PootlrHost vs Bedful: campsite booking software compared
Bedful and PootlrHost compared for UK campsites: fees by the pitch, set-up fees, Pitchup, websites, automatic balances and group bookings.
Updated . Bedful’s details checked
Bedful is booking and management software for holiday accommodation of every kind, and says it was designed “for campsite hosts, by campsite hosts”. It charges a yearly fee that rises with the number of pitches and units, plus a set-up fee, with more features on its dearer plans. PootlrHost charges £1 a booking or a flat monthly price, has no set-up fee, and includes every feature on both plans.
At a glance
| PootlrHost | Bedful | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Small UK campsites, CL and CS sites, pop-ups and glamping | Campsites, glamping, holiday parks, cottages, B&Bs, hotels and hostels |
| Price | £1 a booking, or Pro at £25 a month with no booking fee (or £225 for a year paid upfront); £20 a month for a CL or CS (or £200 for a year paid upfront). No VAT to add | Light: £20 a month plus £1 a camping pitch, paid yearly in advance. Plus from £30 a month and Pro from £52 a month, with the same charge for each pitch in its price calculator. All plus VAT |
| Set-up fee | None | £100 plus VAT for five units or fewer, £180 plus VAT above that |
| A 5-pitch CL, 150 bookings at £20 | £150 a year | £300 a year plus VAT on Light, and £100 plus VAT to set up |
| A 20-pitch site, 500 bookings at £60 | £300 a year on Pro, or £225 paid yearly | £480 a year plus VAT on Light, and £180 plus VAT to set up |
| Website | Included: several pages, on a pootlrhost.co.uk address or your own domain | A hosted booking page on your own domain, on Plus, for £10 a month more plus VAT |
| Guests choose their pitch | On a map you draw, and it’s theirs if it’s still free | Not stated |
| Pitchup | By API key | By calendar link |
| Hipcamp, Airbnb, Booking.com | By calendar link, pitch by pitch | £10 a month more for up to 10 units. Airbnb and Booking.com by calendar link. Hipcamp by API in its FAQ, and by calendar link on its features page |
| Deposits | Yes | Yes, on every plan, and security deposits from Plus |
| Balances | Taken automatically from the guest’s saved card, on both plans | Taken automatically on Plus and Pro only |
| Club membership numbers | Yes, if you ask for them | Not stated |
| Group and rally bookings | Several pitches requested together, with one payment link (£1 a pitch on Pay As You Go) | Booking several units at once on every plan. Event-style group bookings on Plus and Pro |
| Staff logins | As many as you need | One on Light, five on Plus, no limit on Pro |
| Trying it | Pay As You Go costs nothing until a guest books online | 30 days free |
| Reviews | None yet: PootlrHost is new | 4.6 from 17 reviews on Trustpilot |
Where Bedful is the better choice
- Mixed accommodation. Bedful handles cottages, B&B rooms, hotels and hostels as well as pitches, with management tools for agencies and several sites.
- Money tools. Security deposits from Plus, payment in instalments on Pro, Klarna through Stripe, and a Xero link (£10 a month).
- Experiences. Bedful Pro has a module for selling activities alongside stays.
- Track record. Bedful says it has taken more than 1.2 million bookings.
Where PootlrHost is the better choice
- A small site. A 5-pitch CL would pay Bedful £300 a year plus VAT on Light, and £100 plus VAT to set up, before taking a booking. On PootlrHost it pays £1 for each booking a guest makes online, and nothing for bookings it adds itself.
- Everything on both plans. Automatic balances, links to other booking sites, group bookings and staff logins are on both PootlrHost plans. On Bedful, automatic balances and event-style group bookings need Plus, and other booking sites cost £10 a month more.
- Pitchup by API key. Pitchup bookings come into PootlrHost with the guest’s details within a couple of minutes. Pitchup is told straight away when a night is booked in PootlrHost, and within about 15 minutes when one is booked on another site. Bedful links Pitchup by calendar link.
- A website included, with pages for each pitch type, a gallery, how to find you and your questions. Bedful’s hosted page needs Plus and costs £10 a month more.
- Pick your pitch on a map, and club membership numbers for CL and CS sites, asked for when guests book.
- No yearly payment up front. PootlrHost Pro can be paid monthly, and Pay As You Go has no fixed fee at all. Bedful’s prices are for paying yearly in advance, with 15% more to pay quarterly.
What it costs, worked through
A 5-pitch CL taking 150 bookings a year at £20:
- PootlrHost: 150 × £1 = £150 a year, or nothing if guests pay the £1 as a service fee.
- Bedful Light: (£20 + 5 × £1) × 12 = £300 a year plus VAT, and £100 plus VAT to set up in the first year.
- Bedful Plus, for automatic balances, with other booking sites: (£30 + 5 × £1) × 12 + £10 × 12 = £540 a year plus VAT.
A 20-pitch campsite taking 500 bookings a year at £60:
- PootlrHost Pro: £25 × 12 = £300 a year (or £225 for a year paid upfront).
- Bedful Light: (£20 + 20 × £1) × 12 = £480 a year plus VAT, and £180 plus VAT to set up.
- Bedful Plus with other booking sites: (£30 + 20 × £1) × 12 + (£10 + 10 × £1) × 12 = £840 a year plus VAT.
Card fees are on top with both. Both use Stripe.
Moving from Bedful to PootlrHost
- Bring your bookings and guests across from a CSV file, using our template if you need to. You check every row before anything goes in.
- Build your new website as a draft, and keep taking bookings on Bedful until it’s ready.
- Connect Pitchup with your API key, and your other booking sites by calendar link.
- Send your old web addresses to the new pages, and email guests with stays to come to say where their booking now lives.
Switching to PootlrHost goes through each step.
Sources
Bedful’s pricing, FAQ, camping page, features, home page, trial, and its help pages on payments, security deposits, Klarna, Pitchup, the hosted page, group bookings and users, and its Trustpilot reviews. PootlrHost’s prices are on our pricing page.
Bedful’s prices and features on this page come from its own website, checked on 23 October 2026. PootlrHost isn’t connected with Bedful. If anything here is wrong or out of date, email [email protected] and we’ll put it right.
