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Travel · head to head

Bokun vs Sabre Red 360

Bokun logo

Bokun

Travel

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sabre Red 360 logo

Sabre Red 360

Travel

Agency booking workspace over the Sabre GDS for air, hotel, car and rail

From
On request
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.; Sabre Red 360 the commercial deal is a multi-year segment volume commitment, so an agency that moves bookings to airline direct connects can end up paying shortfall penalties on volume it no longer books through Sabre.
  • They diverge on capability: Bokun covers Channel manager, Sabre Red 360 covers Graphical and cryptic modes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bokun and Sabre Red 360 actually diverge.

Attributes where Bokun and Sabre Red 360 differ
AttributeBokunSabre Red 360
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month plus a booking feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWindows, Web

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 Bokun

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

Only in Sabre Red 360

  • Graphical and cryptic modes
  • Air shopping and ticketing
  • Red App Centre
  • Queue management
  • Multi-content hotel
  • Automation scripting

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 Sabre Red 360
  • A city tour company reselling partner products and taking commission through the Bokun marketplacenot Sabre Red 360
  • An operator wanting a fixed monthly subscription rather than a percentage of every booking as FareHarbor chargesnot Sabre Red 360
  • A business taking most bookings by phone, which incur no Bokun booking fee at allnot Sabre Red 360

Sabre Red 360

  • A retail agency whose consultants work by cryptic entry and will not accept a forms-only booking toolnot Bokun
  • A TMC that needs queue-driven ticketing and quality control across thousands of daily PNRsnot Bokun
  • A consolidator negotiating a segment incentive deal and wanting the agent desktop bundled innot Bokun
  • An agency adding NDC airline content without abandoning its existing GDS servicing workflownot 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.

Sabre Red 360

  • The commercial deal is a multi-year segment volume commitment, so an agency that moves bookings to airline direct connects can end up paying shortfall penalties on volume it no longer books through Sabre.
  • NDC content behaves differently from classic EDIFACT content inside the workspace, and servicing an NDC order often means leaving the normal exchange and refund workflow.
  • Cryptic entries remain necessary for a meaningful set of tasks, so training a new consultant to productive speed takes months rather than days.
  • It is a desktop-weighted product on Windows, which makes it awkward for agencies running fully remote or Mac-based teams without virtual desktop infrastructure.
  • Pricing is never published and is entangled with incentive economics, so two agencies of similar size can be on materially different terms with no visibility of each other.

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

Sabre Red 360

On request
  • Sabre Red 360$undefined/year
    • Typically bundled into a GDS segment agreement
    • Segment incentive payments to the agency
    • Volume commitments and multi-year terms

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Sabre Red 360 if

  • You need graphical and cryptic modes.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want air shopping and ticketing.
Sabre Red 360 review

Questions people ask

Is Bokun or Sabre Red 360 better?
Neither clearly leads. Bokun starts at Free and Sabre Red 360 at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bokun or Sabre Red 360?
Bokun has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bokun and On request for Sabre Red 360.
Does Bokun or Sabre Red 360 run on more platforms?
Bokun runs on Web, iOS, Android. Sabre Red 360 runs on Windows, Web.
Can I use Bokun for free?
Yes. Bokun has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sabre Red 360 starts at On request.
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 Sabre Red 360 is typically brought in for.
What can Bokun do that Sabre Red 360 cannot?
Bokun covers Channel manager, Booking widgets, Marketplace, Product and availability setup. Sabre Red 360 covers Graphical and cryptic modes, Air shopping and ticketing, Red App Centre, Queue management.

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.

Sabre Red 360: Do we pay a licence fee for Sabre Red 360?

Usually not directly. It is bundled into a GDS segment agreement in which Sabre pays your agency incentives per segment, so the negotiation is over volume commitments and incentive rates.

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.

Sabre Red 360: Can corporates buy it to book their own travel?

No. It is an agent workspace. Corporates buy a TMC or an online booking tool such as GetThere, Egencia or TravelPerk instead.

Bokun: Who owns Bokun?

Viator, which is part of Tripadvisor.

Sabre Red 360: Does it handle NDC?

Yes, Sabre distributes NDC offers from a growing airline list, but servicing NDC orders follows a separate flow from classic GDS bookings.

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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