Great software.
Owned by your biggest competitor.
Bokun is a capable booking platform — professionally built, improving steadily, and connected to a massive distribution network. But it's owned by Tripadvisor, the same company that owns Viator and takes 25–30% of your OTA bookings. That's a structural conflict worth understanding before you sign up.
Independent. 0% commission. No Tripadvisor parent.
Bokun's parent company (Tripadvisor) also owns Viator —
the OTA that competes for your bookings.
The same company that charges you 25% OTA commission
is also selling you booking software
Tripadvisor acquired Bokun in 2018. Bokun makes it very easy to connect to Viator — in fact, the freemium model is structured to encourage exactly that. The question every operator should ask: whose growth is the platform optimising for?
Tripadvisor acquired Bokun in 2018. The platform that sells you booking software also owns Viator — the OTA charging you 25–30% commission.
The free tier is highly limited. Real functionality starts at $49/month and scales to $249+ for full features and priority support.
Complex pricing — age tiers, time-of-day rates, group discounts, dynamic pricing — is difficult to configure and often requires workarounds or support.
Post-acquisition, operators report slower support response times and less proactive account management than the early Bokun days.
"Bokun is good software. But the moment I realised Tripadvisor owns both Bokun and Viator, I understood why the Viator integration is so seamless and the independent channel tools are so much harder to configure. Their interests and mine don't fully align."
"Free" gets you almost nothing. Useful features cost $49–$249/month.
Bokun's free tier exists largely to let you explore the platform and connect to Viator. The features tour operators actually need — full channel manager, advanced pricing rules, priority support — are locked behind paid plans. And marketplace transactions carry an additional ~1.5% fee.
Complex pricing structures shouldn't require a support ticket
Operators consistently report that Bokun's pricing configuration is genuinely limited for complex scenarios — age-based rates, time-of-day pricing, group discounts, and multi-day packages all require workarounds or support intervention. Spotinga is designed with flexible pricing as a first-class feature.
Set different rates for adults, children, infants, and seniors without workaround spreadsheets.
Morning, afternoon, and sunset slots can carry different prices — configured directly in the product, not via support ticket.
Set peak-season and off-peak rates by date range. No manual overrides needed when the season changes.
Minimum and maximum group sizes, per-person or flat-rate pricing for private group bookings, all configurable.
Create percentage or fixed-amount discounts with expiry dates, usage limits, and product restrictions.
Display and accept payments in the currency that matches your market — without a third-party plugin.
Your booking platform should work for you — not for Viator.
Spotinga is independently operated. We don't own an OTA. We don't benefit when you list on high-commission channels. Our growth depends on yours.