One Scanner for Every Ticket You Sell
Selling on more than one platform shouldn't mean carrying more than one scanner. Cohost's apps validate tickets sold through Cohost, Eventbrite, and any third-party source you sync or upload — offline-capable, multi- device, and live in one count.
The door is where service breaks
Everything upstream — the listing, the checkout, the email — was nailed. Then a customer hits the door at 7:58pm with a phone screen that won't load because the venue WiFi is gone, and the experience you spent months building unravels in twelve seconds. Lines stack. Staff start waving people through. Counts drift from reality.
And it gets worse if you sell on more than one platform. Half your crowd has Cohost QR codes, the other half has Eventbrite codes, a promoter sold a hundred more on a third platform — and your staff is juggling three apps at the door, none of which talk to each other.
Cohost's scanning apps are built for the door as it actually exists, not the door in a product video. They scan every ticket you've sold, no matter who issued the QR. They scan when there's no signal. They sync the moment signal comes back. And the count you see in the back office is the count that's true — not the count from one platform out of three.
Offline-first, by default
Most ticketing apps say they "support offline mode." In practice that means they break in subtle ways — the scan succeeds, but the count doesn't update, or two devices miss each other and double-admit the same ticket. The Cohost apps download the manifest before doors and validate locally. No internet round-trip per scan, no spinner, no guesswork.
When a device reconnects, scans reconcile in the background. Conflicts (same ticket scanned on two offline devices) surface with a timestamp on each scan, so your supervisor can review what happened. Nothing is silently dropped or silently accepted.
Scan tickets from Eventbrite and any third-party platform
If you sell on Eventbrite, on a partner site, on a venue's own ticketing system — those tickets come into the same scanner. Sync Cohost with the platforms you use, and we pull the barcodes automatically. Every QR sold for your event ends up in one validated manifest, regardless of who took the money.
Selling somewhere we don't have a sync? Upload the codes — drop in a CSV from any source and they're scannable on every device within seconds. The same offline mode, duplicate detection, and audit logging apply to imported codes as to native Cohost tickets. Your staff scans one app at the door; what's underneath stops being their problem.
Multi-device, multi-door, one source of truth
Six staff, three doors, one event — they all see the same admission state. A ticket scanned at the south entrance is invalid at the north entrance two minutes later. A guest who got in via VIP can't double up by walking around to GA. The rules live on the event, not in your team's heads.
Devices sync continuously when online and reconcile cleanly when offline. There's no master device, no manual "end of night" merge. The scan log stays consistent regardless of how many phones, tablets, or kiosks you put on the door.
Live attendance you can actually trust
Open the dashboard from the back office and see the count climb in real time — total in, by ticket type, by door, by minute. Spot a slow door and reassign staff. Spot a sell-out moment and hold the line. Spot a fraud pattern — duplicate-scan attempts clustering on one door — and investigate before it gets worse.
The same numbers feed the post-event report. Show-up rate by ticket type, peak arrival window, no-show count — everything you'd compute from a CSV is already a chart, and it matches the door because it is the door.
Use the hardware you already own
The apps run on any reasonably modern iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Camera-based QR scanning is fast enough for production doors — no specialty handhelds required. Bluetooth ring scanners and laser sleds are supported when staff prefers them.
For high-throughput venues, the same scan API powers turnstiles, kiosks, and partner-built scanner apps. One source of truth, many physical interfaces.
What you get out of the box
Scans Eventbrite + 3rd-party tickets
Sync supported platforms or upload a CSV of codes. One scanner for every ticket source.
True offline mode
Scan with no signal. Reconcile on reconnect. Conflicts surface for supervisor review, not silent drops.
iOS and Android
Native apps for both platforms. Use the phones your staff already brings to shift.
Multi-door sync
Any number of devices, any number of entrances. One consistent admission state.
Live attendance
Real-time counts by ticket type, door, and minute. Same numbers feed the post-event report.
Bulk barcode upload
Drop in a CSV from any source. Codes are scannable across every device within seconds.
Duplicate and fraud detection
Same-ticket scans across devices flag instantly. Suspicious patterns surface in the dashboard.
Full scan audit trail
Every scan logged with device, staff member, door, and timestamp. Reconcilable to the order.
Common questions
Can we scan tickets we sold on Eventbrite?
Yes. Sync your Eventbrite account with Cohost and we pull the barcodes for your event automatically. They land in the same manifest as your Cohost tickets, so staff scan one app and don't have to know which platform issued the QR.
What about tickets sold on platforms you don't integrate with?
Upload them. Drop a CSV of barcodes (one column or with metadata like ticket type and holder name) and they're scannable across every device within seconds. Imported codes get the same offline mode, duplicate detection, and audit logging as native Cohost tickets.
Which third-party platforms do you sync with directly?
Direct sync currently covers the major platforms our customers sell on, with new ones added based on demand. If yours isn't on the list, the CSV upload path covers it today and we can usually add a direct sync — talk to us.
What if the same barcode is issued by two different providers (e.g. Cohost and Eventbrite both used the same code)?
Barcode collisions across providers are normal — we've seen events where three platforms ended up issuing the same code. The scanner handles it on the device: when a colliding code is scanned, the ticket taker sees every conflicting order side by side (buyer name, ticket type, source platform) and admits the right one. No reconciliation needed after the event, no scanner app standoff.
What happens if the venue WiFi goes down mid-event?
Scanning continues. The apps validate against a local copy of the ticket manifest, so each scan is instant whether you're online or not. When connectivity comes back, scans sync in the background and any conflicts (e.g. the same ticket scanned on two offline devices) are surfaced for your supervisor to resolve.
Do we need to buy specialty scanner hardware?
No. The iOS and Android apps use the device camera and scan QR codes fast enough for production doors. If your team prefers Bluetooth ring scanners or laser sleds, those work too — but they're a preference, not a requirement.
Can multiple staff scan at the same door?
Yes. Any number of devices can scan against the same event with no master device and no manual merge. Admission state stays consistent across all of them in real time when online, and reconciles cleanly when offline.
How do we know how many people are actually in the room?
The dashboard shows live attendance by ticket type, door, and minute. The number you see is the number of successful scans — not an estimate. The same data powers your post-event show-up report.
What stops someone from sharing a QR code with a friend?
Duplicate scans are flagged on the device. The ticket taker sees that this code has already been scanned, with the prior timestamp, and decides whether to admit or turn the person away. If a duplicate is attempted across two devices while one was offline, the conflict is surfaced for review with timestamps on each scan.
Can we scan from a custom turnstile or kiosk instead of a phone?
Yes. The same scan validation is exposed through the API, so turnstiles, kiosks, and partner-built scanner apps can hit the same source of truth as the official apps. Audit logging applies regardless of the physical scanner.
Is every scan logged?
Yes. Every successful, failed, and duplicate scan records the device, staff member, door, ticket, and timestamp. The log is permanent, exportable, and accessible from the order detail page and the event report.