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Travel · head to head

Bookinglayer vs ThinkReservations

Bookinglayer logo

Bookinglayer

Travel

Booking system for surf camps, retreats and activity-led accommodation

From
€260/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
ThinkReservations logo

ThinkReservations

Travel

Property management and booking system for North American inns, B&Bs and small hotels

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bookinglayer at 260 euros a month the entry tier is a heavy fixed cost for a fifteen-bed camp, several times what a comparable small hotel pays for a property management system.; ThinkReservations no pricing is published anywhere, so you cannot compare it against Cloudbeds or Little Hotelier without first sitting through a sales call and extracting a quote.
  • They diverge on capability: Bookinglayer covers Package builder, ThinkReservations covers Reservation calendar.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bookinglayer and ThinkReservations actually diverge.

Attributes where Bookinglayer and ThinkReservations differ
AttributeBookinglayerThinkReservations
Starting price€260/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by planquote
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Bookinglayer

  • Package builder
  • Activity scheduling
  • Instalment payments
  • Guest portal
  • Back office
  • Multi-location support
  • API access

Only in ThinkReservations

  • Reservation calendar
  • Channel management
  • Integrated payments
  • Yield rules
  • Reporting

Both cover

  • Direct booking engine

What people use each for

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

Bookinglayer

  • A surf camp selling seven-night packages where lesson capacity, not bed capacity, is the constraintnot ThinkReservations
  • A yoga retreat taking deposits nine months ahead with staged balance paymentsnot ThinkReservations
  • A dive centre allocating instructors and equipment alongside accommodationnot ThinkReservations
  • A ski school running two locations under one booking system and one guest portalnot ThinkReservations

ThinkReservations

  • A fourteen room inn moving off a spreadsheet and a phone diary that needs breakfast counts and minimum stay rules handled nativelynot Bookinglayer
  • A B&B selling gift certificates and packages that wants them redeemable in the same system that takes the bookingnot Bookinglayer
  • An owner of three small New England properties wanting one login and consolidated occupancy reportingnot Bookinglayer
  • A campground or cabin operator needing nightly and multi-night rules plus OTA distribution without buying a separate channel managernot Bookinglayer

Where each one falls short

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

Bookinglayer

  • At 260 euros a month the entry tier is a heavy fixed cost for a fifteen-bed camp, several times what a comparable small hotel pays for a property management system.
  • The Essential plan includes only two users, so a camp with a reception team, an instructor coordinator and a manager is pushed to the 415 euro tier by headcount rather than by features.
  • The 2 per cent commission alternative carries a 100 euro monthly minimum, so a genuinely closed off-season still costs money.
  • API access sits only on the quoted top tier, which blocks integration work for mid-sized operators unwilling to move to bespoke pricing.
  • The product is deliberately narrow: an operator whose business shifts toward conventional room-night accommodation will find the package model is overhead rather than advantage.

ThinkReservations

  • No pricing is published anywhere, so you cannot compare it against Cloudbeds or Little Hotelier without first sitting through a sales call and extracting a quote.
  • The product is built for North American operations, so European tax handling, guest registration requirements and local OTA mix are not supported and it is effectively unsellable outside the region.
  • There is no revenue management or dynamic pricing, so rates rely on manual seasonal and day of week rules that go stale unless someone actively maintains them.
  • Payment processing is bundled, which is convenient but means the effective card rate is negotiated inside a software deal rather than shopped separately, and operators rarely check it against a standalone merchant account.
  • There is no native point of sale, spa or restaurant module, so an inn with a dining room runs a second system and reconciles revenue by hand.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bookinglayer

€260/month
  • Essential$260/month
    • About 300 USD equivalent
    • Two users included
    • Package builder and booking engine
  • Pro$415/month
    • About 445 USD equivalent
    • Ten users and two locations
    • Extended functionality
  • Alpha$undefined/month
    • Custom quote
    • Multiple locations
    • API access included
  • Commission alternative$undefined/month
    • 2% of booking value instead of a fixed fee
    • Minimum EUR 100 per month
    • Suits seasonal businesses with quiet months

ThinkReservations

On request
  • ThinkReservations$undefined/month
    • Property management system
    • Direct booking engine
    • Channel management to major OTAs

Which should you pick?

Choose Bookinglayer if

  • You need package builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want activity scheduling.
Bookinglayer review

Choose ThinkReservations if

  • You need reservation calendar.
  • You also want channel management.
ThinkReservations review

Questions people ask

Is Bookinglayer or ThinkReservations better?
Neither clearly leads. Bookinglayer starts at €260/month and ThinkReservations at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bookinglayer or ThinkReservations?
Bookinglayer starts at €260/month and ThinkReservations at On request.
Does Bookinglayer or ThinkReservations run on more platforms?
Bookinglayer runs on Web, iOS, Android. ThinkReservations runs on Web.
What is Bookinglayer best used for?
Bookinglayer is most often used for a surf camp selling seven-night packages where lesson capacity, not bed capacity, is the constraint, a yoga retreat taking deposits nine months ahead with staged balance payments, a dive centre allocating instructors and equipment alongside accommodation, a ski school running two locations under one booking system and one guest portal. Of those, a surf camp selling seven-night packages where lesson capacity, not bed capacity, is the constraint and a yoga retreat taking deposits nine months ahead with staged balance payments are not what ThinkReservations is typically brought in for.
What can Bookinglayer do that ThinkReservations cannot?
Bookinglayer covers Package builder, Activity scheduling, Instalment payments, Guest portal. ThinkReservations covers Reservation calendar, Channel management, Integrated payments, Yield rules. Both handle Direct booking engine.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bookinglayer: How much does Bookinglayer cost?

Essential is 260 euros a month for two users, Pro is 415 euros for ten users and two locations, and Alpha is quoted. There is a 5 per cent discount for annual payment.

ThinkReservations: How much does ThinkReservations cost?

It is not published. Pricing is quoted per property, generally scaled by room count, after a sales conversation.

Bookinglayer: Is there a commission option instead?

Yes, 2 per cent of booking value with a minimum of 100 euros a month, which suits businesses with a pronounced off-season.

ThinkReservations: Is the channel manager an extra subscription?

No. OTA connectivity is part of the platform rather than a separately priced module, which is the main saving against a PMS plus channel manager pairing.

Bookinglayer: Why not just use a normal hotel PMS?

Because a package that bundles nights, lessons, equipment and transfers with capacity limits on the activities rather than the beds does not fit a room-night model.

ThinkReservations: Does it work outside the United States?

In practice no. Tax, payments and support are built around North America.

Bookinglayer: Does it include API access?

Only on the top Alpha tier, which is quoted rather than published.

ThinkReservations: Can it handle more than one property?

Yes, small portfolios are supported, but it is designed for a handful of properties rather than dozens.

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