SmartScale Events vs Luma
Straight answer: on fees alone, Luma usually costs less. Its free plan takes 5% plus card processing, and Luma Plus ($59/month) takes 0%. SmartScale Events is built for a different job: selling out parties, lounges and ticketed nights with tables, promoters and texting.
Fees, worked out
SmartScale Events: free to create. 3.5% + $1.59 service fee per paid ticket plus card processing, shown to the buyer up front. You choose per event whether buyers pay the fees (below) or you absorb them. Free events are free.
Luma: Free plan: 5% platform fee plus Stripe processing (typically 2.9% + 30¢). Luma Plus: $59/month and 0% platform fee, plus Stripe processing. Luma does not have a setting to pass fees to buyers; you raise the ticket price instead.
| Ticket price | Buyer pays, SmartScale | Buyer pays, Luma | You keep, SmartScale | You keep, Luma |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $17.62 | $15.00 | $14.69 | $13.52 |
| $25 | $28.27 | $25.00 | $24.68 | $22.73 |
| $50 | $54.89 | $50.00 | $49.66 | $45.75 |
| $100 | $108.14 | $100.00 | $99.61 | $91.80 |
One ticket per order, fees passed to the buyer on SmartScale Events. Luma buyers pay the ticket price and the fees come out of your payout. Numbers shown are Luma's free plan; on Luma Plus you'd keep more per ticket but pay $59 a month. Rates checked September 27, 2026 from Luma pricing, Luma Plus, Luma: creating a paid event. Prices change; check their pages for current rates.
Where Luma is better
- Lower total fees, especially on Luma Plus if you sell a lot of tickets each month.
- Calendars people subscribe to, which work well for communities and recurring meetups.
- A polished free tier, in-event chat, and international currencies.
Where SmartScale Events is better
- Fees can be passed to buyers, so you keep nearly all of your ticket price (only Stripe's 30¢ per order comes out).
- Tables, VIP sections, bottle-package pay links and approval-only tickets.
- Promoter links with commission tracking and payouts you mark as paid.
- Tickets and reminders by text, text blasts, and a waitlist that texts people when spots open.
- Offline door scanner for a busy line.
- The AI builder turns a flyer into a finished event, and a ChatGPT / Claude connector runs it.
Switching takes about ten minutes
Upload your flyer or paste your Luma description into the AI builder and the event is rebuilt in about a minute. Keep Luma for community meetups if it works for you, and use SmartScale Events for ticketed nights.
- Create a free organizer account.
- Upload your flyer to the AI builder. It fills in the date, venue, lineup and ticket types, and you fix anything it missed.
- Connect your bank through Stripe so payouts go straight to you.
- Publish, and share your new link.
Build my event free Full pricing
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