Checkfront vs Bookeo: Which Is Better? (2026)
Checkfront and Bookeo both take online bookings for tours and activities, but they charge for it in very different ways. Checkfront lists one plan at $99 a month plus a 3% fee on online bookings. Bookeo sells flat monthly plans and takes no commission at all. The bigger gap is scope, because Checkfront books rentals, nightly stays, and flexible time blocks next to tours, while Bookeo is built around seats on scheduled sessions.
This guide compares Checkfront and Bookeo on features, yearly cost at $100,000 in online sales, and fit, using the prices each company published in October 2026. If you rent gear as well as run tours, there's a third option at the end.
Weighing either one against the wider field? See the best Checkfront alternatives and best Bookeo alternatives guides, or the full equipment rental software comparison.
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | Checkfront | Bookeo |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Tours, activities, rentals, and accommodations | Tours, activities, classes, and appointments |
| Pricing model | One monthly plan plus an online booking fee | Flat monthly plans, no commission |
| Published price | $99/month + 3% on online bookings | $14.95 to $119.95/month (Tours & Activities) |
| Who pays the fee | You or the guest, your choice | No booking fee and no guest fee |
| Plan limits | One plan for every business | Each plan caps monthly bookings, staff logins, and guides or vehicles |
| Waivers | Built in | Paid add-on from $9/month |
| Availability types | All day, nightly, timeslot, and flextime | Seats on scheduled sessions |
| Equipment rentals | Yes, with basic per-item availability | No rental model |
| OTA channels | Google Things to do, Viator, GetYourGuide, and resellers | Viator, Tripadvisor, and Expedia |
Features: Where Each One Wins
What you can sell
Checkfront wins on range. Its availability engine books items All Day, Nightly, by Timeslot, or by Flextime, so one account can sell a 10am tour, a half-day kayak hire, and a two-night cabin. Shared resources stop the same asset from being double booked across two products, which is what a mixed tour and rental counter needs. The rental side stops at availability, though. Maintenance schedules, damage notes against a specific unit, and a unit's service history aren't what Checkfront is built around.
Bookeo is built around scheduled sessions. You set departures and seat counts, then roster the guides and vehicles each one needs, and Bookeo keeps the same van from going out on two tours at once. Classes, courses, and appointments live in sister Bookeo products. There's no rental model. You can sell gear as an extra on a tour, like a wetsuit or a photo package, but Bookeo doesn't track item-level stock, check-outs, or returns.
Waivers and check-in
Checkfront includes waivers in the plan and puts them inside the booking flow. It also has scannable tickets, a daily manifest, and one-click guest check-in.
Bookeo's waivers work well. Guests sign online, on site through the Kiosk app, or by scanning a QR code, and each waiver links to its booking so you can spot missing ones before a tour leaves. They cost extra, from $9 a month for 200 waivers up to $249 a month for 10,000. Bookeo's pricing page also says that if you drop the waiver plan, your stored signed waivers are deleted, so keep a paid waiver plan for as long as you need those records.
Distribution
Both connect to the big OTAs. Checkfront's pricing page lists Google Things to do, Viator, GetYourGuide, and a network of more than 20,000 resellers, and says it adds no fee on OTA or API bookings beyond the OTA's own commission. Bookeo connects to Viator, Tripadvisor, and Expedia at no extra charge from Bookeo. If hotel desks and local resellers sell a lot of your seats, Checkfront has the bigger network.
Setup and day-to-day use
Bookeo is the simpler tool to get running. A tour catalog goes up quickly, staff work from a phone or tablet in the browser, and the extras most small operators want are there: a POS with tap and swipe, waitlists, a booking cart, gift vouchers, promo codes, and booking pages in more than 35 languages.
Checkfront's flexibility takes longer to set up. Products, pricing rules, availability types, and widgets all need configuring, and operators have described its interface as dated for years. You get more to work with once it's done, including seasonal pricing, add-on packages, and guest payments by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, iDEAL, or Alipay.
Pricing Comparison
The two models move in opposite directions as you grow. Checkfront's fee rises with every online sale. Bookeo's price only changes when you outgrow a plan's caps.
Checkfront pricing
Checkfront sells one plan: $99 a month plus a 3% online booking fee, which you can absorb or pass on to the guest. Offline bookings carry no fee, and Checkfront says it charges nothing extra on OTA or API bookings. Pricing can vary by region and currency, so check the rate for your country and how card processing is billed before you compare totals.
At $100,000 a year in online bookings, absorbing the fee costs about $4,188 ($1,188 in subscription plus $3,000 in fees). Pass the fee to guests and your cost drops to $1,188, while your guests pay the $3,000 at checkout.
Bookeo pricing
Bookeo's Tours & Activities plans are Solo at $14.95, Small at $29.95, Standard at $39.95, Large at $79.95, and X-Large at $119.95 a month, in USD, month to month. Standard covers 20 guides and vehicles, 20 staff logins, and 1,000 bookings a month. Large doubles that to 40, 40, and 2,000, and X-Large goes to 60, 60, and 3,000. A booking for three people counts as one booking. Bookeo takes no commission and adds no guest fee, but your payment gateway still charges its processing fee, and waivers and SMS credits cost extra.
At $100,000 a year in online bookings, Standard costs $479 a year. Add the 500-waiver plan at $19 a month and it's $707. Even X-Large is $1,439 a year. If you run a seasonal business, Bookeo will also freeze your account in the off-season at 30% of your normal fee, though you can't take bookings while it's frozen.
On price alone, Bookeo wins by a wide margin for seat-based tours. Checkfront's 3% fee on $100,000 is more than six times what Bookeo Standard costs for the whole year. Checkfront earns its price only if you need what Bookeo can't do, mostly rentals, nightly stays, and flexible time blocks.
EquipDash pricing
EquipDash bills annually at $23/month for Starter (2% platform fee), $55/month for Growth (1.5%), and $119/month for Pro (1%). At $100,000 in annual bookings, that's about $2,276, $2,160, and $2,428 before card processing. That's more than Bookeo and less than Checkfront with the fee absorbed, and it covers rentals and tours in one system with waivers included. See current EquipDash pricing.
Best For: When to Choose Each
Choose Checkfront if
- You sell tours alongside rentals, accommodations, or both.
- You need all-day, nightly, or flextime bookings as well as fixed departures.
- Resellers and OTAs sell a real share of your inventory.
- You want waivers in the plan and you're happy to pass the 3% fee to guests.
Choose Bookeo if
- You run scheduled tours, classes, or sessions sold by the seat.
- You want the lowest fixed cost, with no booking fee for you or your guests.
- Your business is seasonal and an off-season freeze would save you money.
- You're a small team that wants something simple you can set up in an afternoon.
Choose a third option if
- Rentals bring in a real share of your revenue.
- You need per-unit stock, damage notes, and check-in tied to a specific item.
- You want a fee that falls as you move up plans instead of a flat 3%.
A Third Option: Rentals and Tours in One System
If you only sell seats on tours, Bookeo is hard to beat on cost, and Checkfront makes sense when you also hire out gear or rooms and can live with the setup. If rentals are a big slice of the business, both leave gaps. Bookeo can't track a single board or bike at all, and Checkfront tracks availability without the unit history a busy fleet needs.
EquipDash was built for shops that do both. The calendar that runs the 9am guided paddle also shows which boards are out, which came back damaged, and which are blocked for repair before the next hire. Rentals get per-unit tracking, check-in and check-out with photos, maintenance windows, and deposits tied to the item, while tours get schedules, capacity, manifests, and waivers. Shared availability through resource management keeps a board on a lesson from also going out as a half-day hire.
It won't beat Bookeo's price for a seat-only tour business, and it won't match Checkfront's reseller network. If your week runs across the rental counter and the tour schedule, one system that handles both saves the double entry. Compare the head-to-heads in EquipDash vs Checkfront and EquipDash vs Bookeo, or read how Checkfront stacks up against Peek Pro, FareHarbor, and Booqable. Already moving off Checkfront? The Checkfront migration guide walks through the switch.
FAQ
What's the main difference between Checkfront and Bookeo?
Checkfront books tours, activities, rentals, and accommodations, with all-day, nightly, timeslot, and flextime availability, and charges $99 a month plus a 3% online booking fee. Bookeo books seats on scheduled tours, classes, and appointments, charges a flat monthly fee from $14.95, and takes no commission. Checkfront covers more kinds of business; Bookeo is simpler and much cheaper.
Is Bookeo cheaper than Checkfront?
For most tour operators, it is. At $100,000 a year in online bookings, Bookeo Standard costs about $479 a year, or about $707 with a 500-waiver plan. Checkfront costs about $4,188 a year if you absorb its 3% fee, or $1,188 if you pass the fee to guests. Payment processing is extra on both.
Does Bookeo charge commission or booking fees?
Bookeo charges only its monthly plan fee, with no commission and no fee for guests. Your payment gateway, such as Stripe, Square, or PayPal, still charges its own processing fee. Each Bookeo plan caps monthly bookings, staff logins, and guides or vehicles, so a busy season can push you up a plan.
Can Bookeo or Checkfront handle equipment rentals?
Checkfront can. It books rentals by the day, night, timeslot, or flexible block and shares resources across products to prevent double bookings, though it doesn't center on unit-level maintenance or damage history. Bookeo has no rental model. It sells gear only as an extra on a booking, with no item-level stock, check-out, or return tracking.
Are waivers included in Checkfront and Bookeo?
Checkfront includes built-in waivers in its plan. Bookeo sells waivers as an add-on, from $9 a month for 200 signed waivers up to $249 a month for 10,000. Bookeo's waivers can be signed online, on a kiosk, or by QR code, and its pricing page notes that stored waivers are deleted if you cancel the waiver plan.
Is there an alternative that handles tours and rentals together?
EquipDash runs guided experiences and per-unit equipment rentals in one system, with shared availability, check-in and check-out, deposits, and waivers included. Annual plans start at $23 a month with a 2% platform fee that drops to 1% on the Pro plan.
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