Whitewatr Pro vs Checkfront
Checkfront charges $99/month plus 3% on every booking — a hybrid model that adds up fast. On $500K in revenue, that's over $16,000/year for a generic platform that wasn't built for rafting. They also raised prices on existing customers in 2025.
What Checkfront users say
Hybrid pricing adds up fast
A monthly fee AND a percentage of every booking. On $500K in annual revenue, the 3% booking fee alone costs $15,000 — on top of the $1,188 in monthly fees.
Price hikes on existing customers
Checkfront raised prices on existing customers in 2025, breaking trust with outfitters who had budgeted around the original pricing.
Generic platform, not adventure-specific
With 100+ features and integrations, Checkfront tries to serve everyone from escape rooms to bike rentals. Rafting-specific workflows like guide scheduling and weather cancels don't exist.
No guide scheduling or assignment
There's no way to manage guide availability, assign guides to trips, or track guide-to-guest ratios. You're still using spreadsheets for that part.
No weather day tools
When a storm rolls in and you need to cancel 40 bookings, Checkfront offers no bulk cancel-and-notify workflow. It's manual, one booking at a time.
Good API, expensive to use
Checkfront has a well-documented API, but you're paying $99/month plus 3% for the privilege. The integration flexibility doesn't offset the cost.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Whitewatr Pro | Checkfront |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | $0 | $99/mo |
| Booking commission | 2% + Stripe processing | 3% per booking |
| Effective cost on $100 booking | $2 + Stripe processing | ~$3.00 + monthly fee share |
| Annual cost on $500K revenue | $10,000 + Stripe processing | $16,188 |
| Setup fee | $0 | $0 |
| Rafting-specific features | Purpose-built | Generic tours platform |
| Digital waivers | Included | Third-party integration |
| Guide scheduling | Auto-assignment | Not available |
| Guide-to-guest ratios | Built-in capacity mgmt | Not available |
| Weather day bulk cancel + auto-notify | Yes | Manual one-by-one |
| Multi-craft trips (raft + duckie + kayak) | Yes | No |
| Integrations | Stripe, Resend, growing | 100+ integrations |
| API | Full API | Full API |
| Data export | Full CSV + API | CSV export |
| Price stability | Pro stays $0/month | Raised prices in 2025 |
| Directory listing | Free on Whitewatr network | Not available |
| POS for walk-ups | Coming soon | Yes |
| Dynamic pricing | Coming soon | No |
The bottom line
Checkfront charges $99/month and takes 3% of every booking — and it's not even built for rafting. Whitewatr Pro is included free with a claimed listing; online bookings cost 2% plus Stripe processing (about 2.9% + $0.30).