What tour booking software really costs in 2026
Free platforms, booking fees, subscriptions and commissions — the three pricing models explained, with the fee math worked out on a real month.
Ask five booking platforms what they cost and you will get five answers that cannot be compared: “free”, “$49 a month”, “1.5% per booking”, “6% but your guest pays it”, “custom”. None of them are lying — they are just using three different pricing models. Once you see the models, the math takes ten minutes.
The three models
1. “Free” software, percentage per booking. FareHarbor and Peek Pro charge no subscription. Instead, a booking fee — commonly quoted around 6% — is added at checkout and usually passed on to your guest, plus card processing of roughly 2–2.5% + $0.30. Public pricing guides put the all-in cost per online booking at 8–11% of its value. You do not write the cheque, but your guests pay more than your competitors’ guests for the same trip.
2. Subscription plus percentage. Bokun’s core plan is $49 a month plus 1.5% on direct bookings (Viator bookings are exempt — TripAdvisor owns both). EZ Booker charges €49–89 a month plus 1.5–2%. You pay twice: once for the software, again when it works.
3. Flat subscription, no commission. Checkfront-style pricing: a fixed monthly fee whatever you sell. Predictable, and cheap at volume — but you pay the same in your dead months, which is exactly when a seasonal operator hates fixed costs.
The math on a real month
Take an operator selling €8,000 a month through their own website, with more volume coming from OTAs on top. Roughly what each model costs you or your guests per month, excluding card processing (which every option charges separately):
| Model | Example | Cost on €8,000 direct |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage, guest pays | FareHarbor / Peek, ~6% at checkout | ~€480 added to your guests’ prices |
| Subscription + % | Bokun $49 + 1.5% · EZ Booker €49 + 2% | €160–210 out of your margin |
| Flat, no commission | Checkfront-style tiers | €125–250 flat, any volume |
| Either / or | TimeKey: free + small % direct, or flat fee | A percentage or a flat fee — never both |
Two things the table hides. First, “the guest pays” is not free for you: a €100 tour that costs €106 at your checkout and €100 at your competitor’s loses bookings, quietly. Second, the percentage models differ wildly in what counts: some platforms take their cut of everything that passes through, including OTA bookings on which you already paid the OTA 20–30% commission. Read that clause before anything else in the contract.
Costs that are not in the pricing table
- Card processing — Stripe and friends run roughly 3% + €0.30 everywhere; no platform waives it, some quietly mark it up.
- OTA commissions — 20–30% per booking is the market norm; software does not change it, it only keeps availability synced so you can sell on more channels safely.
- SMS and WhatsApp messages — usually metered credits; sane vendors charge them at cost.
- Onboarding or “setup” fees on enterprise tiers — ask early, they are often negotiable to zero.
Which model fits which operator
- Just starting, thin direct sales: percentage models win — you pay nothing until you earn. This is why we built TimeKey Start as a free plan with a small commission on direct online bookings only.
- Strong direct sales through your own site: the percentage starts to sting — at that point a flat plan like TimeKey Pro is simply cheaper, and it only gets better as you grow.
- Heavy OTA seller, small direct: beware model 1 and any platform that skims OTA bookings. Your channel manager should import them at 0%.
Our position, since we are obviously not neutral: pick a percentage or a flat fee — and refuse to pay both at once. That rule alone eliminates half the market. For a vendor’s-eye view of the same landscape, Bokun’s own pricing comparison guide is worth reading next to this one — notice what each of us chooses to emphasize.
