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Travel · head to head

Bokun vs Smoobu

Bokun logo

Bokun

Travel

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Smoobu logo

Smoobu

Travel

All-in-one channel manager and PMS for hosts with a handful of holiday rentals

From
€29/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.; Smoobu the Flex plan carries a 0.9% fee on every booking, which on an apartment turning over €40,000 a year costs more than the entire annual subscription saving, and the pricing page presents Flex as the cheaper option.
  • They diverge on capability: Bokun covers Booking widgets, Smoobu covers Website builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bokun and Smoobu actually diverge.

Attributes where Bokun and Smoobu differ
AttributeBokunSmoobu
Starting priceFree€29/month
Pricing modelPer month plus a booking feePer unit per month
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 Smoobu

  • Website builder
  • Guest messaging
  • Unified calendar
  • Invoicing and e-invoicing
  • Mobile apps

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

Smoobu

  • A host with three apartments in Berlin who needs Airbnb and Booking.com calendars kept in sync and wants a direct booking site to cut OTA commissionnot Bokun
  • An owner wanting automated check-in instructions and pre-arrival messages sent per channel without logging into each extranetnot Bokun
  • A small manager who needs guest invoices that meet German documentation requirements without adding a separate accounting toolnot Bokun
  • A host testing dynamic pricing through the bundled trial before deciding whether to subscribe to PriceLabs separatelynot 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.

Smoobu

  • The Flex plan carries a 0.9% fee on every booking, which on an apartment turning over €40,000 a year costs more than the entire annual subscription saving, and the pricing page presents Flex as the cheaper option.
  • Pricing is per unit, so a ten unit portfolio pays roughly €31.50 plus nine additional units at about €9.60, and the headline monthly figure covers a single apartment only.
  • Write access is charged per account beyond the included seats, so a cleaner, a co-host and an owner all needing to edit bookings turn into a recurring per seat cost.
  • There is no trust accounting or owner statement generation, so anyone managing units on behalf of third-party owners has to build payout reporting outside the system.
  • Housekeeping and maintenance dispatch is minimal compared with manager-grade platforms, so cleaning coordination happens in WhatsApp or a separate tool once you are past a few units.

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

Smoobu

€29/month
  • Professional Flex$29/month
    • One unit included
    • 0.9% fee on every booking
    • Channel manager, website builder, messaging
  • Professional Prepaid$31.5/month
    • One unit included
    • No booking fee
    • Website builder, invoicing, chatbot, API access
  • Teams Pro+$49.5/month
    • Everything in Prepaid
    • E-invoicing
    • Two write-access accounts, extra accounts from about €12 each

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 Smoobu if

  • You need website builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want guest messaging.
Smoobu review

Questions people ask

Is Bokun or Smoobu better?
Neither clearly leads. Bokun starts at Free and Smoobu at €29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bokun or Smoobu?
Bokun has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bokun and €29/month for Smoobu.
Does Bokun or Smoobu 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. Smoobu starts at €29/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 Smoobu is typically brought in for.
What can Bokun do that Smoobu cannot?
Bokun covers Booking widgets, Marketplace, Product and availability setup, Offline bookings. Smoobu covers Website builder, Guest messaging, Unified calendar, Invoicing and e-invoicing. 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.

Smoobu: Which plan is actually cheaper, Flex or Prepaid?

Prepaid, for almost anyone with real occupancy. The 0.9% booking fee on Flex exceeds the subscription difference once annual revenue passes a few thousand euros.

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.

Smoobu: How many properties does the entry price cover?

One. Every additional unit adds roughly €9.60 per month.

Bokun: Who owns Bokun?

Viator, which is part of Tripadvisor.

Smoobu: Does it include dynamic pricing?

Only two months free on the Teams tier. Ongoing dynamic pricing means subscribing to PriceLabs or similar.

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

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

Smoobu: Is there a contract?

Billing is monthly, yearly or two-yearly, with 30 days notice required to cancel; longer terms buy 10% or 20% off.

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