# Hibira vs Queue-it: virtual waiting rooms compared

> Queue-it sells through sales and per-event bundles with many extras as add-ons; Hibira is a self-serve waiting room with a random draw for early arrivals, run from your own admin.

Source: https://hibira.io/compare/queue-it
Updated: 2026-11-09

Queue-it is the best-known virtual waiting room, used by large ticketing, retail and government sites. Hibira's waiting room does the same core job, a fair line in front of the pages that sell out, as a self-serve add-on you set up in the portal without a sales call. The differences are how you buy it, how many extras are add-ons, and how much of the line you run from your own tools.

## At a glance

| | Queue-it | Hibira |
| --- | --- | --- |
| How you buy | Essentials from $1,499 per event billed yearly, or $499 a month for unlimited events; Standard, Pro and Enterprise through sales | Sign up and buy online: Drop $29 a month, Launch $99, Event $299, or a one-off event pass at $49 for 72 hours |
| Visitors included | Essentials: 5,000 queued visitors per event; Standard: 15,000 a month; Pro: 100,000 a month | Free: 5,000 queued visitors a month; Drop: 50,000; Launch: 500,000; Event: 3 million; one-off pass: 200,000 |
| Setup fee | One-time implementation fee on Pro and Enterprise | None |
| People who arrive early | Pre-queue with a countdown, shuffled into a random order at the start | Countdown, then everyone who arrived early is drawn into a random order at the start |
| Waiting page languages | 50+ | 7: English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese |
| Branded waiting page | Included in Essentials; an add-on on the other plans | Not yet on the hosted page; build your own page with the browser client |
| Bot and abuse protection | Add-on | One place per visitor, signed passes and an optional human check on joining; no separate bot-management product |
| "Your turn" alert | Email, as an add-on | Browser notification, included |
| Run the line from | Queue-it's dashboard and API | The portal, the HTTP API, Filament actions or an AI agent's MCP tools |

Queue-it figures are from its [pricing page](https://queue-it.com/pricing/) and [small-business pricing](https://queue-it.com/queue-it-essentials-pricing/), checked on 2026-11-09.

Hibira's waiting room plans are on the [pricing page](https://hibira.io/pricing#waiting-room).

## When Queue-it is the better fit

- Your events bring millions of visitors and you want a vendor with years of the largest on-sales behind it.
- You need waiting pages in more than seven languages.
- You want bot and abuse protection, invite-only access or SSO from the same vendor as the line.
- You need 24/7 support and an enterprise SLA, and a sales-led contract suits your company.

## When Hibira is the better fit

- You want to start today: sign up, create a room and protect a page without a call or an implementation project.
- Your sale is a ticket drop, a limited release or a pre-order, not a year-round enterprise programme.
- Your visitors read Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai or Vietnamese, and the hosted page should speak to them in their language.
- You want to pause, admit or close the line from your own admin, such as Filament, or let an AI agent do it.
- You want the room on all the time: in capacity mode people go straight in until your site holds as many as you set, and a line forms only when it's full.
- You already use Hibira for realtime features: the waiting room lives in the same account, and visitors in line don't use your app's connections.

See how it works in the [waiting room use case](https://hibira.io/use-cases/waiting-room) and set it up with the [waiting room guide](https://hibira.io/guides/waiting-room).

## Common questions

### Is Hibira an alternative to Queue-it?

Yes, for the core job: a fair, live line in front of the pages that sell out, with a scheduled start, a random draw for early arrivals and signed passes your site checks. Queue-it offers more add-ons and enterprise contracts; Hibira is self-serve and set up in minutes.

### How much does Queue-it cost?

On 2026-11-09, Queue-it's Essentials offer started at $1,499 per event billed yearly (5,000 queued visitors per event), or $499 a month for unlimited events with 5,000 queued visitors a month in total. Standard, Pro and Enterprise prices are not published. Source: [Queue-it pricing page](https://queue-it.com/pricing/) and [Queue-it Essentials](https://queue-it.com/queue-it-essentials-pricing/).

### Can visitors skip a Hibira waiting room?

Not by guessing a URL or editing a script. Each admitted visitor gets a pass signed with your app secret, and your site checks it before serving the protected page. A refresh or a second tab keeps the same place in line instead of a better one.

### Do I need to change hosts or my CDN?

No. Hibira works in front of any host, CDN or framework: a check in Next.js or edge middleware, a server middleware such as Laravel's, or the pass check in your own API.