Eventually Ticketing
Checkout & Payments

Free vs paid registration flows

Free and paid tickets reach the same guest list, but they take different paths to get there. Free tickets are claimed instantly inside Eventually. Paid tickets go through checkout, either through your Squarespace store or through Stripe. An event can mix both, and each ticket follows its own path in the same order.

Free tickets

A guest picks a free ticket, fills in the registration form, and is registered on the spot. Nothing goes to Squarespace, so no store connection is needed and there is nothing to pay.

This is why free events work on every plan and before you have connected a store at all.

A guest picks a paid ticket and checks out, staying on your own site rather than a third-party ticketing page. Events using Squarespace Payments check out through your Squarespace store: Squarespace Payments takes the payment, and the registration is confirmed when the order reaches Eventually. Events using Stripe check out through Stripe, which takes the payment in-page without a Squarespace store or product.

Paid tickets using Squarespace Payments need a connected Squarespace store. Publish a paid event without one and buyers see a disabled Sales open soon control instead of a purchase button, while any free tickets on the same event keep working normally.

Events with both

When someone buys a mix in one order, what happens to the free tickets depends on your checkout. With Squarespace Commerce checkout, eligible free tickets join the paid checkout in the same cart: they become a $0 line on a single Squarespace order alongside the paid lines. With Stripe checkout, eligible free tickets are registered immediately inline while the paid tickets proceed through Stripe, so there is no combined order. The guest completes one purchase and ends up with every ticket. Free tickets without a synced store variant are the exception and are claimed immediately instead.

Recording free tickets in your store

You can send free tickets through Squarespace checkout as $0 orders, so they appear in your order history next to paid ones. That trades the instant claim for consistent order records.

Two things switch it on for a given ticket: turning on the per-event setting, or having a paid ticket in the same Squarespace Commerce order. See Record free tickets in your store.

What is the same either way

  • Registration questions, and when they are asked. Free registration captures name and email immediately, while paid tickets may collect attendee details after checkout.

  • Confirmation emails, reminders, and calendar links.

  • QR codes and check-in.

  • Capacity, ticket limits, and waitlists.

Eventually never charges a per-ticket fee on either path. Paid tickets using Squarespace Payments carry Squarespace Payments processing fees, which go to Squarespace. Stripe payments carry Stripe processing fees instead.

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