Revel

Revel is an open-source platform for running events and the communities around them. It suits clubs, collectives, independent venues, and activity-based organizations that need ticketing alongside memberships or classes. Choose it for that breadth and the option to self-host; look elsewhere if you want a narrowly focused billing product or a fully managed stack without infrastructure responsibilities.

Overview

Revel handles free and paid tickets, ticket tiers, reserved seating, and QR check-in, then extends into memberships, class passes, members-only events, and potluck coordination. That combination can replace several separate tools for a community organization, while theaters and other venues gain a seat-map designer, zone pricing, and QR door scanning.

Custom questionnaires can screen attendees before an event address is revealed, which fits private or selectively attended gatherings. Organizers can place listings, individual events, or event series on their own websites with an embed script, iframe, or oEmbed integration. The MIT license allows self-hosting; Docker deployment and a REST API documented with OpenAPI make that option practical for teams able to operate their own service.

Key features

Ticketing and venue operations

Reserved seating, seat maps, and zone pricing are meaningful advantages for theaters and venues that need sales to reflect their physical layout. QR check-in and door scanning streamline admission. For a simple free meetup, those controls may be more machinery than necessary, but they give larger or seated events a stronger operational foundation.

Community management

Memberships, class passes, and members-only events support recurring activity rather than just one-off sales. Potluck coordination is a useful community-specific touch. These tools make Revel a better fit for clubs, gyms, yoga studios, dance schools, choirs, supper clubs, book circles, and queer or kink collectives than a conventional event-listing service.

Integrations and privacy

Stripe processes payments, while Google OAuth handles sign-in. Telegram notifications and Apple Wallet downloads can extend communication and ticket handling; optional OpenAI questionnaire evaluation is available for screening workflows. Revel says it does not use tracking or analytics cookies, sell data, or retain card and bank-account numbers, and stores user data in Germany. HTTPS/TLS, encrypted databases and file storage, JWT authentication, optional two-factor authentication, PBKDF2 password hashing, and ClamAV scanning form a substantial security baseline.

Pricing

Self-hosted

The self-hosted plan costs nothing and is MIT-licensed, with no platform fees or monthly costs. You pay separately for infrastructure and Stripe processing, and you remain responsible for deployment and operation. It is the strongest fit for technically capable organizations that prioritize control and predictable software charges.

Hosted platform fees

Hosted use costs €0.50, paid once, with a charge of 3% plus €0.50 only when Revel processes a payment. Free events cost €0, while cash or wire transfers managed in the dashboard are free. Fees exclude VAT where applicable. This model suits organizers who want Revel to host the service and whose paid-event volume justifies transaction charges, but it is less attractive when margins are tight or infrastructure is already available in-house. Failed-payment recovery and refunds are supported, and billing frequency is flexible.

Platforms

Revel is offered as a web service, an API, and self-hosted software. The API and Docker deployment favor organizations with development or operations resources; web access is the straightforward route for hosted administration.

Who it's for

Choose Revel for a community, club, venue, theater, gym, studio, school, choir, or collective combining events with ongoing membership or class activity. Its screening and members-only options also suit private gatherings. A team wanting only gym billing, or unwilling to manage self-hosted infrastructure and transaction costs, should consider a more specialized service.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Broad community scope: ticketing, memberships, class passes, and restricted events live together.
• Venue-ready sales: seat maps, reserved seating, zone pricing, and QR scanning support physical events.
• Deployment choice: MIT-licensed self-hosting avoids platform fees, while hosted use remains available.
• Privacy posture: no tracking cookies or data sales, German storage, and layered authentication and encryption controls.
• Flexible distribution: embeddable listings and events, REST API access, Telegram notifications, and Apple Wallet downloads.

Cons

• Operational burden for self-hosting: infrastructure and Stripe costs remain separate, so the free software price is not the total cost.
• Transaction charges on hosted payments: 3% plus €0.50 can weigh on frequent or low-margin paid events.
• Broad rather than specialized: organizations seeking dedicated membership billing may find a focused alternative more suitable.

Alternatives

For a wider shortlist, see Event Management Software. A gym focused on recurring member billing can compare Gym Membership Billing Software.

• Gym141 is a freemium, MIT-licensed self-hosted option with a free plan for up to 25 active members and apps across Android, iOS, web, and Windows; choose it when a small gym needs a member cap and a full feature set.
• Clubworx offers a free plan for up to 20 active members with online booking, payments, messaging, and self check-in across Android, iOS, and web; it is the clearer choice for a small club wanting a hosted, member-count-limited setup.
• Fitnito has a free starter plan limited to one location, one program, one pass type, five staff members, and two weekly recurring sessions; pick it for a small studio with tightly bounded scheduling needs.
• BoxBoard provides a free iOS and web plan for up to five members with workout scheduling and tracking; it fits a tiny garage gym rather than a ticketed community venue.
• Gym Assistant is a paid Windows product with a free plan and free trial.
• ClubWise is a paid service available on Android, iOS, web, and API.
• Sport School Manager offers a $89 USD/month School Plan with unlimited students, priority support, dedicated onboarding, and a 90-day trial; choose it when those school-oriented services matter more than event ticketing.
• Unison Payment Solutions uses custom interchange-plus pricing for organizations primarily seeking payment processing.

Verdict

Revel is a strong choice for community-led organizations and independent venues that want ticketing, admissions, memberships, and classes in one system, with the freedom to self-host. Its main reason to look elsewhere is cost and responsibility: hosted paid events incur transaction fees, while self-hosting shifts infrastructure and operational work to you.