We make Programmable Talk, which works alongside all four rather than replacing them. Prices below were read from each company's own pages in October 2026. They change, so check before you decide.
The short version
| Platform | Best for | What it isn't |
|---|---|---|
| Luma | Community events, startup meetups, invite-led events with a good-looking page | A marketplace with a big public audience of its own |
| Eventbrite | Public events selling tickets, where a marketplace helps | A cheap choice for low-price paid tickets |
| Meetup | A recurring group in one place, finding members who search for it | A one-off event tool, or free for organizers |
| Zoom | Running the session itself online, with registration and attendance | A way to promote it to anyone new |
What a ticket really costs
For free events, Luma and Eventbrite don't charge. Eventbrite says that free events carry no fees. Luma's free plan charges its 5% platform fee only on paid events, and it limits you to 500 invites or newsletters a week.
Paid tickets are where they differ. Here's the arithmetic for 100 tickets at $50, using the published rates.
| Option | Published rate | Per ticket | On 100 tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luma, free plan | 5% platform fee, plus Stripe at typically 2.9% + 30¢ | $4.25 | $425 |
| Luma Plus | 0% platform fee, plus Stripe, $59 a month billed annually | $1.75 | $175, plus the subscription |
| Eventbrite | 3.7% + $1.79 service fee, plus 2.9% payment processing | about $5.09 | about $509 |
Two things this table doesn't show. On Eventbrite, buyers pay these fees by default, and you can choose to absorb them, so the buyer's total may be what matters to you rather than your own cost. And processing rates vary by country and by how you're paying out.
Luma Plus pays for itself on fees once your ticket sales pass about $1,180 a month, since 5% of that is the $59 subscription. Below that, the free plan costs less unless you need Plus's other features. Those include API access, which you'll want if another tool needs to read or add to your guest list.
Meetup charges organizers rather than attendees, through a monthly subscription whose price varies by location and offer, so check what you'd pay. Zoom's cost depends on your plan and whether you need its webinar product, so compare it on Zoom's own pricing page.
Who brings the audience?
Be honest about where your attendees will come from. Eventbrite and Meetup both have people browsing for things to do, and that can matter for a public workshop or a local group. Luma's discovery is smaller, and it suits hosts who already have an audience and want a good invitation and page. Zoom brings nobody: your registrants all come from your own promotion.
Whichever you choose, most of your registrations will probably come from your own efforts. That's why tracking your ways in matters more than the choice of platform.
What can other tools do with your guest list?
This gets less attention than fees, but it decides how much you can connect later. Here's how it stands in practice, based on what each one's API allows today:
| Platform | Can another tool add a guest? | Can it read guests and attendance? |
|---|---|---|
| Luma | Yes, through the API, which needs Luma Plus | Yes, with Luma Plus |
| Zoom | Yes, for sessions with registration turned on. Each person gets a personal join link | Yes: registrants, and participants after the session |
| Eventbrite | No. People finish on Eventbrite | Yes: attendees, cancellations and check-ins |
| Meetup | No. People RSVP on Meetup | Through its API, which comes with the Pro plan |
How to choose
- A free community event or startup meetup: Luma.
- A paid public event, such as a workshop, class or conference: Eventbrite if the marketplace helps, Luma Plus if your audience is your own and your volumes justify it.
- A monthly local group you want to grow: Meetup.
- A webinar or online training: Zoom for the session, and a page in front of it for promotion.
- A hybrid or a series: often two of these together, such as a Luma page with a Zoom session.
You don't have to move your event to get more from it
None of these four is really built for getting more people to register: they're built to host the event, sell tickets or run the call. If you're on one and it's working, switching platforms rarely fixes a registration problem. The gaps are usually in promotion and follow-through: knowing which channel worked, giving speakers something to share, and following up differently with people who came.
That's the job Programmable Talk does. Your event stays on Luma, Eventbrite, Zoom or Meetup, and you add tracked ways in, one-email registration, reminders and a page for each registrant on top. With a connection, guests go straight into Luma and Zoom. On Eventbrite and Meetup, people finish on the platform and the list comes back, which means there's no need to pick a winner.