Softwr

Travel · head to head

Bokun vs Lodgify

Bokun logo

Bokun

Travel

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lodgify logo

Lodgify

Travel

Direct booking website builder and channel manager for vacation rental owners and small managers

From
$16/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Bokun has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Lodgify the 1.9 per cent booking fee on Starter and Professional applies to direct reservations, the exact bookings you built the site to win, so an owner turning over 200,000 dollars direct pays around 3,800 dollars a year on top of the subscription unless they move to Ultimate.
  • They diverge on capability: Bokun covers Booking widgets, Lodgify covers Website builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bokun and Lodgify actually diverge.

Attributes where Bokun and Lodgify differ
AttributeBokunLodgify
Starting priceFree$16/month
Pricing modelPer month plus a booking feePer month by property count and plan
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Bokun

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

Only in Lodgify

  • Website builder
  • Booking engine
  • Unified inbox
  • Automated messaging
  • Rental agreements
  • Multi-calendar
  • Damage deposits

Both cover

  • Channel manager

What people use each for

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

Bokun

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

Lodgify

  • An owner with three holiday cottages who wants a branded site to cut Airbnb commissionnot Bokun
  • A manager consolidating Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com calendars to stop double bookingsnot Bokun
  • A rural property with weak OTA visibility that relies on repeat direct guestsnot Bokun
  • A host adding rental agreements and deposit collection to bookings taken off-platformnot Bokun

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Lodgify

  • The 1.9 per cent booking fee on Starter and Professional applies to direct reservations, the exact bookings you built the site to win, so an owner turning over 200,000 dollars direct pays around 3,800 dollars a year on top of the subscription unless they move to Ultimate.
  • Operations tooling is thin: there is no real housekeeping scheduling, task assignment or owner statement generation, so managers past roughly twenty units outgrow it.
  • Prices shown are annual-commitment rates; paying monthly costs substantially more, which makes the headline figure misleading for anyone unwilling to commit for a year.
  • The website templates are constrained, and heavy design customisation means editing within a narrow theme system rather than having real control over layout or markup.
  • Payment processing is effectively tied to a small set of gateways, so operators in markets without local acquiring support may struggle to take payments in their own currency without extra cost.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Lodgify

$16/month
  • Starter$16/month
    • Billed annually, higher month to month
    • Website builder and booking engine
    • Channel manager
  • Professional$42/month
    • Billed annually
    • Payment automation
    • More integrations and higher limits
  • Ultimate$103/month
    • Billed annually
    • No booking fee on direct reservations
    • Priority support

Which should you pick?

Choose Bokun if

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

Choose Lodgify if

  • You need website builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want booking engine.
Lodgify review

Questions people ask

Is Bokun or Lodgify better?
Neither clearly leads. Bokun starts at Free and Lodgify at $16/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bokun or Lodgify?
Bokun has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bokun and $16/month for Lodgify.
Does Bokun or Lodgify run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Bokun for free?
Yes. Bokun has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Lodgify starts at $16/month.
What is Bokun best used for?
Bokun is most often used for an operator already doing significant viator volume who wants that channel to cost nothing in software fees, a city tour company reselling partner products and taking commission through the bokun marketplace, an operator wanting a fixed monthly subscription rather than a percentage of every booking as fareharbor charges, a business taking most bookings by phone, which incur no bokun booking fee at all. Of those, an operator already doing significant viator volume who wants that channel to cost nothing in software fees and a city tour company reselling partner products and taking commission through the bokun marketplace are not what Lodgify is typically brought in for.
What can Bokun do that Lodgify cannot?
Bokun covers Booking widgets, Marketplace, Product and availability setup, Offline bookings. Lodgify covers Website builder, Booking engine, Unified inbox, Automated messaging. Both handle Channel manager.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Lodgify: Does Lodgify charge commission on direct bookings?

Yes on the two lower tiers. Starter and Professional take 1.9 per cent of each direct booking; the Ultimate plan removes it.

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.

Lodgify: At what point is Ultimate cheaper than Professional?

Roughly once your direct booking revenue passes about 38,000 dollars a year, at which point the 1.9 per cent fee exceeds the price difference between the plans.

Bokun: Who owns Bokun?

Viator, which is part of Tripadvisor.

Lodgify: Is Lodgify a full property management system?

No. It is a website, booking engine and channel manager. Housekeeping, task management and owner accounting are largely absent.

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

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

Lodgify: Can it run a hotel?

It is designed for whole-unit vacation rentals. Room-level hotel inventory, folios and night audit are not part of the product.

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