# Hi.Events review (2026): is the free plan enough?

> Open-source event ticketing with a hosted or self-run option

Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA.

Hi.Events is an event ticketing platform that can be used as a hosted service or run on your own servers, since the code is open source under the AGPL. The hosted version has no monthly fee and charges a small fee on each paid ticket, with payouts going to your own Stripe account. Every feature is on every account; paid options remove branding or unlock a self-hosted licence.

- **Category:** Event Ticketing
- **Made by:** Hi.Events Ltd.
- **Website:** https://hi.events
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Who should skip it:** Pricey if you want your own branding, as removing the label costs $33.99 a month.
- **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026

## Pricing

As of Nov 13, 2026, Hi.Events has a free plan, and paid plans start at $33.99 per month to remove branding, or $335.99 per year.

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** Hosted account at no monthly fee with every feature; paid tickets cost 1.25% + $0.60 each, and free events cost nothing.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hosted | $0 | No monthly fee or contract. Fee of 1.25% + $0.60 per paid ticket, paid by the buyer by default or absorbed by you. |
| Branding removal | $33.99 per month for the whole account ($335.99 billed yearly) | Removes the Powered by Hi.Events label from pages, checkout, widgets, tickets and emails. Plus tax where it applies. |
| Self-hosted (AGPL) | $0 | Open source edition you run on your own servers, with no platform fees. |
| Self-hosted licence | €249 per year for the first €10k of ticket sales | Annual licence priced by ticket sales: €12 per €1,000 from €10k to €30k, falling to €5.50 above €1.5M. |

Read from https://hi.events/pricing on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Hi.Events before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Branding removal cheaper when billed yearly** (Annual discount): Removing the branding is $335.99 a year instead of $33.99 a month, the yearly price the pricing page lists. Source: https://hi.events/pricing
- **Licence discounts for non-profits and education** (Nonprofit): The self-hosted licence page says discounts exist for non-profits, education, early-stage startups and PPP-eligible countries, on request. Source: https://hi.events/licensing

## Key features

- **Ticketing and checkout:** Unlimited events and ticket types, an embeddable checkout widget, promo codes, affiliate tracking, and your own service fees and taxes.
- **QR check-in:** Door staff check guests in with a link and no install, by camera scan, USB scanner or name search, with a live count per door list.
- **Reserved seating:** Draw a venue once, price it by section, and let buyers choose their own seats. Marked early access on the pricing page.
- **Box office:** Staff sell at the door from a browser, taking cash or cards on Stripe readers paid into your own Stripe account. Marked early access.
- **AI assistant connection:** Connect Claude or ChatGPT to find attendees, resend tickets or pull sales figures by asking.
- **Team access and API:** View-only and per-event team access, required two-factor sign-in, single sign-on on request, and a REST API.

## Good for

- Organizers who want low per-ticket fees and no monthly plan
- Teams that want to self-host an open-source ticketing system
- Conferences, classes and small festivals with door sales

## Worth knowing

- Paid-ticket payouts go through your own Stripe account, and Stripe's processing fees are charged on top.
- Reserved seating and the box office are marked early access, and company SSO is on request.
- Self-hosting is free, but reserved seating, box office and SSO on your own server need a licence.
- Removing the Powered by Hi.Events branding costs $33.99 a month or $335.99 a year.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Hi.Events is open-source ticketing with a hosted account that has no monthly fee and takes 1.25% + $0.60 per paid ticket. Removing its branding is $33.99 a month, and reserved seating and the box office are still early access.

- **Value for money: B.** No monthly fee, but each paid ticket costs 1.25% + $0.60, Stripe's processing fees come on top, and removing branding is $33.99 a month.
- **Free plan and trial: A.** The hosted account has every feature with no monthly fee, and free events cost nothing. A self-hosted edition is free too.
- **Features: C.** Ticketing, QR check-in, team access and an API. Reserved seating and the box office are marked early access.
- **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. You connect your own Stripe account to get paid.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, with Stripe, an API, and connections to Claude and ChatGPT.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Hi.Events's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among event ticketing platforms

- Hi.Events's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 61 of the 79 other event ticketing platforms we grade, and level with 8.
- It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 68 of 79) and worst on features (C, above 0).
- Its paid plans start at $28 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $50 for the category: 7 of the 22 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 9 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/event-ticketing

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** Nothing Hi.Events does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 5 things listed below take a company. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 61 of the 79 other event ticketing platforms we grade. It costs $335.99 a year. Hi.Events is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.

- You could not: Selling tickets and checking them at the door.
- You could not: It plugs into other products, Stripe, Claude and ChatGPT among them, and has an API.
- You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- You could not: Hooks into the device itself: widgets.
- You could not: What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

Stripe, Claude, ChatGPT

**Tags:** Ticketing, Open source, Self-hostable, Public API, AI features

## Alternatives

- [pretix](https://toolgpa.com/tools/pretix): Open-source ticket shop, hosted or on your own server. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hi-events-vs-pretix)
- [Ticket Tailor](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ticket-tailor): Event ticketing for a flat fee per ticket, with prepaid credits. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hi-events-vs-ticket-tailor)
- [Eventbrite](https://toolgpa.com/tools/eventbrite): Ticketing and event marketplace, with fees usually paid by buyers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/eventbrite-vs-hi-events)
- [Tito](https://toolgpa.com/tools/tito): Ticketing for conferences and meetups, for 3% of each ticket. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hi-events-vs-tito)
- [Eventyay](https://toolgpa.com/tools/eventyay): Open-source event ticketing, schedules and check-in. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/eventyay-vs-hi-events)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026:

- https://hi.events/pricing
- https://hi.events/
- https://hi.events/licensing

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/hi-events
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).