Every time someone buys a ticket through Ticketmaster, Eventbrite, or a similar platform, a slice of that sale disappears before it ever reaches you. Service fees, processing fees, per-ticket charges — they add up fast. If you want to sell event tickets on WordPress and actually keep what you earn, there is a better way.
This post walks you through exactly why third-party ticketing platforms are eating your margin, what your alternatives look like, and how to set up a complete ticketing workflow directly inside your WordPress site — with a built-in QR scanner, seat selection, and PDF tickets.
Eventbrite charges up to 3.5% plus a fixed fee per ticket sold. Ticketmaster’s service fees are notoriously opaque — buyers see them at checkout, and they often exceed the face value of the ticket itself. Even “budget” platforms layer on payment processing fees on top of their own cuts.
The deeper problem is data and dependency. When you sell through a marketplace, the customer relationship belongs to the platform. You get a payout. They get the email address, the purchase history, and the retargeting opportunity. If the platform changes its pricing or shuts down a feature, you have no recourse.
For small to mid-sized event organizers — concert promoters, theater venues, community fundraisers, clubs — these fees are not a minor inconvenience. They are the difference between a profitable event and one that barely breaks even.
WordPress with WooCommerce already handles payments, product pages, customer emails, and order management. Adding ticketing on top of that infrastructure is not as complicated as it sounds. What you need is a layer that:
Without a plugin purpose-built for this, you would be cobbling together multiple tools, custom code for QR generation, a separate scanner app, and manual processes to prevent duplicate entries. That is technically possible, but it is not a weekend project.
Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner is a free WordPress plugin that does exactly this — and it runs entirely on your server, through your WooCommerce checkout, with no per-ticket fees.
Here is how the setup works in practice:
That is the core flow. No coding. No third-party accounts. No marketplace taking a percentage.
[SCREENSHOT: WordPress dashboard showing the “Event Tickets” menu and ticket list creation screen]
The plugin is not just a QR code generator bolted onto WooCommerce. It includes the infrastructure you actually need to run a real event.
Built-in ticket scanner — no app required. The scanner runs in any mobile browser. Point your phone camera at a QR code and the system confirms or rejects the ticket in real time. You can install it as a PWA (Progressive Web App) on your home screen for a full-screen, app-like experience with haptic feedback. Your door staff does not need to download anything from an app store.
[SCREENSHOT: Mobile browser showing the ticket scanner interface with a QR code in frame]
Visual seating plan designer. If your event has assigned seating, you can build a venue layout directly in the plugin’s drag-and-drop designer. Upload a floor plan as a background image, place seats, assign categories and colors, and publish. Customers see a live interactive seat map during checkout and pick their own seats. Seats are automatically blocked while someone is checking out and released if the order is abandoned or refunded.
[SCREENSHOT: Seating plan designer with drag-and-drop seat placement on a venue background image]
PDF tickets delivered by email. After purchase, the buyer receives an email with a link to download their PDF ticket. The ticket includes the QR code, event details, and your branding. No third-party wallet or external service is needed.
Multi-entry tickets, family tickets, and day chooser. If you run a multi-day festival, a gym membership, or a family pass, the plugin handles these use cases. Customers can choose their attendance date at checkout using the day chooser feature. Multi-entry tickets track how many times a QR code has been scanned.
Membership and season passes. You can configure tickets with expiration dates, turning them into season passes or memberships. Combined with WooCommerce Subscriptions compatibility, this opens up recurring-access products.
Purchase Allowance Codes. Restrict who can buy certain tickets — for presales, VIP access, or staff allocations — using purchase codes that buyers enter at checkout.
Webhooks for external integrations. If you need to push ticket data to a CRM, a mailing list, or an external system, the plugin supports webhooks.
This setup works best for organizers who run events on their own WooCommerce store — concerts, theater productions, sports events, club nights, fundraisers, community gatherings. If you are already using WooCommerce to sell products or services, adding ticket sales is a natural extension.
It is a single-shop plugin. It is not designed to power a marketplace where multiple promoters list events. It also does not generate event listings in a calendar view the way plugins like The Events Calendar do — your ticket products are WooCommerce products, displayed on your shop or wherever you embed them.
Payment processing runs through whatever WooCommerce payment gateway you already use — Stripe, PayPal, Klarna, or anything else. The plugin does not handle payments directly, which means your existing checkout flow and tax settings carry over without any extra configuration.
Everything described above — the scanner, the seating plan designer, the PDF ticket link, day chooser, multi-entry, memberships — is available in the free version on WordPress.org.
The premium version adds features suited for larger operations or more demanding workflows: PDF tickets delivered as email attachments (rather than a download link), team scanner access via auth tokens so staff can scan without a WordPress login, calendar invitations in confirmation emails, advanced shortcodes, multiple ticket templates per product, and HPOS support for WooCommerce’s modern order storage.
If you are ready to sell event tickets on WordPress and stop sharing revenue with ticketing platforms, the free plugin is the right starting point. Install it, create your first ticket list, and run a test order end to end — including scanning the QR code on your phone. Most organizers have their first real event live within an hour.
For larger venues or teams that need attachment-based ticket delivery, scanner access for multiple staff members, or advanced template control, the Pro version covers those requirements.