Top Alternatives to AtVenu for Touring Merchandise POS in 2025

Merch lines are broken.

Fans wait 30 minutes. They miss the opener. Operators miss sales. Margins leak while shirts sit in boxes.

For years, AtVenu has been the answer. It’s the best-known platform for touring and festival merch. Widely adopted. Battle-tested.

But the market has moved. Touring teams now want:

• Settlements that close in hours, not days.
• RFID tracking from truck load-in to load-out.
• Pre-orders so fans buy before doors even open.
• Flexibility — one system that works at a 500-cap club and a 50,000-seat stadium.

AtVenu isn’t the only option anymore. Here are the top alternatives in 2025 — and why a new contender, OnTour by retailcloud, is built for what comes next.

1. OnTour by retailcloud (Editor’s Pick)

For mid-level tours, stadium residencies, and everything in between.

OnTour is retailcloud’s touring merch platform. It looks like AtVenu at first glance — catalog imports, settlement sheets, real-time dashboards. But then it goes further.

Where it wins:

• RFID Inventory & Checkout → Scan 10 shirts at once, reconcile instantly.
• FanVista Click & Collect → Fans pre-order merch, skip the line, pick up bagged orders.
• Unified Commerce → Merch isn’t a silo. Concessions, kiosks, loyalty, all connected.
• Mobile-First → Tablets, kiosks, handhelds live in minutes.
• Offline Reliability → When Wi-Fi cuts, OnTour doesn’t.

Why it matters: Most systems force you to graduate as you scale. Start with Square, move to AtVenu, then patch in other tools. OnTour is different. It flexes down to a club show and scales up to a festival. One platform. No migration.

See why OnTour is the modern alternative to AtVenu

2. Merch Cat

Best for indie artists and weekend tours.

Merch Cat is lightweight and artist-friendly. It plugs into Square and adds merch tracking and simple settlement sheets.

• Pros: Easy to set up, low cost, good starter tool.
• Cons: Limited reporting, not built for festivals or multi-artist events.

3. Seatlab POS

Best for small tours needing a bit more reporting.

Seatlab POS is focused on performers who want centralized analytics and inventory across shows.

• Pros: Live music focus, merch dashboards, cross-show reporting.
• Cons: Not widely used at scale, fewer integrations.

4. Square

Best for instant setup.

You can literally walk into a neighborhood office supply store, buy a Square reader, and start selling at soundcheck. That accessibility is why so many artists start here.

• Pros: Cheap, fast, works for cashless payments.
• Cons: No settlements, no RFID, no multi-artist tools.

5. Stripe

Best for custom stacks.

Stripe is a payment processor first, but with Terminal hardware and APIs, you can build your own merch solution.

• Pros: Global reach, flexible APIs, online + in-person payments.
• Cons: No native inventory or settlement features. Requires developer lift.

How to Choose

• Indie artists, quick runs: Square or Merch Cat.
• Mid-scale tours: Seatlab POS if you want a step up.
• Payments-only DIY: Stripe if you’re building custom.
• Operators who need it all: OnTour by retailcloud — settlements, RFID, Click & Collect, plus concessions and loyalty in the same stack.

FAQ: AtVenu Alternatives

What is the best alternative to AtVenu in 2025?

OnTour by retailcloud — it delivers all the expected touring tools plus RFID, Click & Collect, and integrated concessions.

What are the top AtVenu competitors?

Merch Cat, Seatlab POS, Square, Stripe, and OnTour by retailcloud.

Which platform is best for festivals and multi-artist events?

OnTour by retailcloud. It supports artist entitlements, split settlements, and carry-forward balances.

Which is easiest for indie artists to set up quickly?

Square and Stripe. You can buy hardware at a local store and start taking payments in minutes — but they lack merch-specific workflows.

Closing Thoughts

Merch shouldn’t run on spreadsheets.

AtVenu was built for the old model: basic merch tables, nightly counts, manual settlements. That’s fine if you’re standing still.

But the future of touring commerce is faster, more connected, and more profitable.

• Fans want pre-orders.
• Operators want clean settlements.
• Artists want better data.

OnTour is the only platform that bridges all of it — from mid-size clubs to stadium residencies, from single-artist tours to multi-day festivals.

Merch is no longer a side hustle. It’s infrastructure.