How To Sell Tickets Online for Free in 2026 (Complete Guide)

Selling tickets online does not have to cost you money upfront. Whether you are running a $10 workshop or a $500-per-person gala, there are platforms that charge nothing until you actually sell tickets — and some that charge nothing at all for your first several events.

This guide walks you through exactly how to get your event live and selling in under 30 minutes.

What You Need Before You Start

Before creating your event listing, have these ready:

Step 1: Create Your Free Account

Go to [ticketcrest.com/signup](/signup) and create an organizer account. This takes about 2 minutes — just your name, email, and a password.

Your first 5 paid events are completely free. If you are running a free event, there is never any charge.

Step 2: Create Your Event

Click Create event in your dashboard. Fill in:

Basic details:

Date and location:

Cover image:

If you run recurring workshops, see our [guide for workshop organisers](/solutions/workshops).

Step 3: Set Up Ticket Types

You can create multiple ticket types — free, paid, early bird, VIP, donation-based.

For free events: create a ticket type with price $0. No payment processing needed.

For paid events: set your price. TicketCrest adds 4.5% on top for the buyer to pay. Your first 5 paid events are completely free of platform fees.

Set a maximum quantity per ticket type and a maximum per order (to prevent bulk buying).

Step 4: Publish and Share

Click Publish. Your event is now live at a public URL you can share anywhere.

Share your event:

Step 5: Manage Registrations

Your dashboard shows real-time ticket sales, attendee names and emails, and remaining capacity.

Before the event, go to Attendees to download the full list as CSV for check-in.

On the day of the event, open the Check-in app on any device — just go to ticketcrest.com/checkin/[your-event-id] on your phone. Type or scan each attendee's ticket reference. Green means valid, red means invalid.

Once your event is live, read our guide on [preventing ticket fraud](/blog/event-ticket-fraud-prevention).

What Makes a Good Event Listing

The difference between an event that sells out and one that barely fills is usually the listing quality.

Title: Specific beats generic. "Austin Monthly Networking: AI Tools for Small Business" outperforms "Networking Event."

Description: Lead with who this is for and what they will get. Then explain the agenda, speakers, or activities. End with a clear call to action.

Image: Use a real photo of a past event, a speaker's headshot, or a designed graphic. Avoid stock photos of generic crowds.

Ticket names: "Early bird — save $20" performs better than "Ticket Type A."

Free vs. Paid Events — What Changes

For free events, the entire process above is completely free. No payment processing, no platform fees. Attendees register and get an instant QR code ticket.

For paid events, TicketCrest's 4.5% fee is added on top of your ticket price and paid by the buyer. Your first 5 paid events have no platform fee at all — you only pay Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

Create your event now — it's free →