How do I run QR code check-in at an event?

A printed list works for 30 people you know by face. Beyond that, QR check-in solves three problems:

• Speed. A scan takes a second or two; searching a surname on paper takes much longer, and queues form at the start time.
• Duplicates and fakes. Each code can be checked in once. A screenshot forwarded to a friend shows up as "already checked".
• Accurate attendance. You know exactly who came, which matters for sponsors, certificates, grant reports and planning the next event.

For paid events it also catches unpaid or refunded tickets at the door rather than afterwards.

QR check-in is not mandatory. A printed list or a shared spreadsheet is still fine when:

• the event is small (up to roughly 30 guests) and the host knows most people by face;
• the event is free, the venue is open, and nobody is turned away anyway;
• there is no reliable connection at the entrance and no budget for an offline-capable app.

Even then, keep the QR tickets switched on: they cost nothing, guests get a clear confirmation with date and place, and you can decide on the day whether to scan. Many organizers start with a list for the first meetups and switch to scanning once queues appear at the door or once tickets become paid.

In AET there are two kinds of tickets, and the scanner reads both:

• Registration tickets. In Registration and paid participation, switch on QR tickets. After registering, the guest sees "Show ticket" on the event page and receives the ticket by email with a PDF. If you hide the place or time until a set moment, the ticket shows when it will become available — see how to hide the event location until registration.
• Seat tickets. In Seat tickets, every purchased ticket is emailed separately with its own QR, and each has a web page (link in the email) with the QR, the seat, the status and a PDF. Setting up sales is covered in how to sell event tickets without platform fees.
• Anonymous registrants. If you allow registration without an account, you can send the QR ticket through WhatsApp from the anonymous entries list and mark "ticket sent".

1. Add your door team as co-admins in the event's Admins mode (by AET login). Co-admins can edit the page, scan tickets and manage sales, but cannot add other admins. Free allows 1 co-admin per event; Pro allows up to 10.
2. Test before doors open. Register yourself, open aet.events/qr on the door phone, allow camera access and scan your own ticket. Then undo the check-in.
3. Check connectivity. The scanner verifies each ticket against the server, so make sure the door phones have mobile data or reliable venue Wi-Fi.
4. Plan lanes. One scanner comfortably handles a steady stream; for a large crowd arriving at once, open two or more lanes with separate phones (see the planning table below).
5. Prepare a fallback. Export the participant list to Excel before the event in case a guest cannot open their email at the door.

The table below is a planning rule of thumb, not a benchmark: we assume a lane processes about 6–10 guests a minute when people have their tickets ready (scan, a glance at the result, a word of welcome), and that most guests arrive in a short window before the start.

Adjust for your audience: a business conference with registration desks and badges moves slower; a club night with phones in hand moves faster. If you can, open doors earlier and announce it — spreading arrivals is cheaper than adding lanes.

The camera keeps running between scans, so staff do not need to tap anything for the next guest. A wrong check-in can be undone, and the counter shows how many tickets were checked during this session.

Set up a small desk a few steps away from the scanning lanes, staffed by someone who can open the organizer view. Typical cases and what to do:

Write these rules on one sheet of paper for the desk. Decisions made in advance are faster and fairer than decisions made under a queue.

• Free events. No-shows are common, so overbooking slightly can be reasonable for open talks; the scanner tells you the real attendance afterwards. The most frequent problem is guests who did not register at all — decide whether you admit walk-ins and register them on the spot.
• Paid events. The scanner is also your revenue control: "not paid" and "refunded" results protect you from unpaid entry. Refund before doors open, not at the door.
• Seated events. The ticket shows the seat, so door staff can point people in the right direction; put a printed hall plan near the entrance.
• Sensitive or private events. If the address is revealed only in tickets, the door team is the last check that the person is on the list. Brief them on what to do with people who arrive without a ticket, and never read the list aloud.
• Several entrances. Give each entrance its own scanning phone; all phones check against the same server list, so a ticket used at one door shows "already checked" at another.

Check-in is rarely a separate line item; it comes with the ticketing tool you choose. What differs is who can scan, whether you need an app, and whether it works offline.

Sources: luma.com/pricing, tickettailor.com/pricing, Tito help: check-ins, Humanitix help: host app, hi.events/venue-ticketing (checked 2026-10-01). Fee levels for each are compared in ticket fees compared.

• Screen brightness. Ask guests to turn brightness up; dim phone screens slow scanning down.
• No test scan. Camera permissions, a cracked lens or a phone signed in to the wrong account show up only when you try. Test on every door phone.
• Weak signal in the basement. Many venues lose mobile data near the entrance. Check in advance and ask for the staff Wi-Fi.
• Paper tickets. The PDF from the email can be printed; a printed code scans like a screen.
• One ticket per person. For seat orders, each person has their own ticket even if one person bought all of them; the buyer can forward each ticket email.
• Late changes. If you refund a ticket, the scanner flags it instantly, so refund before doors open rather than at the door.
• Arguing at the scanner. Send "already checked" and "not paid" cases to a separate desk so the lane keeps moving.
• Privacy. Do not leave an unlocked door phone unattended; it is signed in to your organizer account.

The day before

1. QR tickets switched on and a reminder email sent to guests to have the ticket ready.
2. Door team added as co-admins; each has signed in on their phone.
3. Participant list exported to Excel and saved offline.
4. Number of lanes decided from the expected peak.

One hour before doors

1. Every door phone charged, brightness up, aet.events/qr open, camera allowed.
2. A test ticket scanned and undone on each phone.
3. Mobile data or Wi-Fi checked at the actual entrance spot.
4. A power bank and a printed list of problem-case rules at the desk.

After doors close

1. Check the scanned count against registrations.
2. Send the feedback form while the event is fresh.

Scanned tickets appear in the counters of the registration or ticket section, and the Overview tab in My workspace shows attendance alongside registrations, tickets sold and revenue for 7, 30 or 90 days or a year. You can export participants to Excel and send a feedback form (8 answer types, including a 0–10 rating) to registered or anonymous guests. People who came are your best audience for the next event: invite them to a calendar they can subscribe to.

AET's scanner is a browser page on a phone that needs a connection. Consider other tools if you need:

• Offline-first scanning. Humanitix says its host app works offline (Humanitix help, checked 2026-10-01); AET does not.
• Badge printing on site. Tito's check-in works with its Badgy badge app (Tito help, checked 2026-10-01), and some Ukrainian conference services offer badges too — see ticket-selling services in Ukraine. AET does not print badges.
• Hardware scanners, turnstiles or access control for venues with thousands of entrants per hour — specialist event-management and venue systems handle this.
• Native organizer apps. Eventbrite and Luma offer apps for check-in; AET is web-only.