How to choose booking and point of sale for a small campground
No single system is best for every campground. A short list of things decides whether one pays for itself or quietly costs you guests. Here’s the checklist we use, including when our own system isn’t the right fit.
The short answer
For a small campground or RV park, pick the system that lets guests book and pay a deposit on your own website without a commission on every booking, that understands sites and hookups rather than only hotel rooms and that runs the front desk and the camp store from the same inventory. Then check what it costs per booking, which card processor it requires and how your current bookings get into it.
Side by side
Four systems small campgrounds ask us about, from each company’s own pricing and feature pages in October 2026. Prices change, so confirm the current terms in writing before you sign.
| Alpine | CampLife | Firefly | Campspot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | One monthly fee, set with you by your booking volume. No per-booking fee | From $3 per reservation, $99 monthly minimum | $3.50 per unit booked, no monthly fee for short stays | Not published; demo and quote |
| Cost per booking | $0 | $3.00–$3.50 | $3.50 per unit | Not published |
| Setup and contract | Setup quoted up front; month to month | $100–$250 onboarding deposit, credited after go-live | No setup fee, no contract | Not published |
| Camp store / point of sale | Yes: register, stock and guest tabs on iPad | Yes, with inventory and barcodes | Yes, integrated POS | Mentions the camp store; details on request |
| Booking on your own website | Yes, on your own domain | Yes | Yes | Yes, plus its own marketplace |
| Your website built and run too | Yes, one team | No | No | No |
| Best fit | A small property that wants the site, booking, desk and store run by one team | A park that wants published per-reservation pricing | A small park that wants no contract and low fixed costs | Larger parks that want marketplace exposure and revenue tools |
Per-booking fees add up in a busy season: at $3.50 a booking, 2,000 bookings a year is $7,000 before card processing. With Alpine that line is zero: we agree one monthly fee up front, sized to your volume, and it doesn’t climb with every booking in July.
Sources: camplife.com pricing, fireflyreservations.com pricing and features, campspot.com, read October 23, 2026. Alpine is ours.
The checklist
- Booking on your own domain. Guests should book and pay on your site, not get sent to a booking site that takes a cut and keeps their email.
- Commission or flat price. A per-booking fee looks small until a busy summer. Add up a full season both ways.
- Sites, not just rooms. Tent sites, cabins and RV hookups have different rules. If hookup spaces need a phone call to place, the system should allow that instead of forcing it online.
- One inventory. Web bookings, walk-ups at the desk and blocked dates should all come from one calendar, so you never sell the same site twice.
- The camp store. If you sell firewood and ice, the register should take cash, card or a charge to the guest’s stay, and track stock.
- A link for every unit. Each cabin or site should have its own booking link for your site, emails and listings.
- Moving off paper. Ask how your existing reservations get loaded. Retyping a season of cards by hand is where double bookings come from.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What does a booking cost me? Monthly fee, per-booking fee, card processing and any setup charge.
- Which card processor do I have to use? Some systems work with only one.
- Can staff run it on a tablet? The desk is busy and the phone is ringing. Big buttons and undo beat confirmation pop-ups.
- Who answers when it breaks on a Saturday? A help-desk ticket and a person who knows your property are different things.
- Can I get my data out? Guests, bookings and sales should be yours to export.
Where Alpine fits
Alpine is the booking and point-of-sale system we build and run for independent lodging. Guests book on your domain and pay the deposit on a secure Stripe checkout, staff run the desk and the store on iPads, and we load your paper book as real bookings. Carson River Resort in Markleeville, California has run on it since September 2026.
If you only need reservations and are happy with your current website, an off-the-shelf campground system may suit you better, and we’ll say so. If you want your website, booking, desk and store run by one team, see websites and booking for campgrounds or start with the free visibility check.
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No sales call, no obligation; the document is yours to keep whether or not you hire us.