How TicketHero compares

Where TicketHero is the better choice. And where it is not.

A comparison page where one company wins every row is not much use to you. Here we set ourselves beside four kinds of product you are likely to be weighing up, and mark our own column as it stands today.

See the comparison Talk to us

Our own column, as it stands

20 rows. Each status comes from our public roadmap.

12Yes
2Partly
1No
2Being built
2Planned
1Under consideration

12 of 20 are a yes today.
On 7, another kind of product is ahead.

What is different here.

None of this is a feature a bigger company could not build. These are things it is not set up to do for one venue.

We set everything up for you
Many tools hand you a login and a help centre, and some expect you to build your own account. We build your experiences, dates, start times and prices for you, or your team does it on one guided page, and you check them before anything is live.
See how getting started works
- One worksheet from youWhat you sell, when, at what price, and who needs access.
- A private preview from usYour own experiences, on a page that looks like your website.
- Two lines of code on your siteOut of sight first, so we test it before your visitors see it.
You talk to the people who build it
We are taking on a small number of venues, so what you need is weighed against a short list. The order of our roadmap is agreed with the venues on it.
Read the roadmap
Live
Your brand, front and back
The booking flow, the staff admin and the confirmation email all wear your logo and colours. Your team works in something that looks like yours, and so do your visitors.
Live
Every booking knows where it came from
The campaign, the referring site and the landing page are saved on the booking itself. Because the booking happens on your own site, nothing is lost in a hand-off to another one.
Planned
Tickets and campsite nights together
A start time and a pitch night are the same thing underneath: a space with a capacity in a time window. One admin and one customer record will cover both.
One team for your booking, your website, your ads and your reporting
This is a service we offer beside the product. Ask for it and booking is designed into your site from the first page, not added to it afterwards. Or keep the website you have and add two lines of code. Some ticketing companies sell websites too, so we do not call this unique. What differs is that the same few people do all of it.

The comparison, row by row.

We compare kinds of product, because products inside each kind differ. Where they differ a lot we say “varies”, and where a kind of product does something well we say so.

How to read the marks

Yes
Partly
No
Varies
Being built
Planned
Under consideration

Being built, planned and under consideration appear only in our own column, and come from our public roadmap. Where another column carries a different word, such as “usually”, it is there because the plain word would overstate what we know.

TicketHero compared with four kinds of ticketing product, row by row. The last column is TicketHero.
What we compared	Large attraction platforms	Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools	Booking tools with a website service	Ticket marketplaces	TicketHero
For your visitors
Booking inside your own page	Varies A pop-up panel or a separate hosted page is common. Some embed in your page.	Usually Most offer an embed for your page as well as a hosted page.	Usually Embeddable widgets or a branded booking page.	Not usually Visitors normally book on the marketplace's site. Some offer an embed.	Yes Two lines of code on any page of your site, in your colours.
Date first, on a real calendar	Often Date-led calendars with time slots are common.	Varies Several handle time slots. Some are built tickets first.	Varies Depends on the tool. Stay bookings are date first by nature.	Often not Tickets came first, with no calendar, on the events we tried.	Yes Free days, and the price for each day, show before anyone chooses tickets.
Guest checkout, with no account	Usually Guest checkout is the norm.	Varies Not always stated. Worth checking in a demo.	Varies Not always stated. Worth checking in a demo.	Often not An account with the marketplace was needed on the events we tried.	Yes A name and an email address are all it takes.
Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay	Yes Card payments are standard and wallets are common.	Yes Card payments are standard. Wallets come with the payment provider on several.	Cards, yes Card payments are standard. Check for Apple Pay and Google Pay.	Cards, yes Card payments are standard. Check for Apple Pay and Google Pay.	Being built Card and wallet payments at checkout. Until they are switched on, our demo takes no card.
Visitors change their own booking	Usually Refunds and date changes are standard, by your staff at least.	Often Refunds and order changes are common.	Often Customers managing their own bookings is a listed feature on some.	Varies Set by the marketplace's own rules. Some allow no exchanges.	Planned Move a date or ask for a refund from the booking link, within rules you set.
For your team
Gate check-in from the ticket	Yes Scanning is standard, often with tills at the gate as well.	Usually A scanning app is common, and at least one works without a signal.	Yes Ticket scanning is standard.	Usually Mobile tickets and scanning are standard.	Yes Scan the code with a phone or type the reference. It needs a signal today.
Your brand on the booking flow, the staff admin and the emails	Booking pages Branded booking pages are common. A staff admin in your colours is not something we saw offered.	Booking pages Booking pages can usually take your branding. The staff side is the tool's own.	Booking pages Fully branded booking pages are a selling point. The staff side is not mentioned.	Event page A branded event page, on the marketplace's site.	Yes All three wear your logo and colours.
Tills, kiosks and walk-up sales	Yes This is their strength: tills and kiosks on the same stock.	Sometimes A few include a till.	Sometimes Some include tills.	Varies Depends on the marketplace.	Gate sales Staff sell at the gate from the same availability as your website, taking cash or using your own card machine. No card reader of our own, kiosk or stock control.
Memberships, season passes and gift vouchers	Yes Standard.	Often Offered by several.	Often Memberships and gift cards are offered by some.	Varies Depends on the marketplace.	Under consideration Passes for regular visitors, and vouchers redeemed in the booking flow.
Tickets and campsite nights in one system	Not usually Built for attractions. A few booking systems take multi-day stays, so ask.	Not usually Built for events and time slots.	Not usually Usually one or the other: attraction tickets or campsite stays.	Not usually A marketplace tends to list events or campsites, not both.	Planned Pitches booked by the night, in the same system as your tickets.
Working with us
Who builds your set-up	Varies Some build it with you. Others expect you to build your own account.	You do Self-serve: you sign up and build it yourself. Quick for a simple event.	Help included Self-serve with free set-up help. A done-for-you build may be quoted as an extra.	Varies Self-serve for small events, managed for large ones.	Either You build it on one guided page, or we build it from one worksheet you fill in. Either way you see it before anything is live.
Who you talk to	Support team A support team, and often a named contact while you set up.	Support team A help centre and a support team.	Account manager An account manager on some.	Support team A support team.	The builders The people who build the product. What you need shapes what is built next.
Support cover on event days	Strong Dedicated support teams, some around the clock.	Usually Support by email, and by phone or live chat on some.	Usually Support and training are usually included.	Usually A support team, and on some a call centre for your buyers.	Small team You reach us directly. We do not offer round-the-clock cover today.
Website, advertising and reporting from the same team	Sometimes Some have a web design arm of their own.	Not usually Ticketing is the product. You bring your own website.	Yes Websites and marketing are sold beside the ticketing.	Reach, not a site Marketing reach through their own audience.	On request A service we offer, so booking is designed into your site from the start.
A long track record	Yes Years of trading and many venues live.	Usually Most are well established, though new ones appear.	Usually Established, with public reviews on some.	Yes Large, long-running businesses.	Not yet We are new, and taking on our first venues.
Money and terms
Ticket money paid into your own account	Varies Some connect your own payment account. Some require their own payment service.	Usually Usually your own payment account. A few hold the money until after the event by default.	Usually Usually through your own payment account.	Varies Some hold ticket money until after the event.	Being built Paid straight to your own Stripe account. We never hold your money.
No long contract	Varies From flexible terms to a fixed term that renews unless you give notice.	Usually Usually none. This is common, and not special to us.	Usually Often none, or a rolling monthly plan.	Usually Usually none.	Yes Leave when you like and take your data with you.
What it costs, and whether the price is published	Rarely published Usually by quote. Often a monthly plan, sometimes with a percentage of sales as well.	Published A fee per ticket or a percentage of each booking. Some charge a flat monthly subscription.	Often published A percentage of bookings, or a monthly fee. Website and marketing work is priced on top.	Often published A percentage, often with a fee per ticket, commonly paid by the buyer.	Published 1.5% of the value of each booking, plus VAT, with no monthly fee and no set-up fee. Stripe charges its own card fee to you. The fee applies once card payments are live. See our pricing
Connections
An API and booking messages, included	Varies Sometimes included, sometimes a paid add-on. Often a wider set of messages than ours.	Usually An API is usually included. This is common, and not special to us.	Varies Some connect through other services instead.	Varies Some publish an API. Terms differ.	Yes Read and manage bookings from your own systems, with a signed message for each change.
Marketing source saved on every booking	Through analytics Usually by adding your analytics ID. A hand-off to another page has to carry the source across.	Through analytics Usually a box for your analytics ID.	Through analytics Usually a box for your analytics ID.	Through analytics Analytics on some. The sale happens on their site.	Yes The campaign, referring site and landing page are saved on the booking itself. Each sale is also handed to the analytics already on your page.

Compare TicketHero with

Large platformsPay-as-you-go toolsBooking plus websiteMarketplaces

Large attraction platforms. Venue management systems for busy attractions: online tickets with tills, kiosks and memberships on the same back end.

Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools. You sign up, build your own event and pay a fee per ticket or booking, or a small monthly subscription.

Booking tools with a website service. Ticketing or booking companies that also sell website design and marketing.

Ticket marketplaces. Your event is listed and sold on the ticket seller's own site, beside other events.

For your visitors

Booking inside your own page
Large attraction platforms
Varies
A pop-up panel or a separate hosted page is common. Some embed in your page.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Usually
Most offer an embed for your page as well as a hosted page.
Booking tools with a website service
Usually
Embeddable widgets or a branded booking page.
Ticket marketplaces
Not usually
Visitors normally book on the marketplace's site. Some offer an embed.
TicketHero
Yes
Two lines of code on any page of your site, in your colours.
Date first, on a real calendar
Large attraction platforms
Often
Date-led calendars with time slots are common.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Varies
Several handle time slots. Some are built tickets first.
Booking tools with a website service
Varies
Depends on the tool. Stay bookings are date first by nature.
Ticket marketplaces
Often not
Tickets came first, with no calendar, on the events we tried.
TicketHero
Yes
Free days, and the price for each day, show before anyone chooses tickets.
Guest checkout, with no account
Large attraction platforms
Usually
Guest checkout is the norm.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Varies
Not always stated. Worth checking in a demo.
Booking tools with a website service
Varies
Not always stated. Worth checking in a demo.
Ticket marketplaces
Often not
An account with the marketplace was needed on the events we tried.
TicketHero
Yes
A name and an email address are all it takes.
Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
Large attraction platforms
Yes
Card payments are standard and wallets are common.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Yes
Card payments are standard. Wallets come with the payment provider on several.
Booking tools with a website service
Cards, yes
Card payments are standard. Check for Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Ticket marketplaces
Cards, yes
Card payments are standard. Check for Apple Pay and Google Pay.
TicketHero
Being built
Card and wallet payments at checkout. Until they are switched on, our demo takes no card.
Visitors change their own booking
Large attraction platforms
Usually
Refunds and date changes are standard, by your staff at least.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Often
Refunds and order changes are common.
Booking tools with a website service
Often
Customers managing their own bookings is a listed feature on some.
Ticket marketplaces
Varies
Set by the marketplace's own rules. Some allow no exchanges.
TicketHero
Planned
Move a date or ask for a refund from the booking link, within rules you set.

For your team

Gate check-in from the ticket
Large attraction platforms
Yes
Scanning is standard, often with tills at the gate as well.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Usually
A scanning app is common, and at least one works without a signal.
Booking tools with a website service
Yes
Ticket scanning is standard.
Ticket marketplaces
Usually
Mobile tickets and scanning are standard.
TicketHero
Yes
Scan the code with a phone or type the reference. It needs a signal today.
Your brand on the booking flow, the staff admin and the emails
Large attraction platforms
Booking pages
Branded booking pages are common. A staff admin in your colours is not something we saw offered.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Booking pages
Booking pages can usually take your branding. The staff side is the tool's own.
Booking tools with a website service
Booking pages
Fully branded booking pages are a selling point. The staff side is not mentioned.
Ticket marketplaces
Event page
A branded event page, on the marketplace's site.
TicketHero
Yes
All three wear your logo and colours.
Tills, kiosks and walk-up sales
Large attraction platforms
Yes
This is their strength: tills and kiosks on the same stock.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Sometimes
A few include a till.
Booking tools with a website service
Sometimes
Some include tills.
Ticket marketplaces
Varies
Depends on the marketplace.
TicketHero
Gate sales
Staff sell at the gate from the same availability as your website, taking cash or using your own card machine. No card reader of our own, kiosk or stock control.
Memberships, season passes and gift vouchers
Large attraction platforms
Yes
Standard.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Often
Offered by several.
Booking tools with a website service
Often
Memberships and gift cards are offered by some.
Ticket marketplaces
Varies
Depends on the marketplace.
TicketHero
Under consideration
Passes for regular visitors, and vouchers redeemed in the booking flow.
Tickets and campsite nights in one system
Large attraction platforms
Not usually
Built for attractions. A few booking systems take multi-day stays, so ask.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Not usually
Built for events and time slots.
Booking tools with a website service
Not usually
Usually one or the other: attraction tickets or campsite stays.
Ticket marketplaces
Not usually
A marketplace tends to list events or campsites, not both.
TicketHero
Planned
Pitches booked by the night, in the same system as your tickets.

Working with us

Who builds your set-up
Large attraction platforms
Varies
Some build it with you. Others expect you to build your own account.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
You do
Self-serve: you sign up and build it yourself. Quick for a simple event.
Booking tools with a website service
Help included
Self-serve with free set-up help. A done-for-you build may be quoted as an extra.
Ticket marketplaces
Varies
Self-serve for small events, managed for large ones.
TicketHero
Either
You build it on one guided page, or we build it from one worksheet you fill in. Either way you see it before anything is live.
Who you talk to
Large attraction platforms
Support team
A support team, and often a named contact while you set up.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Support team
A help centre and a support team.
Booking tools with a website service
Account manager
An account manager on some.
Ticket marketplaces
Support team
A support team.
TicketHero
The builders
The people who build the product. What you need shapes what is built next.
Support cover on event days
Large attraction platforms
Strong
Dedicated support teams, some around the clock.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Usually
Support by email, and by phone or live chat on some.
Booking tools with a website service
Usually
Support and training are usually included.
Ticket marketplaces
Usually
A support team, and on some a call centre for your buyers.
TicketHero
Small team
You reach us directly. We do not offer round-the-clock cover today.
Website, advertising and reporting from the same team
Large attraction platforms
Sometimes
Some have a web design arm of their own.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Not usually
Ticketing is the product. You bring your own website.
Booking tools with a website service
Yes
Websites and marketing are sold beside the ticketing.
Ticket marketplaces
Reach, not a site
Marketing reach through their own audience.
TicketHero
On request
A service we offer, so booking is designed into your site from the start.
A long track record
Large attraction platforms
Yes
Years of trading and many venues live.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Usually
Most are well established, though new ones appear.
Booking tools with a website service
Usually
Established, with public reviews on some.
Ticket marketplaces
Yes
Large, long-running businesses.
TicketHero
Not yet
We are new, and taking on our first venues.

Money and terms

Ticket money paid into your own account
Large attraction platforms
Varies
Some connect your own payment account. Some require their own payment service.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Usually
Usually your own payment account. A few hold the money until after the event by default.
Booking tools with a website service
Usually
Usually through your own payment account.
Ticket marketplaces
Varies
Some hold ticket money until after the event.
TicketHero
Being built
Paid straight to your own Stripe account. We never hold your money.
No long contract
Large attraction platforms
Varies
From flexible terms to a fixed term that renews unless you give notice.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Usually
Usually none. This is common, and not special to us.
Booking tools with a website service
Usually
Often none, or a rolling monthly plan.
Ticket marketplaces
Usually
Usually none.
TicketHero
Yes
Leave when you like and take your data with you.
What it costs, and whether the price is published
Large attraction platforms
Rarely published
Usually by quote. Often a monthly plan, sometimes with a percentage of sales as well.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Published
A fee per ticket or a percentage of each booking. Some charge a flat monthly subscription.
Booking tools with a website service
Often published
A percentage of bookings, or a monthly fee. Website and marketing work is priced on top.
Ticket marketplaces
Often published
A percentage, often with a fee per ticket, commonly paid by the buyer.
TicketHero
Published
1.5% of the value of each booking, plus VAT, with no monthly fee and no set-up fee. Stripe charges its own card fee to you. The fee applies once card payments are live.
See our pricing

Connections

An API and booking messages, included
Large attraction platforms
Varies
Sometimes included, sometimes a paid add-on. Often a wider set of messages than ours.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Usually
An API is usually included. This is common, and not special to us.
Booking tools with a website service
Varies
Some connect through other services instead.
Ticket marketplaces
Varies
Some publish an API. Terms differ.
TicketHero
Yes
Read and manage bookings from your own systems, with a signed message for each change.
Marketing source saved on every booking
Large attraction platforms
Through analytics
Usually by adding your analytics ID. A hand-off to another page has to carry the source across.
Pay-as-you-go ticketing tools
Through analytics
Usually a box for your analytics ID.
Booking tools with a website service
Through analytics
Usually a box for your analytics ID.
Ticket marketplaces
Through analytics
Analytics on some. The sale happens on their site.
TicketHero
Yes
The campaign, referring site and landing page are saved on the booking itself. Each sale is also handed to the analytics already on your page.

The other columns are based on what these kinds of product publish about themselves, read in October 2026. Features and terms change, so ask each company you are considering. What we charge is on our pricing page. If you think a row is unfair, tell us and we will correct it.

When a bigger platform is the right choice.

We would rather tell you now than after you have moved. If any of these describes you, a large attraction platform is probably the better fit today.

One more, for every venue. If you need to take card payments through us this month, we are not ready. Payments are being built now, and the demo takes no card.

You need tills, card readers or kiosks now
Large platforms take cards at the gate and run a shop or cafe till on the same system. Our staff can sell at the gate from the same availability as your website, but you take the money yourself, in cash or on your own card machine.
You sell memberships, season passes or gift vouchers
These are standard on large platforms and on several smaller tools. We do not have them.
You need round-the-clock support
A large platform has a support team, sometimes at any hour. We are a small team that you reach directly, and we do not offer that cover today.
You want one proven system across a large estate
Years of trading and many venues live count for a lot when the whole business depends on it. We are new.

When a pay-as-you-go tool is the right choice
A one-off or simple event that you want on sale this afternoon, at a published fee, built by you. Most of them embed on your page, have no contract and include an API. Those are common, and we do not claim them as ours alone.
When a marketplace is the right choice
You need its audience to find your event more than you need the booking to happen on your own site, in your own name.

Why this stays different.

A feature can be copied in a season. What follows is harder to copy, because it comes from how we choose to work, and it is the part you would feel most as a venue.

Set up by people, not by a form
Every venue is set up by hand today, by the people who build the product. You are heard because you are talking to them directly.
The whole journey, with one team
We also build and run venue websites, advertising and reporting. When you ask for all of it, one team sees the path from the advert to the gate and can fix the slow step wherever it is.
Nothing that traps you
One published fee, no long contract, an API that is included, and card payments designed to land in your own account. If you stay, it is because the product works for you.

Judge it with your own experiences in it.

Send us your booking page and we will show you your own experience running in TicketHero. Or walk round Demo Farm first: a made-up venue with a working booking flow and a staff side you can open.

Talk to us Explore Demo Farm

Where TicketHero is the better choice. And where it is not.

Our own column, as it stands

What is different here.

We set everything up for you

You talk to the people who build it

Your brand, front and back

Every booking knows where it came from

Tickets and campsite nights together

One team for your booking, your website, your ads and your reporting

The comparison, row by row.

How to read the marks

For your visitors

Booking inside your own page

Date first, on a real calendar

Guest checkout, with no account

Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay

Visitors change their own booking

For your team

Gate check-in from the ticket

Your brand on the booking flow, the staff admin and the emails

Tills, kiosks and walk-up sales

Memberships, season passes and gift vouchers

Tickets and campsite nights in one system

Working with us

Who builds your set-up

Who you talk to

Support cover on event days

Website, advertising and reporting from the same team

A long track record

Money and terms

Ticket money paid into your own account

No long contract

What it costs, and whether the price is published

Connections

An API and booking messages, included

Marketing source saved on every booking

When a bigger platform is the right choice.

You need tills, card readers or kiosks now

You sell memberships, season passes or gift vouchers

You need round-the-clock support

You want one proven system across a large estate

When a pay-as-you-go tool is the right choice

When a marketplace is the right choice

Why this stays different.

Set up by people, not by a form

The whole journey, with one team

Nothing that traps you

Judge it with your own experiences in it.