---
title: "Conference registration and ticketing on your own Stripe account (2026)"
description: "What selling conference tickets on your own Stripe account means: direct charges, who holds the money, refunds, payouts, fees and setup in AgendaForge."
canonical: "https://agendaforge.app/blog/conference-ticketing-on-your-own-stripe-account"
last-updated: 2026-11-02
---
# Conference registration and ticketing on your own Stripe account (2026)
> What selling conference tickets on your own Stripe account means: direct charges, who holds the money, refunds, payouts, fees and setup in AgendaForge.
Canonical page: https://agendaforge.app/blog/conference-ticketing-on-your-own-stripe-account
Last reviewed or updated: 2026-11-02
Content type: article

Author: The AgendaForge team
Published: 2026-11-02

## Key takeaways

- "Your own Stripe account" means direct charges: each ticket payment is created on the organizer's Stripe account, lands in the organizer's Stripe balance and pays out on the organizer's Stripe schedule. The software only takes an application fee.
- The other common model is a platform that charges the buyer on its own account and pays the organizer later. Ask any vendor which one they use, because it decides who holds the cash, who funds refunds and who answers disputes.
- AgendaForge sells conference tickets with direct charges on your Standard Stripe account, plus USDC on Base to your wallet and free tickets that need neither. It never holds ticket money.
- AgendaForge's fee: none on the first 250 paid tickets of a Core event or 1,000 of a Pro event, then 1% of each paid ticket, capped at $20. Stripe's processing fee is billed to your Stripe account separately.
- Setup takes three steps in the event's Ticketing area: connect or create a Stripe account, create ticket types, publish the ticket page. Check-in runs from a browser, an iPad kiosk or the Check-In app.

## Where AgendaForge stands

- Published price: Core $2,000 and Pro $4,000 per event on the pricing page, with ticketing included in both.
- Card payments are direct charges on your own Standard Stripe account; AgendaForge receives only its published ticket fee, as an application fee on the same charge.
- No platform fee on the first 250 paid tickets (Core) or 1,000 (Pro), then 1% per paid ticket capped at $20. Free tickets and comps never count.
- Buyers can also pay in USDC on Base from their own wallet to yours, side by side with cards on the same ticket page.
- The same event runs the call for speakers, agenda, speakers, sponsors and check-in, so every buyer lands in the same contacts as your speakers.
- Not for you yet if you need ticket prices in a currency other than US dollars, or sales tax and VAT calculated on tickets: AgendaForge does neither today.

Search for conference registration software with Stripe and nearly every tool says it "works
with Stripe". That phrase covers two very different arrangements, and the difference decides who
holds your ticket money for the months between the on-sale and the event. This guide explains
both, the questions to ask a vendor, and how to set up ticketing on your own Stripe account in
AgendaForge, from connecting Stripe to scanning the first attendee in.

## Two ways software can "use Stripe"

Stripe's platform product, Connect, lets software take payments for its customers. Stripe
describes several charge types; the two that matter for an organizer are these.

**Direct charges (your own account).** The software creates the charge on your Stripe account.
In [Stripe's own words](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/charges), with this charge type "the
payment appears in the connected account's balance, not in your platform's balance", and
"refunds and chargebacks reduce the connected account's balance". The software can take an
application fee from each charge. Stripe recommends this type for software-as-a-service
platforms and for accounts with the full Stripe dashboard.

**Platform charges (their account).** The software creates the charge on its own Stripe account
and moves your share to you, either immediately or later. Stripe's names for these are
destination charges and separate charges and transfers. With both, refunds and chargebacks come
out of the platform's balance first, and the platform decides when and how it recovers them
from you.

Neither model is wrong, and plenty of good ticketing tools use the second one. They simply put
the money in different places:

| Question | Direct charges on your account | Charges on the platform's account |
|---|---|---|
| Where the payment lands | Your Stripe balance | The platform's balance |
| When you can pay it out | On your Stripe payout schedule | When the platform transfers it |
| Who funds a refund | Your Stripe balance | The platform, then recovered from you |
| Who receives a dispute | Your Stripe account | The platform's account |
| What the software earns | An application fee on each charge | Its fee, kept before paying you |

### Questions to ask any ticketing vendor

1. Is the ticket charge created on my Stripe account or on yours?
2. Is the money in my balance the moment a buyer pays, or paid out to me later? If later, when?
3. Who issues refunds, and from whose balance?
4. If a buyer disputes a charge, whose account does the bank contact?
5. What is your fee per ticket, and do you show it to buyers?
6. Can I keep using a Stripe account I already have?

## Who holds the money with direct charges

With direct charges the answer is simple: you do. The buyer pays, the charge succeeds on your
account, and the money is in your Stripe balance. Stripe pays it to your bank on whatever payout
schedule your account already has. The software never receives the ticket revenue, so it never
has to decide when to release it.

The flip side is that you own what happens after the sale. Refunds come out of your balance, a
disputed charge is raised against your account, and Stripe's own dispute fees apply to you
(Stripe's [US pricing page](https://stripe.com/pricing) lists $15.00 for each dispute received).

## Fees: two lines, kept separate

On direct charges there are two fees, and they come from different companies.

**Stripe's processing fee** is billed by Stripe to your account. Stripe's standard US rate on
its [pricing page](https://stripe.com/pricing) is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for
domestic cards, plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% if currency conversion is required.
Your own account may have a different rate; whatever it is applies here, because the charge is
yours.

**AgendaForge's ticket fee** is published on the [pricing page](/pricing#tickets):

| | Core | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Paid tickets with no platform fee | First 250 | First 1,000 |
| After that | 1% of each paid ticket, capped at $20 | 1% of each paid ticket, capped at $20 |
| Free tickets and comps | Never count | Never count |

The fee is fixed on the order at checkout, it is the same for cards and USDC, and the cap is per
ticket, so a $3,000 ticket pays $20. To compare the total cost of a real on-sale with other
ticketing tools, use the [ticketing fee calculator](/tools/ticketing-fee-calculator). The full
breakdown, including what happens on refunds and disputes, is in
[Where your ticket money goes](/blog/where-your-ticket-money-goes).

## Refunds and payouts in practice

- **Refunds** are issued from the event's Orders page, in full or in part. Stripe takes the
  amount from your balance; if the balance is short, Stripe holds the refund as pending until
  funds arrive, and Orders shows it as pending.
- **Fees on refunds.** AgendaForge's fee on a refunded ticket is not returned, and Stripe's
  pricing page says the processing fees from the original transaction are not returned either.
  A refunded paid ticket still counts toward your allowance, so refunding and reselling a seat
  cannot reset it.
- **Disputes** are recorded on the order so your team sees them. While one is open the order
  cannot be refunded, so the buyer is not paid twice, and a lost dispute cancels that order's
  tickets.
- **Payouts** stay in Stripe. The Payments page shows what you have collected and, once
  AgendaForge has read it from Stripe, your next payout. Disconnecting Stripe is held back until
  every card order is outside its dispute window, so you can still refund a buyer who asks.

## Setting it up in AgendaForge

Ticketing is part of every Core and Pro event. Open the event's **Ticketing** area and choose
**Sell on AgendaForge**.

### 1. Connect Stripe

The Connect Stripe step offers two doors. If you already have a Stripe account, continue with
it: Stripe opens, you sign in and approve AgendaForge, and you come straight back. If you do not,
pick your business country and choose **Set up payouts**; Stripe's own onboarding collects your
business details (about five minutes) and returns you to the event.

Either way the account is a Standard Stripe account in your name with the full Stripe dashboard.
The Stripe checkout page shows the logo and colours set in your Stripe account. Cards switch on
by themselves once Stripe has enabled charges and payouts; until then the step tells you what is
left to finish in Stripe.

Want stablecoin as well, or instead? Add **USDC on Base** by verifying a payout wallet with a
free signature. Buyers then choose at checkout, and each order settles on its own path.

### 2. Create ticket types

Each ticket type is free or paid, with a capacity, a sale start and end, and a minimum and
maximum per order. You can choose whether buyers see how many are left, and add:

- **Promo codes:** a percentage or fixed amount off, limited to certain types, with a redemption
  cap and expiry, or a single-use comp locked to one email.
- **Access codes** that reveal a hidden ticket type (speaker, sponsor or staff passes).
- **A waitlist** per ticket type for when a type sells out.
- **Sell by request:** an approval-required type sends a request, and the buyer pays only after
  your team approves it.
- **Attendee questions** answered for each ticket before payment, saved on the attendee.

### 3. Choose how fees show and publish the page

On the Payments page, choose **Absorb fees** (buyers see one price) or **Pass fees on** (a
separate Fees line at checkout). Then design the hosted ticket page with your logo, cover, colours
and font, your agenda and speakers pulled straight from the event, and press Publish changes.
Share the link or download its QR code. On Pro, the ticket page can run on your own domain and
ticket emails can come from your own email domain.

## After the sale: registration data and the door

Every buyer gets a ticket email with one QR code per ticket and a calendar file, and becomes a
contact in the same directory as your speakers, sponsors and submitters. Group buyers can assign
each ticket to a guest, and buyers can sign in to My tickets with a code sent to their email to
resend, transfer or build a personal schedule. The [event registration](/use-cases/event-registration)
page covers the registration side in more detail.

At the door, the Check-in page scans QR codes from any laptop or phone browser, turns volunteer
phones into scanners with a join code (no AgendaForge account needed), locks an iPad into self
check-in with a kiosk code, and prints badges on scan. The AgendaForge Check-In app for iPhone and
Android joins with the same codes and keeps scanning in flow mode when the connection drops. The
step-by-step door plan is in [How to run check-in at a conference](/blog/how-to-run-conference-check-in).

## What it does not do yet

- Ticket prices are in **US dollars** only.
- AgendaForge **does not calculate sales tax or VAT** on tickets.
- Card payments are not available for Stripe accounts in **Brazil**; USDC is.

If one of those rules it out, you can keep selling where you sell today and still run the program
and the door on AgendaForge: [Luma](/integrates-with/luma) and
[Ticket Tailor](/integrates-with/ticket-tailor) connect directly, and tickets sold anywhere else
can be imported from a spreadsheet.

Ticketing is included in every event, priced per event on the [pricing page](/pricing).
## Frequently asked questions

### What does "ticketing on your own Stripe account" mean?

It means the ticket payment is a charge on the organizer's Stripe account, not on the software vendor's. Stripe calls this a direct charge: the payment appears in your Stripe dashboard, your balance goes up with every sale, and Stripe pays you out on your own schedule. The vendor's fee is taken from the same charge as an application fee.

### Does AgendaForge hold my ticket money until after the event?

No. Card payments are created on your own Stripe account, so the money is in your Stripe balance as soon as the buyer pays and goes to your bank on your Stripe payout schedule. USDC goes from the buyer's wallet to the wallet you set for the event. AgendaForge receives only its ticket fee.

### Can I use the Stripe account I already have?

Yes. From the event's Ticketing setup you can connect an existing Stripe account, or create a new one through Stripe's own onboarding after choosing your business country. Either way it is a Standard account in your name with the full Stripe dashboard. Stripe does not let AgendaForge collect its fee from accounts in Brazil, so card payments are unavailable there; USDC works.

### Who pays Stripe's processing fee, and can I pass it on to buyers?

Stripe bills its processing fee to your Stripe account, the same as any payment you take directly. On the event's Payments page you choose Absorb fees, so buyers see one price, or Pass fees on, which adds a separate Fees line at checkout. AgendaForge's own fee is never shown to buyers.

### How do refunds work when the charge is on my account?

You refund from the Orders page in AgendaForge, in full or in part, and Stripe takes the money from your Stripe balance. If the balance is short, Stripe marks the refund pending until funds arrive, and AgendaForge shows the pending status. AgendaForge's fee on a refunded ticket is not returned, and Stripe's pricing page says its processing fees on the original payment are not returned either.

### Can buyers register for free, or pay without a card?

Yes. A free ticket type needs no Stripe account and never counts toward the fee allowance. Buyers who prefer stablecoin can pay in USDC on Base from their own wallet, with no network gas to pay, and card and USDC can be offered on the same page.

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