Ticket Spot vs Luma: Best Alternative for Communities, Meetups & Professional Events
Luma is a modern community-focused platform used by tech meetups and small recurring groups. It’s clean, social, and great for community building — but it isn’t designed for professional event ticketing, time-slot scheduling, or full white-label branding.
Ticket Spot is built for organizers who need both community features and professional ticketing tools — all with predictable pricing and 0% transaction fees.
This comparison breaks down the real differences so you can decide which tool fits your event strategy.
Pricing Overview
Luma
- Free plan has 5% platform fee
- Paid plan reduces fees but still charges normal card processing
- Extra email tools cost more (paid add-ons)
- Costs increase as events grow
Ticket Spot
- Predictable monthly pricing
- 0% Ticket Spot fees — keep all ticket revenue
- All communication tools included
- No paid add-ons required to unlock basic features
If you run more than a handful of paid events per year, Ticket Spot is significantly more cost-effective.
Feature Comparison
Below is a simplified breakdown of the true functional differences.
Ticket Spot
- Custom domains + full white label
- Full event pages + full site pages
- List hosts, co-hosts, attendees
- Recurring events (daily/weekly/monthly schedules)
- Multiple sessions per day
- Date & time slot selector
- Flexible ticketing (specific dates, multi-day, timed entry)
- Email reminders + segmentation
- Advanced ticket management
- PDF tickets + Apple Wallet
- Attendee check-in app
- Multi-organizer marketplace support
- Stripe, PayPal, Square integrations
- Community/host pages similar to Luma/Meetup
- Embeddable widgets for any website
Luma
- Clean event pages
- Social/community-style host pages
- Host/attendee lists
- Simple recurring events
- RSVP or ticket sales
- Web-based check-in
- Limited customization
- Hosted only on luma.com domain
- Basic email notifications
- No recurring time slots or multi-session events
- No complex ticketing structure
- No marketplace support
Key Differences Explained
1. Branding & Domains
Luma:
Events live on luma.com/event123 with visible Luma branding.
Ticket Spot:
Use your own domain with complete white-label control:
- yourdomain.com
- tickets.yoursite.com
- or event-specific domains
Your brand stays front and center.
2. Event Structure & Scheduling (Huge Difference)
Luma is ideal for simple events like:
- monthly meetups
- weekly gatherings
- free community groups
But it cannot support:
- multi-session events
- multiple time slots per day
- date-specific ticketing
- timed entry (30/60/90 min windows)
- complex recurring schedules
Ticket Spot does all of these, making it suitable for:
- venues
- festivals
- museums
- workshops
- classes
- tours
- meet & greets
- recurring programs
If your events happen multiple times per day or need structured schedules—Ticket Spot is the right choice.
3. Community Features (Luma Strength, Ticket Spot Matches It)
Luma is social and community-driven.
Ticket Spot supports:
- Host profiles
- Co-hosts
- Attendee lists
- Follow-up messaging
- Event pages + full event site layouts
- Community-style displays
So you get the meetup-style community tools plus full ticketing.
4. Email Tools & Automations
Luma:
Basic notifications with paid add-ons for advanced workflows.
Ticket Spot:
Included for free:
- Confirmation emails
- Reminder emails
- Custom templates
- Segmentation
- Wallet tickets
- Post-event messages
No paid add-ons required.
5. Marketplace Support (Huge Advantage for Ticket Spot)
Luma: No marketplace features.
Ticket Spot:
You can run your own multi-organizer event marketplace, including:
- organizer onboarding
- submissions
- approval workflow
- revenue share
- organizer dashboards
Ideal for:
- venues
- communities
- local event hubs
- multi-host organizations
6. Payment Flexibility
Luma:
Payments flow through Luma.
Ticket Spot:
You connect Stripe, PayPal, or Square, meaning:
- payouts go directly to you
- you own all financial data
- no middleman
7. Predictable Pricing
Luma’s 5% fee on free plan + add-ons can become expensive quickly.
Ticket Spot offers:
- flat monthly pricing
- zero Ticket Spot fees
- no add-ons required
- more advanced features included
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Luma if:
- You're running small social meetups
- You want a clean, simple, community-style page
- You don’t need advanced scheduling or time slots
- You’re okay with a luma.com domain
Choose Ticket Spot if:
- You want full branding and your own domain
- You need advanced event structures (time slots, recurring, sessions)
- You care about predictable pricing
- You need marketplace or multi-organizer support
- You want professional ticketing tools
- You want community features plus full ticketing capabilities
Try Ticket Spot
Experience a platform that supports both community events and professional ticketing.