Checkfront

What is Checkfront

Checkfront is an online booking and reservation management platform designed for businesses that sell tours, activities, rentals and accommodations. It provides a web‑based booking engine, calendar-driven availability, resource assignment, payment processing, and integrations with distribution channels and third‑party tools. Checkfront targets operators that need flexible booking types (timeslots, daily, multi‑day) and automated tools to reduce manual booking administration.

The platform combines a customer-facing booking flow with back‑office tools for operators: a real‑time availability calendar, inventory/resource management, automated notifications, digital waivers, and pricing rules for seasons, groups, and special offers. Checkfront is used by kayak rental companies, tour operators, boat charters, equipment rental businesses, and small accommodation providers who need to manage capacity and avoid double bookings.

Checkfront is built to handle both direct bookings from your website and sales through third‑party channels, with APIs and integrations to connect to OTAs, payment gateways, and accounting systems. For more detail on the platform's capabilities, see their feature documentation and their integration listings.

Checkfront features

Checkfront packs functionality expected of modern booking systems, organized around booking flow, resource management, payments, and distribution.

Key feature groups include:

• Booking types and customer flow: Support for single‑day, multi‑day, timed slots, flextime bookings, group and private bookings. This lets operators present the appropriate booking options for activities, rentals, or overnight stays.
• Real‑time availability and calendar: Centralized availability that prevents double bookings, with a visual calendar and filters for staff to view and assign resources.
• Resource and inventory management: Assign physical assets (vehicles, guides, equipment) to bookings and have the system manage overlaps and pooling across activities.
• Payments and deposits: Integrations with major payment gateways, support for deposits and staged payments such as buy now / pay later or partial payments, and automatic payment reminders.

Operational features that reduce manual work:

• Automated notifications: Email and SMS confirmation, reminder and follow‑up templates that can be scheduled and personalized to booking details.
• Digital waivers and forms: Collect signed waivers or custom booking questions during checkout so the business retains records and reduces on‑site paperwork.
• Seasonal pricing and discounts: Pricing rules by date ranges, guest type, group size, promotional codes, and dynamic pricing windows.
• Channel management: Connection to third‑party marketplaces and OTAs to sell inventory through partners while protecting availability; see their channel integrations for specifics.

Administrative and business features include reporting dashboards, CRM fields on bookings, export tools for accounting, and staff permissions so teams can operate with role‑based access. For developers, Checkfront provides API endpoints and webhooks to integrate booking events with external systems; review their developer resources for integration details.

What does Checkfront do?

Checkfront centralizes the entire online booking lifecycle from customer search and reservation through payment capture, communications, and resource allocation. For customers it supplies a responsive booking widget and checkout path that can be embedded on an operator’s website or used as a hosted booking page. For operators it enforces booking rules, assigns assets and staff, triggers notifications, and maintains records for reporting and reconciliation.

Operationally, Checkfront removes many manual steps common in small operators: it prevents double bookings with a unified availability engine, automates confirmations and reminders, enforces deposit policies, and automates waiver collection. It also helps operators scale by providing channel connectivity to sell on partner sites and by supporting multiple business models — drop‑in experiences, reservations for a fleet of items, or private group bookings.

For teams that need deeper automation or custom integrations, the API and webhooks allow automated creation of bookings from external sources, two‑way syncing with calendars, and custom workflows that push booking data to CRM, accounting, or mailing tools. Developers and operations teams can consult the Checkfront API documentation to plan integrations.

Checkfront pricing

Checkfront offers flexible pricing tailored to different business needs, from individual operators to enterprise teams. Their pricing structure typically includes monthly and annual billing options with discounts for yearly commitments, and plan tiers that scale by number of bookings, seats, feature access, and support level.

Typical plan structure and considerations:

• Free Plan: Checkfront offers a limited introductory plan or trial options on occasion; the exact availability and feature set can vary by region and promotional periods.
• Starter: Entry‑level plans generally include a functioning booking engine, core notifications, basic calendar views and common payment gateways.
• Professional: Mid‑tier plans add advanced resource management, channel integrations, digital waivers, and more robust reporting.
• Enterprise: Highest tier options for multi‑location operators with dedicated onboarding, advanced security controls, SSO, and priority support.

Because Checkfront periodically adjusts packages and partner pricing, businesses should evaluate plan limits (monthly bookings, API calls, user seats), transaction fees, and included integrations when comparing tiers. Check Checkfront’s current pricing options for details on available plans, billing cycles, and any promotions. Visit their official pricing page for the most current information.

How much is Checkfront per month

Checkfront offers competitive monthly billing options that let businesses pay monthly for flexibility or choose annual plans for discounted rates. Monthly costs vary by plan tier, number of bookings, and feature bundles such as channel management or enterprise support. For accurate per‑month figures for your business size, consult their pricing page and request a quote for higher volume requirements.

How much is Checkfront per year

Checkfront’s annual plans typically include discounts for yearly commitments compared to month‑to‑month billing. Annual billing is suitable for operators who want to lower per‑month costs and gain budget predictability; savings percentages and exact annual rates depend on selected plan and add‑ons. See their official pricing options to compare monthly versus yearly totals.

How much is Checkfront in general

Checkfront pricing ranges from entry-level plans for small operators to enterprise packages for multi‑location businesses. The platform scales by bookings and features, so small single‑operator businesses will see lower rates while enterprise customers pay more for advanced security, support and custom SLAs. To estimate your cost, map expected monthly booking volume and required integrations, then check the vendor’s published tiers and talk to sales for volume discounts. Visit their official pricing page for the most current information.

What is Checkfront used for

Checkfront is used to sell, schedule and manage customer bookings for tours, activities, equipment rentals and short‑term accommodations. Operators use it to present live availability, collect payments and deposits, manage resource assignments (guides, vehicles, equipment), and communicate with guests before and after their experience. Common use cases include:

• Day‑tour operators selling fixed time slots and managing guide assignments.
• Rental businesses allocating physical inventory (kayaks, ATVs, bikes) across overlapping reservations.
• Accommodation providers or glamping sites that need multi‑night booking windows and seasonal rate rules.
• Event or private‑group bookings that require setting aside inventory as private or public offerings.

Checkfront is also used as a hub for distribution. Businesses sell directly from their website using the embedded booking widget and simultaneously sell through partners and OTAs by using Checkfront’s channel management capabilities. This lets operators maintain a single source of truth for availability while expanding reach through external marketplaces. For distribution details consult their integration page.

Administrators also use Checkfront for financial reconciliation and reporting — exporting booking records to accounting systems, tracking deposits and refunds, and generating sales reports for seasonal planning. The system’s CRM fields and booking notes provide a centralized record of guest preferences and waiver status that supports repeat business and operational handoffs.

Pros and cons of Checkfront

Pros:

• Strong resource and inventory management that helps avoid double bookings and intelligently assign assets across experiences.
• Flexible booking types (timeslots, multi‑day, flextime) and pricing rules (seasonality, group rates, deposits) suitable for a variety of experience operators.
• Channel integrations allow distribution through OTAs and partner marketplaces while maintaining centralized availability.
• Automation for communications and digital waivers reduces on‑site administrative work and improves guest experience.

Cons and considerations:

• Pricing and plan limits can be complex for operators with fluctuating seasonal demand; businesses must review included booking allocations or transaction limits.
• Businesses that require deep customization or on‑premises deployment may need developer time to build integrations via the API or evaluate alternatives.
• Larger enterprise customers often expect advanced features (SSO, custom SLAs, dedicated onboarding) which may be available only on higher tiers or via custom contracts.

Operational impact and tradeoffs:

Choosing Checkfront reduces manual booking coordination and paperwork, but it requires an initial setup of inventory, booking rules and integrations. Operators should budget time for mapping resources, testing channel connections and configuring notification templates. For customers concerned about compliance or security, Checkfront publishes details on supported payment gateways and integration standards — review their security and compliance resources when evaluating enterprise usage.

Checkfront free trial

Checkfront commonly offers a free trial or demo period so operators can test booking flows, resource management and integrations with a limited dataset. Trials let you embed the booking widget on a staging page, run test bookings, and evaluate how the booking engine handles deposits and multi‑day reservations.

During a trial, typical activities include setting up a few inventory items (tours or equipment), configuring business rules (cancellations, deposits), and running test checkouts against sandbox payment gateways. Trials are useful for validating your configuration before committing to a paid plan and for confirming channel integrations behave as expected.

To get hands‑on, request a guided tour or start a trial through the Checkfront website; their sales team can also provide a walkthrough tailored to your industry and scale. See their request a demo page for scheduling a guided evaluation.

Is Checkfront free

No, Checkfront is not exclusively free for production use. They typically provide trial access or limited introductory plans, but full production usage with larger booking volumes and advanced features requires a paid subscription. Small operators should review the current entry options and any trial terms on Checkfront’s pricing page to understand what’s included at each tier.

Checkfront API

Checkfront provides programmatic access to booking data via RESTful API endpoints and supports webhooks for event notifications. The API enables automated creation and modification of bookings, retrieval of availability and inventory details, and synchronization with external systems such as CRMs, accounting platforms, or in‑house dashboards.

Developers use the API to do things like push bookings from a custom website or mobile app into Checkfront, extract daily manifests for staff rosters, or trigger third‑party analytics when a booking status changes. Webhooks can notify external systems in real time when a booking is created, updated, cancelled or paid.

For integration planning, consult Checkfront’s developer documentation to review available endpoints, authentication models, rate limits and sample code. If you need custom integrations at scale, consider professional services or engaging a developer familiar with booking systems and the typical edge cases of resource allocation.

10 Checkfront alternatives

When evaluating booking platforms, consider alternatives that vary by specialization, pricing model, and target market. Below are paid and open source alternatives commonly considered by tour, activity, and rental operators.

Paid alternatives to Checkfront

• FareHarbor — A booking platform focused on tours and activities with strong channel distribution and merchant services support; often used by mid‑sized tour operators.
• Rezdy — Designed for tour and activity businesses, with marketplace integrations and a focus on partner/agent management and API access.
• Xola — A bookings and payments platform built for tours, activities and rentals, offering CRM tools and marketplace integrations.
• Peek Pro — Offers booking software and marketplace exposure with built‑in marketing tools and operations management for activities.
• TrekkSoft — Emphasizes guided tours and activities with a focus on payment processing, channel distribution, and white‑label booking widgets.
• Bookeo — Scheduling and booking system for tours, classes and appointments with flexible pricing rules and integrations.
• Checkfront — Included here as a comparative option for operators to benchmark against other solutions when reviewing features and pricing.

Each paid alternative has different strengths — some emphasize marketplace exposure, some prioritize developer APIs, and others offer simple white‑label widgets for small businesses. Evaluate trial access, transaction fees, channel fees, and support SLAs when comparing vendors.

Open source alternatives to Checkfront

• Booked Scheduler (phpScheduleIt) — An open source scheduling system that can be adapted for basic resource reservation and calendar booking; more suited to organizations with developer resources.
• Odoo (Community Edition) with website_booking — Odoo’s open source ERP includes a website booking module that can be extended to support tours and rental bookings via customizations and community modules.
• WordPress + WooCommerce (self‑hosted) with booking plugins — Using WordPress and open source components gives high flexibility; you can combine free plugins with paid add‑ons to create a booking flow that you control on your own hosting.
• OpenTripPlanner / community projects — Niche open source projects and community tools exist for ticketing and event reservation, but typically require technical integration and customization.

Open source alternatives offer lower recurring licensing costs but require technical resources to implement, secure and integrate. They are best for teams that want complete control over UX, data and hosting.

Frequently asked questions about Checkfront

What is Checkfront used for?

Checkfront is used for online booking and reservation management for tours, activities, rentals and accommodations. It helps operators present live availability, collect payments and deposits, assign resources, automate guest communications, and manage distribution through third‑party channels.

How do I integrate Checkfront with my website?

Checkfront provides an embeddable booking widget and a hosted booking page. You can place the widget on your site, link to the hosted booking page, or use the API for a custom checkout integration; check their website integration documentation for implementation steps.

Does Checkfront support channel partners and OTAs?

Yes, Checkfront supports channel integrations with OTAs and reseller partners. The platform includes connectors and export options so you can sell through marketplaces while keeping availability in sync; consult their integration listings for specific partner connections.

Can Checkfront process payments and deposits?

Yes, Checkfront integrates with major payment gateways to accept payments and deposits. The system supports full payments, partial deposits, payment scheduling and refund processing depending on your payment provider and plan configuration.

Is there a free trial for Checkfront?

Yes, Checkfront typically offers a free trial or demo for new customers. Trials allow you to configure inventory, test the booking flow and run sandbox transactions before committing to a paid subscription; request a demo on their demo page.

How secure is Checkfront for handling customer data?

Checkfront follows common security practices for SaaS booking platforms and uses secure payment integrations. For enterprise customers, check the vendor’s published compliance and security details, and review their security resources for information on encryption, access controls, and data handling.

Does Checkfront offer an API for automation?

Yes, Checkfront provides a RESTful API and webhooks for event notifications. The API supports booking creation, retrieval of availability and inventory, and webhook events for booking lifecycle updates; see their developer resources for endpoint and authentication details.

Can I manage resources like vehicles and guides in Checkfront?

Yes, Checkfront includes resource and inventory management features. You can define assets, assign them to bookings, set pooling rules and avoid double assignment across overlapping reservations using the platform’s resource engine.

How much does Checkfront cost per user or per month?

Checkfront offers competitive pricing plans tailored to business size and feature needs. Exact per‑month costs depend on your chosen plan, booking volume, and add‑ons; check their official pricing page or contact sales for a quote.

Where can I find real customer reviews for Checkfront?

Customer reviews are available across software directories and Checkfront’s case studies. Look for verified reviews on industry sites such as GetApp, Capterra, and G2, and review customer case studies on Checkfront’s case study archive to see measurable outcomes.

Checkfront careers

Checkfront hires across product, engineering, customer success, and operations roles for a company focused on hospitality and experience industries. Careers pages typically describe company culture, remote/hybrid policies, and open roles. Candidates evaluating Checkfront should review role descriptions for required domain experience (booking systems, payments, integration work) and look for mentions of continuous learning or sector expertise. Visit Checkfront’s careers page to find current openings and application instructions.

Checkfront affiliate

Checkfront may offer partner or reseller programs to agencies and consultants that implement booking solutions for customers. These programs generally provide referral tracking, partner discounts, and co‑marketing resources. If you operate a tourism or web agency, reach out to Checkfront’s partnership team via their partner program information to learn about commission structures and onboarding requirements.

Where to find Checkfront reviews

Independent reviews and user feedback for Checkfront can be found on software review sites and industry forums. Search for Checkfront on sites like Capterra, G2, and GetApp to compare ratings on ease of use, feature completeness, and support responsiveness. Additionally, Checkfront publishes customer case studies on their site that include quantitative outcomes and implementation notes; see their case studies collection for examples.