There is no single best one. FareHarbor and Peek Pro are the big names in the US, Checkfront fits companies that also rent gear or rooms, Rezdy and Bókun are strong for selling through resellers, and Xola suits activity operators. Whichever you run, AI agents can work in it to handle booking changes, shifts and guest updates.
What matters when you compare them
Most tour booking systems take bookings and payments well. The differences are in who they're built for: how they sell through resellers and marketplaces, whether they handle rentals, and how much of the guest side they cover, like waivers and reminders.
One more thing matters if you want to stop doing the busywork by hand: whether other software can connect to it. That is how bookings turn into shifts, texts and follow-ups without someone typing them.
The six, one by one
FareHarbor
- Best for
- Tour and activity companies in North America that want a large, widely used system.
- Good to know
- FareHarbor is part of Booking Holdings. It grants API access case by case, and you confirm it for your company.
- How agents connect
- FareHarbor's API team approves the connection, then you confirm it for your company. Nothing to install on your computers.
Peek Pro
- Best for
- Activity operators who want bookings, waivers and payments in one place.
- Good to know
- Agents can read signed waivers and payments on each booking, so guest prep can run from Peek Pro alone.
- How agents connect
- In Peek Pro, open the n8n app and copy the API key it gives you.
Checkfront
- Best for
- Tour companies that also rent bikes, boats, gear or rooms.
- Good to know
- It handles tours and items in the same calendar. There is now one plan for all customers, and verified accounts get the API with it.
- How agents connect
- In Checkfront, go to Manage, then Developer. Add a new application, accept the terms, and copy its key and secret.
Rezdy
- Best for
- Operators who sell through many resellers and booking sites.
- Good to know
- Rezdy's support team sets up the key for a connection, which can take up to 48 hours.
- How agents connect
- Rezdy's support team sets up your key. Nothing to install on your computers.
Bókun
- Best for
- Operators who sell on Tripadvisor and Viator.
- Good to know
- Bókun is owned by Tripadvisor. You make the key yourself in its settings.
- How agents connect
- In Bókun, go to Settings, then Connections, then API Keys. Click Add, give the key a name, a user role and a booking channel, and copy its access key and secret key.
Xola
- Best for
- Activity operators who want waitlists and payment reminders built in.
- Good to know
- Xola's integrations team approves each app before it connects.
- How agents connect
- Xola's integrations team approves the app, then you add it to your Xola account. Nothing to install on your computers.
Side by side
| FareHarbor | Peek Pro | Checkfront | Rezdy | Bókun | Xola | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Based in | United States | United States | Canada | Australia | Iceland | United States |
| Good fit | Large tour and activity operators | Activity operators | Tours plus rentals | Selling through resellers | Tripadvisor and Viator sellers | Activities with waitlists |
| Connecting agents | FareHarbor approves it | Key from the n8n app | Key you make yourself | Key from Rezdy support | Key you make yourself | Xola approves it |
What each one leaves to your office
All six take the booking and the payment. What happens around the booking is mostly left to your office, and each system leaves a different part of it.
Staff schedules. Checkfront gives your team logins, not a guide schedule: its help says to print the Daily Manifest, or email it as a PDF, for guides who don't have access. Rezdy and FareHarbor can put a guide, boat or crew member on a trip, but no staff schedule app is among the apps FareHarbor lists as connected. And Sling, a common one, lists connections to restaurant and shop tills, not booking systems. So someone still turns bookings into shifts and pay.
Getting connected. FareHarbor grants API access case by case, and Xola's key doesn't work until its team approves the app. Rezdy's support team makes the key, which can take up to 48 hours. Bókun adds a booking fee to bookings made through its API.
After setup. FareHarbor's developer notes say booking alerts can arrive twice, or go missing while the system on the other end is down, so whatever you connect has to check for doubles and gaps. Checkfront's Zapier app starts a step when a booking is new or changed, and the steps after that are yours to build.
What agents do in any of them
The jobs are the same whichever system you run. Each agent does one from start to finish.
A changed booking gets caught that day, not on the day of the trip.
- Reads new and changed bookingseach 5 min
- Catches a changed time or guest countnext pass
- Sends any booking missing staff to the scheduleright away
Each guide and driver knows tomorrow before they go home.
- Creates the missing shiftsper booking
- Checks each shift against the bookingevery shift
- Sends each guide and driver tomorrow's runevery day at five
Every guest shows up ready, at the right place and time.
- Sends the waiver and collects guest detailsafter booking
- Texts the meeting time and placeday before
- Sends any change the minute it's madeas it happens
Cancel a trip once. Every guest and staff member hears about it.
- Finds every booking the change hitswhen a trip changes
- Offers each guest a new time or a refundper guest
- Updates the schedule and tells the staffright away
Questions
Is my customers' information safe?
Yes. Agents work in your own booking system and see only the bookings their job needs. Guest details never go into public AI. Agents connect to AI through business-grade connections audited under SOC 2.
Do I have to switch booking systems?
No. Agents work in the one you run today.
My system needs approval to connect. Is that a problem?
No. It is one step at setup, and we handle it with you.
What does it cost?
You get the price on the call, along with the hours it saves your team.
Sources
- developer.fareharbor.com: api reference software partners
- developer.fareharbor.com: guides and faqs
- developer.fareharbor.com: guides and faqs for software partners
- bookingholdings.com: booking holdings announces it has signed an agreement to acquire fareh
- github.com: n nodes peek pro
- checkfront.com: pricing
- support.checkfront.com: Working with Checkfront Developer tools API
- support.checkfront.com: Printing the Daily Manifest
- zapier.com: integrations
- developers.rezdy.com: index supplier.html
- docs.bokun.io: using bokun s api and web services
- developers.xola.com: integrating with xola
- getsling.com: integrations