Luma vs Vivid Seats for AI agents
Luma is Luma's JSON API for managing your own calendar's events and guests, plus a separate MCP server that can search public Luma events. Vivid Seats offers an affiliate program with deep links to its ticket marketplace; it publishes no public developer API.
The short answer
- Luma: Hosts automating their own Luma calendars, and agents finding public Luma events such as tech and community meetups through the MCP server.
- Vivid Seats: Earning commission by linking people to resale tickets on Vivid Seats, not for querying event data.
Side by side
| Luma | Vivid Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | The API covers only the calendar its key was created on. The MCP server can search upcoming public Luma events by keyword, location and date range. | – |
| Before the first call | API: a Luma Plus subscription on the calendar and a per-calendar API key (200 requests a minute per calendar). MCP: any Luma account, signed in through OAuth. | Sign up as a partner through Impact (the affiliate page links to app.impact.com). |
| Free | The MCP server works with any Luma account, without Luma Plus. | – |
| Paid | The API needs Luma Plus, listed at $59 a month billed annually. | – |
| Acting on a result | Not stated on its pages | Affiliate link: ticket links that deep-link to any event, with 30-day cookies and commission on sales. |
| Coverage | Not stated on its pages | Events in the U.S., Canada and abroad, per the affiliate page. |
| MCP server | Official MCP server at https://mcp.luma.com (searches public Luma events and manages events you host). | – |
Where Openpath fits
Openpath has no event listings yet. Events are on its roadmap, from organizers who list them themselves. Get listed.
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use Luma?
API: a Luma Plus subscription on the calendar and a per-calendar API key (200 requests a minute per calendar). MCP: any Luma account, signed in through OAuth.
Is Luma free?
The MCP server works with any Luma account, without Luma Plus.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
Luma, read on October 15, 2026:
- docs.luma.com/reference/getting-started-with-your-api: “To use the Luma API, you need a Luma Plus subscription.”
- docs.luma.com/reference/getting-started-with-your-api: “The Luma API is a JSON-based API that allows you to programmatically manage your events and guests.”
- docs.luma.com/reference/getting-started-with-your-api: “only grants access to the calendar it was created on”
- help.luma.com/p/luma-api: “The Luma API uses a per-minute rate limit shared across read and write requests:”
- luma.com/pricing: “$59 ... Per month, billed annually”
- luma.com/pricing: “API access”
- help.luma.com/p/mcp: “search upcoming public events on Luma by keyword, location, and date range.”
- help.luma.com/p/mcp: “Anyone with a Luma account can connect — you don’t need Luma Plus.”
- help.luma.com/p/mcp: “https://mcp.luma.com”
Vivid Seats, read on October 15, 2026:
- vividseats.com/affiliates: “ticket links that can deep-link to any event on our marketplace”
- vividseats.com/affiliates: “30-day traffic cookies, so you can capture sales even if users don't convert the first time”
- vividseats.com/affiliates: “Commission earned with every successful sale and distributed in monthly payments”
- vividseats.com/affiliates: “You'll have access to Vivid Seats' entire inventory”