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You’ve got 40 people signed up for Saturday’s workshop, three unanswered emails asking if a plus-one can come, a spreadsheet of who’s paid and who hasn’t, and a printed sign-in sheet you’ll be digging a pen out for at the door. Ticket sales, reminder emails, and check-in on the day are three separate jobs, and none of them happen automatically unless you build the automation yourself.
Webinar software doesn’t solve this. It’s built for people watching a screen, not people walking through a door. Running an in-person or hybrid workshop means you need real ticketing with real transaction fees, a way to nudge people who bought a ticket weeks ago and then went quiet, and a check-in flow that doesn’t fall apart when fifteen people show up in the same five minutes.
The five tools below all handle ticket sales, automate reminders and confirmations, and speed up day-of check-in — several using AI to suggest pricing, personalize reminder timing, or match attendees to sessions. Here’s what each one actually costs and does well, verified as of August 2026.
The best AI event and ticketing tools for solopreneurs
Eventbrite
Eventbrite is the largest general-purpose ticketing marketplace, which matters for solopreneurs because your event can get discovered by people browsing the app or category pages, not just people who already have your link. Its standout AI feature is Smart Pricing, which recommends dynamic ticket price adjustments in real time based on demand; organizers using AI-based dynamic pricing have reported meaningful increases in revenue per ticket compared to static pricing. Eventbrite is free to use for free events. For paid tickets, expect roughly 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket plus a 2.9% payment processing fee, with no cap on the fee — worth running through a calculator before you price tickets. The optional Boost add-on automates Facebook and Instagram ad creation and targeting if you want to spend extra on promotion.
Ticket Tailor
Ticket Tailor is built specifically for small and mid-size event creators, with a dedicated workshop and course ticketing setup, recurring event scheduling, and a free built-in check-in app. Its standout feature for 2026 is an AI/MCP connector that lets AI assistants pull and act on your event data, on top of existing automated confirmation and reminder emails. There’s no monthly subscription: free events stay free for up to 5,000 tickets a year, Pay As You Sell runs about $0.65 per paid ticket, and buying credits upfront can bring that down to roughly $0.25–$0.30 per ticket. Payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, or Square) is separate, typically around 2.9% + $0.30, and charities get a 50% discount on Ticket Tailor’s own fees.
RSVPify
RSVPify is built around classes, workshops, and guest-list-style events rather than open public sales, with tools like capacity limits per session and drag-and-drop seating charts. Its AI-driven automation handles confirmations, pre-class reminders, and post-session follow-up without manual work, and when a workshop fills up, it automatically promotes the next person off the waitlist and notifies them the moment a spot opens. Pricing starts with a free plan for small events, then a Starter plan around $39/month (or about $24/month billed annually) covering up to 150 registrations across two active events, scaling up to roughly $409/month for larger plans — plus a per-ticket fee of about 1.7–1.95% and standard 2.9% payment processing.
Whova
Whova is an event app built for in-person and hybrid conferences and workshops, and its standout AI feature is a matchmaking algorithm that connects attendees with shared interests through networking suggestions, community boards, and virtual business card exchanges — useful if part of your workshop’s value is the people in the room meeting each other. It’s free to use for free events with no platform fee. For paid tickets, expect a platform fee of roughly 3% + $0.99 per ticket on top of payment processing, though Whova doesn’t publish simple package pricing for its full app and networking features, so get a written quote before you commit if you need more than basic ticketing.
Bizzabo
Bizzabo is an enterprise-grade “Event Experience OS” with an AI attendee copilot called Bizzy AI built into its mobile app, plus Klik SmartBadge hardware that lets attendees tap badges to exchange contact info instead of scanning QR codes. It’s worth knowing about, but it’s not built for solo operators: pricing starts at $499 per user per month with a three-user minimum, working out to a roughly $17,999-a-year floor before any add-ons like white-labeling or SSO. Unless you’re scaling into a multi-day, sponsor-funded event series and hiring help to run it, this one is overkill.
Which one should you choose?
For a small free or low-cost local workshop, start with Ticket Tailor — free events cost nothing, and its per-ticket fee on paid tickets is the lowest of the group. For a paid ticketed event where discovery matters and you want built-in traffic, Eventbrite’s marketplace reach can be worth its higher fee. For a hybrid event mixing an in-person room with remote attendees, Whova’s networking and matchmaking tools are built for exactly that mix. And for a recurring workshop or class series, RSVPify’s subscription pricing and automated waitlist promotion pay off across repeat sessions, since you’re not paying a fresh setup cost each time. Skip Bizzabo unless you’re already running a larger, team-staffed event.
One thing worth separating clearly: if your events happen entirely on a screen — a live training, a product demo, a Q&A with no physical room involved — you don’t need ticketing or door check-in at all. Our guide to the best AI webinar tools for solopreneurs covers platforms built around registration links and screen-share instead of physical tickets. And if what you actually want isn’t a one-off list of ticket holders but an ongoing space where the same people gather between events, take a look at our roundup of the best AI community platforms for solopreneurs — a different tool for a different job.
We test tools like these against real workshops and cover what actually held up in The Solo Stack, our free newsletter for people running one-person businesses — you can subscribe here.
Frequently asked questions
What fees does the platform take per ticket?
It varies by platform and rarely shows up as one clean number. Most charge a flat fee plus a percentage per paid ticket (Eventbrite’s is roughly 3.7% + $1.79, Ticket Tailor’s is a flat $0.65 or less, Whova’s is about 3% + $0.99), and all of them add a separate payment processing fee on top, typically around 2.9% + $0.30 through Stripe, PayPal, or Square. Free events are free on every platform in this list.
Do I need a paid ticketing tool for a free event?
Not necessarily. Eventbrite, Ticket Tailor, and Whova all let you run free events at no cost, and Ticket Tailor specifically covers up to 5,000 free tickets a year before any fee kicks in. You still get RSVP tracking, reminder emails, and a check-in app — you just won’t pay a per-ticket fee since there’s no transaction to take a cut of.
How do I handle check-in on the day of the event?
Every tool here has a mobile check-in app that scans a QR code from the attendee’s confirmation email or ticket, which is faster and more reliable than a printed list. Ticket Tailor’s check-in app is free with any plan. For a workshop under about 50 people, one person with a phone at the door is usually enough; past that, having a second scanner running helps avoid a line building up at a hard start time.
Can I use these tools for a recurring workshop or class series?
Yes — Ticket Tailor and RSVPify both have built-in recurring event or session scheduling, so you’re not rebuilding the event page every time. RSVPify’s per-session capacity limits and automatic waitlist promotion are particularly useful if a series fills up regularly and you want the next open spot to go out without you manually managing a waitlist.
Do these platforms handle hybrid events with both in-person and remote attendees?
Whova and Bizzabo are the strongest fits here, with built-in video integration and networking tools designed for a mixed room. Eventbrite, Ticket Tailor, and RSVPify can sell both in-person and virtual ticket types on the same event page, but they don’t include a built-in streaming or virtual-attendee experience — you’d pair them with a separate video tool for the remote half of the room.