Hi.Events is a good open-source ticketing platform, and if it fits your needs it is a legitimately strong option at a lower price. These are different products for different buyers, so rather than pretend otherwise, here is a straight comparison to help you pick correctly.
| Hi.Events | EventMS Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| License cost | Free (AGPL-3.0) or $499 single-domain commercial | $4,999 early-bird, $7,999 standard |
| Licensing model | AGPL-3.0 open source, commercial tiers available | Commercial single-deployment license |
| Free-tier branding | "Powered by Hi.Events" must remain visible | No attribution requirement |
| Installation | You deploy it yourself | We install on your server and domain |
| Support | Community; paid tiers available | 6 months included with the license |
| Built around | Selling tickets to your own events | A multi-organizer marketplace you operate |
| Payments | Your own Stripe account | Your own Stripe and PayPal accounts |
You are comfortable deploying and maintaining the stack yourself, you primarily sell tickets to your own events rather than operating a marketplace for other organizers, and budget is the binding constraint. At $499 for a commercial single-domain license, or free if you keep the attribution, it is meaningfully cheaper and the open-source licence means you are never dependent on a vendor at all. For a lot of teams that is genuinely the better answer.
You are running ticketing for multiple organizers as a platform operator, you want the deployment handled rather than doing it yourself, and you need the marketplace layer: organizer onboarding, an approval workflow between admins and organizers, per-organizer payouts and earnings, a support desk, and a scanner team with scoped access. That operational structure is what the license buys, alongside installation and 6 months of support.
The gap is real and we are not going to argue it away. What it pays for is scope and service rather than the same product at a markup: a marketplace platform instead of a single-organizer ticketing app, done-for-you deployment instead of self-deployment, and direct support instead of community support. If you do not need those things, the cheaper option is the correct one, and we would rather you pick it than buy the wrong tool.
One license, installed free on your server, with 6 months of support and updates included.