The reserved-seating layer for teams outgrowing TicketLeap's seat builder.
TicketLeap is a capable free ticketing platform with a built-in seat builder. SeatLayer isn't a TicketLeap replacement — it's the seating layer you reach for when the seat map is the product. Keep your own site and checkout; add a true-geometry venue designer, live inventory that can't double-sell, and a branded picker under 150 KB that lives in your stack, not on a hosted page.
Where TicketLeap's seat builder stops.
TicketLeap's free seat builder is real and well made — you overlay seats on an uploaded venue image and get sections, tables, ADA, GA, holds and per-section pricing. The difference is architectural. Four places where a seating layer built as infrastructure goes further.
Seats drawn on a picture vs true geometry.
TicketLeap's builder layers seats over an image you upload — the map is only as accurate as the picture behind it. Curved rows and precise arcs are approximated by hand.
Buyers pick on TicketLeap, not your site.
TicketLeap's seat picker lives on TicketLeap-hosted pages. Buyers select and pay there — which is fine, until you want the seat map inside your own site and checkout flow.
Nothing documented to build on.
We found no published, documented seating-chart API for the TicketLeap seat builder. If you're a platform or dev team, there's nothing to integrate against or own inventory through.
No stated multi-floor or scale story.
We found no documented multi-floor support or render-scale figure for TicketLeap's builder — a gap once you're mapping an arena bowl or a stacked, multi-deck venue.
TicketLeap is a full ticketing platform. SeatLayer is a seating layer.
These aren't the same product, and pretending otherwise would waste your time. TicketLeap (owned by Leap Event Technology) runs the whole event; SeatLayer does one layer, deeply. Here's the honest division of labor.
TicketLeap
Everything it takes to sell tickets and run the door, in one free account.
- Ticket checkout & payment processing built in
- Event marketing pages & listings
- A box-office app for counter and phone sales
- Barcode door scanning (free iOS + Android)
- Reporting, plus its own free drag-and-drop seat builder
SeatLayer
The reserved-seating experience — done as infrastructure — that plugs into the rest.
- A parametric true-geometry venue Designer + 50 templates
- Live inventory that can't double-sell (WS snapshot + delta)
- An embeddable branded picker & hosted seat-selection page
- A seating-chart API + webhooks to build on
- Automatic level-of-detail for large venues, plus 2D + stacked 3D multi-floor
Our honest recommendation: if you want one free tool that sells tickets, takes payment and scans at the door — and TicketLeap's seat builder is enough — stay on TicketLeap. SeatLayer is for teams whose events live or die on the seat map, and who want to own that map in their own site and stack.
Already selling on TicketLeap? Run SeatLayer as the seat layer on your next on-sale without moving your whole operation — keep TicketLeap for what it does well, and reach for SeatLayer where the seat map is the product.
Want a full ticketing platform instead? Honest answer: look at TicketSpice, Ticket Tailor, Ticketsauce or SimpleTix — capable all-in-one tools. Then, if the seat map is the part that matters, pair any of them (or your own checkout) with SeatLayer as the seating layer.
How teams use SeatLayer instead.
SeatLayer holds the seat inventory and renders the picker. What sits around it — checkout, marketing, the door — is up to you. Three common shapes:
Your own site + your checkout
Run your event on your own site with Stripe or whatever checkout you already trust. Embed the SeatLayer picker so buyers choose real seats, then hand the selection to your cart.
A ticketing platform that embeds us
Already run a ticketing product? Add reserved seating without building a renderer. Embed the Designer and picker, own inventory over the API, and keep your own payment and account layer.
Box office + a hosted seat page
For simple on-sales, skip the build entirely. Send buyers to a hosted /e/:key seat-selection page, and run counter and phone sales from the box-office console.
Reserved-seating capability, compared.
| Capability | SeatLayer | TicketLeap |
|---|---|---|
| Seat-map construction | Parametric vector designer, true arc geometry, auto-outline | Drag-and-drop; seats layered over an uploaded venue image |
| Tables, GA, ADA, holds | ✓ full set + 8-type accessibility taxonomy, including CART | ✓ tables (round + rectangular), ADA, GA, box-office holds |
| Per-seat pricing & labels | ✓ | Not documented (per-section documented) |
| Picker embedded in YOUR site + checkout | ✓ <150KB JS / React / iframe | Buyers select & pay on TicketLeap-hosted pages |
| Seating-chart API + webhooks | ✓ | Not documented |
| Multi-floor / 3D | ✓ 2D switch + stacked 3D | Not documented |
| Large-venue rendering | Automatic level-of-detail; no public FPS benchmark | Not documented |
| Realtime no-double-sell | ✓ one serialization point per event | Platform-managed |
| Buyer languages | en / es / de / fr | Not documented |
| Full checkout & payments | — bring your own (that's the point) | ✓ built in ($1 + 2% + 3% txn online) |
| Door scanning app | — | ✓ free iOS + Android |
| Pricing model | Usage credits: 1 = 1 sold seat, 8¢→5¢, 100 free/mo, never a % of ticket | $1 + 2% + 3% txn; $0.49 ≤$5; $20 cap on ticketing-fee portion; free events free; no subscription |
TicketLeap capabilities summarised from its public pricing and reserved-seating pages, July 2026. "Not documented" means no public statement found, not impossibility.
The event control room that comes with the seating layer.
This is a real SeatLayer event operating in the browser — seats held, sold and blocked in realtime, from a single serialization point per event so the same seat can never go to two buyers.
50 templates open straight into the Designer.
Theatres, arenas, banquet rounds, festival GA — start from a real layout, not an uploaded image, and publish in an afternoon.
TicketLeap alternative FAQ.
Is TicketLeap free, and how does SeatLayer pricing compare?
They're genuinely different bills. TicketLeap is a full ticketing platform with published fees of $1 + 2% + 3% per paid ticket online (or $0.49 on tickets $5 and under), with a $20 cap on the ticketing-fee portion; free events are free and there's no subscription. SeatLayer isn't a ticketing platform — it charges usage credits for the seating layer only: 1 credit per sold seat, 8¢ down to 5¢ at volume, 100 free every month, never a percentage of the ticket. You still bring your own checkout and payment processing.
Does TicketLeap have reserved seating?
Yes. TicketLeap has a real, free drag-and-drop seat builder: you lay seats over an uploaded venue image and can set up sections, round and rectangular tables, ADA seating, general-admission areas, box-office holds and per-section pricing. It's capable. SeatLayer differs on how the map is built and where it lives — parametric true-arc geometry instead of image overlay, and a picker you embed in your own site rather than one hosted on TicketLeap.
Can I keep my own website and checkout and just add seat selection?
Yes — that's SeatLayer's whole model. Buyers pick seats in a <150KB embedded widget on your own page, your backend confirms the sale through the API, and your payment and customer data never leave your stack. On TicketLeap, buyers select and pay on TicketLeap-hosted pages.
What's the best TicketLeap alternative?
If you want another full ticketing platform: TicketSpice, Ticket Tailor, Ticketsauce and SimpleTix are all capable all-in-one tools. If the seat map itself is the part that matters, SeatLayer is a seat-map-first seating layer you pair with any checkout — including those platforms or your own site.
Can SeatLayer handle a large or multi-floor venue?
Yes. Automatic level-of-detail keeps large venue maps readable as buyers zoom, with a 2D floor switch and a stacked 3D deck view for multi-floor venues.
Does SeatLayer replace TicketLeap entirely?
No. SeatLayer has no checkout, no payment processing and no door-scanning app — it's the seating layer, not a ticketing platform. If TicketLeap's built-in seat builder is enough for you, stay on TicketLeap. Reach for SeatLayer when the seat map is the product and you want to own it in your own stack.
Keep TicketLeap. Own the seat map.
Start free with 100 sold seats a month, design a real venue with true geometry, and embed a picker in your own site — then decide with the product in front of you, not a pitch.