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Free Pokémon GO Events: What You Get Without a Ticket
What free Pokémon GO events give every player, from spawns and bonuses to research and raids, and how to make the most of an event without buying a ticket.
If you never buy a ticket, an event still gives you its spawns, its bonuses and much of its research. Here's what that usually covers, where the paid extras sit, and how to get the most out of an event for free. New to raids, research or catching? The Trainer Hub guides cover the basics every event builds on.
What's free, event by event
The table describes typical patterns, not promises. Each event's announcement is the final word on what's included and what, if anything, costs extra. For what each event type is and how often it comes round, see event types through the year.
| Event type | What you get without paying | Optional paid extras (when offered) |
|---|---|---|
| Spotlight Hour | All of it: the spawns and the bonus are the whole event | Usually nothing |
| Raid Hour | Access to every raid on the map; the free pass from your daily Gym spin covers one of them | No event ticket; extra Raid Passes from the in-game shop if you want more than your free one |
| Community Day | Heavy spawns of the featured Pokémon, much better shiny odds, usually a featured move for evolving it during (or shortly after) the event, bonuses, and often event Field Research | Usually a small research ticket |
| Raid Days, Hatch Days, Research Days | The boosted raids, hatches or research themselves, plus any extra free Gym passes the announcement offers | Sometimes a ticket with more passes or extra research |
| Themed multi-day events | The new or rotated spawns, event Field Research, any Collection Challenge, the bonuses and often a free Timed Research | Occasionally a paid Timed Research |
| Premier events | Varies by event; the announcement lists what non-ticket holders get, which can include spawns and bonuses | The main ticketed tier, and admission to in-person events |
Free or paid? How to tell
Event announcements normally list ticket content separately from what everyone gets, so read that split first. In the game, free Timed Research generally lands in every player's research journal on its own when the event starts, with no purchase screen in between. Ticketed research appears only on the account that bought it (or was gifted it), so a storyline that turns up in your journal without you paying anything is yours to finish for free.
Some recent events have also used a pass with a free reward track that every player progresses just by playing, alongside a paid upgraded track. If one is running, open it in-game and check what the free track offers.
Free research and bonuses
Most events stack some of these free layers. Our guide to how each kind of event reward works covers them in depth; here's the short version for a free player.
- Event Field Research from PokéStops: spin several different stops early and keep the tasks whose encounters you want.
- The Collection Challenge: note the list on day one, because the last species often turns out to be the hardest one to find.
- Free Timed Research: check its deadline when the event starts, not when it ends.
- Automatic bonuses: nothing to claim, but some only reward what you start during the event, such as shorter hatching distances for Eggs you put in an Incubator while it's live.
Raids without paying
Your daily free Raid Pass from a Gym spin (at the time of writing you can hold only one) goes furthest during Raid Hour and Raid Days, when bosses are easiest to find and groups easiest to join. Raid-focused events have often raised the number of free passes you can collect from Gyms for the day, so read the announcement before assuming you're limited to one. Joining a raid remotely needs a Remote Raid Pass, which generally isn't handed out daily the way the in-person pass is, though they've occasionally appeared as rewards.
Only got an hour? Do this first
Sometimes all you can give an event is its last hour. With limited time, the order matters more than the effort:
- Anything with a timer. Open your research journal and finish or claim Timed Research first, because it's the one reward that can disappear outright.
- Missing Collection Challenge species. Look for the ones you still need while the event is live; finishing the list usually pays more than any single catch.
- Play that uses the active bonus. With whatever time is left, do what the bonus rewards: catching for a Stardust or candy bonus, evolving for an XP bonus.
A free player's event checklist
- Read the announcement once. Note the start and end times, which bonuses apply, and whether any research is time-limited.
- Prepare the day before. Transfer duplicates, clear bag space and spin a few extra stops for Poké Balls, so a busy event doesn't stall halfway through.
- Open the journal and spin new stops on day one. That shows you the free research, the Collection Challenge and the Field Research pool while there's plenty of time left.
- Save free boosts for matching bonuses. Items you earned without paying, from levelling up or research, go further when they match the event: a Lucky Egg during an XP bonus, or a limited-use Incubator during a hatching bonus.
What a ticket adds
A ticket is an extra on top of the event, not a requirement for taking part. The announcement lists what the ticket adds next to what everyone gets. If the one thing you want is only on the ticket side, that's the real cost of skipping it; otherwise you're missing little, because the wild spawns, the bonuses and the free research are open to everyone. If one does tempt you, our ticketed events FAQ explains how tickets work and what to check before paying.
Free rewards between events
Some of the steadiest free rewards in the game have nothing to do with events. Read our guide to daily rewards and streaks to make sure you're collecting those too.