Compare
Places vs ThunderTix
ThunderTix is a theatre suite you keep paying in the dark months. We needed tools that cost nothing until a seat sells. Places is $1 a reserved seat.
What you pay per ticket
Places is $1. We made it that simple. The slider starts at the industry-average ticket price.
Starts at $25.00, the industry-average community-theatre ticket this comparison uses.
Places
$1.00
Always $1
ThunderTix reserved
$1.25
$1.25 reserved
Their GA line is $1.00 plus $20 per month. Reserved also publishes $25 per month. Monthly minimums are not in the per-ticket number.
A volunteer house goes dark between shows. ThunderTix has been selling theatre tickets since 2005. Prices on a page. A chart you pay to build. Nightly payout claims. That is a real suite.
It still was not the tool for a Saturday in January when nothing is on sale.
Why it didn’t work for us
ThunderTix reserved seating is $1.25 per ticket plus $25 a month (as of 21 Aug 2026). GA is $1.00 plus $20 a month. Seat charts are $0.55 a seat with a $250 minimum. Those monthly lines stay on in dark months.
We needed tools that cost nothing until somebody actually buys a seat. We needed a seating chart a volunteer can keep current, not a paid build sitting on top of a paid tier. Their own vs-Ludus page (as of 19 Aug 2026) already sends junior-high programs, one-show church productions, and small rural community theatres to Ludus instead. That is our size of house, and we still have to get the door open on a night when the ticket page has failed.
So we built the simpler shape: free tools, a dollar on a reserved seat, and nothing at all owed in a month with no show in it.
Published ThunderTix pricing (their page)
From ThunderTix pricing as of 21 Aug 2026:
- GA: $1.00 + $20/mo (first 20 in that tier)
- Reserved: $1.25 + $25/mo
- White Glove: $1.95 + $195/mo
- K-12: $0.65 + 3.5% including processing on their Stripe path
- Seat-map: $0.55/seat, $250 minimum; they say nonprofit discounts are available on request
The calculator at the top uses their reserved line, because that is the ticket Places charges a dollar for. Note that ThunderTix already publishes a $1 GA line, and we are not going to dress that up as a difference. The difference is the monthly charge underneath it, the $250 minimum to get your chart drawn, and what those add up to across a season with two productions in it.
What we made instead
Door night. No lock that turns the house into a laptop and a spreadsheet. A setup a volunteer house can keep. Production work before the doors open. See when the ticket page dies and volunteer box office.
| ThunderTix (sourced) | Places | |
|---|---|---|
| Per-ticket line | $1.25 reserved, $1.00 GA | $1 reserved; GA free for small events for a limited time |
| Between shows | Monthly minimum on published GA and reserved tiers | Tools stay free until a ticket sells |
| Seat chart | $0.55/seat, $250 minimum | We are building the chart into the tools |
If their suite already fits your house and the monthly line is not a problem, use it. If you are the volunteer keeping a house alive through the months when nothing is on sale, that is who we built this for.
Frequently asked questions
- What do you pay on ThunderTix, and what do you pay on Places?
- Places is $1 a reserved seat, and the tools stay free until someone buys one. ThunderTix reserved seating publishes $1.25 per ticket plus $25 a month, as of 21 Aug 2026. The calculator uses that reserved line.
- Why not ThunderTix?
- A volunteer house goes dark between shows. ThunderTix reserved seating publishes $1.25 per ticket plus $25 a month, and seat charts are $0.55 a seat with a $250 minimum (as of 21 Aug 2026). We needed tools that cost nothing until someone buys a seat.
- What does ThunderTix publish for general admission?
- Their pricing page, as of 21 Aug 2026, lists GA at $1.00 plus $20 per month for the first twenty performances in that tier.