Tips and digital tip jars
live.tips fills the jar. GigTag works the rest of the gig.
A busker needs more from a passer-by than a coin. You want to know what they would like to hear, where to send them next week, and how they can book you for a party. GigTag puts all of that behind one printed code on your stand. live.tips, which you may have been reading about, looks after the jar.
- No app for your audience
- Free to start
- One code that never changes
Why GigTag
What GigTag gives a busker beyond live.tips
live.tips is made for card tips into your own Stripe account. GigTag is made for the rest of a working musician's day: requests in a live queue, your next gig and residencies, your links, a booking enquiry form and invoices. GigTag takes card tips too, into your own Stripe or Ziina account, so the two can sit together or GigTag can do both jobs.
- 1
A passer-by becomes a regular
Your page lists your next gig and your weekly residencies, and anyone who scans can add them to their calendar. That gives a minute on the pavement the chance to become a seat at Thursday's gig. live.tips keeps its focus on the jar and the stage screen. GigTag gives the listener somewhere to see you again.
- 2
Street sets lead to paid bookings
Someone who stops to listen is often planning something. The booking enquiry form on your page lets them send a date while you are still playing, and on Pro you invoice them in your own design. GigTag takes no commission on bookings, and it is not a marketplace: the enquiry is yours.
- 3
Requests that are only requests
On GigTag a request is a song and nothing more. The fan chooses from your list, or types anything if you open requests, and it joins the live queue on your phone. On live.tips a request is part of the jar. A plain request suits a pitch where families stop and the youngest wants a say.
- 4
One tag for pitch and venue
The code on your tag never changes. Hang it on the stand at the market on Saturday and in the restaurant on Thursday, and it opens the same page. Rename the act and old links still work. You can print the tag yourself from the free print file.
- 5
A free plan that covers the basics
The page, the tag design, your links, every gig and residency and the booking enquiry form cost nothing for one act. Pro adds song requests, invoices and more than one act. It also adds tips, paid into your own Stripe or Ziina account, and GigTag takes 0% of them.
In short
live.tips and GigTag, in four lines
- live.tips is a browser tip jar for buskers and bar bands, with card tips paid into your own Stripe account.
- GigTag turns one scan into a song request, a saved gig date and a booking enquiry.
- The GigTag code never changes, so one tag works on every pitch and in every venue.
- Our recommendation: carry a GigTag for requests, bookings and tips, and keep live.tips if your poster already works for you.
Side by side
GigTag vs live.tips, topic by topic
Setting up
Page and tag design on the free plan
You build your page and design the tag on the website. The tag design, print file, page, links and gigs are all on the free plan.
live.tipsYou make a restricted key in your own Stripe dashboard, print the QR poster and open the stage view in a browser. Its site says no install is needed.
What the audience does
One scan: requests, dates, links, a booking form
A fan scans the tag and the page opens in the browser. They can request a song, see your dates, follow your links or send a booking enquiry.
live.tipsA fan scans the code, chooses an amount, can add a name and a message, and pays by card, with no account to create.
Where the money lands
Card tips into your own Stripe, 0% taken
Tips by card or Apple Pay go into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, and GigTag takes 0%. They work in every country.
live.tipsTips go into the performer's own Stripe account. Its blog says there is no balance held by live.tips and no payout schedule to wait for.
The screen on stage
A live queue of requests on your phone
Your phone shows the live queue of requests during the set, in the GigTag app or on the website, so you can read it between songs.
live.tipsA stage display shows the jar filling, a goal you can edit during the set and each new tip, and it can be locked with a PIN.
Your next date
Gigs and residencies, saved to their calendar
Your page lists your next gig and your weekly residencies, and a fan can add them to their calendar straight from the page.
live.tipsSee its site for how it handles this.
The quick view
| GigTag | live.tips | |
|---|---|---|
| A QR code your audience scans | Yes, one that never changes | Yes |
| Song requests from the crowd | Yes, on Pro | – |
| Tips by card or Apple Pay | Yes, on Pro, into your own Ziina or Stripe. GigTag takes 0% | Yes |
| Booking enquiries | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Your gigs and weekly residencies | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Invoices for bookings | Yes, on Pro | – |
| A printed tag for your mic stand | Yes, in your own design | – |
| Works without an app for the audience | Yes, it opens in the browser | – |
A dash means we did not confirm it for live.tips, not that it is missing: see what live.tips offers above, or ask on its site.
A live.tips alternative
Where GigTag is different from live.tips
Where the tip money goes
live.tips sends tips to your Stripe account, so it goes wherever you can hold one. GigTag tips work the same way: a fan pays by card or Apple Pay, the money goes to your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, and GigTag takes 0%. So the jar alone does not decide it. What decides it is whether you want requests, dates and bookings from the same scan.
A request with or without a tip
On live.tips a request is a tip that carries a song, and a bigger tip moves the song up the list. On GigTag a request is separate from money. The fan picks from your song list, or asks for anything if you open requests, and it joins a live queue you watch from your phone. Whether they tip as well is up to them.
What the scan is for after the song
live.tips keeps its attention on the jar and the stage screen. A GigTag page also shows your next gig and your weekly residencies, which a fan can add to their calendar, plus your socials and music links. There is a booking enquiry form for the person who wants you at their wedding, and on Pro you can send that client an invoice in your own design to pay online.
A night with GigTag
A market pitch with a loop pedal
You set up at the edge of the Saturday market: amp, loop pedal, mic stand. The GigTag tag hangs from the stand at eye level. A family stops, the kids want a song, and the parent scans the tag. Your page opens in the browser and they pick something from your list. It appears in the live queue on your phone, propped on the amp, and you build the loop for it while they are still standing there. Nobody downloaded anything.
Later a woman scans it for a different reason. She has seen your gigs on the page, adds your Thursday residency to her calendar, then fills in the booking enquiry form for a garden party. You read it on the GigTag app when you pack up. The card tips of the day still came through the poster on your case, because that is where your regulars know to tap. The tag did the other work: requests, a new regular and an enquiry to follow up.
About live.tips
What is live.tips?
live.tips is a tip jar that runs in the browser, made for buskers, bar bands and street artists. You show one QR code on your case, your merch table or a screen. A passer-by scans it, picks an amount, adds a name or a message if they like, and pays by card. The money goes into your own Stripe account. Its site says fans need no account and no install, and that the code is open source.
Setting up means making a restricted key in your own Stripe dashboard, printing the QR poster and opening the stage view on a phone or tablet. That screen shows a jar filling up as tips arrive, with a goal for the night that you can change mid-set. Fans can also request a song from a list you choose, and tip to move it up.
- Where
- Worldwide
- Website
- live.tips
How live.tips works
- 1
Make a Stripe key. You create a restricted key in your own Stripe dashboard and paste it in. Its site explains that the key is limited to what the jar needs, such as creating payment links.
- 2
Print the poster. live.tips gives you one QR code. You print it as a poster and put it on the case, the merch table or a screen where people walking past can reach it.
- 3
Open the stage view. On a phone or tablet facing the crowd, the stage view shows the jar, the goal for the night and each tip as it lands, with a name and message if given.
- 4
Take requests. If you switch on requests, fans pick from a list of songs you have chosen and tip to push one higher. Its site says the final choice of what to play stays with you.
Who live.tips is for
Street musicians. The site is written first for buskers: people playing outdoors to passers-by who no longer carry coins. One code on the instrument case stands in for the open hat, and the performer needs only a browser and a Stripe account to begin.
Bar bands. Bands playing for the jar in a bar are named alongside buskers. The stage screen is made for that room, with a visible goal and a jar that fills as the night goes on, so the tipping becomes something the audience can watch.
Several acts, one device. Its site also describes more than one performer profile on a single device, and a tablet mode for places that host different acts. That is aimed at venues and at nights where several performers share the same stage and screen.
The verdict
GigTag or live.tips: which should you choose?
The bottom line
For a musician who plays live, GigTag is the tag to carry, because it turns one scan into a request, a returning listener and a booking enquiry, and the code works on every pitch and in every venue. GigTag takes card tips too, into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE. If card tips on the street are all you came for, live.tips is built for exactly that, and the two can share a stand.
Yes, if your poster already works for you. Keep the live.tips poster on your case for card tips. Put a GigTag tag on the stand for requests, your next dates and booking enquiries, and add your live.tips link to your GigTag page. If tips are all you want from a code, live.tips alone will do.
- Step 1
Leave the poster on the case
Card tips keep going through live.tips into your Stripe account. Nothing about the jar needs to change when you add a tag to the stand.
- Step 2
Hang the tag on the stand
Put your song list and your gigs and residencies on your GigTag page, then hang the tag on the mic stand where a phone camera can reach it.
- Step 3
Point the page at the jar
Add your live.tips link to the links on your GigTag page, so anyone who arrived by scanning the tag can still find their way to the jar.
Choose GigTag if
You play regular gigs and residencies and want the scan to bring requests, followers and bookings as well. You want tips into your own Stripe or Ziina account with nothing taken by GigTag.
Start freelive.tips may still suit you if
You busk or play for tips, you have a Stripe account, and a filling jar on a screen is the show you want.
GigTag FreeYour page, your tag design, every gig and residency, a booking form. One act.
GigTag ProSong requests, tips, invoices, more than one act. AED 30, £11.99 or $15.99 a month.
GigTag Printed tagFrom AED 100 in the UAE, £24.99 in the UK or €28.99 in the EU, delivered free, with a large size for more; $32.99 elsewhere, plus postage from the UK. Or print your own, anywhere, for free.
Why would a busker choose GigTag over live.tips?
Choose GigTag when busking is one part of what you do. It gives you a request queue, a list of gigs and residencies that listeners can save, your links, and a booking enquiry form, from one permanent code. It takes card tips too, into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, and GigTag takes 0%.
Is GigTag or live.tips better for getting gigs from busking?
GigTag is built for that. Its page carries a booking enquiry form, so a listener can send their date and details from the pavement, and it shows your upcoming gigs for anyone who wants to hear more. On Pro you can send an invoice in your own design. GigTag takes no commission on bookings and does not act as an agency.
What is live.tips?
live.tips is a tip jar that runs in the browser, made for buskers, bar bands and street artists. Fans scan one QR code, choose an amount and pay by card, and the money goes into the performer's own Stripe account. It also has a stage screen and song requests. See its site for the details.
Does GigTag work for buskers the way live.tips does?
Yes. A busker can hang a GigTag tag on the stand and take song requests, show where they play next and collect booking enquiries in any country. Fans can also tip by card or Apple Pay into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, with 0% taken by GigTag.
I use live.tips for the jar. Does GigTag take a cut of tips?
GigTag takes 0% of tips. They are paid by card or Apple Pay straight into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, and they work in every country. You can keep live.tips for the jar and use GigTag for requests, gigs and booking enquiries, or take tips through GigTag as well.
Can I put a live.tips poster and a GigTag tag out at the same gig?
Yes. They do not get in each other's way. The poster on the case is for the jar. The tag on the mic stand opens your page for requests, dates and enquiries. Your GigTag code never changes, so you print it once, and the page can link to your live.tips jar.
Can I take song requests while busking without asking for money?
Yes, with GigTag. A request is not tied to a tip: the fan scans the tag, chooses from your song list, or types anything if you have opened requests, and it reaches your live queue. Requests are part of GigTag Pro and work in every country. Tips are a separate matter, also on Pro.
Do I need a Stripe account to use GigTag?
No. live.tips uses your Stripe account for card tips. GigTag does not ask for one to get started: the page, the tag design, your links, your gigs and the booking enquiry form are on the free plan. You only connect your own Stripe account for tips, or your own Ziina account in the UAE.
Can people who scan my code see where I am playing next?
On a GigTag page, yes. It shows your next gig and your weekly residencies, and a fan can add them to their calendar. Every gig and residency is on the free plan. For a busker that is a way to turn a passing listener into someone who comes to the Thursday gig.
Should a bar band use live.tips, GigTag or both?
It depends what you want from the scan. live.tips gives a bar band a jar on a screen and card tips into Stripe. GigTag gives the band a request queue, a list of gigs, links and a booking enquiry form, and band members can join the band. Those jobs mostly do not overlap, so both can sit on one stage.
Looking for live.tips itself?
This page is GigTag's. live.tips's sign-in, prices, reviews and support are on its own site.
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live.tips is the name of its owner's product; GigTag is not connected with it. What is said about live.tips here comes from its own public website, checked on 7 October 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
For musicians
One code on your stand. Requests, tips and the next gig behind it.
No app for your audience, nothing to download. Free to start.