Tarn vs. The Flybook
A modern Flybook alternative with published pricing and fees: one rate, your own Stripe account, and software built for the trip itself.
- The Flybook
- 4% online fee, or 2% of all transactions
- Tarn
- 3% per booking, no monthly fee, as low as 4.9% all-in
The Flybook pricing, fees, and cost, next to Tarn's.
The questions people search for, answered with the numbers, and a calculator for your own trip price.
- How much does The Flybook cost?
- The Flybook's standard pricing is a percentage of your bookings: a 4% fee on online bookings, or 2% of all transactions including phone and walk-up sales. Final terms are negotiated per operator on a sales call, and card processing runs through its integrated payments platform.
- What does that fee do to a $600 trip?
- $24 at the 4% online rate, or $12 if you're on the 2%-of-everything model, before card processing. The catch isn't the rate so much as not knowing it until you've sat through the sales call.
- What does Tarn cost on the same booking?
- Tarn's platform fee is 3%, $18 on a $600 trip, against The Flybook's 4% at $24, and it steps down to 2% as your trailing twelve-month volume grows. Card processing is Stripe's standard 2.9% + 30¢ on your own Stripe account, so all-in you're at $35.70 on day one and $29.70 at the top step, with the rate published on one page instead of negotiated. No monthly fee and no contract.
- Is Tarn a Flybook alternative if I also run lodging?
- Probably not. Tarn doesn't manage rooms, and The Flybook's lodging-plus-activities breadth is real. Tarn is the alternative for the outfitter whose business is the trip itself: quotes that don't freeze inventory, the whole booking on one screen, and your own Stripe account.
The Flybook's standard 4% online booking fee, before card processing. Tarn's platform fee is the like-for-like number.
$6.00 less per booking on Tarn, about $1,800 a season on 300 bookings.
Pass the fee to guests at checkout (Tarn's default) and you keep the full trip price either way. Estimates from each vendor's standard published or reported rate; your terms may differ.
30-day trial, no card, no sales call. Or open the live demo right here.
The Flybook has been around since 2006 and knows the adventure industry well: rafting companies, ziplines, ranches, and lodges all run on it, and its lodging-plus-activities breadth is real. But its standard pricing is a percentage of your bookings (a 4% online booking fee or 2% of all transactions), final terms are negotiated on a sales call, and payments run inside its platform. Tarn takes a different shape: one published usage rate, your own Stripe account, and a fast modern app where a quote doesn't freeze your inventory and the whole booking lives on one screen.
Comparison based on publicly available information about each vendor's standard offering as of 2026. Vendors change their terms, so confirm current pricing and features directly with each provider.
What you get by switching.
Quotes that don't freeze your inventory
Send a quote and the spots stay on sale. Tarn only commits capacity when payment lands, so a group that takes three days to decide can't block the guests ready to book today. When they do pay, the booking confirms itself.
The whole picture, one screen
Open a booking and everything is right there: guests, payments, balance, waivers, emails, notes. No tab-hopping. Open a contact and their entire history with you is in one place, from every trip they've run to every payment and every waiver signed.
Transparent, published pricing
One published rate: 3% per booking stepping down to 2% with volume, no monthly fee, and no contract. You decide whether to absorb the fee in your prices or pass it on at checkout.
You own your data, your site, and your Stripe
Tarn embeds on the website you already own, runs on your own Stripe account with payouts straight to your bank, and lets you export every booking, contact, and waiver anytime. Nothing is held hostage.
If lodging is half your business — a ranch or resort bundling rooms with activities — The Flybook's breadth may serve you well. Tarn is built for the outfitter whose business is the trip itself: faster to set up, transparent about price, and running on your own Stripe account.
Your next season starts at the desk. Make it a short visit.
Set up your trips, take your first booking, and get back outside.