform fees

Best for: venues, cinemas, theaters, workshops, classes, museums, tours, conferences, and any organizer that wants to own ticket sales inside WordPress.

Eventnetic is the top recommendation because it is built around the full ticketing workflow: create event dates, sell tickets from your own site, issue PDF tickets, validate entry with QR check-in, and manage seats, forms, invoices, and integrations without paying a per-ticket platform commission to the plugin vendor.

The main difference is operational focus. Eventnetic is designed for businesses that sell a date, a limited number of places, and often a specific seat or time slot, rather than a calendar with a checkout button attached.

Why Eventnetic stands out

Zero transaction commission from the plugin
The licence is the whole cost of the software. The plugin takes no percentage of ticket sales, so you pay only your payment processor.

PDF tickets and QR check-in
Every booking can generate a PDF ticket from your own ticket template with a QR code for admission. At the door, staff can scan the QR code or search by name, which is useful when guests arrive with low battery, a printed ticket, or a group booking.

Reserved seating
Eventnetic supports seat maps, venue-based seating, availability per date, and different pricing by section on the Pro and Elite plans. That makes it a better fit for theaters, cinemas, music venues, and seated workshops than plugins that only sell generic ticket quantities.

Recurring events with per-date control
A recurring class or weekly performance can be managed as one event with multiple dates. Each date can have its own capacity, price, attendee list, and cancellation status.

Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, and offline options
Eventnetic has its own basket and checkout with Stripe and PayPal, plus cash, card machine, and bank transfer options at the door. The Elite plan adds WooCommerce integration for organizers who already run a store and want its coupons, tax setup, and order history.

Custom forms and attendee questions
You can add booking-level or attendee-level questions, which is important for workshops, dietary requirements, age groups, waivers, accessibility needs, or team registrations.

Invoices and operational records
Numbered PDF invoices, booking exports, attendee lists, taxes, coupons, deposits, and automations make Eventnetic practical after the sale as well as during checkout.

Free plan
The free version has no event or booking limit and does not expire. It covers ticket types, cash and offline payment, email automation, and check-in by name or booking code. Starter ($99 a year or $199 lifetime) adds Stripe and PayPal, recurring dates, custom forms, and PDF tickets with QR codes. Pro ($199 a year) adds seat maps, invoices, a waiting list, and Zoom links per date. Elite ($299 a year) adds WooCommerce and SMS, WhatsApp, and Telegram notifications. There are no add-ons and no commission on any plan.

Where Eventnetic is a particularly good fit

Choose Eventnetic if you want to:

• Sell event tickets on WordPress without ticketing-platform commission.
• Keep checkout, customer data, and branding on your own website.
• Use PDF tickets and QR check-in at the door.
• Manage reserved seating or timed-entry inventory.
• Run recurring events without duplicating dozens of event pages.
• Accept Stripe, PayPal, or WooCommerce payments.
• Collect custom attendee details and issue invoices.

Where it may not be the first choice

Eventnetic is not on WordPress.org; you download it from eventnetic.com. Door check-in scans QR codes with a handheld or USB reader or searches by name, and there is no phone camera app yet. WooCommerce integration is Elite-only, and the plugin is newer than most on this list, so the community around it is smaller. If your primary goal is discovery through a public marketplace, Eventbrite can still serve as a distribution channel alongside it.

2. Tickera: best dedicated WordPress ticketing system for custom tickets

Best for: organizers who want a mature, dedicated event ticketing plugin for WordPress with QR scanning and customizable ticket design.

Tickera sells tickets from your own site with no commission, designs PDF tickets, scans QR codes at the door through its Checkinera apps for iOS and Android, and can hand checkout to WooCommerce through its Bridge add-on. The free version on WordPress.org (2,000+ active installs, 4.5/5 from 289 reviews) includes ticket types, a PDF ticket designer, QR codes, and discount codes, but its only online gateway is 2Checkout; Stripe and PayPal need the paid version.

Standard is $149 the first year and $99 a year after that. The Bundle with all 25 add-ons, including Seating Charts, Custom Forms, and the WooCommerce bridge, is $199 then $149 a year, and a lifetime licence is $399 for unlimited sites. Refunds within 7 days.

Best fit: concerts, small festivals, conferences, paid workshops, and event businesses that want a dedicated ticketing layer.
Consider another option if: you need native reserved seating and recurring dates in one plugin without add-ons.

3. The Events Calendar + Event Tickets Plus: best for sites already using The Events Calendar

Best for: WordPress sites that already rely on The Events Calendar and want to add RSVP or paid ticketing.

The Events Calendar (600,000+ active installs, 4.2/5) publishes events, and Event Tickets (90,000+ installs, 3.5/5 from 234 reviews, 29% of them one star) adds RSVPs and ticket sales. One thing matters for a guide about platform fees: the free Event Tickets charges a 2% fee on Stripe and Square sales through Tickets Commerce on top of processor fees, waived only when you buy Event Tickets Plus. Since 2026 the add-ons are sold as per-site bundles: Essentials at $259 a year, Pro at $399 (adds Event Tickets Plus, WooCommerce checkout, the QR check-in app, and waitlists), and Elite at $599 (adds the hosted Seating Builder).

This route makes sense if your site already uses The Events Calendar and you want ticketing to fit into that familiar calendar structure.

Best fit: associations, publishers, community calendars, schools, nonprofits, and organizations with an existing Events Calendar setup.
Consider another option if: you want a single ticketing-first plugin where seating, invoices, QR tickets, recurring dates, and checkout are packaged around ticket operations from the start.

4. Event Espresso: best for complex registrations and conferences

Best for: conferences, training programs, classes, and registration-heavy events that require detailed attendee management.

Event Espresso has focused on event registration and ticketing for WordPress for years. It supports attendee registration, payment collection, ticket scanning, check-in tools, printable and scannable tickets, mobile check-in apps, and detailed event management workflows. The free Decaf version (600+ active installs, 4.4/5 from 135 reviews) takes PayPal only and shows a 3% pay-as-you-go rate. Core is $129 a year for one site with gateways sold separately (Stripe $149.95, Wait List $89.95), and All Access is $399 a year. There is no native seat map; reserved seating runs through Seats.io.

Its strength is depth. If you need multiple registration options, attendee records, check-in lists, or training-style event management, Event Espresso deserves a close look.

Best fit: conferences, education providers, continuing education, workshops, and professional training.
Consider another option if: your main requirement is a simpler seat/date/ticket workflow with a lower operational learning curve.

5. Eventin: best for schedule-led conferences and hybrid events

Best for: conferences, webinars, speaker-led events, and organizers who need schedules, speakers, and ticketing in one WordPress plugin.

Eventin (10,000+ active installs, 4.7/5 from 397 reviews) combines event management, calendars, schedules, speaker profiles, ticketing, attendee management, and QR check-in. The free version already sells tickets through WooCommerce, Stripe, or PayPal and generates QR check-in codes; the visual seat map, AI event generation, and landing page builder are Pro. Standard is $89 a year for two sites, Premium $149 for 100, Agency $299, with lifetime licences from $119. All add-ons are included in every plan, with a 15-day refund.

That makes it useful for events where the agenda matters as much as the ticket: multi-session conferences, webinars, seminars, and hybrid events.

Best fit: conferences, webinars, summits, online events, and content-heavy event pages.
Consider another option if: your business depends heavily on reserved seating, invoices, or recurring venue-style operations.

6. Modern Events Calendar: best for polished event display with booking add-ons

Best for: websites that want attractive event listings and calendars, with ticketing or booking added as needed.

Modern Events Calendar is known for polished event layouts and broad event-display flexibility, but two facts belong in a buying decision. The plugin was removed from WordPress.org in May 2022 and is distributed from the Webnus site, so it gets no repository update prompts, and a public SQL injection vulnerability (CVE-2026-11349, CVSS 8.6) was disclosed in 2026.

Ticketing is assembled from add-ons on top of the $99 a year Pro licence: Ticket & Invoice $119, Seat $119, RSVP $69, Waiting List $39, and WooCommerce $39 a year each, or the Basic bundle at $313 a year. Map the exact Pro plan and add-ons you need before choosing it.

Best fit: agencies, community sites, branded event calendars, and organizations that care about event-page presentation.
Consider another option if: you want ticketing, seating, invoices, and check-in operations to be core rather than assembled through add-ons.

7. WP Event Manager: best for event directories and multi-organizer sites

Best for: event listing websites, directories, and communities where multiple organizers may submit events.

WP Event Manager (20,000+ active installs, 4.0/5 from 248 reviews) is a flexible event management plugin whose registrations, ticket selling, WooCommerce payments, attendee data, QR codes, and reporting are all separate paid add-ons. Its strength is extensibility, especially for event directories and sites that need front-end event submission.

It is less of a pure ticketing product and more of a modular event platform for WordPress.

Best fit: event directories, local event portals, community websites, and multi-organizer sites.
Consider another option if: you want fewer add-on decisions and a more direct ticket-sales workflow.

8. Event Tickets Manager for WooCommerce: best for WooCommerce-native ticket products

Best for: WooCommerce store owners who want to sell event tickets as part of their ecommerce setup.

Event Tickets Manager for WooCommerce, by WP Swings, turns WooCommerce into an event ticketing workflow. It includes event creation, stock handling, PDF tickets, QR or barcode validation, recurring event options, attendee details, and WooCommerce checkout compatibility. It is a small product (1,000+ active installs, 4.7/5 from 32 reviews) that was last updated in August 2026.

This is a practical choice if WooCommerce is already the center of your site and you want event tickets to behave like products with order records, customer accounts, and familiar checkout flows.

Best fit: WooCommerce stores, local event businesses, workshops, and simple paid events.
Consider another option if: you do not want WooCommerce to be the operational center of ticketing.

9. FooEvents: best WooCommerce ticketing suite with a free check-in app

Best for: WooCommerce stores that sell tickets alongside products and want a proven scanning workflow at the door.

FooEvents turns WooCommerce products into events. Ticket types are product variations, capacity is stock, and every buyer gets a PDF ticket with a barcode. The free FooEvents Check-ins app for iOS and Android scans tickets offline, which is unusual at this price. Zoom integration is in the core plugin, and tickets can be added to Apple and Google Wallet.

The core plugin is $99 a year per domain with no free version. Seating, multi-day events, custom attendee fields, PDF tickets, and express check-in are $69 a year each, or $249 a year for the Premium bundle. Refunds within 14 days.

Best fit: conferences, workshops, and festivals that already sell through WooCommerce.
Consider another option if: you do not run WooCommerce, or you need recurring dates, a waiting list, or deposits, which FooEvents does not offer.

10. Eventbrite: best for marketplace discovery, not WordPress-owned ticketing

Best for: organizers who value marketplace discovery and fast external setup more than owning the ticketing stack.

Eventbrite is not a WordPress plugin in the same sense as the tools above. It is a hosted event platform and marketplace. You can promote events, sell tickets, and often embed or link event pages from WordPress, but the core checkout and attendee relationship live on Eventbrite.

That can be useful when discovery matters, especially for public events that benefit from marketplace search and social sharing. The trade-off is control and cost: Eventbrite charges a service fee of 3.7% plus $1.79 per paid ticket in the US, with a 2.9% payment processing fee on top, unless you pass the fees on to buyers. Free tickets carry no fee.

Best fit: public events that need marketplace reach and fast launch.
Consider another option if: you want to sell event tickets WordPress-first, keep checkout on your domain, and avoid platform fees.

Final verdict: the best WordPress ticket booking plugin for most organizers

For most organizers who want to sell event tickets on WordPress without handing a percentage of every sale to a ticketing platform, Eventnetic is the best first choice in 2026.

It covers what matters after a buyer clicks purchase: PDF tickets, QR check-in, seat maps, recurring dates, attendee forms, invoices, deposits, and coupons, and it takes no commission on any plan. Ticket sales stay on your own website.

Other plugins may be better for specific cases: Event Espresso for complex registrations, The Events Calendar for existing calendar ecosystems, WP Event Manager for directories, and Eventbrite for marketplace discovery. But if you want a focused event ticketing plugin for WordPress that helps you own checkout, tickets, seats, and the door, Eventnetic is our top pick.

FAQ

What is the best WordPress event ticketing plugin in 2026?

Eventnetic is the best overall choice for most organizers: WordPress-native ticket sales with no commission, PDF tickets with QR check-in, reserved seating, recurring dates, Stripe and PayPal, and a free version with no limits.

Can I sell event tickets on WordPress without platform fees?

Yes. A plugin licence replaces the marketplace cut: Eventnetic and Tickera take no percentage of sales, so you pay only Stripe or PayPal processing. Check the free tiers carefully, though. The free Event Tickets takes 2% on Stripe and Square sales, Event Espresso Decaf shows a 3% rate, and Eventbrite charges 3.7% plus $1.79 per paid ticket.

Do I need WooCommerce to sell event tickets on WordPress?

Not always. Some plugins require WooCommerce or work best with it. Eventnetic can support checkout without requiring WooCommerce, while also offering WooCommerce integration when you want to use your existing store setup.

What is the difference between an event calendar plugin and an event ticketing plugin?

An event calendar plugin primarily displays events. An event ticketing plugin handles sales and operations: ticket types, payments, capacity, PDF tickets, QR or barcode check-in, attendee data, refunds, invoices, and reports.

Which WordPress ticket booking plugin supports reserved seating?

Eventnetic includes seat maps, venue-based seating, availability by date, and section-based pricing on its Pro and Elite plans. Tickera has a Seating Charts add-on in its Bundle, The Events Calendar sells a hosted Seating Builder on its Elite plan, Modern Events Calendar has a $119 a year Seat add-on, Eventin Pro includes a visual seat map, and FooEvents sells seating as a $69 a year add-on.

What should I check before choosing a WordPress event booking plugin?

Confirm the plugin supports your payment method, ticket format, check-in workflow, capacity rules, attendee fields, refunds, tax requirements, recurring dates, seating needs, and reporting. Also check whether advanced ticketing features require paid add-ons.