ChatGPT answers, unedited

For a nonprofit that needs to sell event tickets and merchandise, I’d avoid choosing a website builder based only on design. The key is keeping fees low and making it easy for volunteers to manage orders, attendees, and supporter data.

My recommendations:

Best overall value: zeffy.com + a simple website builder

Best for: small-to-mid nonprofits trying to maximize every dollar.

• Pros

• Built specifically for nonprofits
• Supports fundraising, event registration/tickets, and merchandise sales
• No platform fees (Zeffy’s model relies on optional supporter contributions) Zeffy
• Good if you have limited staff or volunteers
• Cons

• Website design flexibility is more limited than full website builders
• You may still want a separate “main” website for storytelling and branding

A common setup:

• Website: Squarespace or Wix
• Tickets + merch + donations: Zeffy

Best all-in-one website: wix.com

Best for: nonprofits that want one attractive website with fewer integrations.

• Drag-and-drop editor
• Event pages and ticket sales
• Ecommerce for merchandise
• Donation tools and nonprofit templates available wix.com
• Good for a team without a web developer

Estimated cost: usually around $30/month or more once ecommerce features are needed. SiteBuilderReport

Best for a polished, professional nonprofit site: squarespace.com

Best for: arts organizations, foundations, museums, community groups, and nonprofits where brand presentation matters.

• Excellent templates
• Strong storytelling/blog/news features
• Ecommerce for merch and ticket-related sales
• Easier to maintain than WordPress Squarespace

Tradeoff: less flexible than Wix for unusual workflows.

Best if merchandise is a major revenue stream: shopify.com

Best for: nonprofits selling lots of products.

• Excellent inventory, shipping, and checkout tools
• Great if you sell dozens of SKUs or run regular merch campaigns
• Less ideal if your main goal is donations and community engagement

My shortlist by nonprofit type

For most nonprofits, I’d choose Squarespace + Zeffy (best balance of credibility, simplicity, and cost) or Wix alone (simplest single-platform approach). Zeffy Squarespace

If you tell me:

1. approximate annual ticket/merch sales,
2. whether you need donations too, and
3. whether you have volunteers or a paid staff member managing the site,

I can narrow it down to one choice.

For a nonprofit selling event tickets + merchandise, I’d usually recommend one of these three setups depending on your priorities:

My recommendation for most small nonprofits:

Use Wix as your main website + Zeffy (or another nonprofit ticketing/fundraising tool) for transactions.

That gives you:

• A professional homepage explaining your mission
• Event pages with photos, schedules, sponsors, and impact stories
• A merch store
• Ticket sales without forcing your website to do everything
• Easier accounting separation between donations, tickets, and merchandise

If you want everything under one roof:

Choose Zeffy if:

• You’re a small organization
• Volunteers manage the site
• You sell a few products (shirts, hats, stickers, etc.)
• You run occasional fundraisers/events

www.zeffy.com

If you expect to grow:

Choose Wix or Squarespace if you need:

• Lots of event pages
• Sponsor recognition pages
• Blogs/news updates
• Volunteer forms
• More control over branding

www.sitebuilderreport.comwebsite-builders.cybernews.com

I would not start with Shopify unless merchandise becomes a major revenue stream (hundreds of orders/month), because the monthly cost and ecommerce complexity are often unnecessary for a small nonprofit. www.zeffy.com

If you tell me:

1. your approximate annual budget for the website,
2. how many events you run per year, and
3. whether merch is occasional fundraising or a major income source,

I can narrow it down to one choice.

For a nonprofit that needs to sell event tickets and merchandise, I’d recommend Wix as the best affordable all-in-one option.

My pick: Wix

Wix is particularly well suited to your use case because you can handle the website, ticketed events, and merch store in one place. Wix specifically supports nonprofit sites, event registration/ticket sales, and ecommerce. wix.com wix.com

A big bonus: eligible nonprofits can get a 70% discount on a 2-year Wix Premium plan through TechSoup, which can make Wix substantially cheaper than its standard pricing. Wix Support

One thing to budget for: Wix Events charges a 2.5% ticket service fee, separate from payment-processing fees. You can either absorb it or pass it to ticket buyers. Wix Support

How I'd rank the options

Squarespace is my second choice if having a particularly polished, professional-looking website is important. It supports ecommerce and nonprofit-oriented features, and nonprofits can get 10% off their first payment. Squarespace Help Squarespace Its current commerce plans can also reduce the platform transaction fee to 0%, depending on the plan. Squarespace Help

Bottom line: If you're a small-to-medium nonprofit and don't have a dedicated web developer, I'd start with Wix + its nonprofit discount. It's likely the easiest combination of low cost + ticketing + merchandise + easy volunteer/admin maintenance.

If you tell me roughly how many events/tickets you sell per year and how many merch items you have, I can compare the actual costs of Wix vs. Squarespace vs. Shopify for your nonprofit.

For a nonprofit that needs to sell event tickets and merchandise, I’d generally recommend Wix as the best balance of affordability, ease of use, and nonprofit-friendly features. www.wix.com

My shortlist:

My recommendation by nonprofit size

Small volunteer-run nonprofit (most common case):
→ Wix + a ticketing/payment integration
You’ll likely be able to manage updates yourselves: new events, sponsor pages, merch listings, photo galleries, newsletters, etc. www.wix.com

Arts organization, festival, school group, or community event nonprofit:
→ Wix or Squarespace + dedicated ticketing tool
A dedicated ticketing platform can often handle QR codes, check-in, refunds, attendee lists, and reporting better than a website builder alone.

Growing nonprofit with lots of programs, memberships, donations, and volunteers:
→ WordPress (with the right setup)
It takes more work upfront but gives you the most control. www.arcstone.com

A few features I’d prioritize:

• Event pages with ticket checkout
• Merchandise store with inventory tracking
• Donation forms
• Email list integration
• Discount codes (members, early bird, sponsors)
• Mobile-friendly editing (so volunteers can update things)
• Ability to export customer/donor data

If you tell me:

1. roughly how many tickets you sell per event,
2. whether you need donations + tickets + merch all in one system, and
3. whether you have a volunteer or staff person managing the site,

I can narrow it down to the best setup.

For a nonprofit that needs both event ticket sales and merchandise, I’d recommend Wix + Givebutter, rather than trying to make the website builder handle everything.

My top picks

🥇 What I'd choose: Wix + Givebutter

Wix is a good affordable website builder for the public-facing site: your mission, programs, staff, news, sponsors, photo galleries, contact information, etc. It also has built-in ecommerce and event functionality. Wix says nonprofit sites can use its templates, SEO tools and donation features, and its event system supports ticket sales. www.wix.com

I'd then use Givebutter for the actual fundraising/event side. It's particularly attractive for nonprofits because its core platform is free when optional donor tips are enabled, and it includes event ticketing, fundraising, donor management and related tools. help.givebutter.com

Givebutter can also handle things like VIP packages, table sales, ticket bundles and sponsorships, which can become important for nonprofit events. help.givebutter.com

Givebutter

When I'd use Wix by itself

If you want one login and minimal complexity, Wix is probably the easiest choice. You can have:

• Main nonprofit website
• Event pages
• Ticket sales
• Online store
• Shirts, hats, merchandise, etc.
• Donation forms
• Email/contact forms

The downside is that Wix charges a 2.5% ticket service fee on ticket sales, in addition to payment-processing fees. You can either absorb that or pass it to the ticket buyer. support.wix.com

Wix Nonprofit Websites

What about Squarespace?

I'd choose Squarespace if appearance/design is the highest priority. It's excellent for a polished nonprofit site and can sell physical products. But its current plans can impose transaction fees depending on the plan—currently 3% on the legacy Business plan and 0% on Commerce plans for physical products/donations. support.squarespace.com

So for a small nonprofit watching every dollar, I think Wix/Givebutter is generally a better fit.

My recommended setup

Website: Wix
↓
"Buy Tickets" button: Givebutter
↓
"Donate" button: Givebutter
↓
"Shop" button: Wix Store
↓
Email/newsletter: Wix or Givebutter

That gives you a professional website without forcing the website builder to also be your entire fundraising system.

If your nonprofit is relatively small and your budget is, say, under $500/year, this is the setup I'd investigate first. If you tell me roughly how many tickets you sell per year, how much merch you sell, and your annual website budget, I can compare the actual costs of Wix, Squarespace, Givebutter, and a couple of other options for your situation.

For a nonprofit that sells event tickets and merchandise, I’d recommend Wix as the best affordable all-in-one option.

Wix for nonprofits

My ranking

Why I'd pick Wix

Wix lets you keep the website, event ticketing, and merch store in one place, rather than stitching together several services. Its nonprofit offering specifically supports online stores and event ticket sales. www.wix.com

For tickets, Wix Events supports multiple ticket types, different prices, limited quantities, free tickets, pay-what-you-want tickets, and PDF ticket confirmations. support.wix.com

The main catch is the 2.5% Wix ticket service fee, on top of payment-processing fees. You can either pass that fee to the ticket buyer or absorb it yourself. support.wix.com

For merchandise, Wix gives you a conventional online store where you can manage products, payments, orders, and shipping. www.wix.comsupport.wix.comwww.charitycharge.com

When I'd choose Squarespace instead

Squarespace

If the nonprofit's brand/design is especially important—for example, an arts organization, cultural nonprofit, or foundation—I'd seriously consider Squarespace. It has excellent templates and supports both physical products and events/services. support.squarespace.com

But for your specific combination of tickets + merch + nonprofit + affordability, I think Wix is the more practical choice.

One important money-saving tip

Before paying for Wix, check whether your nonprofit qualifies for a nonprofit/TechSoup discount. Current third-party nonprofit pricing guides report substantial Wix discounts for eligible 501(c)(3)s, though I'd verify the exact offer when you're ready to purchase. www.charitycharge.com

Bottom line:
Wix + its built-in Events + Wix Stores would be my first choice for a small nonprofit that wants staff/volunteers to be able to manage the site without a developer.

If you tell me roughly how many tickets you sell per event, how much merch you sell per month, and your monthly website budget (e.g. under $20, $30, $50), I can compare the actual costs of Wix vs. Squarespace vs. a cheaper setup.

For a nonprofit that needs to sell event tickets and merchandise, I’d recommend Wix as the best balance of affordability, simplicity, and built-in functionality.

My ranking

🥇 I'd choose Wix

Wix nonprofit website builder is particularly well suited to your use case because you can keep the website, event registration/ticketing, and merchandise store in one place. Wix specifically supports nonprofit sites with online stores and event ticket sales. www.wix.com

Its nonprofit pricing is especially attractive if you're eligible: Wix currently offers qualifying charities/nonprofits a 70% discount on a 2-year Premium plan through TechSoup, plus a one-year domain registration voucher. support.wix.com

For ticketed events, Wix Events supports different ticket types, including fixed-price, tiered/price-option, pay-what-you-want, and free tickets. support.wix.com There is a 2.5% Wix ticket service fee, separate from payment processing, although you can choose to pass that fee to the ticket buyer. www.wix.comsupport.wix.comsupport.wix.comsupport.squarespace.comsupport.squarespace.comgivebutter.com

🥈 Squarespace if appearance matters most

Squarespace nonprofit resources would be my second choice. It's arguably better if you want a beautiful, polished organization website and the merch store is relatively straightforward.

It supports physical products and event/service products, although its event-ticketing functionality isn't as purpose-built as Wix's. support.squarespace.com Squarespace also offers nonprofits a 10% discount on the first payment. support.squarespace.com

One alternative I'd seriously consider: Givebutter

If your organization is primarily doing fundraising events, rather than operating a substantial online store, I'd consider using Givebutter for the tickets/fundraising and a simple website builder for the main website. Givebutter is designed specifically around nonprofit fundraising and events. givebutter.com

My recommendation by scenario:

• Small nonprofit + occasional events + T-shirts/merch → Wix
• Nonprofit where the website's visual presentation is very important → Squarespace
• Lots of merchandise/inventory → Shopify
• Frequent fundraising events + donations are the priority → Givebutter + Wix/Squarespace
• You have someone technical maintaining the site → WordPress

If you tell me roughly how many tickets you sell per event, how many events per year, and what kind of merch you sell, I can compare the actual annual cost + transaction fees for Wix vs. Squarespace vs. Givebutter and tell you which would be cheapest for your nonprofit.

For a nonprofit selling event tickets + merchandise, I’d usually avoid choosing a website builder based only on the website. The bigger question is: how much fundraising infrastructure do you need built in?

My top recommendations:

My practical picks:

• Volunteer-run nonprofit, fewer than a few thousand transactions/year:

Zeffy + a simple website (Wix or Squarespace). This keeps costs low and avoids paying a percentage on every fundraiser. www.squarespace.comwww.zeffy.com

• You host galas, festivals, auctions, or many paid events:

Use Wix/Squarespace for the main site + dedicated ticketing software.

• You sell lots of shirts, hats, products, etc.:

Use Shopify, especially if inventory and shipping are becoming a real operation. www.sitebuilderreport.com

A setup I’d recommend for many small nonprofits:

1. Website: Wix or Squarespace
2. Tickets: Zeffy/Event ticketing tool
3. Merch: Zeffy store, Shopify, or a print-on-demand service
4. Donations: integrated with your nonprofit CRM if you have one

If you tell me roughly (1) annual budget, (2) number of events per year, (3) whether you need donations too, and (4) how much merch you sell, I can narrow it to one choice.

For a nonprofit that needs to sell event tickets and merchandise, I’d recommend Wix as the best all-around affordable choice.

My ranking

🥇 I'd choose Wix

Wix for Nonprofits

Wix is particularly well suited to your situation because events and an online store are both native features. You can create different ticket types, set quantities, offer pay-what-you-want tickets, and even use seating maps. www.wix.com

For merchandise, Wix gives you a conventional online store where you can manage products, orders, payments and shipping. www.wix.com

The big thing to watch is ticket fees: Wix charges a 2.5% ticket service fee, separate from payment-processing fees. You can either absorb it or pass it on to ticket buyers. support.wix.comwww.charitycharge.comsupport.squarespace.com

Bonus: eligible nonprofits may be able to get a substantial Wix discount through TechSoup, which can make it particularly attractive on a tight budget. www.charitycharge.com

🥈 Givebutter if fundraising is the bigger priority

Givebutter

If you're primarily a fundraising organization that happens to sell tickets and some merchandise, I'd seriously consider Givebutter instead. Its event-ticketing system is designed specifically for nonprofits and includes ticket types, bundles, upsells, QR-code scanning, and custom attendee information. givebutter.com

Its free plan is particularly compelling: $0/month, with 0% platform fees when optional tips are enabled. givebutter.com

The downside is that I prefer Wix for a nonprofit that wants a real public-facing website + substantial merch store + events all under one roof.

🥉 Squarespace if appearance matters most

Squarespace

Squarespace is my pick if you want the website to look especially polished and modern. It supports selling products, donations and memberships, and it has nonprofit-specific templates. It also currently offers a 10% discount on the first payment with the code NONPROFIT. support.squarespace.com

However, for a nonprofit where ticket sales are a major part of the operation, I'd favor Wix or Givebutter.

Bottom line:

• Tickets + merch + normal nonprofit website → Wix
• Fundraising + events → Givebutter
• Beautiful website + merch → Squarespace

If you tell me roughly how many tickets you sell per year, how many merch products you have, and your monthly website budget, I can compare the actual fees and tell you which one would likely cost your nonprofit the least.

For a nonprofit that needs to sell event tickets and merchandise, I’d recommend Wix as the best balance of affordability, simplicity, and built-in functionality.

🥇 My recommendation: Wix

Why I’d choose it:

• Tickets: Wix Events supports multiple ticket types, discounts, pay-what-you-want pricing, seating maps, and PDF tickets. support.wix.com
• Merch: You can run an online store directly on the site, including products, payments, orders, and shipping. www.wix.com
• Nonprofit-friendly: Wix has dedicated nonprofit templates and fundraising/donation functionality. www.wix.com
• Easy to maintain: A staff member or volunteer can make changes without knowing HTML or having to manage WordPress plugins.
• Ticket fees: Wix currently charges a 2.5% ticket service fee, separate from payment processing, and you can either absorb it or pass it to the ticket buyer. support.wix.comsupport.wix.comwww.charitycharge.comsupport.squarespace.com
• Nonprofit discount: There are nonprofit discounts available through TechSoup for eligible organizations, so I'd check that before paying the standard price. www.charitycharge.com

How I'd compare the main options

Squarespace is a particularly good alternative if visual presentation and storytelling are more important than sophisticated ticketing. It offers nonprofit templates and a 10% first-payment nonprofit discount, and its current plans support selling products and donations. support.squarespace.com

For your specific situation, I'd start with Wix, especially if you're a small nonprofit and want one person to be able to manage the website, ticket sales, store, events, and basic fundraising without hiring a web developer.

One important caveat: if you sell a lot of merchandise (hundreds/thousands of orders) or run complex ticketed events, I'd look at Shopify or a dedicated ticketing platform alongside the website rather than forcing everything through a website builder.

If you tell me roughly how many events you have per year, typical ticket price, how much merch you sell, and your monthly website budget, I can recommend the most cost-effective setup and estimate the fees.

For a nonprofit that needs to sell event tickets + merchandise, I’d recommend Wix as the best affordable all-in-one option.

My ranking

🥇 Why I'd choose Wix

Wix nonprofit website builder

Wix is unusually well suited to your combination of needs. It has nonprofit templates, online stores, event management, ticket sales, donations, and memberships in the same ecosystem. www.wix.com

For events, Wix lets you create different ticket types, pricing tiers, limited quantities, "pay what you want" tickets, and even seating maps. Customers receive printable PDF tickets after purchasing. support.wix.com

The important cost to watch is Wix's 2.5% ticket service fee, which is separate from your payment processor's fee. You can either pass that fee to the ticket buyer or absorb it yourself. www.wix.comsupport.wix.comsupport.wix.comsupport.squarespace.com

For merchandise, you can set up a conventional online store with products, payments, orders and shipping. www.wix.com

🥈 When I'd choose Squarespace instead

Squarespace nonprofit solutions

I'd pick Squarespace if your priority is a particularly attractive, professional-looking website and your ticketing needs are relatively simple.

Squarespace supports physical merchandise and in-person events, but its event functionality isn't as ticket-centric as Wix's. support.squarespace.com It also currently advertises a 10% nonprofit discount on the first payment. support.squarespace.com

One thing I'd consider before choosing

If you're selling hundreds/thousands of tickets for major fundraising events, I wouldn't automatically put ticketing directly on the website builder. A dedicated ticketing/fundraising platform can sometimes give you better check-in, attendee management, QR codes, reporting, and donor management.

But if you're talking about something like:

• Annual fundraiser
• Charity gala
• Concert/show
• Community festival
• 100–1,000-ish attendees
• T-shirts, hats, mugs, etc.
• Donations
• A few events per year

Wix is probably the sweet spot.

If you tell me roughly how many tickets you sell per event, how many events per year, what kind of merch you sell, and your monthly budget, I can recommend the specific Wix/Squarespace/WordPress setup and estimate your annual cost, including transaction fees.

For a nonprofit that sells event tickets and merchandise, I’d recommend Wix as the best affordable all-around choice.

My ranking

🥇 Wix — my recommendation

Wix for nonprofits

Wix is particularly well suited to your situation because events/ticketing and an online store are both built into the ecosystem. You can create different ticket types, set quantities, offer free or paid tickets, and even use "pay what you want" pricing. www.wix.com

For merchandise, Wix provides a full online store with products, payments, orders and shipping. www.wix.com

One thing I'd pay attention to: Wix Events charges a 2.5% ticket service fee, separate from payment-processing fees. You can either pass that fee to the ticket buyer or absorb it. support.wix.com

There's also a potentially significant nonprofit discount: Wix says eligible nonprofits can get a 70% discount on a 2-year Premium plan through TechSoup. www.wix.comwww.charitycharge.comsupport.squarespace.com

I'd choose Wix if you want:

• Event ticket sales
• Merchandise store
• Donations
• Volunteer/contact forms
• Email/newsletter capability
• A site staff or volunteers can maintain without technical skills
• Everything under one roof

🥈 Squarespace

Squarespace nonprofit solutions

I'd choose Squarespace instead if the appearance of the website is especially important—for example, an arts organization, cultural nonprofit, museum, or community organization where photography and storytelling are central.

It supports physical merchandise and event/service products, and Squarespace currently offers nonprofits a 10% discount on the first payment. support.squarespace.com

The downside is that I think Wix is a better fit when ticket sales are a major part of the organization's fundraising, because Wix's event/ticketing functionality is more directly integrated.

🥉 WordPress

WordPress can ultimately give you the most flexibility, especially if you eventually want sophisticated fundraising, memberships, ticketing, donor management, etc.

But I'd only choose it if someone on your team is comfortable managing plugins, updates, hosting and occasional technical problems. The lower advertised price can become misleading once you add the various plugins and services you need.

What I'd actually do

If you're a small or medium nonprofit with a limited budget, I'd start with:

Wix + nonprofit discount + Wix Events + Wix Stores

That gives you one website where someone can:

Visit site → learn about your nonprofit → buy event ticket → buy T-shirt/merch → donate → sign up for updates

without having to stitch together several different systems.

If you tell me roughly how many tickets you sell per year, how much merch you sell, and whether you already use something like Eventbrite, PayPal, Square, or Stripe, I can also compare the actual annual cost and transaction fees of Wix vs. Squarespace vs. WordPress for your nonprofit.

For a nonprofit selling event tickets + merchandise, I’d recommend Wix as the best overall affordable option—especially if you want staff/volunteers to be able to manage the site without technical skills.

My ranking

Why I'd pick Wix

Wix gives you one place to manage the nonprofit's website, event pages, ticket sales, online store, payments, email/marketing, and basic donor/customer information. Its event system supports different ticket prices, limited quantities, free tickets, and pay-what-you-want tickets. support.wix.com

The important catch is that Wix charges a 2.5% ticket service fee, separate from payment-processing fees. You can either absorb that or pass it along to ticket buyers. support.wix.com

Wix's current Core plan is around $30/month on annual billing in the U.S. pricing structure and includes accepting payments and basic e-commerce. www.wix.com

One thing I'd definitely investigate before paying: eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofits may be able to get a substantial Wix discount through TechSoup. www.charitycharge.com

An even better nonprofit setup

If the organization does significant fundraising, I'd actually consider:

Wix + Givebutter

Use Wix for the public-facing website and merchandise, and Givebutter for donations, fundraising campaigns, and potentially events/ticketing. Givebutter currently offers its core fundraising platform at $0 platform fees when optional donor tips are enabled, and includes fundraising events and ticket sales. help.givebutter.com

That can be particularly attractive for a nonprofit because you don't necessarily want to pay website/e-commerce fees on every donation.

When I'd choose Squarespace instead

I'd pick Squarespace if the organization is particularly image/brand driven—arts organizations, museums, cultural events, foundations, etc. It has excellent templates and supports physical products and event/service products. support.squarespace.com

Its current commerce plans can have 0% Squarespace transaction fees, depending on the plan, although payment-processing fees still apply. support.squarespace.com

Bottom line:
👉 Wix if you want the easiest all-in-one solution.
👉 Wix + Givebutter if fundraising is a major part of what you do.
👉 Squarespace if having a beautiful, polished site is the priority.

If you tell me roughly how many events/tickets you sell per year and how much merch you expect to sell, I can compare the actual annual cost of Wix vs. Squarespace vs. WordPress + WooCommerce for your nonprofit.

For a nonprofit that needs to sell event tickets + merchandise, I’d recommend Wix as the best affordable all-in-one option.

My ranking

🥇 I'd pick Wix

Wix nonprofit website builder

Wix is particularly well suited to your situation because events, ticketing, ecommerce, and nonprofit features can live on the same site. Wix lets you create multiple ticket types, price tiers, limited quantities, pay-what-you-want tickets, seating maps, and downloadable tickets. www.wix.com

For merch, you can have a normal online store for things like T-shirts, hoodies, hats, bags, etc., with payments, orders, and shipping managed through the site. www.wix.com

One important cost: Wix charges a 2.5% ticket service fee on paid tickets, in addition to payment-processing fees. You can either pass that fee to the ticket buyer or absorb it yourself. www.wix.comsupport.wix.comwww.squarespace.com

Wix also has a potential TechSoup nonprofit discount that can make it considerably cheaper for eligible 501(c)(3)s. www.charitycharge.com

🥈 Squarespace if appearance matters most

Squarespace nonprofit websites

I'd choose Squarespace instead if you want a particularly polished, professional-looking site and the ticketing isn't extremely complicated. It supports events, donations, merchandise, and marketing tools, and Squarespace currently advertises a 10% nonprofit discount on the first payment. www.squarespace.com

💰 What I'd do for a small nonprofit

If your organization is relatively small and you're trying to keep costs down:

Wix + built-in Wix Events + Wix Store

That gives you one website, one admin login, one place for your staff/volunteers to manage things, and less technical maintenance.

If minimizing fees on fundraising/ticket sales is more important than having everything integrated, I'd consider Wix/Squarespace for the website + Zeffy for fundraising/ticketing instead.

If you tell me roughly (1) how many events you run per year, (2) typical ticket price/attendance, and (3) what kind of merch you sell, I can compare the actual annual cost of Wix vs. Squarespace vs. a low-cost combination and tell you which I'd choose.