EventBrite vs. Competition (A Comparison of Event Services)

Disclaimer: I didn't dig into all features offered by all providers.  In some cases, I bailed out early if I encountered issues or it didn't fit the parameters presented.  Still, this should be helpful if you want to start with a shortlist to find the right eventing/ticketing service for your situation.

Result: For you lazy bums, we ended up choosing TicketLeap.  Were TicketLeap ever to fail, we would fall back to EventBrite, then TicketBud, then BookWhen.  We excluded all others.  You lazy bums.


Objective: Determine the most effective event booking/ticketing/calendaring service for a client

Client Parameters:

1. Not paying for tickets issued when the event itself is free.
2. Expect around 15 participants per event, but it could hit 20.
3. Want to show the calendar or list of events directly in the website from the perspective of an anonymous visitor
• Without putting in to much work.
• It doesn't matter if the eventing/ticketing service logo is visible.
4. Website is powered by Joomla.  A plugin to the service is ideal, but not required. 

Process to Shortlist:

1. Determine a basis for comparison.  I chose EventBrite because I've used it.
2. Identify alternatives.  I googled EventBrite Alternatives.  One of the top results was from AlternateTo.net, a site I have found to be mostly accurate and relevant.  These are the results.
   Note: Since these links are live, results may differ from the ones I discovered when doing my examination.
3. Eliminate services without free ticketing for free events.  This left me evaluating 9 services, listed in no particular order:
   EventBrite, EventStorm, GuestList, BookWhen, EventZilla, TicketBud, Amiando, TicketTailor, TicketLeap.
4. Sign-up for each and review

EventBrite
Allows an organization URL and an event URL, but they are unlinked (org.eventbrite.com vs. event.eventbrite.com)... this can be an advantage to some, but is a disadvantage to us (we want our org recognized for the event).  It's easy enough to create events here, and EventBrite is very popular among entrepreneurs, which gives additional confidence in its ability to survive.  However, TicketLeap is somewhat easier to work with, although I can't quite put my finger on why... something about the layout, the design and the workflow that made it super easy.
Verdict: Top 3.

EventStorm
Good system overall, again making event-creation easy for the user.  Bonus points for the ability to login with my Google account.  They have my events listed in a calendar, but their URLs are not SEO / human friendly, making it difficult to share any specific aspect of the site.  In particular, I have yet to see how to publicly share that calendar.  I've sent them a message; awaiting a response.
Verdict: Excluded.

GuestList
Very intuitive to use their site, and very easy to generate events.  I love how it actually shows the invite the way the customer will see it online, and allows me to edit each of the sections from that perspective.
The splash page shows me the status of all my events with the ability to quickly select relevant ones.
I can link to each event from my website... but I can't link to all events as a visitor (be it a list or a calendar). Thus, for each event, I have to create the event and then link to the event from my site, rather than having a list/calendar that auto-updates.
Verdict: Excluded.

BookWhen
Quite easy to create an event, very few fields to fill out.  I can book an event and repeat the schedule, or add arbitrary dates for the same event.  One event can have multiple dates, and I can limit total tickets.  I can limit each order to 1 ticket or 1+ tickets, but can't set a min/max.  An organization URL is made available and shows a simple page with upcoming events.  It's a good choice, but we found TicketLeap to be just a little cleaner to use, and had a few extra options available.
Verdict: Top 3.

EventZilla
The first few screens of creating my event were good.  But then it started to get complex.  The options are powerful for those creating a large event or complex ticketing schemes (eg: "Collect drivers license of participants").  It's overcomplicated for our purposes, but what really drove me nuts was that on 3 different screens, performing an action resulted in "The system has encountered an unexpected error".  Once I can understand - a hiccup on the network, or a blip.  Repeated errors on one screen I can also understand, albeit a little more frustrating - you've got a bug on a given page.  But consistently across 3 pages???
Verdict: Excluded.

TicketBud
Dead simple to create an event.  Includes a customized URL for my organization, and each event can be tied to the URL.  I can create direct links on my website to the specific events or, thanks to the public URL, to all of my events.  Enough customization is available without getting complex.
Verdict: Top 3.

Amiando
Very complex to get a ticket created, even more complicated to sign up as a participant.  Terrible design considering the options available.
Verdict: Excluded.

TicketTailor
Meets all the criteria, and provides a friendly URL that can be shared with potential guests showing all upcoming events.  However, when signing up as a guest, the site requests more information than we require, and in some cases might be a deterrent from registering.  
Verdict: Excluded.

TicketLeap
Huge bonus: I can import an event from Facebook.  I haven't tested this feature yet, but if it does indeed work, it greatly simplifies the combination of marketing and ticketing.  Even without the import, creating an event is facile.  One event can have multiple dates, and I can limit total tickets and tickets per order.   I can control the required information from participants at the time of registration/checkout, and can add my own personalized questions.
Verdict: We chose this vendor.  (I wish I had tested it first!)

Incidentally, there's space here for a missing service: A site that presents all public events from all of the above sites, much like Expedia does for flights.