Best Brown Paper Tickets Alternative: TicketingHub

Your ticketing platform is retiring. Your business isn't.

Brown Paper Tickets is being wound down and folded into Events.com. Every week you wait is a week of bookings, data, and payouts riding on a platform that is closing behind you. TicketingHub gives you a home built to still be here next season: no setup fee, no monthly fee, 3% per online booking, and a team that helps you move for free. It is rated 5.0 on Capterra, and operators stay — Sam R., a director: "I've used Ticketinghub since 2014 for events ranging from walking tours to large international conferences."

You also get software that finally fits how you sell. A retiring events platform was built around a date, a venue, and a ticket; TicketingHub is built around recurring capacity, time slots, and self-serve changes — the daily reality of tours, boat trips, attractions, and escape rooms. Integration fees apply for any payment providers and OTA channels you connect, stated up front.

What is Brown Paper Tickets?

Brown Paper Tickets is a Seattle-based ticketing service that let organizers list free and paid events at no direct cost; buyers pay a per-ticket fee instead, currently 1.49 dollars plus 6% in the US, per its own pricing page. It served theatre companies, festivals, non-profits, and one-off organizers; most of its Capterra reviewers are small businesses.

Events.com announced plans to acquire Brown Paper Tickets in October 2022; that acquisition is now playing out. Its own website states it is being retired and directs organizers to Events.com instead. Account holders could view historical data only until the end of June 2026, a deadline that, as of this writing, has already passed; data does not migrate automatically. This follows a rough pandemic-era stretch of lawsuits and BBB complaints over withheld revenue, including one suit alleging 6.75 million dollars owed to arts groups. Its future is no longer in its own hands.

What the pricing models mean for your money

Brown Paper Tickets' model is unusual: organizers pay no setup fee, because the fee sits on the buyer's ticket price instead, officially 1.49 dollars plus 6% per ticket in the US. Third-party sites have reported different figures over the years (0.99 dollars plus 5%, or plus 3.5%), suggesting inconsistent documentation. It can look free to run an event, but it isn't free of risk: Capterra reviewers repeatedly cite delayed payouts and withheld funds, a risk now compounded by the wind-down. "Free" software that holds your revenue is the most expensive kind.

TicketingHub keeps your money simple and yours. You pay 3% of each online booking, no setup fee, no monthly fee — on 10,000 pounds of monthly bookings, that's 300 pounds total, calculable before you connect a payment provider. There is no buyer-facing surcharge inflating your prices, and no dependency on a platform mid-transition to release your funds. You only pay when you earn.

Brown Paper Tickets vs TicketingHub, side by side

• Pricing - Brown Paper Tickets: buyer pays 1.49 dollars plus 6% per ticket (US); no direct organizer fee. TicketingHub: 3% per online booking, paid by the operator.
• Monthly fee / Setup / Contract - Brown Paper Tickets: none published. TicketingHub: none; pay as you earn.
• Booking widget - Brown Paper Tickets: hosted event pages; no evidence of an embeddable widget. TicketingHub: one line of code, multi-language and multi-currency.
• OTA channel manager - Brown Paper Tickets: not evidenced; built around single events. TicketingHub: real-time sync with Viator, GetYourGuide, and other resellers.
• Point of sale - Brown Paper Tickets: not evidenced in our research. TicketingHub: iOS and Android POS, works offline.
• Support - Brown Paper Tickets: phone lines reportedly disconnected during the Events.com transition, per reviewer reports. TicketingHub: 24/7 chat and email, free migration help.
• Reviews - Brown Paper Tickets: 3.7 out of 5 on Capterra, 38 reviews. TicketingHub: 5.0 out of 5 on Capterra.

Why operators switch to TicketingHub

Sleep at night: a platform that isn't disappearing

The biggest reason to move right now isn't a feature gap, it's continuity. A retiring platform can't promise your bookings, data, or payouts will still be there next season — and next season is where your revenue lives. TicketingHub is active and growing, and operators stay: Secret Food Tours has run on it across 120 cities for more than a decade. When you switch, you are not just replacing software, you are taking the platform risk off your books.

Sell every slot, not just every show

Brown Paper Tickets was designed around a date, a venue, and a ticket. Your business runs on time slots and daily capacity — and on demand you can't reach yourself. TicketingHub's channel manager syncs live availability with Viator, GetYourGuide, and other resellers, so OTA customers fill your quiet midweek slots with no double-bookings to apologize for. Operators using it grew OTA sales 401% between 2022 and 2025, and City Tours Belfast grew ticket sales 400% after switching platforms.

Get out of the refund-email business

When plans change, your customers fix it themselves: Magic Link lets them reschedule, cancel, or convert the booking to a voucher — you keep the sale as a new date or a voucher instead of a refund, and your inbox stays quiet. An email validator catches bad addresses at checkout, so every confirmation actually arrives. That is exactly the admin load reviewers say overwhelmed Brown Paper Tickets' own team.

Help that picks up, whatever the hour

Reviewers describe Brown Paper Tickets' service as a former strength, but recent reports point to disconnected phone lines during the Events.com transition — and a booking problem you can't reach anyone about is a refund waiting to happen. TicketingHub answers 24/7 by chat and email, and migration help is free. As Hannah J., a director, puts it: "It's refreshing to have a service that actually has good customer service."

What reviewers say about Brown Paper Tickets

Brown Paper Tickets holds a 3.7 out of 5 rating on Capterra across 38 reviews. Fans cite low fees and a simple interface. The most consistent complaint is money: reviewers describe delayed payouts, withheld funds, and unresolved disputes, some referencing pandemic-era lawsuit activity. A dated interface and disconnected support lines during the ownership transition are other recurring themes. For an operator, a delayed payout isn't an inconvenience — it's payroll, fuel, and rent arriving late.

Who is Brown Paper Tickets right for?

• One-off event organizers, a single show, festival, or fundraiser, who don't need recurring booking management.
• Anyone comfortable creating events on Events.com instead, since Brown Paper Tickets no longer supports new 2026 events.
• Organizers who can tolerate the payout risk recurring reviews describe, for one low-fee event with a short runway.

Who is TicketingHub right for?

• ✅ Operators who sell the same experience on a recurring schedule and want software shaped around slots and capacity — tours, attractions, museums, boat trips, escape rooms.
• ✅ Operators who want OTAs like Viator and GetYourGuide filling slots they can't sell themselves, from one dashboard.
• ✅ Businesses that want online and walk-up sales in one system — no separate gate spreadsheet.
• ✅ Teams that want their evenings back: customers reschedule or cancel themselves instead of emailing support.
• ✅ Operators who want a bill they can predict to the pound: 3% per booking, no monthly fee.
• ✅ Anyone leaving a winding-down platform who wants their next move to be their last.

Proof operators land well here

City Tours Belfast grew ticket sales 400% after switching booking systems, and Egypt's Sound and Light Shows grew ticket sales over 500% on TicketingHub. TicketingHub is rated 5.0 on Capterra.

FAQs about switching from Brown Paper Tickets

Can I migrate my Brown Paper Tickets data to TicketingHub?

Protect yourself first: Brown Paper Tickets won't migrate your historical data, so download your reports and payment records now, while you still can. Then TicketingHub's team helps set up your products and availability for free — most operators are live within minutes, not weeks.

How does the cost compare?

Brown Paper Tickets' fee is added to the buyer's price, not charged to you, so there's no single number to compare — but your buyers were paying it, on top of your prices. TicketingHub is simpler and yours to budget: 3% per online booking, no monthly or setup fee. 10,000 pounds of monthly bookings costs 300 pounds, full stop.

Do I need to commit before I try TicketingHub?

No — there's nothing to cancel if you walk away. No setup fee, no contract: set up your first product, run a test booking, and decide with the system live in front of you.

Move before the wind-down decides for you

Every event you list on a retiring platform adds one more thing to untangle later. Switching costs you an afternoon, not a season: no setup fee, free migration help, first product live in minutes. Move your bookings somewhere built to still be here next season — and the season after that.