# Elephant Bytes Theater Ticketing

Canonical product page: https://elephantbytes.com/theater-ticketing
Product information updated: 2026-10-28

Elephant Bytes theater ticketing software helps theater companies manage custom reserved seating, performance pricing, online ticket sales, guest tickets, refunds, and QR-code admission. The platform supports billing. Mad Playhouse is an early user of the system. Independent company accounts and Stripe Connect onboarding are planned; commercial self-service registration is not open.

## Provider and product status
Elephant Bytes is the commercial software provider. Mad Playhouse is an early user, not the software provider. Early use is not evidence of paying customers, large-scale operations, or general product readiness.
Available refers to verified capabilities in the existing application. Platform billing is supported and Pay As You Go is the only pricing option. Independent company accounts, Stripe Connect onboarding, and commercial self-service registration are planned. Broader mobile-device testing of QR admission validation is ongoing.

## Available existing application capabilities
- Custom theater seating designer
- Multiple venues and productions
- Premium-seat and section pricing
- Performance management
- Real-time reserved-seat ticket sales
- Secure online payments
- Complimentary and reserved guest tickets
- Order cancellations and refund management
- Digital tickets
- Real-time occupancy and sales dashboard
- Reporting and attendee exports
- Automated ticket email delivery
- Company-specific branding and policies
- QR code scanning
- Pay As You Go billing

## Intended production workflow
Create Venue → Configure Seating → Publish Performance → Sell Tickets → Manage Guests → Check In Audience.

## Pay As You Go pricing
$0/month. $0.75 per paid ticket. Reserved seating included.
Pay As You Go: $0.00/month plus $0.75 per paid ticket. The platform supports billing. Independent company registration is a separate planned capability.
No mandatory monthly subscription. No standard seating-chart setup fee. No Elephant Bytes platform fee on complimentary tickets. Payment processing is separate. No guaranteed support response time except by separate agreement.
- Unlimited standard venue-layout creation
- Custom reserved seating
- Flexible pricing and premium seats
- Online ticket sales
- Complimentary tickets
- Refund management
- Digital tickets
- QR check-in
- Live box-office dashboard
- Reporting and CSV exports

Pay As You Go is the only pricing option. Core reserved seating and ticketing are included; there are no additional pricing tiers.

## Illustrative payment processing
$40.00 ticket; $0.75 Elephant Bytes fee; $1.46 illustrative Stripe processing; $2.21 total fees; $37.79 estimated net to the theater.
Assumes one domestic card transaction, an illustrative 2.9% + $0.30 processing rate, no additional checkout charges, and fees absorbed by the organizer. Passing fees through can change checkout and settlement amounts. Independent company payment routing through Stripe Connect is planned, not activated.

## Published competitor pricing references
Source review date: 2026-10-28. Models and feature sets differ; these are not total checkout costs or a claim of identical products.
### TicketSpice
Platform: $0.99 / paid online ticket over $5. Monthly: $0 standard platform subscription.
Setup/seating: No standard setup fee; optional services cost extra.
Processing: Separate: standard processing advertised as 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
Standard online rate. Tickets $5 or less use a lower fee, outside this calculator's $10–$150 range. Third-party gateways may add 1% + $0.25 per transaction; excluded here.
- [Official pricing](https://www.ticketspice.com/pricing)
### TicketSource
Platform: $0.99 / paid ticket with own Stripe. Monthly: $0 standard monthly fee.
Setup/seating: Full seating-plan access; no separate standard setup charge listed.
Processing: Own-Stripe option: Stripe processing charged separately.
U.S. own-Stripe option, not the bundled TicketSource processing option. The U.S. page renders its fixed fee as “0.99¢”; its $10 example totals $1.34 with 3.5% processing, confirming a $0.99 fixed component.
- [Official U.S. pricing](https://www.ticketsource.com/us/pricing)
- [Own-Stripe option](https://www.ticketsource.com/us/pricing/stripe)
### ThunderTix
Platform: $1.25 / reserved-seat ticket beyond included credits. Monthly: $25 / month, including 20 tickets.
Setup/seating: Custom chart setup: $0.55 / seat, $250 minimum; nonprofit discounts may apply.
Processing: Payment gateway processing is separate for the Reserved Seating plan.
Reserved Seating plan, not General Admission or education pricing. Calculator includes the explicitly selected billing months and their ticket credits, assumes tickets evenly distributed across those months, and excludes one-time chart setup.
- [Official pricing](https://www.thundertix.com/online-ticketing-software-pricing/)
### Ticket Tailor
Platform: $1.70 / paid reserved-seat ticket (U.S. PAYG). Monthly: $0 standard subscription.
Setup/seating: One extra $0.85 usage per reserved seat, included in the $1.70 shown.
Processing: Payment processor fees are separate.
Two $0.85 usages: paid ticket plus seat reservation. Not prepaid-credit pricing. Charity discounts, introductory free usage, optional branding, and other add-ons are not modeled.
- [Official pricing](https://www.tickettailor.com/pricing)
- [Official U.S. seating fees](https://help.tickettailor.com/en/articles/4096561-what-are-the-fees-for-using-seating-charts)
### Tix
Platform: $1.50 / online ticket. Monthly: $0 monthly or annual fee.
Setup/seating: No setup fee; provider says seating-chart programming is free.
Processing: Own compatible merchant account: its processing fees apply. Tix merchant account: an additional 5% of ticket price.
Online sales rate, not the $0.25 box-office rate. Optional printing, mailing, and merchant processing are excluded.
- [Official pricing section](https://www.tix.com/#skiplink)
### Humanitix
Platform: 2.1% + $0.99 / paid ticket (standard U.S. platform component). Monthly: $0 subscription fee.
Setup/seating: Reserved seating is listed; no separate standard setup charge stated.
Processing: U.S. pricing separately shows 2.9% + $0.30 processing; excluded here.
Standard U.S. rate, not charity pricing. The help center also quotes a bundled default-gateway rate of 5% + $1.29. This comparison uses only the separately published 2.1% + $0.99 platform component, not the bundled rate.
- [Official U.S. pricing](https://humanitix.com/us/pricing)
- [Official fee help](https://help.humanitix.com/en/articles/9760527-how-much-does-humanitix-cost)
### Eventbrite
Platform: 3.7% + $1.79 service fee / paid ticket. Monthly: No standard monthly ticketing fee.
Setup/seating: Optional marketing subscriptions and services cost extra; confirm reserved-seating eligibility.
Processing: Additional 2.9% payment processing per order; excluded from the calculator.
Standard published U.S. service-fee component only. This is not an assertion of equivalent reserved-seating capabilities or a total checkout cost.
- [Official U.S. pricing](https://www.eventbrite.com/organizer/pricing/)
Estimates are illustrative and may exclude payment processing, taxes, monthly subscriptions, setup fees, optional services, and negotiated rates.

## Frequently Asked Questions
### Is there a monthly fee?
No. The Pay As You Go plan is $0 per month, with a $0.75 platform fee per paid ticket. Payment processing is charged separately.

### Do I pay for complimentary tickets?
Elephant Bytes does not charge its ticketing platform fee for complimentary tickets.

### Can I design my theater's seating arrangement?
Yes. The existing system supports custom seating layouts, rows, sections, and individual seats.

### Can I charge more for premium seats?
Yes. The system supports individual-seat pricing and bulk price adjustments.

### Can I manage multiple performances?
Yes. Each performance maintains its own seating inventory.

### How do ticket payments work?
The existing application uses Stripe-hosted checkout. Independent payment accounts for commercial customers are planned through Stripe Connect.

### Can I issue complimentary tickets?
Yes. Administrators can issue complimentary tickets to invited guests.

### Can I check guests in at the venue?
Yes. QR-code admission validation is implemented, with broader mobile-device testing ongoing.

### Can my theater company sign up today?
The platform is currently being prepared for multi-organization commercial use. Interested companies can request a demo or join the early-access program.

## Request a demo or early access
See [Request a Demo and Join Early Access](https://elephantbytes.com/theater-ticketing#follow-along). These are expressions of interest, not an open company registration or checkout.