How Ludus Compares
Ludus vs. Theatre Manager
Theatre Manager is built for complex venues with the resources to support a highly complex setup. But for many teams, the learning curve is steep, setup is heavier than expected, and even routine upgrades can take web sales offline. With Ludus, you get modern tools, transparent pricing, and fast human support, so you can focus on selling tickets and serving your audience, not managing software.
4 reasons organizations choose Ludus
💡 Many organizations that demo Ludus after using Theatre Manager make the switch.
1. Annual License Pricing and a Platform in Transition.
- Theatre Manager is priced as an annual license, with public listings starting around $5,995 per year. ****They’ve also publicly shared plans to support users migrating to another platform, then wind down Theatre Manager and its cloud hosting.
- Ludus keeps it simple and flexible. No contracts, no lock-in fees, and your tools and data stay in one place.
2. Steep Learning Curve.
- Reviews regularly describe Theatre Manager as “complicated,” with some setup tasks feeling more like “coding” than configuration.
- Ludus is built to help your team get set up quickly, make changes without friction, and keep moving.
3. Upgrades Can Take Sales Offline.
- Theatre Manager’s own upgrade guidance states upgrades can take about one business day, during which your office may not be able to use the system “even to look things up,” and web sales can go offline during the upgrade process.
- With Ludus, you do not have to schedule downtime just to stay current.
4. Support Hours Do Not Match Show Nights.
- Theatre Manager lists standard support hours as Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm MST, with requests outside that window answered next business day.
- Ludus responds quickly via chat, phone, or email, with an average response time of under 3 minutes.
