# Howler review (2026): is it worth it? > South African ticketing, RFID cashless payments and access control Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Howler is a South African platform for selling event tickets, with optional RFID cashless payments and wristband access control for festivals, expos and venues. Organizers use a portal to build event pages, run promotions and see attendee data, while buyers browse events on howler.co.za. - **Category:** Event Ticketing - **Made by:** Afeleton Limited (trading as Howler) - **Website:** https://www.howler.co.za - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you need a price first, since none is published. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing Howler's current pricing could not be confirmed from its own site. ## Key features - **Branded event pages and widget:** Organizers create an event page with custom colors and ticket types, or embed a widget so buyers purchase from the organizer's own site. - **Ticket delivery over WhatsApp:** Tickets can be sent to buyers directly through WhatsApp, and each ticket can be assigned to a named customer to limit scalping. - **Promotion tools:** Promo codes, group discounts, unlimited complimentary tickets, affiliate links with per-ambassador tracking, and email mailers with custom filtering. - **RFID cashless payments:** A separate cashless product runs on-site spending on RFID wristbands, which the vendor says have processed over 10 million transactions. - **RFID access control:** Wristbands or lanyards carry access rules for zones, crew and exhibitors, with live reporting of entries and an offline mode. ## Good for - South African festivals and concerts that want ticketing and cashless together - Expos and conferences that need zone-based access control - Organizers who want weekly payouts and a managed support call centre ## Worth knowing - Pricing is not published; organizers sign up or ask for a quote. - Access control and cashless are quoted separately and need event hardware. - The buyer site lists prices in rand and is centered on South African events. - Full branding overhauls and custom pages are limited to premium customers. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Howler is a South African ticketing company that also sells RFID cashless payments and access control for events. No price is published, and the wristband and entry systems are quoted separately and need hardware. - **Value for money: C.** No price is published; organisers sign up or ask for a quote. - **Free plan and trial: F.** No free plan or trial on record anywhere on its pages. - **Features: B.** Ticketing, WhatsApp ticket delivery, promotion tools, RFID cashless and RFID access control. The listing shows no gap in the core work. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. Wristband and access systems need event hardware. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, with WhatsApp, Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel connections. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Howler'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 - Howler's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 23 of the 79 other event ticketing platforms we grade, and level with 12. - It stands best on features (B, above 30 of 79) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/event-ticketing ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Howler you would be making email sent in volume that still reaches the inbox. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 44 of the 79 other event ticketing platforms grade higher. - You could make: Reports: an app builder makes this well. - You could not: Email sent in volume that still reaches the inbox. - You could not: Selling tickets and checking them at the door. - You could not: Hooks into the device itself: widgets. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with WhatsApp, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel **Tags:** Ticketing, Reports, Marketing automation ## Alternatives - [Ticket Fairy](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ticketfairy): Ticketing and event operations for festivals, clubs and venues. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/howler-vs-ticketfairy) - [Billetto](https://toolgpa.com/tools/billetto): European ticketing marketplace with ads you pay for per sale. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/billetto-vs-howler) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://www.howler.co.za - https://organisers.howler.co.za/ - https://organisers.howler.co.za/features/ticketing - https://organisers.howler.co.za/features/access_control - https://organisers.howler.co.za/legal/general_service_terms Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/howler Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).