PootlrHost vs HolidayFox: campsite booking compared
HolidayFox and PootlrHost compared for UK campsites: 5% commission or £1 a booking, websites, Pitchup, club discounts and what a year costs.
Updated . HolidayFox’s details checked
HolidayFox is a booking button and website for holiday accommodation, with pages for campsites, caravan parks and club sites. Its Book now button is free, and it takes 5% of each booking that comes through it, plus VAT. It also lists you on holidayfox.com and puts your prices in Google’s hotel search. PootlrHost charges £1 a booking, or Pro at £25 a month with no booking fee (or £225 for a year paid upfront), and is built around pitches: numbered pitches, a pitch map, Pitchup by API key, group bookings and seasonal pitches. On a small site the two cost about the same. As a site gets busier, a percentage grows and a flat fee doesn’t.
We make PootlrHost, so read this knowing that. Everything about HolidayFox here is from its own pages and terms, as they stood on 25 October 2026.
At a glance
| PootlrHost | HolidayFox | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Small UK campsites, CL and CS sites, pop-ups and glamping | Holiday accommodation, including campsites, touring caravan parks and club sites |
| 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 | Book now button free, plus 5% of each booking that comes through it. Its terms add VAT to the 5%. Website in a Box £12.99 a month. Custom pricing for several sites or 100+ units |
| A 5-pitch CL, 150 bookings at £20 | £150 a year, or nothing if guests pay the £1 | £150 plus VAT a year, plus £155.88 with Website in a Box |
| A 20-pitch site, 500 bookings at £60 | £300 a year on Pro, or £225 paid yearly | £1,500 plus VAT a year, plus £155.88 with Website in a Box |
| Set-up fee or contract | None | No joining fee, and “cancel anytime”, though its terms ask for a month’s written notice |
| Website | Included: several pages, on a pootlrhost.co.uk address or your own domain | A Book now button for the website you have, or Website in a Box at £12.99 a month |
| Listed for new guests | No: PootlrHost doesn’t list you anywhere but your own website | On holidayfox.com, and in Google’s hotel search |
| Guests choose their pitch | On a map you draw, and it’s theirs if it’s still free | Not described. Its button shows the pitches that are free |
| Pitchup | By API key | By calendar (iCal) link, unit by unit |
| Airbnb, Booking.com | By calendar link | By calendar link |
| Deposits and balances | A deposit when guests book, and the balance from their saved card before arrival | Not stated. Payment goes to your Stripe account when the booking is accepted |
| Club membership numbers | Yes, if you ask for them, for every pitch type or just some | Yes, with a club discount you set, such as 10% |
| Group and rally bookings | Several pitches requested together, with one payment link (£1 a pitch on Pay As You Go) | Not stated |
| Seasonal pitches | Yes, with a payment plan | Not stated |
| Card fees | Stripe, 1.5% + 20p on standard UK cards (more on premium and overseas cards) | Stripe, 1.5% + 20p on UK cards. Pay by Bank at 0.5% + 20p, never more than £5, rolling out on instant-book listings |
Where HolidayFox is the better choice
- Nothing to pay until a booking arrives, with a website already in place. The Book now button is free, so a quiet month costs nothing. PootlrHost’s Pay As You Go works the same way, at £1 a booking.
- Club discounts. Add the Camping and Caravanning Club or another club with a percentage off, and members who give their number see the lower price before paying. PootlrHost asks for the number, but has no club discount of its own: you’d give members a promo code instead.
- New guests as well as your own. HolidayFox lists you on holidayfox.com and puts your prices in Google’s hotel search. PootlrHost only takes bookings on your own website.
- A website built for you. On Website in a Box, HolidayFox builds and hosts your website. PootlrHost’s website is included, but you fill it in yourself, from what you type or from the website you have now.
- Cottages and rooms too. HolidayFox covers holiday accommodation of every kind, if you let out more than pitches.
Where PootlrHost is the better choice
- A busy site. HolidayFox’s 5% grows with every booking. On a 20-pitch site taking £30,000 a year online, that’s £1,500 plus VAT, against £300 on PootlrHost Pro.
- Pitchup by API. Pitchup bookings arrive within a couple of minutes with the guest’s name, email and phone, and Pitchup is told straight away when a night is booked with you. HolidayFox links Pitchup by calendar link, which carries dates but not guest details.
- Pick your pitch on a map. Guests choose their pitch on a map you draw, on a satellite photo or your own site plan.
- Touring pitches. Say which pitch types take tents, caravans, twin-axles, motorhomes or campervans, and the longest each takes. Guests say what they’re bringing, and a pitch it won’t fit says so.
- Balances collected for you. PootlrHost takes the balance from the guest’s saved card before they arrive.
- Rallies and seasonals. Group bookings with one payment link, and seasonal pitches paid in instalments.
- Your own domain at no extra cost, and a guest guide for every booking with directions, the Wi-Fi password and the gate code.
What it costs, worked through
A 5-pitch CL taking 150 bookings a year at £20 (£3,000):
- PootlrHost: 150 × £1 = £150 a year. Pass the £1 on to guests, and it costs you nothing.
- HolidayFox: 5% of £3,000 = £150 a year plus VAT, with the Book now button on your own website. Website in a Box adds £12.99 × 12 = £155.88.
A 20-pitch campsite taking 500 bookings a year at £60 (£30,000):
- PootlrHost Pro: £25 × 12 = £300 a year (or £225 for a year paid upfront).
- HolidayFox: 5% of £30,000 = £1,500 a year plus VAT. Website in a Box adds £155.88.
HolidayFox works out its 5% on the price after any club discount. Card fees are on top with both, and both use Stripe.
About the £9.99 price
Some listings for HolidayFox quote £9.99 a month plus 5%. HolidayFox’s own pricing page, on 25 October 2026, shows no £9.99 plan: the Book now button is free, with 5% of each booking, and Website in a Box is £12.99 a month.
Moving from HolidayFox to PootlrHost
- HolidayFox says you can download your bookings, guest details and payments when you leave, and bookings already made still stand.
- Bring your bookings and guests into PootlrHost from a CSV file. You check every row before anything goes in.
- Build your new website as a draft, and keep taking bookings on HolidayFox until it’s ready.
- Connect Pitchup with your API key, and your other booking sites by calendar link.
Switching to PootlrHost goes through each step.
Sources
HolidayFox’s pricing, questions for partners, partner support questions, camping page, Camping and Caravanning Club page, calendar feeds and terms for providers, all checked on 25 October 2026. PootlrHost’s prices are on our pricing page.
HolidayFox’s prices and features on this page come from its own pricing, partner questions, camping and club pages, and its terms, checked on 25 October 2026. PootlrHost isn’t connected with HolidayFox. If anything here is wrong or out of date, email [email protected] and we’ll put it right.
