If you run a tour or activity business, the FareHarbor vs Peek Pro decision comes up almost immediately. They are the two biggest names in tour booking software, both pitch “free” software with no monthly fee, and both can run your whole operation: online bookings, payments, manifests, guides, the works. So which one deserves your business? Having helped operators set up both, here is the honest breakdown for 2026, including the pricing math that actually matters.
FareHarbor vs Peek Pro at a glance
- Pricing model: Nearly identical. Neither charges a monthly subscription. Both take a commission of roughly 6% per online booking, plus payment processing, and both let you pass some or all of that fee to the guest.
- FareHarbor strengths: 24/7 human support, deep OTA distribution (it is owned by Booking Holdings), and free website help.
- Peek Pro strengths: A stronger mobile app and point of sale, built-in free digital waivers, automations, and AI tools. Pricing tends to be more negotiable.
- Bottom line: FareHarbor for support and distribution. Peek Pro for in-the-field operations and automation. Details below.
How FareHarbor vs Peek Pro pricing actually works
Both platforms use a commission model instead of a subscription. You do not pay for the software itself. Instead, each online booking carries a fee, typically around 6%, plus card processing on top. Neither company publishes exact pricing, and your quoted rate can vary by volume, region, and how well you negotiate.
FareHarbor pricing
FareHarbor commonly quotes around 6% per online booking, with payment processing in the neighborhood of 1.9% + $0.30 per transaction. You will not find numbers on their site; you have to talk to a sales rep. Most operators pass the booking fee to guests as a checkout fee, which keeps the software effectively free for you, though your guests do see it.
Peek Pro pricing
Peek Pro is in the same range, usually around 6% per online booking with processing around 2.3% + $0.30. The difference we have seen in practice: Peek is more willing to negotiate that percentage, especially once you are doing real volume. If you book a few hundred thousand dollars a year, ask. The first number is rarely the final number.
The math that actually matters
Add commission and processing together and your real cost lands somewhere between 8% and 11% of each online booking if you absorb everything. Under about $100,000 a year in online bookings, that is a fair trade for software you do not pay for otherwise. Past roughly $250,000, the percentages start to sting, and a flat-rate platform can come out cheaper. We ran that comparison in our guide to the best booking software for tour operators, where Bokun’s subscription model wins on pure cost at higher volume.
Where FareHarbor wins
Support that answers the phone. FareHarbor runs 24/7 phone and email support out of offices in Denver, Amsterdam, and Sydney. When your booking system breaks at 7am on a Saturday with a full boat, this is not a small thing. Operators consistently rate their support team as the best in the category.
Distribution muscle. FareHarbor is owned by Booking Holdings, the parent of Booking.com. Its channel connections to OTAs like Viator and GetYourGuide are mature, and its API ecosystem covers tools like Smartwaiver, Zapier, Google Analytics, and WordPress.
Free website help. FareHarbor will build or tune up your site so the booking flow converts. If your current website is a liability, that alone can justify the choice.
Where Peek Pro wins
The mobile app and POS. The Peek Pro app handles walk-up bookings, tips, merchandise, memberships, QR-code check-ins, and on-the-spot rescheduling. If your business runs from a beach shack, a dock, or the back of a van rather than a front desk, this is where Peek pulls ahead.
Waivers are built in and free. Every booking can trigger a digital waiver automatically, signed ahead of time or in person, stored forever. With FareHarbor you are typically integrating a third-party waiver tool.
Automation and AI. Peek ships pre-built automations for guide scheduling, sunrise and sunset availability, and daily booking summaries, plus weather-aware dynamic pricing and an n8n integration for custom workflows. Peek Copilot, their AI assistant, helps with pricing and marketing tasks. FareHarbor is catching up here, but Peek is ahead.
What owners forget to check before signing
- Who holds the money and when you get paid. Payout schedules differ by processor and region. Ask specifically about deposit timing and refund handling.
- How the guest fee looks at checkout. Passing 6% to guests is normal in this industry, but test the checkout flow yourself and decide if you are comfortable with it.
- The OTA channels you actually use. If a big share of your bookings comes through Viator, confirm the channel connection works for your exact products, and know what that costs you. Our breakdown of the Viator commission rate shows how those fees stack on top of your booking software.
- Getting your data out. Contracts are usually month to month, but ask how customer and booking data exports work before you need them. If you are switching away from either platform, our FareHarbor alternatives guide covers the moving process.
FareHarbor vs Peek Pro: which should you pick?
Pick FareHarbor if you want a partner that answers the phone at any hour, you lean on OTA distribution, or your website needs professional help you were not planning to pay for.
Pick Peek Pro if your operation lives in the field, you take walk-ups, you need waivers on every booking, or you want automations and negotiating room on the rate.
Either way, do two things before you commit: run a real demo with your own inventory loaded, not the sales demo data, and get the full fee schedule in writing, including processing. The platforms are close enough that the right answer usually comes down to how you operate day to day, not the feature checklist.
And if you would rather hand the whole decision and setup off to someone who has done it before, that is exactly what we do at Houseful.