Poetry Slam & Open Mic
Ticket Price Break-Even Calculator

The core formula is: Break-even price = Net costs ÷ Paying tickets, where Net costs = Total expenses − sponsorship − competitor registration fees, and Paying tickets = (Capacity × fill rate) × (1 − free admission %).

If you use Eventbrite and absorb the fees, you also need to add the platform fee per ticket to your effective price. This calculator does all of that algebra for you automatically, and shows the precise per-ticket fee at your chosen price point.

As of 2026, Eventbrite's standard Flex plan charges 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket as a service fee, plus a 2.9% payment processing fee per order. On a $10 ticket, that's roughly $1.66 in fees — about 16.6% of face value.

By default, these fees are added on top of your stated ticket price and paid by the buyer. If you choose to absorb them, your net per ticket drops by the fee amount. Eventbrite does not charge fees on free events.

Community-level open mics typically pay featured poets $50–$200 per performer, sometimes including a travel stipend. A standard rule of thumb is to allocate 20–30% of total revenue to artist compensation (prizes + stipends combined).

Well-established weekly slams (like the Berkeley Poetry Slam) offer cash prizes of $200 weekly. For your first or second event, a $50–$100 stipend is respectable and covers basics without putting your budget at risk.

Venue costs vary widely. Cafés and bars often charge $100–$800 per night for a private function; some prefer a revenue-share arrangement (e.g. a percentage of bar sales or door revenue). Community centres and libraries may be free or charge a nominal $25–$100 fee. Weekends and evenings typically cost more than mid-week slots.

Factor in whether the rental includes a PA system and staff — if not, add sound hire costs separately.

A small registration fee (e.g. $5–$10 per competing poet) is common at competitive slams — it generates a small income stream that offsets costs and signals commitment from performers. At a slam with 12 poets paying $10 each, that's $120 off your break-even target.

Free open mics often don't charge performers anything. If you use a sliding-scale door model, a registration fee for competitors can help fund the prize pool directly.

Most community open mics charge $5–$15 for admission — with many using a $5–$10 sliding scale and the principle of "no one turned away for lack of funds." Well-established slams in larger cities (like Da Poetry Lounge in LA) charge $10. Intimate café sets with a featured poet typically land at $5–$8.

The right price is whatever covers your costs at a realistic fill rate — which this calculator tells you precisely.

The PSi (Poetry Slam Inc.) standard format uses five audience judges scoring each poem from 0–10 (with one decimal). The highest and lowest scores are dropped; the remaining three are summed, giving a maximum score of 30 per poem. Each poet has 3 minutes plus a 10-second grace period; poems going over receive a 0.1-point deduction per second over the limit.

This is the format used at most community and competitive slams across the US and internationally. Individual events may adjust time limits to 1, 2, or 4 minutes.