The best Orioly alternatives for tour operators (2026)

Why are operators looking for an Orioly alternative?

Orioly is a capable, distribution-first booking platform, and it's refreshingly transparent about what it charges — every tier is published, right down to the minimum per-booking fee. Its OTA Channel Manager is the real draw: from one place you can push availability to Viator, GetYourGuide, TourRadar, Musement and Expedia, alongside unlimited bookings, products and user accounts on every plan, a mobile app, POS Desk, Zapier and API access. For an operator whose growth depends on OTA reach, that's a genuine strength.

The friction shows up for operators selling multi-day trips direct: there's no free way in, the entry price is a one-time setup fee that lands before your first booking, and the payment structure a multi-day trip needs isn't surfaced.

What does Orioly actually charge?

Orioly's pricing is a three-part stack, and it's worth reading in full. Each published SMB tier combines a one-time setup fee, a per-online-booking fee, and an annual retainer: Startup is $399 setup plus 2.5% per online booking (minimum $0.60) plus $200 a year; Growth is $499 setup plus 2% plus $150 a year; Business is $699 setup plus 1% plus $100 a year — Orioly bills this as its "industry lowest commission." Above those sit a custom Enterprise tier and a done-for-you "Booking Pro Academy." There's no free plan and no free trial on the pricing page, and payment gateway fees (Stripe, PayPal, Mollie and others) are separate — though you can pass them to guests via a reservation fee, and offline bookings carry no Orioly fee.

The headline difference versus Samba isn't the percentage — Growth's 2% matches Samba's flat 2%. It's everything around it: Orioly asks for $399–$699 before you take a single booking, where Samba's free plan is $0 to start and the first $10,000 of bookings carries no fee at all.

Where does Orioly fall short for multi-day trips?

A multi-day itinerary needs a deposit to hold the booking and an installment schedule to collect the balance over the weeks before departure. Orioly's pages describe payment gateways and a reservation fee, but don't surface a deposit or installment system, or a dedicated multi-day itinerary builder. Operators selling longer trips often find they're adapting a distribution-first activity tool to a multi-day problem.

Who should stay on Orioly?

Be fair about it: if most of your bookings come through OTAs and you want a transparent, distribution-first platform with a channel manager built in, Orioly delivers exactly that — and its declining booking fee rewards volume. The operators with the clearest reason to look elsewhere are the ones selling multi-day trips direct, who want a free way to start, no upfront setup fee, and real payment plans built in.

How should you choose an Orioly alternative?

There's no single best tool — there's a best tool for how you actually sell. Start with one question: where do your bookings come from?

What if most of your bookings come from OTAs?

Then reach outweighs the headline price, and Orioly's own strength — distribution — is what you're really replacing. Bókun is built for it: a marketplace of 2,600+ OTAs and resellers and a 0% Bókun fee on Viator bookings on paid plans, on transparent four-tier pricing. Rezdy runs a 12,000+ agent marketplace, and Regiondo is the European option pairing an OTA channel manager with its own consumer marketplace. All three let you keep a distribution-first workflow without Orioly's upfront setup fee.

What if you sell multi-day trips direct?

Then deposits, installments and fee transparency matter more than distribution. Samba is purpose-built for this: native deposits and installment plans, a free $0/mo plan with every feature included, no setup fee, and a flat 2% per booking with the first $10,000 of bookings free. WeTravel is the closest alternative, pairing a native itinerary builder with auto-billing — just confirm its booking fee on a demo, since it isn't published.

How should you compare the real cost?

Model your first year, not just the percentage. On a $3,000 trip, Orioly's Growth tier takes 2% (about $60) per online booking — the same as Samba's flat 2% — but you've already paid a $499 setup fee and a $150 annual retainer before booking one, and Samba's first $10,000 of bookings is free. If you're a smaller or newer operator, the setup fee and the free-tier gap dominate the math; if you're high-volume and OTA-driven, Business-tier's 1% and the channel manager may earn their keep. Run your real average ticket and booking volume against each platform before you weigh anything else.

How hard is it to switch from Orioly to Samba?

Switching booking platforms feels heavier than it is, mostly because your live calendar and customer relationships are on the line. The practical work breaks into three parts: moving your experiences and availability, redirecting your booking links, and bringing across any in-flight bookings.

What do you need to move first?

Your experiences and their availability. On Samba's free plan you can rebuild your experiences, set deposit and installment terms, and run real test bookings through the engine before you point any traffic at it — with no setup fee and no subscription to clear first. Because Samba is built multi-day-first, deposits and installment plans are standard rather than a workaround.

What happens to bookings already in Orioly?

Let existing departures run out on Orioly while new bookings flow to Samba — there's no need for a hard cutover. Point your website's "Book now" widgets and embedded buttons at the new checkout, keep Orioly live until its last booked trip departs, then close the account. Offline payments you mark manually carry no Samba fee, which keeps reconciling a transition period straightforward.

The honest part: there's real setup work, and if a meaningful share of your volume comes through Orioly's OTA channel manager, you'll want a distribution plan for those channels — Samba syncs bookings from connected channels like Viator and GetYourGuide, but it isn't a full distribution channel manager. What you get in exchange is a free way to start, no upfront setup fee, a flat 2% per booking with the first $10,000 free (processing billed straight to Stripe), and payment plans built for the way multi-day trips are sold. If you're ready to see it against your own trips, you can start free on Samba.