Looking for a TicketSource alternative?

Choosing between Little Box Office and TicketSource.

Little Box Office and TicketSource are both ticketing platforms for venues and event teams, charging a fee on what you sell rather than a subscription.

Both offer online and box office sales, seating plans, timed sessions, e-tickets and mobile tickets, and extras such as programmes and merchandise.

On paper, both platforms do much the same job. The difference is in how far you can tailor each event to your needs, how quickly you get things done, and your website.

The Quick Answer.

Choose TicketSource if you want a self-service platform that covers the essentials and more, with nothing to pay on free events or on in-person bookings you record yourself. TicketSource can also take phone bookings on your behalf, and registered charities get reduced fees.

Choose Little Box Office if you run a venue or a regular programme and want more control with less effort. Everyday tasks take as few steps as possible, and sub-accounts keep each department’s events and ticket income separate. Little Box Office can build and host your website at no extra cost, fully integrated with your events and checkout. You get all the tools (CMS) you need to update it, and even customise your booking journey, without needing a developer. Ticket money reaches your account as tickets sell, and fees are lower.

Pricing.

TicketSource. According to its published pricing, TicketSource charges 7% + VAT per paid online or telephone booking, including card processing, with a minimum of £0.25 + VAT. If you connect your own Stripe account, the fee is 4.5% + VAT, plus Stripe’s own fees. Free events and in-person bookings you record yourself are free, and registered charities get a discount.

Little Box Office. Our standard rate is 4.15%, with significant discounts for higher sales volumes and for events supporting children in distress. Payment processing is additional: Stripe’s standard UK rate is 1.5% + £0.20 per order. Little Box Office adds no charges to your customers’ bookings: you decide whether to add your own booking fee.

A worked example.

On the same orders, the total fees would be:

Little Box Office

2 tickets at £20 (£40)

£2.79
4 tickets at £25 (£100)

£6.68

TicketSource

2 tickets at £20 (£40)

£3.36
4 tickets at £25 (£100)

£8.40

If you connect your own Stripe account to TicketSource, its fees on the same orders are £2.96 and £7.10.

Figures include payment processing and VAT for both platforms, at the Little Box Office standard rate and before any TicketSource charity discount. Venues with higher sales volumes save more with Little Box Office.

Switching from TicketSource.

You can move whenever it suits you. Live customer and event data is migrated at no charge, and historical data can also be included, so you don’t need to wait for events already on sale to finish. We have dedicated migration tools to import your data, such as events, customers, orders, transactions, seating plans and venues, and we’ve moved clients from many different ticketing systems, so we know how to plan your move.

Payouts and website.

Payouts. According to its pricing page, if you use TicketSource’s own payment processing, your ticket money is sent on the Monday after your event. If you connect your own Stripe account, payments go straight to your bank. With Little Box Office, ticket money reaches your payment account as tickets sell, so you can pay artists, suppliers and deposits before the event.

Website. TicketSource lets you customise your event pages with your own images, colours and layouts, and link them to your website. Little Box Office can build and host your website at no extra cost, fully integrated with your events and checkout. It runs on your own domain name, and you can update it without needing a developer.

For your research.

Wherever you are in your research, you’ll probably want more detail on Little Box Office. Get in touch and we’ll arrange a time to meet, so we can take you through how it would work for your events. In the meantime, here are highlights of what our platform brings, from saving time and money to helping you earn more and stay ahead.

Save time.

Designed so everyday tasks take as few steps as possible.

  • Manage events and orders with admin tools built for speed
  • Customise reports and schedule them to be sent automatically
  • See customer details, orders, emails, etc., in one place (CRM)
  • Create bespoke user roles so admin users only access what they need
  • Use sub-accounts to keep each department’s events and ticket income separate
  • Hand tasks over to the Little Box Office concierge service

Save money.

  • Get your best Little Box Office rate, based on your sales volume
  • Have your website built and hosted at no extra cost, fully integrated with your events and checkout
  • Customise your booking journey without paying a developer
  • Add your own booking fees to cover some or all of your costs
  • Keep refund money by issuing credit notes

Make more money.

  • Convert more buyers at checkout, with cart abandonment well below the e-commerce average
  • Secure early bookings with deposits and balance payments
  • Encourage repeat purchases with loyalty programmes
  • Raise extra income through donations
  • Use dynamic pricing to maximise revenue or fill more seats

Stay ahead.

Every update is shaped by ticket buyer feedback, venue requests and industry trends.

  • Feedback is collected from ticket buyers after every transaction: our engineering team is alerted and fixes critical issues straight away. Most other feedback can be addressed by changing the event settings and booking journey without delay or developer costs.
  • New functionality is released every 10 weeks, driven by venue requests and industry trends, with improvements added every week

FAQs

TicketSource and Little Box Office are both ticketing platforms for venues and event teams that charge a fee on what you sell. On paper, they do much the same job. TicketSource is self-service, with nothing to pay on free events or on in-person bookings you record yourself. Little Box Office lets you tailor each event further and get things done more quickly, and can build and host your website at no extra cost, fully integrated with your events and checkout. Little Box Office fees are also lower.
Yes. On a £100 order of four £25 tickets, Little Box Office fees are £6.68, including payment processing and VAT. TicketSource’s fees on the same order are £8.40 with its own payment processing, or £7.10 if you connect your own Stripe account. Venues with higher sales volumes save more with Little Box Office.
If you use TicketSource’s own payment processing, your ticket money is sent on the Monday after your event. If you connect your own Stripe account, payments go straight to your bank. With Little Box Office, ticket money reaches your payment account as tickets sell.
Yes. Little Box Office handles online, in-person and phone sales from one system, so your team can take phone bookings using the same seating plans and customer records as online sales.
Yes. Little Box Office can build and host your website at no extra cost, fully integrated with your events and checkout. It runs on your own domain name, and you can update it without needing a developer. TicketSource provides customisable event pages that you link to from your website.
Yes. Little Box Office migrates live events and their orders at no charge, so you don’t need to wait for events already on sale to finish.
Yes. Little Box Office can run theatre performances, cinema screenings, workshops, dinners, parties, classes and courses side by side, each with its own ticket types, settings and booking journey, all from one account. Customers can book a whole course or just some of its sessions, or buy a season ticket covering several events.

Your next step.

See how Little Box Office would work for your venue.

Book a demo
Contact us