# Event Espresso — Self-hosted WordPress ticketing plugin with no per-ticket commission while your license key is active.

> Source: Box Office Fees — https://boxofficefees.com/event-espresso (structured, researched, re-verified)

Event Espresso is a WordPress plugin that adds an events calendar, registration forms and ticket checkout to a site the organizer already owns. Buyers pay through the organizer's own PayPal, Stripe or Square account, and more than thirty add-on plugins extend it.

**Best for:** WordPress site owners selling class, conference and fundraiser tickets from their own site

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Website | https://eventespresso.com/ |
| Category | Ticketing for your own website, Classes and workshops, Conferences, Lowest fees on 200 tickets, Nonprofits |
| API | Partly |
| Open source | No |
| Price | Free |
| Price checked | 28 October 2026 |

Screenshot of Event Espresso: https://boxofficefees.com/img/1920/screenshots/event-espresso.webp, captured 28 October 2026

**What we checked**

- Pages last read: 28 October 2026
- Price on its site: Free plan (From its pricing page)

## Event Espresso price and terms

**Terms**

- Free plan: Yes — Decaf is a standing $0/year download from the WordPress plugin repository with unlimited events, registrations and ticket sales, but carries 3% pay-as-you-go, is listed as 'Not compatible with add-ons', and has community support only.
- Sign up without sales: Yes

**What needs a higher plan**

- Core: Fees on 200 tickets at $25, Fees on 50 tickets at $25

## For AI agents

- API: Partly

Pricing page as we captured it: https://boxofficefees.com/img/1920/screenshots/event-espresso/pricing.webp, captured 28 October 2026

Read on https://eventespresso.com/pricing, 28 October 2026.

## What we checked on Event Espresso

### What the fees come to

**Fees on 200 tickets at $25** · Partly — $185.75 in fees on 200 tickets at $25 on Core, all paid by the organizer: each ticket costs the buyer $25 and the organizer keeps $4,814.25. The subscription is billed yearly. The figure counts one month of it.

> 0% Pay-as-you-go with a active license key
> — https://eventespresso.com/pricing · Plans section, Core plan feature list, first bullet, checked 28 October 2026

**Fees on 50 tickets at $25** · Partly — $54.50 in fees on 50 tickets at $25 on Core, all paid by the organizer: each ticket costs the buyer $25 and the organizer keeps $1,195.50. The subscription is billed yearly. The figure counts one month of it.

> 0% Pay-as-you-go with a active license key
> — https://eventespresso.com/pricing · Plans section, Core plan feature list, first bullet, checked 28 October 2026

**The fee per ticket** · Yes — The plugin charges a percentage of sales rather than a per-ticket amount: 0% while a paid license key is active, and 3% on the free Decaf plan, with no stated minimum or cap.

> 0% Pay-as-you-go with a active license key
> — https://eventespresso.com/pricing · Plans section, Core plan feature list, first bullet, checked 28 October 2026

**Who pays the fees** · Partly — There is no platform fee for a buyer to carry on a paid license, and card costs land on the organizer unless it buys the Charge Processing Fees add-on, which adds a labeled fee to the buyer's checkout total.

> Protect your event revenue from payment processing and administrative costs by adding a percentage fee, a fixed fee, or both to any Event Espresso payment method.
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/processing-fees · Page introduction, beneath the add-on title, checked 28 October 2026

**Card processing** · Yes — The organizer connects its own card processor and keeps that relationship, so the rate is the processor's and sits outside anything Event Espresso charges; the vendor names PayPal, Stripe and Square.

> Even though we do not charge any fees to sell ticketes, the gateway of your choice (e.g. PayPal, Stripe, Square) will still charge their fees.
> — https://eventespresso.com/products · Event payment processing on WordPress section, 'Gateway fees still apply' heading, checked 28 October 2026

**All-in price at checkout** · Partly — The vendor states a buyer sees the fee before paying and that fees are itemized, but that describes the optional add-on's own charges rather than a guarantee that the first price shown carries every mandatory amount.

> Attendees see the fee before completing payment, reducing surprises and keeping checkout straightforward.
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/processing-fees · The benefits of Processing Fees section, 'For events' paragraph, checked 28 October 2026

**Free events** · Yes — Free registrations and free tickets are supported on every plan including the no-cost Decaf download, and the percentage the vendor charges applies to money taken rather than to ticket count.

> Paid or Free Registrations
> — https://eventespresso.com/pricing · Plans section, Decaf plan feature list, checked 28 October 2026

**Nonprofit rates** · Partly — A discount for registered nonprofits exists but applies only to the first purchase, must be requested with details of the organization, and cannot be combined with other offers; no rate is published.

> Yes, we offer a discount on the initial purchase for nonprofit, NGO, and charitable organizations. Share information about your nonprofit organization to request a discount.
> — https://eventespresso.com/resources/faqs · FAQ accordion, 'Do you offer discounts to nonprofit organizations?', checked 28 October 2026

**Plans and subscriptions** · Yes — Two paid yearly licenses are sold, Core at $129 and All Access at $399, and holding an active key is what removes the 3% the free Decaf plan carries.

> $199 Value for just $129$129 / year
> — https://eventespresso.com/pricing · Plans section, Core plan price cell, checked 28 October 2026

**Sales tax on tickets** · Yes — adds a tax line: the organizer configures its own global or per-item taxes, which then appear on attendee invoices and receipts; the vendor does not remit anything on the organizer's behalf.

> Configure global taxes and/or individual taxes only on certain items, tickets or registrations. Taxes are shown on invoices and receipts to attendees.
> — https://eventespresso.com/products · Core Event Plugin Features, 'Collect and manage taxes' heading, checked 28 October 2026

### Getting paid

**When you get the money** · Yes — Money never passes through the vendor: each purchase settles straight into the organizer's own merchant account as it happens, so there is no holding period and no payout fee to the platform.

> When attendees pay you, the money goes straight into your merchant account.
> — https://eventespresso.com/products · Event payment processing on WordPress section, 'Get paid directly' heading, checked 28 October 2026

**Your buyers’ details** · Yes — The attendee database lives in the organizer's own WordPress install, the vendor states outright that the organizer owns it, and lists can be downloaded even on the free Decaf plan.

> With Event Espresso you own your attendee data and always have access to use and download the data to use it however you need it
> — https://eventespresso.com/products · Core Event Plugin Features, 'Own your data' heading, checked 28 October 2026

### Selling the tickets

**Ticket types and discounts** · Yes — Tiered early-bird phases, graduated and bundle pricing by quantity, and member-only tickets are core features; promotion and discount codes come from a separate $119.95 add-on included in All Access.

> Create phased ticket like Early Bird, Regular and Late registrations all stopping and starting according to the dates you set, all with different prices.
> — https://eventespresso.com/products · Core Event Plugin Features, 'Tiered pricing' heading, checked 28 October 2026

**Reserved seating** · No — The vendor names seating charts in its own list of projects the plugin is not built for, so buyers cannot pick a seat on a chart at checkout.

> Event Espresso is not a good fit for the following projects:event directories, event marketplaces, or user-submitted eventspoint of sale or box officeone-on-one appointment bookingsseating charts
> — https://eventespresso.com/resources/faqs · FAQ accordion, second 'Can I see some example events or demo Event Espresso?' answer, list of poor fits, checked 28 October 2026

**Questions at checkout** · Yes — Organizers build their own question set per event and per ticket, with text, radio, dropdown and multi-select fields, and can mark each one required or optional.

> Collect any type of information with text, radio button, dropdown, multi-select form questions, questions based on conditional answers to other questions, unique questions for each ticket, and more!
> — https://eventespresso.com/ · Homepage feature card, 'The most complete event registration and ticket sales plugin for WordPress', checked 28 October 2026

**Registration forms and waivers** · Yes — Custom registration forms with the organizer's own fields are core, and the vendor states attendees can be required to agree to a policy before registering; conditional logic is a $99.95 add-on.

> Configure almost any type of question with specific or open-ended answers, set questions as required or optional, require people to agree to a policy before registering, facilitate group registrations
> — https://eventespresso.com/products · Powerful event registration feature card, checked 28 October 2026

**Timed entry** · Partly — Events can carry several dates and times with a capacity set against specific dates rather than only the whole event, but the vendor never frames this as timed-slot admission windows.

> while also controlling capacity limits for specific dates or the complete series regardless of ticket type
> — https://eventespresso.com/products · Core Event Plugin Features, 'Multiple dates per ticket' heading, checked 28 October 2026

**Waitlist** · Partly — A waitlist exists only through the $89.95 Wait List Manager add-on, which is included in All Access but costs extra on Core and cannot be used at all on the free Decaf plan.

> Allow attendees to add themselves to a wait list if an event is full or all the tickets are sold out.
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/wait-list-manager · Page introduction, beneath the add-on title, checked 28 October 2026

**Online events** · Partly — Virtual events work by the organizer setting up a virtual venue and pasting the meeting link into the confirmation email itself; there is no built-in integration that issues the link automatically.

> Yes, you can customize the registration confirmation email to include access to an online event ahead of time through Zoom, Google Hangouts, Go to Meeting, or another service by using a virtual venue.
> — https://eventespresso.com/resources/faqs · FAQ accordion, 'Can Event Espresso help with virtual or online events?', checked 28 October 2026

**Sell on your own website** · Yes — Checkout runs on the organizer's own WordPress site by design, and tickets can also be embedded elsewhere with the purchase completed back on the organizer's site.

> Your audience will select their tickets on the the other website, and finish their registration or ticket purchase on your secure website.
> — https://eventespresso.com/products · Core Event Plugin Features, 'Embed tickets on other websites or social media' heading, checked 28 October 2026

**Website builders** · Partly — native plugin or app, but for WordPress alone: the vendor requires self-hosted WordPress and points buyers without it to its separate hosted sister product, so Squarespace, Wix and Shopify are out.

> Event Espresso is a WordPress plugin and the self-hosted version of WordPress is required.
> — https://eventespresso.com/resources/faqs · FAQ accordion, 'Where can I use Event Espresso?', checked 28 October 2026

**Add-ons** · Partly — Merchandise, meals and parking can be sold alongside a ticket, but only through the $99 Registration Upsells add-on that attaches prices to registration form answers.

> Registration Upsells lets you attach prices to the answer options attendees already choose options such as T-shirts, meals, workshops, parking, etc.
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/registration-upsells · Page introduction, beneath the add-on title, checked 28 October 2026

**Recurring events** · Partly — Scheduling a series without building each date by hand needs the $119.95 Recurring Events Manager add-on; core alone offers one-click event duplication instead.

> Put your events on autopilot by schedulingf events days, weeks, months or years, in advance and automatically opening and closing registrations on schedule.
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/wordpress-recurring-events-manager · Page introduction, beneath the add-on title, checked 28 October 2026

**Refunds and transfers by buyers** · Partly — Attendees can cancel their own registration, but only via the $59.99 Self-Serve Registration Cancellation add-on; nothing on the vendor's pages lets a buyer pass a ticket to a friend.

> Provide attendees a way to cancel their own registrations.
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/self-serve-registration-cancellation · Page introduction, beneath the add-on title, checked 28 October 2026

### At the door

**Check-in app** · Partly — Free iOS and Android apps scan tickets and check attendees in, but the barcodes themselves come from a $119.95 add-on and the vendor never states whether scanning works without a connection.

> Add barcodes to your event tickets, then scan the barcodes with a 2D barcode scanner or through our mobile app on your phone or tablet on your WordPress website for quick check-in into an event.
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/ticket-barcode-scanner · Page introduction, beneath the add-on title, checked 28 October 2026

**Door sales** · No — The vendor lists point of sale and box office among the projects the plugin is not built for, so there is no door-selling terminal; staff can only add attendees manually in the admin.

> Event Espresso is not a good fit for the following projects:event directories, event marketplaces, or user-submitted eventspoint of sale or box office
> — https://eventespresso.com/resources/faqs · FAQ accordion, second 'Can I see some example events or demo Event Espresso?' answer, list of poor fits, checked 28 October 2026

### Finding buyers

**Listed where buyers browse** · No — There is no platform marketplace to be listed on: the plugin publishes events only on the organizer's own site, and the vendor names event marketplaces among the projects it does not suit.

> Event Espresso is not a good fit for the following projects:event directories, event marketplaces, or user-submitted events
> — https://eventespresso.com/resources/faqs · FAQ accordion, second 'Can I see some example events or demo Event Espresso?' answer, list of poor fits, checked 28 October 2026

**Email to buyers** · Partly — The plugin automates transactional email and reminders itself, but reaching past buyers about a future event means pushing them into Mailchimp through a $59.95 add-on.

> Automatically add attendees to a email list and/or group in MailChimp after they register for your events.
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/mailchimp-integration · Page introduction, beneath the add-on title, checked 28 October 2026

**Promoter links** · Partly — An affiliate program with per-affiliate referral links needs the $59.95 AffiliateWP Integration add-on, and that in turn depends on the separate third-party AffiliateWP plugin.

> Build an affiliate and referral program for your events so affiliates can promote your events and send more registrations your way.
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/affiliatewp-integration · Page introduction, beneath the add-on title, checked 28 October 2026

### What it connects to and where it is sold

**Works with** · Partly — Mailchimp, Keap, QuickBooks and more than a dozen card processors have their own add-ons, and the $99 Webhooks add-on reaches Zapier or Make; none of this is available on the free Decaf plan.

> A small outbound message is delivered to a URL you choose, so tools like Zapier, Make, N8N, CRMs, Quickbooks, or your own custom integrations can react automatically
> — https://eventespresso.com/addons/webhooks · Page introduction, beneath the add-on title, checked 28 October 2026

**API** · Partly — The vendor lists an API among developer tools on the paid Core license and advertises documented hooks and filters, but the free Decaf plan's feature list does not carry the developer tools row.

> Developer Tools: API, Hooks, Filters, Logging, Maintenance Mode, staging sites support, etc.
> — https://eventespresso.com/pricing · Plans section, Core plan feature list, checked 28 October 2026

### Starting and getting help

**Free to start** · Partly — The Decaf plugin is a genuinely free download that sells unlimited paid tickets, but it carries a 3% charge, is not compatible with any add-on, and gets community support only.

> 3% Pay-as-you-go$0 / Year
> — https://eventespresso.com/pricing · Plans section, Decaf plan feature list and price cell, checked 28 October 2026

**Sign up without a sales call** · Yes — Both paid licenses are bought straight from the cart with no sales call, and the free Decaf build downloads directly from the WordPress plugin repository.

> $2,500 Value for just $399 $399 / year Get Started!
> — https://eventespresso.com/pricing · Plans section, All Access plan price cell and purchase button, checked 28 October 2026

**Contract** · Yes — Licenses run twelve months with automatic renewal the organizer can switch off from its account page at any time, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee and no exclusivity.

> You can turn off the automatic renewal feature from your account page whenever you’d like.
> — https://eventespresso.com/resources/faqs · FAQ accordion, 'What happens if I do not want to renew automatically?', checked 28 October 2026

**Support on event day** · Partly — Core buys email support and All Access adds premium support with an install and setup video call; the free Decaf plan gets community support only, and no phone line or service hours are published.

> Premium SupportSVG ImageInstall & set up video call
> — https://eventespresso.com/pricing · Plans section, All Access plan feature list, checked 28 October 2026

## Event Espresso alternatives

- [Race Entry](https://boxofficefees.com/raceentry) · Free plan: Free race management software paid for by one per-registration fee that already covers card processing.
- [GoFundMe Pro](https://boxofficefees.com/gofundme-pro) · Price on request: Nonprofit fundraising platform with event ticketing, registration and Live Events, sold by quote.
- [Eventbrite](https://boxofficefees.com/eventbrite) · Free plan, then $69 a month: Ticketing platform with a buyer-discovery marketplace and optional fee transfer.
- [Ticket Tailor](https://boxofficefees.com/ticket-tailor) · Free plan, then £0.60 (about $0.80) per ticket: Flat per-ticket fee ticketing paid into your own Stripe, PayPal or Square account.
- [Givebutter](https://boxofficefees.com/givebutter) · Free plan, then $33.80 a month: Free nonprofit fundraising platform with event ticketing, auctions and a built-in donor CRM.
- [RSVPify](https://boxofficefees.com/rsvpify) · Free plan, then $0.90 per ticket: Registration, ticketing, guest management, seating, and QR-code check-in in one platform.
- [Humanitix](https://boxofficefees.com/humanitix) · Free plan, then $1.29 per paid ticket: Nonprofit ticketing: 5% + $1.29 a paid ticket, card processing included, profits to charity.
- [TicketSpice](https://boxofficefees.com/ticketspice) · From $0.99 per ticket: Flat 99¢-per-ticket ticketing for events and attractions, with in-house payments and a box office app.
- [RunSignup](https://boxofficefees.com/runsignup) · Free plan: Free endurance-event registration platform billed only through per-transaction processing fees.

8 of the 9 publish a price.

[All 9 alternatives](https://boxofficefees.com/event-espresso/alternatives/)

## Sources and changes

Last changed 28 October 2026

**Sources on eventespresso.com** (13)

- https://eventespresso.com/pricing, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/products, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/resources/faqs, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/addons/processing-fees, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/addons/affiliatewp-integration, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/addons/mailchimp-integration, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/addons/registration-upsells, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/addons/self-serve-registration-cancellation, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/addons/ticket-barcode-scanner, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/addons/wait-list-manager, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/addons/webhooks, read 28 October 2026
- https://eventespresso.com/addons/wordpress-recurring-events-manager, read 28 October 2026

## Is this yours?

Claim Event Espresso: https://boxofficefees.com/claim/event-espresso

Report an error if a fact is wrong: hello@boxofficefees.com, subject "Report an error: Event Espresso (event-espresso)".