Based on public supplier documentation and editorial analysis, not hands-on testing. Confirm current plan features and commercial terms before buying.
You finish the morning walk at 12:40. The afternoon group meets at 14:00. Somewhere in between you need to eat, answer two enquiries, move a family to Thursday and check that tomorrow's guide has the right headcount. Nobody else is going to do it.
That is the real job description for booking software in a small tour business. It is not about dashboards or integrations you might use in three years. It is about whether one person, standing on a pavement with a phone, can keep the day straight. Here is how the three most practical starting points measure up against that job, and how to find out for yourself in a single afternoon.
Bookeo: the predictable bill
Bookeo Tours & Activities Standard lists USD 39.95/month for 1,000 bookings a month, 20 guides and vehicles and 20 staff logins. Helpfully, a reservation for three guests counts as one booking, not three, which stretches that allowance a long way for a walking tour taking couples and families. Bookeo charges no booking commission, though your payment provider still takes its processing fee.[4][3]
The catch is that not everything sits inside the subscription. Digital waivers are an add-on from USD 9/month, and text messages run on purchased credits. The 30-day trial needs no credit card and opens every feature, which is generous but also a trap: it is easy to grow fond of something you will later pay extra for. Keep a note of which paid components you actually use during the trial.[3]
Bókun: buy the tier you need today
Bókun's START plan is listed at $49/month, with 1.5% taken on applicable bookings, and gives you up to five users along with resource management, payment links and gift cards. The next rung, PLUS, is $149/month plus 1.25%, and brings agent booking areas you can customise, Zapier and extra help with onboarding.[1]
It is tempting to buy PLUS because you plan to grow. Resist that. Move up when a named requirement forces it, such as a hotel partner that needs its own selling area, not because the future might arrive.
Where Bókun really earns its place is Viator. On Viator reservations, START, PLUS and PREMIUM list no Bókun fee at all. The separate Channel Manager product, however, charges 0.5%-1.5% on Viator reservations, and Viator's own commission applies either way. If Viator sends you most of your guests, compare those specific products rather than assuming every Bókun connection is free.[1]
Rezdy: know where the automation lives
Rezdy's Foundation plan costs $49/month with 3% on every online booking, and comes with a guest manifest and centralised resource management. Accelerate displays $99/month and adds packages, extras, gift cards and automated customer notifications. Both come with unlimited users, products and agents.[2]
For a small team, those automated notifications matter more than they sound. If you are relying on the system to send reminders and corrected meeting points while you are mid-tour, that is an Accelerate feature, so budget for Accelerate. Also note that offline and agent bookings carry their own per-booking charges, so a business that takes a lot of phone bookings should not cost only its website sales.[2]
The 21-day trial needs no card. Three weeks is useful breathing room, but a longer trial does not prove easier daily use. Test against the tier you would actually pay for.[2]
The between-departures test
Here is a trial you can run in the gap between two tours. Set up one public tour and one private tour that share your guide. Make a test reservation, then pull up the manifest on the phone you actually carry. Move the guest to another date and send them corrected meeting details.
Now do it all again, but logged in as an occasional staff member instead of the owner. The pass condition is simple: the guest list and the payment balance are correct, and nobody had to hand the job back to you.
Use fictitious guests and only the payment tests the supplier approves. If you run food tours, change a dietary request and note who has to tell the venue. If you run walking tours, close a departure while you are away from your desk and check that the public availability changes with it.
The bill nobody checks: winter
Small operators often price software on a summer month and get surprised in February. Bookeo documents an off-season freeze at 30% of the regular subscription, which sounds ideal until you read the conditions: frozen accounts cannot accept or create new bookings or collect waiver signatures. If you sell next season's tours through the winter, that freeze will not work for you.[3]
For every candidate, price your actual trading year, including text messages and any add-ons you need. Watch the currency too. Bókun's dollar display does not confirm what you will be billed in locally, while Rezdy's page metadata labels its plans USD and notes that Australian GST is excluded. Check the checkout and payment gateway for your country before you compare totals side by side. Our cost worksheet helps you line them up.[1][2]
So which one first?
If almost every guest books on your own website and you fit Bookeo's limits, trial Bookeo first. If Viator is your biggest channel, start with Bókun START. If you need several people logged in and want a manifest from day one, run Rezdy Foundation alongside, and be honest about whether you will need Accelerate's automation. Whichever you choose, the between-departures test is your deciding vote.
Supplier features and commercial terms
Supplier-documented scope, not a scored ranking. Compare this evidence with the requirements above.
| Product | Documented scope | What to demonstrate |
|---|---|---|
| Bookeo | Tours & Activities supports group/private experiences, with dedicated boat and escape-room documentation. Standard includes 20 staff logins and 20 guides/vehicles.[4] | Select the relevant product and verify booking limits, room or guide rules and payment-provider arrangements. |
| Bókun | Booking system with resource management, payment links and gift cards in START; PLUS adds custom agent areas and Zapier. A separate Channel Manager connects other reservation systems.[5] | Demonstrate product mapping and shared-resource rules across your actual sales channels. |
| Rezdy | Foundation lists a guest manifest and centralised resource management. Accelerate adds packages, extras and automated customer notifications; Channel Manager can also serve another reservation system.[6] | Demonstrate agent amendments, settlement and the automation needed in your proposed tier. |
Pricing and trial conditions
Bookeo
Tours & Activities Standard: USD 39.95/month for 1,000 reservations/month, without booking commission. Gateway fees are separate; waivers from USD 9/month and SMS credits cost extra. Confirm tax.[3]
30-day trial without a credit card; all features available during the trial. Match any add-ons to the eventual paid plan.[3]
Bókun
START displays $49/month + 1.5%, PLUS $149 + 1.25%, PREMIUM $499 + 1% on applicable bookings. Currency and tax require account confirmation. No Bókun Viator booking fee on START, PLUS or PREMIUM; separate Channel Manager: 0.5%-1.5% on Viator reservations. Viator commission remains separate.[1]
14-day trial, no credit card required; check the intended paid tier.[1]
Rezdy
Foundation $49/month, Accelerate $99 and Expansion $249, each + 3% per online booking. Offline/agent booking charges: $1, $0.85 and $0.70 respectively. Pricing metadata identifies USD; Australian GST excluded. Confirm local terms.[2]
21-day trial, with no credit card required, advertised on the pricing page.[2]
Sources
Official documentation supporting this guide. Prices and availability may change; an access date is not a supplier publication date.
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