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Travel · head to head

Apaleo vs Bokun

Apaleo logo

Apaleo

Travel

API-first hotel property management platform sold per room with a monthly floor

From
€8/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Bokun logo

Bokun

Travel

Tour and activity booking platform tied to Viator distribution, from free to $499 a month

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Bokun has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Apaleo the €400 monthly floor means a property under fifty rooms pays well above the headline €8 per room, so a twenty five room hotel pays €16 per room and the advertised rate is misleading at the small end.; Bokun viator bookings are exempt from the booking fee while your own direct bookings are not, so the pricing structure rewards selling through the parent marketplace rather than through your own site.
  • They diverge on capability: Apaleo covers Open REST API, Bokun covers Channel manager.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Apaleo and Bokun actually diverge.

Attributes where Apaleo and Bokun differ
AttributeApaleoBokun
Starting price€8/monthFree
Pricing modelPer room per monthPer month plus a booking fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Travel).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Apaleo

  • Open REST API
  • Apaleo Store
  • Multi-property inventory
  • Apaleo Pay
  • Unit group model
  • Night audit and accounting export

Only in Bokun

  • Channel manager
  • Booking widgets
  • Marketplace
  • Product and availability setup
  • Offline bookings
  • Vouchers and redemption

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Apaleo

  • A serviced apartment group building its own branded check-in and access flow that needs full PMS control through an API rather than a vendor-built kiosknot Bokun
  • A European hotel group standardising twenty properties on one system with central rate management and DATEV-ready accounting exportsnot Bokun
  • A new-build lifestyle hotel operating with no permanent front desk, where door locks, kiosks and messaging come from specialists and the PMS is the record of truthnot Bokun
  • A revenue team that wants to plug Duetto or IDeaS into live inventory without paying a per-connection interface feenot Bokun

Bokun

  • An operator already doing significant Viator volume who wants that channel to cost nothing in software feesnot Apaleo
  • A city tour company reselling partner products and taking commission through the Bokun marketplacenot Apaleo
  • An operator wanting a fixed monthly subscription rather than a percentage of every booking as FareHarbor chargesnot Apaleo
  • A business taking most bookings by phone, which incur no Bokun booking fee at allnot Apaleo

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Apaleo

  • The €400 monthly floor means a property under fifty rooms pays well above the headline €8 per room, so a twenty five room hotel pays €16 per room and the advertised rate is misleading at the small end.
  • Apaleo ships no point of sale, no spa or golf module and no conference and banqueting system, so full service hotels must buy and integrate three or four more products before the stack is complete.
  • Because the model assumes you assemble the guest-facing layer from the Store, the real monthly cost is the platform fee plus several third-party subscriptions, and that total is nowhere on the pricing page.
  • Support and documentation lean towards developers, so an operator without technical capacity or an implementation partner will find configuration and troubleshooting harder than with a conventional PMS.
  • The product and integration ecosystem is strongest in German-speaking Europe, and North American buyers will find fewer local integrations for payments, tax rules and accounting than a US-focused PMS offers.

Bokun

  • Viator bookings are exempt from the booking fee while your own direct bookings are not, so the pricing structure rewards selling through the parent marketplace rather than through your own site.
  • The booking fee sits on top of the monthly subscription, so an operator on Start pays $49 plus 1.5% of direct online revenue and the plan price alone understates the cost.
  • The free plan is limited to a single user and constrained features, so any business with staff has to move to a paid tier almost immediately.
  • Adopting it deepens commercial dependence on Tripadvisor and Viator, which is uncomfortable if your strategy is reducing OTA commission exposure.
  • Reporting and back-office depth are lighter than dedicated operator platforms, so businesses with complex resource scheduling or multi-site operations often need workarounds.

Pricing, plan by plan

Apaleo

€8/month
  • Apaleo Platform$8/month
    • €8 per room per month
    • Minimum €400 per month regardless of room count
    • All APIs included at no extra cost

Bokun

Free
  • FreeFree
    • One user
    • No monthly fee
    • No Bokun booking fee
  • Start$49/month
    • Up to 5 users
    • 1.5% booking fee on direct online bookings
    • No booking fee on Viator bookings
  • Plus$149/month
    • Up to 10 users
    • 1.25% booking fee on direct online bookings
    • No Bokun fee on Viator bookings
  • Premium$499/month
    • Unlimited users
    • 1% booking fee on direct online bookings
    • No Bokun fee on Viator bookings

Which should you pick?

Choose Apaleo if

  • You need open rest api.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want apaleo store.
Apaleo review

Choose Bokun if

  • You need channel manager.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want booking widgets.
Bokun review

Questions people ask

Is Apaleo or Bokun better?
Neither clearly leads. Apaleo starts at €8/month and Bokun at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Apaleo or Bokun?
Bokun has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at €8/month for Apaleo and Free for Bokun.
Does Apaleo or Bokun run on more platforms?
Apaleo runs on Web, API. Bokun runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Bokun for free?
Yes. Bokun has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Apaleo starts at €8/month.
What is Apaleo best used for?
Apaleo is most often used for a serviced apartment group building its own branded check-in and access flow that needs full pms control through an api rather than a vendor-built kiosk, a european hotel group standardising twenty properties on one system with central rate management and datev-ready accounting exports, a new-build lifestyle hotel operating with no permanent front desk, where door locks, kiosks and messaging come from specialists and the pms is the record of truth, a revenue team that wants to plug duetto or ideas into live inventory without paying a per-connection interface fee. Of those, a serviced apartment group building its own branded check-in and access flow that needs full pms control through an api rather than a vendor-built kiosk and a european hotel group standardising twenty properties on one system with central rate management and datev-ready accounting exports are not what Bokun is typically brought in for.
What can Apaleo do that Bokun cannot?
Apaleo covers Open REST API, Apaleo Store, Multi-property inventory, Apaleo Pay. Bokun covers Channel manager, Booking widgets, Marketplace, Product and availability setup.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Apaleo: What does Apaleo actually cost for a sixty room hotel?

€480 per month for the platform at €8 per room, plus payment processing from 0.6% and whatever Store integrations you add. Below fifty rooms you pay the €400 floor.

Bokun: Are Viator bookings really free of Bokun fees?

Yes on the paid plans. Direct online bookings through your own widget carry 1% to 1.5% depending on tier.

Apaleo: Is API access charged separately?

No. All APIs are included in the per room fee, which is unusual in the PMS market where interface fees per connection are common.

Bokun: Can I pass the booking fee to customers?

Yes, on the paid plans the fee can be added to the customer price rather than absorbed.

Apaleo: Does it include a channel manager?

No. You connect one from the Store, such as SiteMinder, and pay that vendor separately.

Bokun: Who owns Bokun?

Viator, which is part of Tripadvisor.

Apaleo: Can it run a full service hotel?

Only with additional systems. There is no native POS, spa or events module.

Bokun: Is the free plan usable in a real business?

Only for a solo operator. It is one user with limited features.

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