{"id":9006,"date":"2026-10-28T11:42:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/?p=9006"},"modified":"2026-10-28T11:42:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:42:30","slug":"commission-free-tour-booking-software-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/commission-free-tour-booking-software-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission-Free Booking Software: Costs at Every Volume"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Booking software for tours and activities is priced in two broad ways. Some systems take a percentage of every booking, either from you or as a fee added to your guest&#8217;s total. Others charge a flat monthly or yearly subscription, however much you sell.<\/p>\n<p>Which is cheaper depends almost entirely on your booking volume. This article works through the numbers at five different volumes, shows how to find your own break-even point, and lists the costs that do not appear on either kind of pricing page. For the concepts behind the two models, see our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/guides\/commission-vs-subscription\/\">booking commission vs subscription<\/a>; this article focuses on the worked example.<\/p>\n<h2>The assumptions<\/h2>\n<p>To keep the comparison fair, the example uses:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Three percentage rates: 2%, 4% and 6%.<\/strong> These are illustrative. Rates in the market vary by provider and agreement; for example, a customer-paid booking fee of around 6% is commonly reported for FareHarbor (see our <a href=\"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/fareharbor-fees-explained\/\">FareHarbor fees explainer<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>A flat plan at $708 a year<\/strong> ($59 a month billed yearly) and <strong>$948 a year<\/strong> ($79 a month billed monthly). These are Tourtify&#8217;s Growth plan prices; substitute any provider&#8217;s figures.<\/li>\n<li><strong>An average booking value of $120,<\/strong> used only to show roughly how many bookings each volume represents.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Card processing excluded.<\/strong> You pay your payment provider&#8217;s card fees whichever model you choose, so they do not change the comparison. For reference, <a href=\"https:\/\/stripe.com\/pricing\">Stripe&#8217;s standard US rate<\/a> is 2.9% + 30\u00a2 per domestic card payment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The worked example<\/h2>\n<p>Annual cost of the booking software alone, by monthly online booking revenue:<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Monthly online revenue<\/th>\n<th>Approx. bookings a month<\/th>\n<th>2% fee<\/th>\n<th>4% fee<\/th>\n<th>6% fee<\/th>\n<th>Flat, billed yearly<\/th>\n<th>Flat, billed monthly<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>$1,500<\/td>\n<td>13<\/td>\n<td>$360<\/td>\n<td>$720<\/td>\n<td>$1,080<\/td>\n<td>$708<\/td>\n<td>$948<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>$5,000<\/td>\n<td>42<\/td>\n<td>$1,200<\/td>\n<td>$2,400<\/td>\n<td>$3,600<\/td>\n<td>$708<\/td>\n<td>$948<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>$15,000<\/td>\n<td>125<\/td>\n<td>$3,600<\/td>\n<td>$7,200<\/td>\n<td>$10,800<\/td>\n<td>$708<\/td>\n<td>$948<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>$40,000<\/td>\n<td>333<\/td>\n<td>$9,600<\/td>\n<td>$19,200<\/td>\n<td>$28,800<\/td>\n<td>$708<\/td>\n<td>$948<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>$100,000<\/td>\n<td>833<\/td>\n<td>$24,000<\/td>\n<td>$48,000<\/td>\n<td>$72,000<\/td>\n<td>$708<\/td>\n<td>$948<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>A few things stand out:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>At very low volume, a percentage can be cheaper.<\/strong> At $1,500 a month, a 2% fee costs $360 a year, about half the flat plan. If you are just starting out or sell only a few bookings a month, do not assume a subscription is automatically better.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The gap widens quickly.<\/strong> At $15,000 a month, a 4% fee costs about $7,200 a year against $708 for the flat plan. At $40,000 a month, a 6% fee costs $28,800.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Percentage fees grow with your success.<\/strong> Every price rise, extra departure or new product increases what you pay the software provider, even though the software is doing the same work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If your volume is larger still, you might need a higher flat plan for more team members or channels. Even at Tourtify&#8217;s Scale plan ($1,188 a year billed yearly), the comparison at $100,000 a month is $1,188 against $24,000 to $72,000.<\/p>\n<h2>A second example: high-value trips<\/h2>\n<p>Percentage fees bite hardest when the average booking is large. Consider a trekking company selling 15 bookings a month at an average of $1,800, or $27,000 a month and $324,000 a year online.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Pricing model<\/th>\n<th>Annual software cost<\/th>\n<th>Cost per booking<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>2% fee<\/td>\n<td>$6,480<\/td>\n<td>$36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4% fee<\/td>\n<td>$12,960<\/td>\n<td>$72<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6% fee<\/td>\n<td>$19,440<\/td>\n<td>$108<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Flat, billed yearly ($708)<\/td>\n<td>$708<\/td>\n<td>About $4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The software does roughly the same work for a $1,800 trek as for an $80 day tour: one booking, one set of emails, one manifest entry. A percentage model charges 22 times as much for it. If your trips are long or expensive, the volume at which a flat plan pays off is reached with very few bookings.<\/p>\n<h2>Where OTA commission fits<\/h2>\n<p>Do not confuse booking software fees with OTA commission. An online travel agency such as Viator or GetYourGuide typically takes 20\u201330% of the retail price, but it also finds the traveller for you. Booking software fees pay only for the tools. Our article on <a href=\"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/viator-getyourguide-commission-vs-direct-bookings\/\">Viator and GetYourGuide commission<\/a> looks at that trade-off separately.<\/p>\n<h2>Find your own break-even point<\/h2>\n<p>The break-even point is the annual online revenue at which a percentage fee costs the same as the flat plan:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Break-even revenue = annual flat cost \u00f7 percentage rate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Using the $708 flat plan:<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Percentage rate<\/th>\n<th>Break-even annual revenue<\/th>\n<th>Roughly per month<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>2%<\/td>\n<td>$35,400<\/td>\n<td>$2,950<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4%<\/td>\n<td>$17,700<\/td>\n<td>$1,475<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6%<\/td>\n<td>$11,800<\/td>\n<td>$983<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Above those figures, the flat plan is cheaper. Below them, the percentage is cheaper. Using the monthly-billed $948, the break-even at 2% rises to $47,400 a year.<\/p>\n<p>To use this for your own business:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Add up last year&#8217;s online booking revenue (exclude cash and walk-in sales if your current provider does not charge on them).<\/li>\n<li>Multiply by the percentage in your agreement, including any fees on OTA or API bookings.<\/li>\n<li>Compare with the annual price of the flat plan you would actually need.<\/li>\n<li>Repeat with next year&#8217;s realistic forecast, not just last year&#8217;s figure.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>&#8220;But my guests pay the fee, not me&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>When the percentage is added to the guest&#8217;s total rather than deducted from your revenue, it is tempting to treat it as free. It is not quite that simple.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Your guest sees a higher total.<\/strong> In the <a href=\"https:\/\/baymard.com\/lists\/cart-abandonment-rate\">Baymard Institute&#8217;s survey<\/a> of US online shoppers, 40% of those who abandoned a checkout cited extra costs such as fees as a reason. That research covers ecommerce generally, but fees added late in checkout are friction in any market.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The total budget is the same.<\/strong> A traveller with $500 to spend on activities who pays $30 in booking fees has $30 less for your upgrades or a second tour.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Refunds can be awkward.<\/strong> Some providers keep the booking fee when you refund a booking, which can leave guests out of pocket after a weather cancellation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A guest-paid fee is a real cost of your product, even if it never passes through your bank account.<\/p>\n<h2>Costs that are not on either pricing page<\/h2>\n<p>Whichever model you compare, ask about the costs around the headline price:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Card processing:<\/strong> the rate, who holds the merchant account, and extra charges for international cards or currency conversion.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Website:<\/strong> whether a booking website is included or charged separately, and whether you can use your own domain.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Payout timing:<\/strong> whether money goes straight to your own account or is held and paid out on a schedule.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Channel fees:<\/strong> extra charges on bookings from resellers, OTAs or API connections.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Plan limits:<\/strong> team members, channels, storage, email sends, and what happens when you reach them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Add-ons:<\/strong> waivers, messaging, gift vouchers or reporting sold as extras.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Setup and exit:<\/strong> onboarding fees, contract length, and whether exporting your data costs anything.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Which model suits which business<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Percentage fees<\/strong> suit new or very small operators with low, unpredictable volume, and businesses that want no fixed cost at all while they test a product.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Flat fees<\/strong> suit established operators with steady online sales, high-value trips such as multi-day tours where a percentage is a large sum per booking, and anyone planning to grow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many operators start on a percentage model and stay out of habit long after their volume has made it the expensive option. Checking the numbers once a year is worth the ten minutes it takes.<\/p>\n<h2>How Tourtify charges<\/h2>\n<p>Tourtify charges a flat monthly plan with no commission on bookings: $39, $79 or $129 a month, or $29, $59 or $99 a month billed yearly. Every plan includes a booking website with your own domain and deposits with automatic balance collection. Payments go straight to your own Stripe, PayPal or local gateway account, and your provider&#8217;s card fees are the only per-booking cost. Full plan details are on the <a href=\"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/pricing\/\">pricing page<\/a>, and you can run your own numbers during a <a href=\"https:\/\/app.tourtify.com\/register\">30-day free trial<\/a> with no card required.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Percentage fees look cheap when you are small and expensive when you grow. This worked example shows where flat-fee booking software starts to save money, and where it does not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[11,12,16,18,38],"class_list":["post-9006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookings","tag-booking-fees","tag-booking-software","tag-commission-free","tag-cost-comparison","tag-pricing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9020,"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9006\/revisions\/9020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tourtify.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}