Event Management · head to head
Brown Paper Tickets vs Guest Manager
B
Brown Paper Tickets
Event Management
The fair-trade ticketing company
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Brown Paper Tickets fees are charged to ticket buyers rather than the organiser, at $1.49 plus 6.0% of the ticket price in USD; Guest Manager usage is metered in credits consumed by check ins, emails and badges, so cost scales with activity rather than with the subscription alone
- They diverge on capability: Brown Paper Tickets covers Ticketing, Guest Manager covers Registration.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Brown Paper Tickets and Guest Manager actually diverge.
| Attribute | Brown Paper Tickets | Guest Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | transaction | freemium |
| Founded | 2000 | 2014 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Event Management).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Brown Paper Tickets
- Ticketing
- Will call
- Seating charts
- Reporting
- Customer service
- PayPal
- Google Analytics
Only in Guest Manager
- Registration
- QR check-in
- Badge printing
- Attendance tracking
- Guest communication
- Eventbrite
- Zapier
- Google Sheets
Both cover
- Mailchimp
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Brown Paper Tickets
- Selling tickets for events, performances and workshopsnot Guest Manager
- Handling ticket distribution and door lists for independent organisersnot Guest Manager
Guest Manager
- Guest list check in on tablets at eventsnot Brown Paper Tickets
- Selling and scanning event ticketsnot Brown Paper Tickets
- Printing name badges onsitenot Brown Paper Tickets
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Brown Paper Tickets
- Fees are charged to ticket buyers rather than the organiser, at $1.49 plus 6.0% of the ticket price in USD
- The 6.0% applies regardless of payment method, including when the organiser uses their own merchant account or PayPal
- The flat component varies by currency, running from roughly $0.99 to $1.99 equivalent
- Because the buyer pays, the advertised ticket price is not what the buyer is charged
Guest Manager
- Usage is metered in credits consumed by check ins, emails and badges, so cost scales with activity rather than with the subscription alone
- Check in devices are capped at 2 on On Demand, 4 on Planner and 8 on Professional
- Ticket fees are $1.00 per ticket on On Demand and Planner and fall to $0.50 only on the $199 per month Concierge plan
- Priority support and a dedicated account manager are Concierge and Custom only
- The free trial covers only the first 50 guest check ins
- The Custom plan is priced by quote
Pricing, plan by plan
Brown Paper Tickets
Free- StandardFree
- $0.99 + 5% per ticket
- Free events free
- All features
Guest Manager
Free- FreeFree
- 100 guests
- Basic check-in
- Email support
- Pro$79/month
- Unlimited guests
- Badge printing
- Analytics
- Enterprise$199/month
- API access
- White-label
- Priority support
Which should you pick?
Choose Brown Paper Tickets if
- You need ticketing.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want will call.
Choose Guest Manager if
- You need registration.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want qr check-in.
Questions people ask
- Is Brown Paper Tickets or Guest Manager better?
- Neither clearly leads. Brown Paper Tickets starts at Free and Guest Manager at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Brown Paper Tickets or Guest Manager?
- Brown Paper Tickets starts at Free and Guest Manager at Free.
- Does Brown Paper Tickets or Guest Manager run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Brown Paper Tickets for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Brown Paper Tickets best used for?
- Brown Paper Tickets is most often used for selling tickets for events, performances and workshops, handling ticket distribution and door lists for independent organisers. Of those, selling tickets for events, performances and workshops and handling ticket distribution and door lists for independent organisers are not what Guest Manager is typically brought in for.
- What can Brown Paper Tickets do that Guest Manager cannot?
- Brown Paper Tickets covers Ticketing, Will call, Seating charts, Reporting. Guest Manager covers Registration, QR check-in, Badge printing, Attendance tracking. Both handle Mailchimp, Web support, Ios support, Android support.