THE FAREHARBOR ALTERNATIVE
FareHarbor won't tell you what it costs.
Search its pricing and you get a wall of confident percentages from six different companies, all of whom sell booking software themselves, none of whom cite a FareHarbor document, and no two of whom agree. So we read the contract instead. It names nine fees and puts a number on none of them.
Timber & Tackle is flat-fee booking software for guides — $19/mo, and we will never take a cut of a client you brought us.
FareHarbor's own General Terms of Service for Providers is a long, specific, carefully drafted agreement. It contains exactly one percentage in the entire document, and that percentage is a change-of-control threshold, not a price. The place where the rate should be, in the definition of Commission, is a parenthetical that says the number will be communicated separately.
WHAT WE CHECKED
We read the contract. Here is what is actually in it.
On August 22, 2026 we read FareHarbor's General Terms of Service for Providers 2025 (effective January 1, 2025) end to end — about 85,000 characters — along with the Commission Terms attached to it as Annex 1. This is the agreement an operator actually signs.
01
The whole contract contains one percentage, and it is not a fee
We searched the full text for every percent sign and every spelled-out percentage. No booking-fee rate, no processing rate, no commission rate appears anywhere in the agreement.
“Provider must notify FareHarbor if a third-party acquires more than fifty percent (50%) of Provider's business and/or assets”
Terms of Service for Providers 2025 — the only percentage in the document 02
It names nine fees and prices none of them
Three of the nine at least point you at a separate terms page. The other six don't — and that six includes the booking fee and the processing fee, the two that decide what this actually costs you.
“Any specific terms and conditions which may apply to Additional Services will be communicated to the Provider separately, and such terms and conditions shall be deemed incorporated into these Terms as if fully set forth herein.”
Terms of Service for Providers 2025, §1.4 03
Even the commission rate is a blank in the contract
Annex 1 defines Commission properly, in detail, with the timing and the tax treatment spelled out — and where the actual percentage belongs there is a parenthesis promising the number later.
“an amount charged by FareHarbor to Provider on a monthly basis calculated as a percentage (to be communicated separately by FareHarbor to Provider) on the total amount of the Activity Price paid by Bookers to Provider during the previous calendar month for Activities that have actually been delivered to Bookers, inclusive of any applicable taxes”
Commission Terms, Annex 1 §2.3 — the emphasis is ours, the parenthesis is theirs
The nine fees, one row each
One row per fee FareHarbor's contract names. Direct booking fee: no % in the Provider ToS. API Fee Terms: no % on that page (Applicable Markets + OTA Price Sheet only — not the own-site widget). FHDN 20–25% is distribution only, a different contract. Third-party ranges are attributed, never ours. Timber & Tackle is the flat monthly fee, nothing on the guest. The FishingBooker column points at the existing real-math guide — we don't rerun that math here.
Booking Fee — online direct
- In FH contract?
- Yes — §1.3(a). FareHarbor “may” charge the booker.
- Published rate on FH site?
- No % in Provider ToS
- % vs flat
- Not stated
- Who pays
- Booker (customer)
- Attributed 3P range
- Bókun / TrekkSoft: up to 6%. CaptainBook: 6–8%. Roverd: 6%, “as low as 5%”, “sometimes 7% or 8%”.
- T&T flat
- $19/mo, nothing on your guest’s total
- FishingBooker contrast
- Published 10–30% on listing trips — marketplace, not booking software.
Booking Fee — offline direct
- In FH contract?
- Yes — §1.3(b). FareHarbor “may” charge the booker.
- Published rate on FH site?
- No % in Provider ToS
- % vs flat
- Not stated
- Who pays
- Booker (customer)
- Attributed 3P range
- Bókun folds offline into “up to 6%”. The others do not split it out.
- T&T flat
- $19/mo, nothing on your guest’s total
- FishingBooker contrast
- Published 10–30% on listing trips — marketplace, not booking software.
Processing Fee
- In FH contract?
- Yes — §1.4. FareHarbor “shall” charge the provider.
- Published rate on FH site?
- No
- % vs flat
- Not stated
- Who pays
- Provider
- Attributed 3P range
- Bókun / TrekkSoft: 1.9% + $0.30. CaptainBook / Roverd: 2.9% + $0.30. A full point apart.
- T&T flat
- $19/mo, nothing on your guest’s total
- FishingBooker contrast
- Direct publishes 2.65% + $0.30.
API Fee
- In FH contract?
- Yes — §1.4. Points at a separate terms page; no number there in the contract.
- Published rate on FH site?
- No % on fareharbor.com/legal/api-fee-terms/. Applicable Markets + OTA Price Sheet only — not own-site widget.
- % vs flat
- Not stated
- Who pays
- Provider
- Attributed 3P range
- Bókun: API bookings “2%”. TrekkSoft: “approximately 2% operator-side”.
- T&T flat
- $19/mo, nothing on your guest’s total
- FishingBooker contrast
- No published analogue.
Private Events
- In FH contract?
- Yes — §1.4. Specifics “will be communicated to the Provider directly.”
- Published rate on FH site?
- No
- % vs flat
- Not stated
- Who pays
- Provider
- Attributed 3P range
- None attributed
- T&T flat
- $19/mo, nothing on your guest’s total
- FishingBooker contrast
- No published analogue.
FH Dock (staff mode)
- In FH contract?
- Yes — §1.4. Specifics “will be communicated to the Provider directly.”
- Published rate on FH site?
- No
- % vs flat
- Not stated
- Who pays
- Provider
- Attributed 3P range
- None attributed
- T&T flat
- $19/mo, nothing on your guest’s total
- FishingBooker contrast
- No published analogue.
FareHarbor Distribution Network – Provider
- In FH contract?
- Yes — §1.4. Points at separate terms; no number in the contract.
- Published rate on FH site?
- 20–25% on FHDN pages only (referral 20% / FHDN API 25%) — distribution, different contract. Not the own-site widget.
- % vs flat
- Distribution only — not the own-site widget
- Who pays
- Provider
- Attributed 3P range
- TicketingHub: “about 2% per month on OTA bookings” (their words).
- T&T flat
- $19/mo, nothing on your guest’s total
- FishingBooker contrast
- No published analogue.
FareHarbor Hosted Sites
- In FH contract?
- Yes — §1.4. Points at separate terms; no number in the contract.
- Published rate on FH site?
- No
- % vs flat
- Not stated
- Who pays
- Provider
- Attributed 3P range
- None attributed
- T&T flat
- $19/mo, nothing on your guest’s total
- FishingBooker contrast
- No published analogue.
Performance Marketing
- In FH contract?
- Yes — §1.4. Specifics “will be communicated to the Provider directly.”
- Published rate on FH site?
- No
- % vs flat
- Not stated
- Who pays
- Provider
- Attributed 3P range
- None attributed
- T&T flat
- $19/mo, nothing on your guest’s total
- FishingBooker contrast
- No published analogue.
Not a tenth fee: the Commission Model (§1.5) is an alternative structure a provider may request. Annex 1 §2.3 leaves its percentage as “(to be communicated separately by FareHarbor to Provider).” Under it, “FareHarbor shall not charge a Booking Fee to Bookers.” The real math on booking fees. Provider ToS re-checked 18 September 2026: header still “Last Modified 1 January 2025”; Commission still “to be communicated separately.”
Published-rate rows: the third-party numbers disagree
Every figure below is published by a company that sells competing booking software, which is not a disqualification — it is just a thing worth knowing while you read them. None cites a FareHarbor document. Checked August 22, 2026. The long quotes are on their pages; the cells keep the number.
Tripadvisor-owned booking platform
- Booking fee (their words)
- Bókun: up to 6% direct; Bókun: API 2%
- Card processing (their words)
- Bókun: 1.9% + $0.30
booking platform
- Booking fee (their words)
- CaptainBook: 6–8%
- Card processing (their words)
- CaptainBook: 2.9% + $0.30
booking platform
- Booking fee (their words)
- Roverd: 6%; Roverd: “as low as 5%”; Roverd: “sometimes 7% or 8%”
- Card processing (their words)
- Roverd: 2.9% + $0.30
booking platform
- Booking fee (their words)
- TrekkSoft: up to 6% direct; TrekkSoft: API ~2% operator-side
- Card processing (their words)
- TrekkSoft: 1.9% + $0.30
booking platform
- Booking fee (their words)
- TicketingHub: 6% + OTA; TicketingHub calls the 6% a processing fee in the same article
- Card processing (their words)
- TicketingHub conflates booking fee with processing
booking-software directory
- Booking fee (their words)
- Automate.travel: ~6%, totalled as 7–9% all-in
- Card processing (their words)
- Automate.travel: 1.9–2.9% + $0.30
- Card processing is the cleanest contradiction. Bókun and TrekkSoft say 1.9% + $0.30. CaptainBook and Roverd say 2.9% + $0.30. That is a full point apart on the same fee, stated as fact by all four, and on a $850 trip it is the difference between about $16 and about $25 out of your pocket.
- Two of the six say plainly that the rate is unpublished, which is the part everybody skips. Roverd: “It is not published on their website and is only disclosed during a sales call.” TicketingHub: “FareHarbor doesn't have a public pricing page.”
- So we are not going to tell you FareHarbor's rate either, because we do not know it and neither does anyone writing about it. What we can tell you is to get your number in writing before you sign, ask specifically which of the nine fees apply to you, and ask what the Commission Model would cost.
Method: read fareharbor.com/legal/tos/providers/ in full on August 22, 2026 (General Terms of Service for Providers 2025, effective January 1, 2025), including the Commission Terms at Annex 1, and searched the complete text for every rate. Also checked fareharbor.com/pricing/, which did not render a number. Provider ToS re-checked 18 September 2026: header still “Last Modified 1 January 2025”; Commission still “to be communicated separately.” If we have got something wrong, or if any of this has changed since we checked, tell us and we will correct it and say that we did.
FareHarbor vs. Timber & Tackle
FareHarbor's own contract publishes no rate, so the FareHarbor column describes structure, not price. Where a percentage appears it is attributed to the third party who published it, never asserted by us.
Can you read the price before talking to sales?
- FareHarbor
- Timber & Tackle
Monthly cost to you
- FareHarbor
- $0 subscription
- Timber & Tackle
- One flat monthly fee, published — $19/mo
Fees named in the contract
- FareHarbor
- Nine, none priced
- Timber & Tackle
- One, on the pricing page
Published rate on their own site
- FareHarbor
- None — /pricing has never shown a number on any check we've made
- Timber & Tackle
- Yes — $19/mo on the pricing page
Where the fee lands
- FareHarbor
- A booking fee on your customer at checkout, unless you request the Commission Model
- Timber & Tackle
- Nothing added to your customer
Rate on that fee
- FareHarbor
- Not published in Provider ToS. Bókun/TrekkSoft: up to 6%. CaptainBook: 6–8%. Roverd: 5–8%. Card-processing 3P cites disagree (Bókun/TrekkSoft 1.9% vs CaptainBook/Roverd 2.9% + $0.30).
- Timber & Tackle
- No percentage of anything
Your $850 trip at checkout
- FareHarbor
- $850 plus a fee you can't look up
- Timber & Tackle
- $850
Partial refund
- FareHarbor
- Customer's booking fee retained
- Timber & Tackle
- No fee to retain
A site you actually own
- FareHarbor
- Their platform
- Timber & Tackle
- Your own domain
Leaving later
- FareHarbor
- Rebuild & retrain
- Timber & Tackle
- One-click export, anytime
| FareHarbor | Timber & Tackle | |
|---|---|---|
| Can you read the price before talking to sales? | ||
| Monthly cost to you | $0 subscription | One flat monthly fee, published — $19/mo |
| Fees named in the contract | Nine, none priced | One, on the pricing page |
| Published rate on their own site | None — /pricing has never shown a number on any check we've made | Yes — $19/mo on the pricing page |
| Where the fee lands | A booking fee on your customer at checkout, unless you request the Commission Model | Nothing added to your customer |
| Rate on that fee | Not published in Provider ToS. Bókun/TrekkSoft: up to 6%. CaptainBook: 6–8%. Roverd: 5–8%. Card-processing 3P cites disagree (Bókun/TrekkSoft 1.9% vs CaptainBook/Roverd 2.9% + $0.30). | No percentage of anything |
| Your $850 trip at checkout | $850 plus a fee you can't look up | $850 |
| Partial refund | Customer's booking fee retained | No fee to retain |
| A site you actually own | Their platform | Your own domain |
| Leaving later | Rebuild & retrain | One-click export, anytime |
A price you can just read
No call, no rate card, no blank to be filled in later.
Nothing on your customer's total
We add no booking fee at checkout, so the price your customer sees is the price you set.
You're not a tenant
Your booking page lives on your own domain, building your brand rather than a platform's. One-click export the day you start and the day you leave.
Do the math on your own trips.
The calculator’s FareHarbor side starts blank. FareHarbor publishes no booking-fee rate, so we do not seed one — even as a third-party cite. Enter the number you have in writing. Third-party guesses stay in the table above, each named.
What are you on now?
Keep it for the strangers it finds you. This is about the trips you book yourself.
50 trips= $28,650 a year
FareHarbor fee — your anglers pay
—
Timber & Tackle add-on fees
$0
Your price is your price.
Rate not published — enter yours to sketch the customer fee.
Only guide part of the year? Pause the rest.
Run your seasons, then pause your bill in the off-months — $0 while you're off the water, and your site stays live, still booking next season. You only pay the months you're actually fishing.
FareHarbor has no monthly fee for the operator on its standard model — it charges you a processing fee and adds a booking fee to the customer's total at checkout. It does not publish the booking-fee rate — we read its provider contract and there is no percentage in it. This calculator does not seed one. Enter the rate you have in writing.
Straight answers.
How much does FareHarbor cost?
FareHarbor does not publish a rate. We read its provider contract in full on August 22, 2026 and re-checked it on 18 September 2026 — header still “Last Modified 1 January 2025” — and there is no fee percentage anywhere in it. The Commission definition still says the percentage is “to be communicated separately by FareHarbor to Provider.” Bókun and TrekkSoft write “up to 6%”; CaptainBook writes “6–8%”; Roverd writes 6%, “as low as 5%”, and “sometimes 7% or 8%”. Those are competing software companies, and they disagree. The only way to know your number is to get it in writing from FareHarbor.
Can I turn off the FareHarbor booking fee?
Possibly, and this is more than most coverage will tell you. FareHarbor's terms describe an alternative Commission Model where your customer pays one price and you pay FareHarbor instead — Annex 1 says plainly that under it “FareHarbor shall not charge a Booking Fee to Bookers.” But the contract says a provider may request that structure, which is a right to ask rather than a right to receive, and it does not say what the Commission costs. Ask before you sign.
Is FareHarbor really free for operators?
There's no monthly subscription, which is a genuine advantage if you book very few trips a year. But its contract also names a Processing Fee it shall charge you, plus fees for API bookings, private events, staff-mode bookings, its distribution network, hosted sites and performance marketing. Which of those apply depends on what you switch on. Free means no subscription, not no invoice.
Related: How FareHarbor's fee model works · The real math on booking fees · What we charge
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