Sway vs Ticketmaster: which ticketing platform for your event?
Compare Sway and Ticketmaster on who pays the fees, when you get paid, and organiser tools. On Sway the buyer pays 3% + €0.30 and you receive the full ticket price.
| Feature | Sway | Ticketmaster |
|---|---|---|
| Fees paid by the buyer | 3% + €0.30 per paid ticket, VAT included. No fees on a free ticket. | No single public rate in November 2026. Service or facility charges can vary by event, venue and country. |
| Fees paid by the organiser | No extra commission: you receive the price you set (e.g. a €20 ticket → €20) on a standard card. | Commercial terms are not published as a single public rate comparable to Sway. No figure to quote here. |
| Payout timing | The money reaches your account within a week, even before the event. Sway does not hold your ticket money. | Payout timing is not published as a single calendar comparable to Sway's within a week, even before the event. |
| Marketing tools | Automatic notifications to people who follow you; email and custom push on paid plans; an ambassador programme (personal codes, credits, rewards); Meta and TikTok pixels; Swapy, your team's AI assistant, free on every plan. | A large consumer marketplace and app for venues and tours. Not a scene app with line-ups, galleries and an ambassador programme built in. |
| Discovery / audience | The Sway app and site, focused on raves, clubs and electronic festivals: search by genre, city and artist, with line-ups and set times. | A large marketplace where people search for concerts, sports and other events. It is not focused on electronic-music line-ups the way Sway is. |
| Niche | Electronic music (techno, house, raves, festivals). Tickets in 16 currencies. | Venues, tours and large events in many countries. In Sway's sample, Ticketmaster links appear especially in Canada and the Netherlands. |
| Site and photos | A site on your own domain from the Studio plan, fed by your Sway events. Photo galleries per event. | Event pages on Ticketmaster country sites. A personal site on your own domain is not the product in the same way as Sway Studio. |
Ticketmaster is a large ticketing marketplace used by venues, tours and promoters in many countries. Sway is an app and a ticketing platform built for electronic music: line-ups, set times, door check-in, and organiser tools in one place.
Both can sell a paid ticket. The difference sits in what is published about the fee, when the money reaches you, and whether you want a venue box office, a large marketplace, or a scene app with line-ups and discovery.
The Ticketmaster notes below match what is public in November 2026. No single public organiser rate card comparable to Sway's published buyer fee was found in November 2026. Fees, service charges and facility charges can vary by event, venue and country. Ask them for a quote. If your contract says something else, your contract wins.
What is public about the fees
On Sway, the buyer fee is published and the same on every standard plan: 3% + €0.30 per paid ticket, VAT included. On a €20 ticket the buyer pays €0.90 and you receive €20.00 on a standard card.
Ticketmaster checkout often adds service or facility charges that depend on the event. Their fees are not published as a single public rate; ask them for a quote.
In the US, the price a buyer sees on Sway is all-in: the event page shows the price with fees included. In US dollars the service fee is 4.5% + $0.35 per paid ticket.
Tools, discovery and the scene
Sway puts together what an electronic-music team needs: tickets (early bird, promo codes, pay-in-instalments), order control (resend, refund), door check-in and offline scanners, guest list, line-up and set times, sales insights, photo galleries, ambassadors, and Swapy to ask how a night is selling or to draft a campaign. Creating a page and an event is free. Email campaigns, custom push notifications and discovery boosts are growth tools on paid plans. Swapy is free on every plan, Basic included.
Ticketmaster is a large marketplace with a consumer app and inventory for venues and tours. That reach is the product. It is not a scene app with line-ups, galleries and an ambassador programme built for electronic-music teams the way Sway is.
When to choose Sway, and when to stay on Ticketmaster
Sway makes sense if you want a published buyer fee, the full ticket price in your account within a week — including before the event — and ticketing, check-in, line-up, galleries, ambassadors and an assistant in one place, on an app ravers use to find electronic events.
Ticketmaster can be the better fit if your crowd already buys there, you need inventory on a large marketplace, or you work with venues and tours that already use that checkout.
Both can be the right fit. It depends on your contract, where people already buy, and what you want to keep: the ticket price, the cash-flow calendar, or a particular discovery network.
We'll put your event online for you
Create your event, or let us do it with you. You keep 100% of the price you set.
We'll put your event online for you
See also what Sway does for promoters, for an event and pricing. Nearby comparisons: Sway vs Shotgun, Sway vs DICE, Sway vs Eventbrite, Sway vs Universe, Sway vs TIXR.
Frequently asked questions
Does Ticketmaster publish a public ticket fee?
How do Sway fees compare to Ticketmaster?
When do I get paid on Sway and on Ticketmaster?
Is Ticketmaster a discovery app like Sway?
I already sell on Ticketmaster. Can I move to Sway?
Does Sway work outside Europe?
Last reviewed 5 November 2026
Ready to grow your events?
Join the promoters, venues and festivals already selling on Sway.