In Liveheats, you can create events, configure all settings, and open entries for free. An event credit is only required when you are ready to unlock additional competition tools to run your event.

What tools require an event credit?

While setup and registration are free, you must use an event credit to access the following features:

• Draw generation: Drawing heats for your divisions.

• Live scoring: Accessing the judging and head judge interfaces.

• Results: Publishing official results and updating leaderboards.

• Scheduling: Building and publishing your event schedule.

• Email athletes tool: Sending bulk communications to your entrants.

Note: Events created before 9th March 2026 use our legacy credit system. For these events a credit would have been used upon event creation; therefore, no action is required to unlock additional competition tools. For any questions contact us at community@liveheats.com.

Step 1: Locate the Activation Bar

• Once you have created your event, you will see a blue Activation bar at the top of your Event dashboard. This banner notifies you that your setup tools are free and prompts you to use a credit to unlock the rest of the platform.

• If you already have credits on your account, the button will say Use a credit.

• If your account balance is zero, the button will say Purchase credits, which will take you directly to our secure checkout.

Step 2: Selecting your credit size

When you click Use a credit, a modal will appear showing your current entry count. You must select the appropriate credit size for your event:

Note: We use "Approximately" to ensure you don't need to worry if your entry count is slightly over a tier (e.g. 105 entries)

If your entry sizes are larger than our Extra Large credit (Approximately up to 500 entries), please contact us at community@liveheats.com as your organisation may be eligible for an enterprise plan.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What happens if my event is cancelled?

Because credits are no longer used at the moment of event creation, you don't need to worry about losing a credit if an event is cancelled during the registration phase. As long as you haven't clicked "Use a credit" to generate a draw, your balance remains untouched. If you have "Use a credit" no stress, check out our article: Rescheduling or cancelling an event which details all you options to ensure your credit is successfully returned.

Can I still take paid registrations for free?

Yes. You can connect your Stripe account and process paid entries without using an event credit. Liveheats only charges its standard 4% transaction fee on those entries.

Updated on: 31/03/2026