What pretix does

pretix is a German open-source event ticketing software company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Heidelberg. The company operates as pretix GmbH under the parent legal entity rami.io GmbH, and is led by founder and managing director Raphael Michel. Pretix develops a multi-tenant ticketing platform built on Django and PostgreSQL, serving over 3,000 customers across verticals including conferences, trade fairs, museums, parks/zoos, concerts/theatre, festivals, workshops, and digital/hybrid events. The product suite spans the full event lifecycle: the core pretix ticketing platform for online ticket sales, pretixPOS for on-site point-of-sale, pretixSCAN for access control and live badge printing, pretixKIOSK for self-service ticket vending, pretixLEAD for paperless exhibitor networking, and an associated Venueless digital event platform for virtual/hybrid events. The platform is offered as both a hosted SaaS (pretix Hosted) and a self-hosted enterprise license (pretix Enterprise), and is distributed through a self-serve PLG model, a three-tier partner program (Solution, Global, Platform Partners), and direct enterprise sales.

Revenue is generated primarily through SaaS subscriptions for pretix Hosted, annual license fees for pretix Enterprise, hardware rental and sales for on-site event technology, and commissions from the plugin marketplace and partner program. Pricing is freemium at entry (free account creation, pay-as-you-go on ticket sales) with subscription billing for hosted SaaS and annual licensing for enterprise self-hosted deployments; specific price tiers are not publicly disclosed. Pretix holds ISO 27001 certification, is GDPR compliant, meets WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549 accessibility standards, and hosts all data exclusively in Germany on 100% renewable energy. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding rounds.

Name

pretix

Legal name

pretix GmbH

Website

https://pretix.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

pretix is a German open-source ticketing software company (founded 2014, Heidelberg) serving 3,000+ event organizers across conferences, trade fairs, museums, festivals, and digital events with a multi-tenant Django platform offering online ticketing, POS, access control, and exhibitor networking.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Event Ticketing Software

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Primary Ticketing Platforms & Box Office Systems (MPAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ticketing Technology & Integrations (APIs, Plugins, Webhooks) (MPAGAJAF), Access Control, Credentialing & Entry Management (Scan/Turnstiles/RFID) (MPAGAJAG), Ticketing, Registration & Event Technology (Badging, Apps) (BPAFAGAL), Virtual & Hybrid Event Registration & Streaming Access Platforms (THAHAFAM)

Keywords

• Event ticketing software
• Online ticket sales
• Access control systems
• Event management platform
• Box office software

Headquarters

HQ city

Heidelberg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. pretix Hosted (SaaS subscription): Cloud-hosted ticketing platform subscription for event organizers. Customers pay recurring fees for using the hosted service. Free to create an account; costs only apply when selling tickets. Solution Partners earn 10% commission on ticketing fees; Global Partners receive preferential wholesale pricing.
2. pretix Enterprise (self-hosted license): Enterprise edition for self-hosted deployment on own infrastructure. Includes license fees; Solution Partners earn 10% commission on enterprise license fees. Commission only paid in months where it reaches at least €25.
3. Hardware sales and rental: Sale and rental of event technology hardware including badge printers, scanners, and other professional event tech for on-site operations (pretixSCAN, pretixPOS, pretixKIOSK). Discounts available for partners.
4. Plugin marketplace commission: Third-party plugins listed on marketplace.pretix.eu for extending pretix functionality (payment providers, invoice renderers, page content, integrations). Marketplace likely takes a commission on plugin sales.
5. Partner program revenue share: Global Partners pay a minimum fee of €250 per month and receive wholesale pricing, while Solution Partners earn ongoing commissions on ticketing and license fees paid by their referred customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

pretix develops open-source event ticketing software that enables event organizers to sell tickets online, manage on-site point-of-sale, control access with badge printing, and run exhibitor networking through an integrated platform. The product suite spans a customizable ticket shop (pretix), cash register app (pretixPOS), access control (pretixSCAN), self-service kiosk (pretixKIOSK), paperless lead capture (pretixLEAD), event hardware rentals, and the Venueless digital event platform, delivered as cloud SaaS (pretix Hosted) or self-hosted (Enterprise).

Product overview

pretix is an open-source ticketing platform designed for events, conferences, exhibitions, museums, and attractions. The product portfolio consists of a core platform (pretix) that provides full-featured online ticketing with customizable shops, marketing tools, and integrated payments, supplemented by on-site process modules including pretixPOS (cash register), pretixSCAN (access control and badge printing), pretixKIOSK (self-service vending), and pretixLEAD (exhibitor networking). pretix Hardware provides professional equipment rental. The platform integrates with payment providers like Stripe, PayPal, and BitPay, and offers a comprehensive REST API and plugin marketplace for extensibility. An associated digital event platform (Venueless) handles virtual and hybrid events. The system is offered as a hosted SaaS (pretix Hosted) or self-hosted solution (pretix Enterprise/Community), with over 3,000 customers across conferences, trade fairs, museums, concerts, festivals, and other event types.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• pretix: Full-featured online ticket shop and backend platform
• pretixPOS
• pretixSCAN
• pretixKIOSK
• pretixLEAD
• Venueless

Products and services

• pretix Full-featured online ticket shop and backend ticketing platform for event organizers. Includes a customizable ticket shop, marketing toolkit, direct payments, individual ticket types, check-in and box office tools, and reports and statistics. Delivered as pretix Hosted (cloud SaaS) or self-hosted (Enterprise).
• pretixPOS Cash register application for on-site ticket sales and point-of-sale operations at events, integrated with the pretix backend.
• pretixSCAN Access control and live badge printing application for managing event entry, ticket validation, and on-the-spot credentialing at events.
• pretixKIOSK Self-service ticket vending machine application that enables automated on-site ticket sales without staffed counters.
• pretixLEAD Paperless networking and digital lead capture solution for exhibitors at trade fairs and conferences, enabling badge-based lead exchange and exhibitor management.
• pretix Hardware Rental and sale of professional event technology hardware, including badge printers, scanners, and kiosk terminals for on-site event operations, with partner discounts available.
• Venueless Digital event platform for virtual and hybrid events, offered in partnership with venueless.org and integrated with pretix ticketing for fully digital or hybrid event delivery.
• Plugin Marketplace Online marketplace at marketplace.pretix.eu hosting official and third-party plugins that extend pretix functionality with payment providers, export formats, invoice renderers, email templates, and content pages.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 3,000 customers use pretix across diverse industries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• VenuelesscoreTechnology or IntegrationVenueless is a digital event platform for virtual and hybrid events that is prominently featured alongside pretix products in the main navigation. It is marketed as the 'Digital event platform' component of pretix's event technology suite, enabling organizers to run fully digital or hybrid events integrated with pretix ticketing. Available at venueless.org.
• pretix Solution PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSolution Partners recommend pretix to their clients and receive 10% ongoing commission on ticketing or license fees. Ideal for event agencies, IT integrators, event technicians, hardware manufacturers, event platforms, web designers, and consultants. Requires prior business relationship with clients and at least one successful referral.
• pretix Global PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal Partners resell pretix Hosted under their own brand in specific geographies or verticals. They receive preferential wholesale pricing (minimum €250/month), can brand the backend with their own logo, provide local support, and assist with translation. Target group is limited to regions or verticals not yet served by pretix or existing partners.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe is the primary credit card payment provider integrated into pretix. Supports credit card payments and Apple Pay through Stripe. Available as a payment method in both pretix Hosted and self-hosted editions. Stripe Connect enables merchant account integration for event organizers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Eventzilla: Eventzilla is a self-serve event registration and ticketing platform targeting conferences, classes, and fundraisers. It is a direct peer in SMB self-serve ticketing with comparable freemium-style onboarding and basic access control features.
• Universe: Universe is a self-serve ticketing platform for events of all sizes, owned by Live Nation. It directly competes with pretix in SMB and mid-market event ticketing with comparable self-serve onboarding.
• Dice: Dice is a ticketing platform focused primarily on live music concerts and club nights. It competes with pretix specifically in the concerts/festivals vertical with a strong mobile-first UX and direct-to-fan positioning.
• Tito: Tito is a Dublin-based self-serve event ticketing platform targeting conferences, meetups, and similar event types with a simple freemium model. It is the closest direct peer to pretix in terms of target audience (independent/SMB event organizers), self-serve onboarding, and product scope.

Emerging players

• Bizzabo: Bizzabo is an event experience platform serving mid-market and enterprise conferences with registration, ticketing, and engagement features. It overlaps with pretix in conference ticketing but is positioned upmarket with heavier enterprise GTM.
• Accelevents: Accelevents is an event management platform offering ticketing, registration, and virtual event capabilities for conferences and fundraisers. It overlaps with pretix's conference ticketing and Venueless-style hybrid event offerings at smaller scale.

Broad incumbents

• Eventbrite: Eventbrite is a large publicly-traded self-serve ticketing platform serving event organizers globally. It overlaps broadly with pretix's online ticketing shop and discovery layer but at significantly greater scale, brand, and capital.
• Eventim: Eventim is a leading European ticketing and live entertainment company with strong presence in concerts, theatre, and sports. It is a major incumbent competitor for pretix's European concert/theatre segment and brings far greater scale and promoter relationships.
• Cvent: Cvent is a large enterprise event management platform for conferences, trade shows, and corporate meetings. It is a broad incumbent competitor in pretix's conference and trade fair segments with deeper enterprise sales coverage.

Regional players

• See Tickets: See Tickets is a European-focused ticketing provider serving concerts, festivals, and live events primarily in the UK and continental Europe. It is a regional competitor to pretix's concert and festival ticketing business with deeper promoter integrations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pretixeu
• GitHubgithub.com/pretix
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCG1Og1YUpgIJD4geAZLAp5g
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pretix
• Instagraminstagram.com/pretix.eu
• Facebookfacebook.com/pretix

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about pretix