CrabGate
Sell tickets. Manage attendees. Run the door.
CrabGate is hosted ticketing for rooms, independent conferences, and recurring workshops. Create an event, sell tickets, manage attendees, email buyers, check people in, and export your records.
$99 USD a year for unlimited events and tickets. No CrabGate transaction fee, no percentage of ticket sales. Stripe’s card fee still applies.
A free 45-minute setup call with Paul, until 20 December. No card to sign up. You pay when your event goes on sale, and you have 30 days to change your mind. Prefer no call? Sign up and set it up yourself.
Which one do you run?
- A room with an audience
Publish your nights, set ticket prices and capacity, and give door staff a check-in link.
- An independent conference
Set early bird and standard sales windows, collect attendee details, and run registration.
- A recurring workshop
Set a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly Series. Sell each date separately and email buyers with joining instructions.
Product demo: the ticket shop and check-in
Actual CrabGate screens with fictitious event and attendee data. These examples are not customer endorsements.
From your first event to the final export
- 1
Create an event
Add a date, venue, ticket types, prices, capacity, and sales windows.
- 2
Sell tickets
Share your hosted shop link. Buyers choose tickets and pay through Stripe, with no account to create.
- 3
Manage attendees
See who's coming, review their details, and issue complimentary tickets from the Back Office.
- 4
Communicate with buyers
Preview an event message and its recipient count. Email each eligible buyer once, including free and complimentary orders. Buyers forward it to their guests.
- 5
Check in
Scan tickets with a phone camera or find attendees by name. Give helpers their own Door Link.
- 6
Export your records
Download orders, tickets, and check-ins as CSV for your own records.
Why I built CrabGate
Hi, I'm Paul.
Selling a ticket isn't hard. Someone pays, they get a code, and you check the code at the door. Somewhere along the way that turned into a fee on every seat, paid by you or by the people who came to see you.
That fee makes sense when a platform finds your audience for you. It makes a lot less sense when you found them yourself: your list, your regulars, your community.
So I built CrabGate. One flat price a year. The money goes straight to your account. A shop that sells the tickets and a door that checks people in, and nothing you don't need.
I set up new shops myself, one call at a time. I'd like yours to be one of them.
Paul Bădărău, founder
The offer: I'll get your next event on sale with you, free
I'm Paul Bădărău, and I build CrabGate. Until 20 December, I'm setting up every new shop myself. Pick your next real event, and we'll get it on sale together in one 45-minute call.
The call is free. You pay $99 for the year when you put the event on sale. If you don't, you owe nothing.
This offer closes on 20 December. That's 45 days from today. After that, you set up your shop on your own.
And if it doesn't work out? If your first event on CrabGate doesn't go well, email me within 30 days of paying and I'll refund the $99. No form, no argument.
By the end of the call, you'll have
- Your shop, at an address you choose.
- Your Stripe account connected, so ticket money goes straight to you.
- Your next event built, with its ticket types and prices.
- A test order in your inbox, so you've seen what your buyers get.
- A Door Link for whoever checks people in.
Running events for a charity, nonprofit, or community organisation? CrabGate is free for you. Email hello@crabgate.com to get access.
More about me: LinkedIn, GitHub, badarau.net, AL+, my agency.
Questions about CrabGate
- What is CrabGate?
- CrabGate is a hosted ticketing service for small rooms, independent conferences, and recurring workshops. Organizers publish events, sell tickets through their own Stripe account, manage attendee details, email buyers, check tickets at the door, and export their records. CrabGate costs $99 USD a year, plus Stripe's card fees.
- Who is CrabGate for?
- CrabGate is for organizers who already reach their audience through a mailing list, regulars, or a community. It provides a ticket shop and check-in tools; it does not provide a marketplace that finds buyers for you. See rooms, conferences, or workshops for the workflow that fits your events.
- Do I need my own Stripe account?
- Yes, to sell paid tickets. You connect your own Stripe account during setup. Ticket money goes to that account; CrabGate never holds it. Your CrabGate subscription is a separate yearly payment. See our price and payment terms.
- Do buyers need an account?
- No. Buyers choose tickets and pay through Stripe without creating an account. Their order page holds their tickets and attendee details. Organizers manage orders in the Back Office and can check attendees in with a phone camera or a name search.
- Can I sell a course pass for recurring workshops?
- CrabGate schedules weekly, fortnightly, or monthly workshops as a Series, but each date is a separate event with its own tickets, capacity, and orders. Buyers book one date at a time. Course passes, memberships, and waitlists are not available. Read more about recurring workshops.
Built with
The tools and infrastructure behind CrabGate.
Rust logo © Rust Foundation, used under CC BY 4.0.
CrabGate is $99 a year. The pricing page has everything it costs.
Considering a switch? Compare CrabGate as an Eventbrite alternative, or use the Eventbrite fee calculator to check buyer-paid and organizer-paid fees.
Preparing your first event? Follow the small-event ticketing guide or use the workshop registration template.