Peek Pro vs FareHarbor: Fees, Contracts and Who Pays
CEO & Founder
Tour operator since 2012. Runs tours in Kraków, Warsaw and Gdańsk with the Todo.travel group, 100,000+ guests per year.
Peek Pro vs FareHarbor comes down to your written rates, who pays them and your channel mix. FareHarbor publishes some fee percentages; Peek Pro's core commission and card rate require a quote. Compare the guest's checkout total as carefully as the deductions from your payout.
This comparison uses official sources checked in October 2026. It does not infer a Peek commission from another vendor's review. For the wider shortlist, see the booking engine pricing comparison; for the role of the engine within your business, read the tour operator software guide.
Peek Pro vs FareHarbor Fees: What Is Published?
FareHarbor advertises no monthly software fee on its product pages. Peek describes custom pricing rather than a fixed monthly plan. Neither statement is a complete cost breakdown. The contract and your order determine the transaction charges and any additional services.
| Cost line | Peek Pro | FareHarbor |
|---|---|---|
| Core platform fee | Commission or flat fee in your Service Order | Guest booking fee; help-center examples use 6% |
| Who pays | Peek withholds its fees before operator payout | Guest under the standard model; operator commission model on request |
| Card processing | Separate from Peek Fees; quote required | Provider processing fee; confirm your rate |
| OTA/API bookings | Third-party channel transactions may carry Peek Fees | 2% on eligible API-generated bookings |
| Marketplace distribution | 20% under the Peek Activity Marketplace addendum | FHDN has separate terms; outside this API-fee comparison |
FareHarbor's October 2024 policy extends a 6% fee to all direct bookings for qualifying established businesses below $35,000 in online direct volume over the prior twelve months. It includes dashboard bookings and payment links. The help page specifies at least twelve months live at the annual October 1 review and lists the original rollout condition of 365 days on FareHarbor by October 3, 2024. Ask whether it applies to your account; do not apply 6% to every booking in a forecast just because it appears in an example.
Peek's fees and card processing are distinct. Its Taxes & Fees guidance describes Partner Pays and Customer Pays options for processing. It does not establish a matching switch for the platform commission. Ask sales to show what the guest sees and what reaches your bank, using the same test booking.
A Shared Cost Model Without Guessing Peek's Commission
Our assumptions, not a study or vendor quotes: direct website reservations averaging $150, one payment each, no taxes, refunds or cancellations. For the FareHarbor illustration, assume your quote specifies a 6% guest-paid booking fee. The percentage-point and flat-fee rows show sensitivity to a quoted rate; they are not published Peek prices.
| Annual direct-booking scenario | 1,000 bookings | 5,000 bookings | 15,000 bookings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activity value before extra fees | $150,000 | $750,000 | $2,250,000 |
| Guest fees if FareHarbor quote is 6% | $9,000 | $45,000 | $135,000 |
| Each 1 percentage point in an absorbed fee quote | $1,500 | $7,500 | $22,500 |
| Each $1 flat fee per booking in a quote | $1,000 | $5,000 | $15,000 |
In the FareHarbor illustration, the guest pays $159 for a $150 activity. The $9 is a guest charge, not an operator deduction from the $150 activity price. Processing and other applicable provider fees remain. With Peek, insert the commission or flat fee from the Service Order, then add processing and relevant channel charges. If the fee base includes surcharges or other amounts, recalculate against that base.
For the middle scenario, every additional percentage point on the assumed $750,000 base costs $7,500. This lets you evaluate a quote without inventing a standard Peek rate. A flat fee also needs its unit: a fee per booking, per payment and per guest can produce different totals on the same departure.
Choose the comparison you actually want
Holding the activity price at $150 compares vendor charges on the same product price, but may produce different checkout totals. Holding the guest's final price constant answers a different question: how much revenue remains for the operator? Ask for both versions. Otherwise a guest-paid fee can make one operator bill look smaller while changing the offer your customers see.
Keep processor rates as quote inputs. Do not assume either engine charges its card percentage only on the activity price, or that both use the same card mix. Have each vendor reconcile one domestic-card sale, one foreign-card sale and a split payment from checkout to payout. Treat any conversion change caused by passing fees on as unmeasured until you have your own evidence.
OTA Bookings and Marketplace Fees Need Their Own Calculation
FareHarbor's help center sets a 2% fee on eligible API-generated bookings, with specified channel and location exceptions. Its fee base is the total transaction value submitted to FareHarbor, reflecting what the guest paid. Do not calculate it from your payout after the OTA has taken commission.
As another own-assumption example, 1,000 eligible API bookings with a $150 reported transaction value produce $3,000 in FareHarbor API fees. Your OTA commission is separate. Add neither a standard guest booking fee nor an FHDN charge to that line without checking which distribution arrangement the booking belongs to.
Peek's merchant agreement allows Peek Fees on third-party channel transactions processed through its platform. Its marketplace addendum separately specifies 20% for sales through the Peek marketplace, Peek Online Sites, Peek Pals and covered third-party channels. That is a distribution arrangement, not proof that every imported OTA booking attracts 20%.
Ask Peek to mark each channel in your export with the applicable fee and explain whether marketplace and other platform charges replace or stack with one another. For deeper context, see the Peek Pro pricing guide and FareHarbor pricing guide. Use the OTA commission guide for the separate distribution-cost layer.
Contracts, Cancellations and Refunds
Cancelling your software agreement and refunding a guest booking are separate decisions. Check both before switching engines or rewriting your guest cancellation policy.
| Contract issue | Peek Pro | FareHarbor |
|---|---|---|
| Term | Initial term in Service Order; renews for the same length | Indefinite under the provider terms |
| Voluntary exit | Renewal-term notice at least 30 days before its end | 15 days' written notice |
| Fees on refunded bookings | Pro addendum permits retaining Peek Fees and processing fees | Booking fees generally non-refundable; refunds discretionary |
| Conflicting terms | Service Order, then platform addendum, then merchant agreement | Additional mutually agreed terms control their conflicts |
Peek's general merchant refund clause says it does not retain applicable commission, but expressly allows the platform addendum to differ. The Pro addendum does differ: it permits retaining fees. Reading the general clause alone therefore gives the wrong answer. FareHarbor's customer terms also allow it to keep the full booking fee after a partial refund; a full refund does not create an automatic fee refund.
Ask for the refund amount the guest receives and the final operator deduction in a worked example. Before leaving either engine, agree how outstanding prepaid bookings, chargebacks and later refunds will be handled. A notice period tells you when you can end an agreement; it does not by itself settle those balances.
When Post-Booking Work Is Part of the Decision
Test the work your team must perform alongside selling tours: locating a guest conversation, replacing an unavailable guide and reconciling a completed departure. Ask both engines to demonstrate the same tasks, then price any additional tools required. Feature names alone do not establish which steps your staff will still handle manually.
automate.travel is an operations platform alongside the booking engine. It connects to FareHarbor, Bokun and Ventrata, but not Peek Pro. OTA bookings from GetYourGuide, Viator and Civitatis arrive through those connected engines. It does not provide an online booking cart.
- Guest conversations: email, WhatsApp and phone calls in one conversation per guest, with OTA messages in the same inbox, linked to the booking; templates and automatic stage messages. AI drafts replies; a person reviews and sends them.
- Tour delivery: a portal through one link with no login, tour details and meeting-point map; guide assignment where you see each guide's availability and rate, and the office decides who is asked or assigned.
- Finance: margin per tour, what each guide is owed and monthly OTA reconciliation in multiple currencies.
Pricing is €1.50 per completed booking, falling through volume tiers to €0.55 above 60,000 bookings a year; cancelled and refunded bookings cost €0. Keep that separate from the engine and processor costs. The pricing page shows the tiers; a demo lets you verify the workflow before budgeting for it.
What to Request From Both Sales Teams
- One matched booking export. Price website, staff-entered, OTA/API and marketplace bookings separately, with each fee base and payer identified.
- Checkout-to-payout examples. Show a normal sale, a partial refund and a full cancellation, including processing and every fee that remains.
- The complete order. Confirm any fixed charges, implementation costs, term, renewal deadline and the features and integrations included in that price.
Compare the resulting operator cost and guest price together. Leave unresolved rates visibly blank until sales supplies them. That gives you a decision based on your operation, without treating a published example as a universal price or a negotiated quote as a market-wide rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Peek Pro vs FareHarbor: which is cheaper?+
You need both written quotes and the same booking mix. FareHarbor's standard booking fee is paid by guests, while Peek deducts its quoted fees from payments before payout. Compare operator deductions and the guest's checkout total separately. A smaller operator bill can simply mean the guest is paying more.
Does FareHarbor charge a 6% booking fee?+
FareHarbor's help center uses 6% in pricing examples. Its October 2024 policy also applies 6% to all direct bookings for qualifying established businesses below $35,000 in prior-year online direct volume. That is not a universal quote for every operator or channel; confirm your eligibility and rate.
What is Peek Pro's booking commission?+
Peek Pro's core commission or flat fee is quoted in your Service Order. Its public merchant agreement describes the structure without publishing that rate. The separate marketplace addendum publishes 20% for bookings distributed through the channels it covers. Do not treat that marketplace percentage as the standard software commission.
Can I pass Peek or FareHarbor fees on to guests?+
FareHarbor's standard model charges a guest booking fee; an operator-paid commission model is available on request. Peek documents a setting to pass card processing to customers. That does not establish that its platform commission can also be passed on. Ask each vendor to show the checkout and payout for your exact offer.
Do either of them refund their fees when a tour is cancelled?+
FareHarbor's customer terms make booking fees generally non-refundable, with refunds at its discretion. Peek Pro's addendum permits retaining Peek Fees and processing fees on refunded transactions. Check your signed order and the applicable terms before promising guests a refund of every charge.
How much notice do I need to leave Peek Pro or FareHarbor?+
FareHarbor's provider terms allow voluntary termination with 15 days' written notice. Peek's initial term is in its Service Order and renews automatically; ending a renewal term requires at least 30 days' written notice before it ends. Check separately whether the initial term has any early-exit provision.
Does automate.travel connect to Peek Pro and FareHarbor?+
It connects to FareHarbor, Bokun and Ventrata, but not Peek Pro. automate.travel is an operations platform alongside the booking engine. Its AI assistant drafts replies for a person to send; it does not act autonomously. Include the available integration in your workflow comparison, alongside the engine's fees.
Sources
Official sources reviewed in October 2026. Worked volumes and price scenarios are our own assumptions.
- Peek: Merchant Agreement and platform addenda
- Peek: 2026 booking software guide, pricing FAQ
- Peek: Processing-fee settings, Day 7
- FareHarbor: Provider Terms (2025)
- FareHarbor: Customer Terms (2025)
- FareHarbor: API Fee and Invoice Process
- FareHarbor: October 2024 booking fee adjustment
- FareHarbor: Total price display examples
- FareHarbor: Kayak software pricing section
- automate.travel: Pricing
Your booking engine handles the sale. What handles everything after?
automate.travel consolidates bookings, finances, team scheduling, and guest communication from Bókun, FareHarbor, and Ventrata, in one system.
