A Ticketmaster Discovery API alternative for small venues and free events
By Elliot Harris, FindLocal · Last verified
| FindLocalEvents API | TicketmasterDiscovery API | |
|---|---|---|
| Event coverage | Hyper-local: 4,166 trivia nights, 1,834 open mics, 1,514 karaoke nights and 2,096 storytimes among 89,042 upcoming events at 15,151 venues in 85 metros across the US and UK — counted live | Events ticketed by Ticketmaster and its partner platforms (Universe, FrontGate, Ticketmaster Resale)source |
| Free API tier | 100 calls/month, no card | Free key with 5,000 calls/day and 5 requests/secondsource |
| Paid plans | Yes, self-serve — $9/mo for 10,000 calls · $49/mo for 75,000 calls, then $0.002/calldetails | No self-serve paid plan. Higher limits by request, after a review against their terms and branding guide.source |
| Search by place and date | Yes, by city or near=lat,lng with a radius, plus date, category, price, time of day, performer and free textdetails | Yes, by keyword, city, lat/long radius, dates and classificationsource |
| Getting a key | Self-serve. Sign up, verify your email and create a key in a few minutes, with no reviewdetails | Self-serve key. The terms of use restrict making money from the data itself.source |
| MCP server | Yes — same keydetails | No official MCP server |
| Data source | The venues’ own websites — straight from the source | Ticketmaster's own inventory |
We checked Ticketmaster's details against their public docs on September 26, 2026. Things change, so follow the source links. FindLocal's numbers come live from our database. Ticketmaster is a trademark of its owner, and this page isn't affiliated with or endorsed by them. Spotted a mistake? Email a correction.
What Ticketmaster’s Discovery API does well
For big ticketed events it’s hard to beat. The API is free, the docs are thorough, and the data is authoritative for anything Ticketmaster sells: on-sale dates, price ranges, seat maps for some venues, and attraction and venue records with stable ids. You can search by keyword, city, a lat/long radius, dates, and a detailed classification tree. 5,000 calls a day is enough for a lot of production apps.
If your app is about arena concerts, touring comedians and Broadway, start with Ticketmaster.
Where it falls short for a local discovery app
Coverage ends at the box office. The API describes Ticketmaster’s inventory and its partners’. A lot of what makes a city feel lively at street level has no ticket attached: Tuesday trivia, a free jazz brunch, an author signing, a toddler storytime, an open mic. A “tonight near me” screen built only on Ticketmaster looks pretty empty outside the weekend’s big shows.
The terms also shape what you can build. Ticketmaster restricts making money from the API itself, requires you to follow its branding rules, and can limit apps that make lots of calls that aren’t driven by user actions. You need a review to raise your quota. That’s all fair for a ticket seller, but it matters if you’re building a business on the data.
How FindLocal handles it
We read the calendars of bars, bookstores, libraries, clubs, theaters and community spaces directly, every day. Ticketed shows are included, next to the free and small events Ticketmaster doesn’t carry. There’s a free=1 filter and a parsed price_amount field, so a “free tonight” view takes one call.
Our terms are written for developers building products. Paid plans are self-serve, and the Free plan’s one requirement is a text link crediting FindLocal wherever the data appears.
Using both
These two fit together well:
- Query Ticketmaster for the big venues and on-sale data.
- Query FindLocal for the same city and dates.
- Merge on venue, date and a normalized title. Keep Ticketmaster’s record for ticketed events and ours for everything else.
Both APIs return coordinates, so you can put everything on one map without extra geocoding.
Moving Discovery API search over
| Ticketmaster Discovery | FindLocal GET /api/events |
|---|---|
city=Austin / latlong= + radius= |
city=austin / near=<lat>,<lng>&radius_km= |
startDateTime / endDateTime |
when=today, weekend, week or YYYY-MM-DD |
classificationName=music |
cat=music |
keyword= |
q= |
When to pick Ticketmaster
Pick Ticketmaster if your users are buying tickets to major events and you want official on-sale data. Add FindLocal if your app also needs to show what else is on nearby.
Try the same query on FindLocal
Free events in Austin tonight, which a ticketing API mostly won't have.
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FINDLOCAL_KEY" \
"https://findlocal.community/api/events?city=austin&when=today&free=1&sort=date"No key yet? Run it in Explore to see the results and map, or use the keyless playground. Full reference: API docs · docs as Markdown for your LLM.
FAQ
Is the Ticketmaster Discovery API free?
Yes. A default key gets 5,000 calls a day. The Discovery API docs give the rate limit as 5 requests a second, while Ticketmaster's general FAQ says 2, so it's safer to plan for 2. Higher limits are granted case by case after Ticketmaster reviews your app.
Why doesn't Ticketmaster show small local events?
The Discovery API lists events sold through Ticketmaster and its partner platforms. A free open mic or a library event has no tickets to sell, so it's never in that inventory.
Can I use Ticketmaster and FindLocal together?
Yes, and it's a common setup. Use Ticketmaster for major venues and on-sale data and FindLocal for what's on local calendars, then dedupe on venue, date and title.
Does FindLocal sell tickets?
No. We link to the venue's own event and ticket pages.
89,042 upcoming events, 15,151 venues, 85 metros across the US and UK. Start with 100 calls a month free — no card.
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