Bokun vs FareHarbor for Dive Shops (and When to Keep Your Booking Tool)

Head-to-head Bokun vs FareHarbor for dive shops: published Bokun plans, FareHarbor's guest-fee model, OTA and website options, and when keeping FareHarbor plus a better site is enough.

Bokun vs FareHarbor comes down to who pays the booking fee and how you sell through online travel agencies. Bokun publishes monthly plans plus a small percentage on applicable bookings, with 0% Bokun fees on Viator and offline bookings. FareHarbor's standard model has no monthly software fee for the shop; the diver pays a separate booking fee at checkout, and the shop pays card processing. FareHarbor does not publish that booking fee percentage.

This is a head-to-head for dive shops deciding between the two, not a roundup of every alternative. I re-checked Bokun's pricing page and FareHarbor's public provider terms on October 16, 2026. For a wider list of tools, see FareHarbor alternatives for dive shops. For the full FareHarbor fee stack, see FareHarbor fees explained.

Key takeaways

• Bokun Start is $49 a month plus 1.5% on applicable bookings; Plus is $149 plus 1.25%; Premium is $499 plus 1%. Paid plans can pass the fee to guests. Free plan covers booking management and Viator, not selling through booking widgets.
• FareHarbor does not publish a rate card. Under the standard model the guest pays the booking fee; a commission model where the shop pays instead is available on request.
• Bokun advertises 0% Bokun fees on Viator and offline bookings. FareHarbor may charge an API fee on OTA bookings that arrive through its API (Arival reports 2%).
• Neither system is built only for dive shops. Manifests, certification checks and gear tracking usually need a dive-focused tool or workarounds.
• If the problem is an old website, you can keep FareHarbor (or Bokun) for bookings and replace only the site.

Bokun vs FareHarbor at a glance

Prices and fee rules below are from each company's own pages or legal terms, checked October 16, 2026. Card processing is separate on both sides unless a vendor says otherwise.

A note on sources: Bokun publishes a Bokun vs FareHarbor page, and FareHarbor publishes its own FareHarbor vs Bokun post. Both are sales pages. I used each company for its own prices and terms, not for claims about the other.

Pricing models: published plans vs guest fee

How Bokun charges

Bokun's pricing page (checked October 16, 2026) lists:

• Free: 1 user, booking management, zero fees on Viator, manual bookings
• Start: $49 a month plus 1.5% on applicable bookings, up to 5 users, online booking widgets, OTAs and Marketplace, zero fees on offline bookings, option to pass the booking fee on
• Plus: $149 a month plus 1.25%, up to 10 users
• Premium: $499 a month plus 1%, unlimited users

Bokun says you can absorb the percentage or pass it to guests on any paid plan, and that you can turn that setting on or off. It also says there is a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and that you can cancel anytime.

How FareHarbor charges

FareHarbor does not publish a public rate card. Its provider terms (effective 1 January 2025, read October 16, 2026) describe the structure:

• Under the standard model, the booker pays two amounts: the activity price you set, and a booking fee payable to FareHarbor. That can cover online direct bookings and offline direct bookings you create in the dashboard at the guest's request.
• The shop pays a processing fee for payment infrastructure. The rate is not published on the public terms page.
• You can request a commission model instead, where guests pay one activity price and FareHarbor charges the shop a monthly percentage that FareHarbor communicates separately.
• FareHarbor may charge an API fee on bookings from third-party sites connected by API. The percentage is not in the public API fee terms; Arival reports it at 2%.

Third-party guides commonly report the guest booking fee at about 6% in North America. That figure is not an official FareHarbor rate card. Treat it as a starting point for your sales call. Details and refund rules are in our FareHarbor fees guide.

What a month of bookings can look like

Percentages are hard to compare in your head. Here is one illustration only. Say the shop takes 40 online bookings a month at $150 each ($6,000 online). Card processing is left out because it applies on both sides. The FareHarbor 6% line uses the commonly reported figure, not a published FareHarbor price.

This is not a quote. Your real number depends on your FareHarbor rate, how many bookings are online versus phone or walk-in, and whether OTA API fees apply. If divers never mention the checkout total, FareHarbor's guest-fee model may already be working for you. If they abandon or ask why the total is higher than the listed price, Bokun's published percentage and pass-the-fee control are worth modeling.

OTA and Viator: where the platforms differ

Both companies sell heavy OTA distribution. What you can verify from their own sites:

• Bokun (Tripadvisor / Viator ecosystem) says Start and above include OTAs and Marketplace access, and that it charges 0% Bokun fees on Viator bookings on Start, Plus and Premium. Its comparison page claims access to 2,600+ resellers, including 70+ global OTAs. Channel Manager is a different product: Bokun says those plans include a 0.5% to 1.5% Bokun fee on Viator reservations.
• FareHarbor (Booking Holdings) says on its comparison post that it connects operators to 250+ OTAs in real time. That is FareHarbor's claim about itself. Separately, if OTA bookings arrive through FareHarbor's API in a notified market, FareHarbor's terms allow an API fee charged to the shop (Arival reports 2%), on top of the OTA's own commission.

For a dive shop, the practical questions are: how much of your volume is Viator versus other OTAs versus direct, and what does each platform charge you on those channels after OTA commission? Ask both vendors for a written fee schedule that covers direct online, offline, and each OTA you actually use.

Website and booking widgets

You do not have to buy a website from the same company that takes the booking.

• Bokun lists a no-code website builder and booking widgets on paid plans, so you can embed booking on a site you already have or use Bokun's builder.
• FareHarbor sells managed FareHarbor Sites, and separately lets you put FareHarbor booking links or embeds on any site you control. FareHarbor does not publish Sites prices on a public page (login required). Third-party reports of Sites package prices are covered on our FareHarbor website page.

If your courses and trips are hard to find on a phone, that is usually a website problem. Switching from FareHarbor to Bokun (or the other way) will not fix a slow home page by itself. Keep the booking tool that already works, then put a clear booking link on every course and trip page.

Dive shop fit: what both leave out

Bokun and FareHarbor are tour and activity systems. They handle seats, schedules, payments and OTA sync well enough for a two-tank boat dive. What they are not, on their public product pages, is dive-center software built around certification checks, multi-day courses, rental gear inventories or boat manifests.

If that is the gap you are trying to close, compare dive-focused tools in the FareHarbor alternatives guide (Bloowatch, EquipDash, GoFish.Rocks and others). Do not expect a head-to-head between Bokun and FareHarbor alone to solve shop-floor ops.

When to choose Bokun, FareHarbor, or neither switch

Lean toward Bokun when:

• You want a published monthly plan and a published percentage you can pass to guests.
• Viator is a large share of bookings and zero Bokun fees on those bookings matter to your margin.
• You are fine rebuilding products, training staff and reconnecting channels for a cleaner fee story.

Stay on FareHarbor when:

• Divers accept the guest booking fee and you are not losing checkouts over it.
• Your OTA and affiliate setup already works, and a migration would cost a season of staff time.
• What you dislike is the website look, phone layout or course discovery, not the reservation system.

Fix the website first (keep either booking tool) when:

• The site looks abandoned, breaks on phones or hides Open Water and trip pages.
• You are paying for a managed website package you do not need, on top of booking fees.
• You already have FareHarbor or Bokun booking URLs you can paste onto a new shop site.

That last path is what ScubaDock is built for. It drafts a mobile-first dive shop site from your current URL, with a booking link on each course and trip page, for $99 a month with no setup fee and no booking commission. Divers still book and pay on FareHarbor, Bokun or any other booking page you use, so that system's fees still apply. Sites live on yourshop.scubadock.com for now, and custom domains are coming soon. See how ScubaDock works with FareHarbor, pricing, or what ScubaDock does for dive shops.

Questions to ask before you switch

• What is my exact FareHarbor booking fee rate, and does it apply to dashboard and phone bookings?
• On Bokun, which plan do I need for widgets and OTAs, and can I pass the percentage to guests year-round?
• What do Viator and other OTA bookings cost on each platform, after the OTA's own commission?
• Who migrates products, customers and booking links, and how long does it take in peak season?
• Am I switching because of fees, OTA rules, dive ops features, or because the website is the real problem?

FAQ

Is Bokun cheaper than FareHarbor for a dive shop?

It depends on who pays and how you book. Bokun publishes monthly plans from $49 plus 1.5% on applicable bookings (Plus $149 + 1.25%, Premium $499 + 1%), with 0% Bokun fees on Viator and offline bookings, and you can pass the fee to guests on paid plans. FareHarbor does not publish a rate card. Under its standard model the shop pays no monthly software fee and the guest pays a booking fee, commonly reported at about 6% in North America. Run both against last season's online versus offline mix before you decide.

Does Bokun charge fees on Viator bookings?

Bokun's pricing page says it charges 0% Bokun fees on Viator bookings on Start, Plus and Premium. Channel Manager plans are different: Bokun says those include a 0.5% to 1.5% Bokun booking fee on Viator reservations. Confirm which product you are buying.

Can I keep FareHarbor and still get a better website?

Yes. FareHarbor booking links work on any website. You can replace only the site and leave bookings on FareHarbor, as long as every course and trip page links to the right FareHarbor booking page. That is often less work than migrating products, staff training and OTA connections.

Which is better for dive shops, Bokun or FareHarbor?

Neither is dive-specific software. Both are tour and activity booking systems. Choose Bokun if you want published fees, pass-the-fee control and strong Viator distribution with zero Bokun fees on those bookings. Stay on FareHarbor if divers accept the guest fee, you rely on your current setup, and switching would cost more than it saves. If the real pain is an old site, fix the website first.

Does FareHarbor publish its booking fee percentage?

No. FareHarbor's public provider and customer terms describe a booking fee paid by the guest under the standard model, and an optional commission model where the shop pays instead, but they do not list a percentage. Third-party guides commonly report about 6% in North America. Get your rate in writing from FareHarbor.

Do I need to switch booking systems to lower my website costs?

Usually no. The booking fee pays for bookings, not for a website. If FareHarbor Sites or another builder is the expensive part, you can keep FareHarbor for reservations and use a simpler shop site with booking links on each course and trip page.

Next steps

1. Pull last season's booking mix: direct online, phone/walk-in, Viator and other OTAs.
2. Ask FareHarbor for your booking fee, processing rate and whether the API fee applies in your market.
3. Map the same volume onto Bokun Start or Plus with the fee absorbed and passed on.
4. If the fee math is close and the site is the weak link, keep your booking tool and fix the website.

For more tools beyond these two, read FareHarbor alternatives for dive shops. For website cost options, see how much a dive shop website costs in 2026.

Bokun prices checked October 16, 2026 on bokun.io/pricing. FareHarbor fee structure checked the same day against provider terms. Vendors change prices and plan names, so confirm before you sign. This post is reviewed annually. ScubaDock builds dive shop websites and does not sell booking software, so we earn nothing from which booking system you choose.