Put the seat map inside your product.
The browser shows the map and holds seats. Your server checks the hold, takes payment and confirms the booking. Orders, customers and refunds stay in your system.
SeatLayer for ticketing platforms →SEATS.IO ALTERNATIVE
The seats.io alternative with a lower seat price and ticketing built in.
SeatLayer is a seat map SDK like seats.io. You pay $0.10 per sold seat, down to $0.05 at volume, and credits you buy never expire. If you also want to sell the tickets, checkout on your own site, a box office, refunds and door check-in come with it.
- 100 free sold seats every month
- No yearly contract
- Paste a seats.io event page to copy the chart
GRAND THEATRE · BUYER MAP
LIVE DEMO
100 free seats a monththen $0.10 → $0.05 per sold seat
Credits never expirebuy once, use them when seats sell
Chart import in one pasteseats.io event page → editable draft
Ticketing includedcheckout, box office, refunds, door
PRICE
Pay for seats you sell. Keep what you don't use.
seats.io sells yearly plans of used seats, and unused seats expire when the contract year ends. SeatLayer credits are bought when you need them and never expire. Every organization also gets 100 free sold seats each month.
- $0.10 per sold seat when you buy 500 credits for $50
- $0.05 per sold seat on the largest pack
- No subscription, contract or minimum
ONE PRODUCT, EVERY WAY TO SELL
Use SeatLayer the way your business works.
Start with one way and add more later. It is the same venue chart and the same live seats every time, so nothing has to be rebuilt.
Sell on your own website
Checkout on your page, paid into your own gateway. $0.50 a ticket.
Sell on your website →WordPress plugin
Free plugin. Pick the event from a list and the seat map appears on the page.
Get the plugin →Inside your own product
Add the seat map to your platform with the SDK. Your server keeps checkout and orders.
See the SDK →In your mobile app
Native SDKs put the same seat map inside your iPhone and Android apps.
Mobile SDK guide ↗Under your brand
Embed the Designer and the live control panel so your organizers never leave your product.
See the control panel ↓Through partners
Give sponsors and agencies their own seats and login, and track each channel.
See sales channels ↓At the box office
Staff sell from the same live map and print tickets on 80 mm or A4.
See the box office →Built with AI
Describe the venue to Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude, or upload a floor plan. No chart tool to learn, and you review before anything is published.
See AI chart building →
SIDE BY SIDE
SeatLayer and seats.io, point by point.
seats.io facts come from its public pricing and docs, checked 5 Sep 2026. For the full feature grid, see SeatLayer vs seats.io.
| Feature | SeatLayer | seats.io |
|---|---|---|
| SDK pricing: seat map in your own product | ||
| Price per seat | $0.10 → $0.05per sold seat | €0.18per used seat, Silver |
| What counts | Sold seats onlyheld or abandoned seats are free | Used seatsselected, booked or assigned |
| Unused seats | Never expire | Expireat the end of the plan period |
| Plan or contract | None100 free sold seats a month | Monthly or yearly planSilver €450 a year |
| Build the venue | ||
| Free chart maker | Yesstart without signing up | Not stated |
| Venue templates | 58 free templatestheatres, arenas, stadiums, clubs | Not stated |
| AI builds the chart | From a description or a floor planCopilot, ChatGPT or Claude; you review before publishing | Not stated |
| Import existing plans | PDF, SVG and DXFtrace a PDF or bring vector shapes | Plan imagetrace it, or scan for seats |
| Rows, sections, tables, booths, GA | Yeswith floors | Yeswith floors |
| Accessible seats | Yesshown to buyers as a filter | Yes |
| Buyer experience | ||
| Buyers pick seats on phone and desktop | Yestouch and pinch-to-zoom | Yes |
| Best available | Yes | Yes |
| 3D and view from seat | Every chart, automaticallyon every plan, no conversion step | Opt-in since 22 Sep 2026each chart converted in the designer |
| Buyer languages | 37 | 37 |
| Stadium scale | 200,000 seats in 1.95 s10,000 buyers at once, 9 ms hold | Published case studies |
| Hosted ticketing: sell on your own website | ||
| Price per ticket | $0.50no percentage, first 25 free | Not offered |
| Checkout on your website | Yespaid into your own gateway | Bring your own |
| Payment gateways | 14, paid to your accountStripe, PayPal, Square and 11 more | Bring your own |
| QR and PDF tickets | Yesemailed for every seat | Bring your own |
| Box office counter | Yessame live map, 80 mm or A4 | Bring your own |
| Refunds | Yesa whole order or one ticket | Bring your own |
| Door check-in | Yesfrom any phone browser | Bring your own |
| WordPress plugin | Freeblock or shortcode | Not stated |
| For platforms | ||
| Web, mobile and server SDKs | YesReact, Vue, Angular, iOS, Android, Flutter, RN | Yes |
| Embed the Designer | Yesin your own admin | Yes |
| Embed a live control panel | Yessales, holds and blocks in real time | Event Manager |
| Sales channels | Yespartners get their own login and reports | Yes |
| Season tickets | Yes2 to 20 events, same seat, renewals | Yes |
| REST API and webhooks | Yessigned webhooks | Yes |
| AI agents (MCP) | Designer and buyer tools | Not stated |
| Large accounts | ||
| Custom agreement | Above 100,000sold seats a month | From 20,000used seats a month, with minimums |
IncludedNot includedNot stated by seats.ioseats.io facts from its public pages, checked September 2026
Check it yourself: Quickstart OpenAPI SDK source on GitHub Live demo venues
- 200,000seats on one map, ready in 1.95 sOpen the stadium →
- 100,000seats in a public arena you can tryOpen the arena →
- 10,000buyers on one event, zero server errors
- 9 msto hold a seat under that load (p99)
Tested on public venue files with simulated buyers, September 2026. How we measured loading · How we measured buyers · Every run on GitHub
MOVING FROM SEATS.IO
Don't redraw your venue. Paste the event page.
Paste the public buyer-page URL of any seats.io event. SeatLayer reads the public chart and makes an editable draft. It never publishes the result automatically.
- 01
Paste the event page
Or enter the public workspace key, event key and region. Never a secret key.
- 02
Check the draft
Sections, rows, seats, labels, price levels and accessible seats come across. Anything unclear is flagged.
- 03
Run both, then switch
Test holds, payment, tickets and the door on the new venue before you move live sales.
What moves: the chart. The import does not transfer the seats.io account, event record, orders, tickets, customers, payments, or private dashboard data.
TWO WAYS TO USE IT
Keep your own checkout, or let SeatLayer sell the tickets.
Both use the same venue chart and live seats. seats.io offers only the first way.
Sell seated events on your own website.
Connect the organizer's payment gateway keys so payment goes to its account. You get checkout on your site, QR and PDF tickets, refunds, a box office counter and door check-in. $0.50 per confirmed ticket, the first 25 free.
- No percentage of the ticket price
- SeatLayer is not the merchant of record
Embed the control panel · SDK
Embed the control panel, just like the Designer. Organizers track every seat in real time.
The control panel is a live board for each event. Add it to your admin with the SDK and your organizers watch sales, holds and blocks as they happen, and run the event without leaving your product. Each person sees only the tools you allow.
- Real-time trackingSold, held and free seats, sales heat and live activity, updated as buyers act.
- Block and releaseHold seats with a reason and release them at a set time.
- Open or close sectionsClose, hide or schedule a section or zone.
- Change this event onlyMove seats between price levels, and sell tables whole or by the chair.
- Sales channelsSee and manage seats set aside for partners and presales.
- Reports and auditBooking history, breakdowns, downloads and a full audit trail.
Your server decides each operator's tools; no secret key reaches the browser. Embedded control panel guide ↗
Sales channels & partners
Invite partners and run every sales channel from one dashboard.
Big events rarely sell through one door. Set aside seats for sponsors, agencies, presales and the box office, invite each partner with their own login, and watch every channel sell from the same live seat map. It works whether you sell with SeatLayer or through your own checkout with the SDK.
- Set aside exact seatsGive sponsors, agencies or members their own block of seats.
- Invite partnersEach partner gets its own login and role, and sees only its seats.
- Prices per audienceMember or agency prices only where they differ.
- Private linksSend a buyer link for a presale or a group.
- Move unsold seats liveRelease unsold partner seats to the public at a set date.
- Report per channelEach partner sees its own sales; you see everything.
NO LOCK-IN
Your chart stays yours.
- Export the chartDownload the venue layout, price levels and accessible seats at any time.
- Test side by sideRun a copy of the venue on SeatLayer while seats.io keeps selling.
- Your data stays in your systemWith the SDK, orders, customers and payments never leave your product.
seats.io alternative questions
Still have a question? or email hello@seatlayer.io.
Is SeatLayer cheaper than seats.io?
For most teams, yes. Every organization gets 100 free sold seats a month. After that, $50 buys 500 credits, or $0.10 a sold seat, falling to $0.05 on the largest pack, with no contract, and credits you buy never expire. seats.io Silver is €450 a year for 2,500 used seats, or €0.18 each if you use them all, and unused seats expire at the end of the contract year. The two count seats differently, so compare with your own sales.
Is there a free seats.io alternative?
Yes. SeatLayer is free for your first 100 sold seats each month, in production, with no card and no contract. Building charts in the Designer is free too. You only pay for seats sold above the free allowance.
How do I migrate from seats.io?
Open Floor plans, choose New floor plan, then Import a public Seats.io event. Paste the public buyer-page URL, or enter the public workspace key, event key and region. SeatLayer makes an editable draft of the chart. Check it before you publish. The import does not transfer the seats.io account, event record, orders, tickets, customers, payments or private dashboard data.
Does SeatLayer sell tickets, or is it only a seat map like seats.io?
Both. Use the SDK and SeatLayer is the seat map inside your own checkout, like seats.io. Or let SeatLayer sell the tickets: checkout on the organizer's own website, payment into the organizer's own Stripe, PayPal, Square, Braintree, Authorize.Net, Checkout.com, Mollie, Razorpay, Tap, Mercado Pago, Xendit, Flutterwave, Paystack or iyzico account, QR and PDF tickets, refunds, a box office counter and door check-in. That costs $0.50 per confirmed ticket, the first 25 free, with no percentage of the ticket price.
Is there a seats.io alternative for React?
Yes. SeatLayer publishes a React package, @seatlayer/react, with the complete SeatPicker for buyers and a headless SeatingChart if you build your own interface. There are also JavaScript, Vue and Angular packages, and SDKs for iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native.
Can I embed the Designer and the control panel in my own product?
Yes. With the SDK you can put the Designer and the control panel inside your own admin. Organizers build their charts there, then watch sales, holds and blocked seats live, open or close sections and pull reports without leaving your product. Your server decides which tools each person gets.
Does SeatLayer have sales channels like seats.io?
Yes. Set exact seats aside for sponsors, agencies, members or the box office, invite each partner with its own login, set prices per audience, send private links, and release unsold seats to the public on a set date. Each partner sees its own sales. It works with the SDK and with hosted ticketing.
Can SeatLayer handle stadiums and arenas?
Yes. On 15 September 2026 a public 200,000-seat stadium was ready to use in 1.95 s, and on 18 September one event took 10,000 buyers at once with zero server errors and a 9 ms seat hold (p99). The stadium and a 100,000-seat arena are public demos you can open.
Can I use SeatLayer through an iframe?
Not for selling. The chart-preview iframe only shows the chart and cannot take bookings. Use the web SDK with your own checkout, or hosted checkout with the organizer's connected payment gateway.
What are the main types of seats.io alternatives?
There are three kinds. Seat map SDKs such as SeatLayer and seatmap.pro add a seat map to your own product. Ticketing sites such as Eventbrite sell tickets for you under their brand. Custom 3D services build one-off venue views for big venues. SeatLayer works both ways: an SDK for your product, or hosted ticketing on your own website.
TRY IT ON ONE VENUE
Import one chart and test it before you switch.
Paste a seats.io event page, check the draft, and run a test sale. It costs nothing to try.