Checkfront vs FareHarbor

by Gralio Feb 18, 2025

Checkfront and FareHarbor are both strong contenders for tour and activity booking management, each catering to slightly different needs. Checkfront excels in its transparent pricing and user-friendly booking process, while FareHarbor shines with its extensive OTA partnerships and robust customer support. The best choice depends on your priorities: predictable costs versus broader market reach.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 1517 reviews and 60 websites, saving 8 hours, 55 minutes of reading.

Checkfront

Website LinkedIn Twitter

FareHarbor

Website LinkedIn Twitter

About

Checkfront is an online booking system for businesses in the tours, activities, and rental industries. It helps you manage bookings, resources, and payments in one central platform. You can set different pricing options, manage customer communications, and even connect with online travel agencies. Checkfront aims to simplify your booking process and free up your time to focus on your business.

FareHarbor is a popular booking and business management software designed specifically for tour operators, activity providers, and attraction businesses. It helps manage online reservations, inventory, staff schedules and more from one central dashboard. FareHarbor offers website integration to help convert visitors into customers and provides access to partnerships to help businesses grow. They are known for their 24/7 customer support.

Summary

Main difference

Checkfront offers a more straightforward pricing model based on a flat 3% per booking fee, making it transparent and predictable for budgeting. FareHarbor's pricing, while competitive with credit card processing through Stripe, lacks transparency in its overall commission structure, potentially leading to unexpected costs.

Relative strengths of Checkfront (compared to FareHarbor)

Transparent and predictable pricing with a flat 3% fee per booking.
Stronger user reviews for ease of use and booking management.
More robust reporting and financial analysis capabilities.

Relative weaknesses of Checkfront (compared to FareHarbor)

Limited POS integration options compared to FareHarbor.
Mobile app functionality is less developed than FareHarbor.
Less extensive partnerships with OTAs and resellers.

Who should use Checkfront VS. FareHarbor

Checkfront is an online booking system perfect for tour, activity, and rental businesses seeking to streamline operations. Users praise its intuitive booking process and excellent customer support. However, some find the booking editing and reporting features cumbersome. Checkfront offers flexible pricing options and robust booking management tools, making it a valuable asset for businesses looking to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction.

FareHarbor is a booking and business management software praised for its exceptional customer support and user-friendly interface. However, some users mention high commission fees and limitations with complex bookings. It's best for small to medium businesses in hospitality and tourism seeking a streamlined booking solution.

Best for small to medium-sized businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Ideal for tour, activity, rental, and accommodation businesses.

Best for small to medium-sized tour, activity, and attraction businesses.
Ideal for businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Checkfront and FareHarbor features

Supported

Partially supported

Not supported

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

Tour booking

Supported

Checkfront supports tour booking and reservation management, including multi-day tours and complex itineraries.

Supported

FareHarbor offers tools to book tours and manage tour reservations.
Payment processing

Supported

Checkfront supports payment processing for travel bookings via various methods and integrations.

Supported

FareHarbor supports online and in-person payments via credit cards and digital wallets.
Payment integration

Supported

Checkfront allows integrating payment processing into itineraries via its own payment system and third-party providers.

Partially supported

FareHarbor offers payment processing and integrations with external systems, but direct itinerary integration details are unclear.
Website integration

Supported

Checkfront allows embedding booking widgets directly into your website.

Supported

Yes, FareHarbor allows embedding booking widgets like calendars and item grids.
Calendar management

Supported

Checkfront allows viewing and managing booking schedules with real-time updates and syncing.

Supported

FareHarbor offers customizable booking calendars and integrates with Google Calendar.
Booking reports

Supported

Checkfront supports generating booking reports with filtering and analysis tools.

Supported

FareHarbor supports generating booking reports with customizable and advanced reporting tools.

Qualities

Value and Pricing Transparency

+1

Strongly positive sentiment
+0

Neutral sentiment
Customer Service

+0.71

Strongly positive sentiment
+0

Neutral sentiment
Ease of Use

+0.86

Strongly positive sentiment
+0.71

Strongly positive sentiment
Reliability and Performance

+1

Strongly positive sentiment
+0.6

Rather positive sentiment
Ease of Implementation

+1

Strongly positive sentiment
+0.33

Rather positive sentiment
Scalability

No data
No data

Checkfront and FareHarbor Pricing

Checkfront offers a single pricing plan with a monthly subscription fee and a 3% online booking fee for online bookings. Offline bookings do not incur any fees. There are no setup fees or hidden charges. Checkfront does not charge extra for OTA or API-generated bookings, unlike some competitors.

Plans

User sentiment

Strongly positive

See full Pricing page

Pricing information could not be found.

User sentiment

Rather positive

+0.33

See full Pricing page

Checkfront and FareHarbor review insights

1507 reviews analysed from and

Users love

Excellent and responsive customer support, readily available via text and email.
Seamless integration with various payment processors.
Easy to use and intuitive booking process for customers.
Flexible pricing options and customizable booking rules.
Comprehensive online booking management tools, including automated messaging and inventory tracking.

Exceptional customer support, consistently praised for responsiveness and helpfulness.
User-friendly interface for booking and managing reservations, especially on desktop.
Seamless integration with various OTAs and reseller platforms.
Flexible system for creating and customizing tour offerings and pricing structures.
No upfront costs and competitive credit card processing rates through Stripe.

Users dislike

Difficult to edit bookings, especially adding days or changing items within a booking.
Reporting features are lacking, particularly for financial analysis.
Limited POS integration options.
Mobile app functionality is limited and prone to issues.
Inventory management can be complex and confusing for bundled items.

High commission fees (6%) are a recurring complaint, impacting customer perception of pricing.
Difficulty managing multi-day bookings and complex tour packages.
Website integration, while generally smooth, can have limitations in customization and branding.
Occasional slow loading times and clunky interface elements, especially on mobile.
Lack of integrated merchandise/POS system and advanced reporting features.

Checkfront and FareHarbor Ratings

G2

4.4/5

(72)
Capterra

4.5/5

(313)
Glassdoor

4.1/5

(48)

G2

4.1/5

(37)
Capterra

4.8/5

(1085)
TrustPilot

3.0/5

(10)

Company health

Employee growth

11% decrease in the last year

10% increase in the last year

Web traffic

20% increase in the last quarter

22% decrease in the last quarter

Financing

March 2020 - $8M

February 2015 - $110K

How do Checkfront's booking modification features compare to FareHarbor's?

Both Checkfront and FareHarbor allow staff to modify bookings. However, Checkfront users have reported difficulties with editing bookings, especially adding days or changing items within an existing booking. FareHarbor users have reported difficulties managing multi-day bookings and complex tour packages, which may imply limitations in their modification capabilities as well. Neither product's documentation explicitly details the extent of their booking modification features for customers.

Which product offers better website integration for tour operators?

Both Checkfront and FareHarbor offer website integration for tour operators. Checkfront explicitly mentions embedding booking widgets directly into websites. While FareHarbor emphasizes website integration for converting visitors, the specifics are less clear. Therefore, based on the provided information, Checkfront appears to offer more readily apparent website integration capabilities.

What are the advantages of Checkfront?

Checkfront offers a transparent and simple pricing model with a 3% per booking fee, and no monthly or setup fees, potentially offering significant cost savings compared to FareHarbor's 6% commission. Users praise Checkfront's excellent customer support and ease of use, particularly for online booking and payment processing. Checkfront also offers flexible pricing options and customizable booking rules, giving businesses more control over their revenue management.

What are the disadvantages of Checkfront?

Checkfront users report difficulties editing bookings, especially adding days or changing items within existing bookings. They also find its reporting features lacking, particularly for financial analysis, and desire more POS integration options. Finally, some users find the mobile app functionality limited and prone to issues, and inventory management can be complex for bundled items.

Alternatives to Checkfront and FareHarbor

AnyRoad

AnyRoad is an experiential marketing platform designed to help businesses manage and optimize events, tours, and other customer engagement activities. It offers a suite of tools for event planning, ticketing, customer data collection, and performance analysis. Its focus is on providing businesses with data-driven insights to understand consumer behavior and measure the return on investment of their experiential marketing efforts. AnyRoad stands out by offering a comprehensive platform that integrates all aspects of experiential marketing in one place. The software aims to help businesses enhance brand loyalty, drive revenue growth, and create more engaging customer experiences.

TravelPerk

TravelPerk is an all-in-one platform designed to simplify business travel management for companies of all sizes. It allows you to book flights, hotels, and rental cars, manage travel policies, track expenses, and get real-time trip updates all in one place. TravelPerk aims to save money for your company through its wide range of travel options and competitive pricing. It integrates with other software and offers 24/7 customer support to ensure a smooth and efficient travel experience for both managers and employees.

WeTravel

WeTravel is a software platform designed for travel companies of all sizes that organize multi-day and group trips. It provides tools to create trip pages, manage bookings, and process payments. WeTravel aims to simplify financial operations for travel businesses by offering flexible payment options, including payment plans and global supplier transfers. It also helps to streamline administrative tasks and communication with customers.

Regiondo

Regiondo is a booking and management software designed specifically for tour operators, activity providers, and attractions. Businesses can manage bookings, sell tickets online, connect with popular online travel agencies (OTAs), and access various features to streamline operations. These features include a website builder, point-of-sale (POS) system, marketing tools, and integrations with other business software. Regiondo aims to help businesses in the leisure industry increase revenue, reduce administrative work, and improve customer experience.

Rezgo

Rezgo is an online booking and management platform designed for businesses that offer tours and activities. It helps you manage bookings, process payments, and market your offerings. Rezgo allows you to accept bookings from various channels, including your website and mobile devices, while providing tools for inventory management, customer relationship management, and business analytics. It stands out by not charging monthly fees and integrating with various other platforms like OTAs.

TRYTN

TRYTN is an online booking and reservation management platform designed specifically for tour and activity businesses. It aims to help businesses increase direct sales, simplify operations, and lower costs. TRYTN provides a user-friendly interface for managing bookings, payments, and customer communications. It also offers website development and marketing services. TRYTN sets itself apart by focusing on direct booking growth and providing comprehensive solutions for tour operators.

Page co-authored by

Michal Kaczor

CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

Tymon Terlikiewicz

CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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