4 Best Escape Room Booking Software Solutions [2024]

For any escape room owner, it’s crucial to have reliable booking software in place.

Unlike many industries, online booking is the primary way for escape room customers to purchase.

Some escape room owners will only staff their stores when they have a booking, making reliable booking systems an absolute must.

Choosing the best system for your business can be difficult with so many options, fee structures, and competing software solutions available on the market today. 

In this post, we’ll cover some of the most popular booking software solutions for escape rooms (Resova, Bookeo, Xola, and Fareharbor) so that you can figure out which one best meets your unique needs and budget.

We're in a unique position to discuss these booking systems. We work with a lot of escape rooms and we generally inherit the booking systems with each account.

Because of this we have hands on experience with 10+ booking systems in the escape room industry.

Read on to learn more about the features available in each suite, as well as prices and other considerations.

Resova

Resova, formerly Bookify, is an escape room focused booking system.

Of all the options on available, it is the most "modern" looking solution - which translates to an excellent experience for purchasers and the employees who use the backend.

The system is highly secure and provides advanced features such as automated emails, payment processing, customer profiles, and more.

With its powerful analytics suite, users can gain valuable insights into their customers’ behavior in order to make better decisions about marketing campaigns or pricing policies. 

Resova offers a range of customized reports to help you get a clear picture of your performance over time. As if that weren't enough, it also supports multiple languages and currencies making it perfect for businesses with international customers.

By taking advantage of all the features provided by Resova, escape room owner's won't go wrong.

Booking System:

Resova has a great front-end booking system which makes it extremely easy for the customer to walk through the booking process as well as a slick backend system that allows for easy management of available experiences, calendar time slot availability, and other administrative functions for the escape room owner. 

They offer four different types of booking site layouts that you can choose to configure.

When you initially get set up with Resova, they walk you through the step-by-step process of configuring everything needed to operate with success, as well as provide a checklist of items that need to be completed to ensure that you are ready to go live with the booking software.

Marketing:

Resova’s marketing features include the ability to:

• Create and manage discount codes
• Cart abandonment emails
• Customer reviews request emails
• Conversion accelerators (Selling Fast tags on partially booked and surrounding sold out times)

They also integrate well with Mailchimp for customer email blasts which will help you earn repeat business, we'll talk more about that in the next section.

Integrations:

Resova provides plenty of integrations for websites, payment gateways, scheduling, marketing, and more.

Payment gateway integrations include Paypal, Square, and Authorize.net along with others. Scheduling integrations include Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple iCal.

Marketing Integrations include:

• Facebook
• Mailchimp
• Google Tag Manager

Other integrations include:

• Buzzshot
• Fotaflo
• Zoom
• Morty

Payment integrations:

• ResovaPay
• PayPal
• Square
• Stripe

Resova also features a unique integration with Zapier which will allow you to connect with third-party apps to automate more parts of your business.

Here's a look into their integrations tab as of December, 2023:

Pricing: 

Resova offers a free 30-day trial which allows escape room owners to test out the software and make sure it works for their business needs.

After that, pricing is tiered out based on the level of access the escape room needs starting at $30/month for up to 100 bookings and 2 users.

The most popular pricing tier is $65/month which allows for up to 300 bookings and 5 users. 

Resova boasts a “No Commissions” structure for their customers which is a reason that they are winning over a lot of new escape rooms business. They are offering "Resova Pay" which is their way of making money on the backend though.

They offer a more modern look and comprehensive platform than Bookeo but with a similar pricing model. 

While the analytics integrations for Resova are not absolutely perfect yet, they are the most robust that will allow you to connect to Google Analytics 4 with the most flexibility.

They are actively trying to add in better in app reporting, but is a bit confusing for the normal user. Currently in Resova there is a "Reporting" and a "Reports" tab.

The reports tab is what most people would expect, but it is lacking features.

As always, you can send info to GA4 though. Here is an example of an escape room utilizing Resova to send detailed information to Google Analytics 4. Currently no other system on the market is coming close to exposing this level of data.

Bookeo

Bookeo is one of the most popular booking software for escape room owners because it has proven itself to be reliable over time. It has been around for longer than the majority of the software on this list which has helped it earn the trust and support of the escape room industry. 

While Bookeo does not have as nice of a user interface as platforms like Resova, Xola, and FairHarbor - a lot of reviews have mentioned the pricing model of Xola and FairHarbor as being the driving force behind bringing them back to Bookeo.  

Booking System:

Bookeo offers a simple look and user interface, but its performance is reliable, with customers able to view the real-time availability of escape rooms and purchase gift vouchers or take advantage of custom promotions. 

Bookeo is easy to use with intuitive setup options and can be quickly configured to suit any business needs, from promoting packages to setting up discounts.

Businesses wanting more advanced customization will have access to detailed customer profiles, personalized dashboards, and automated customer notifications.

Bookeo also allows businesses to track sales, compare revenue between different time periods, and collect data all in one place.

In addition, the software comes with 24/7 support in case anything goes wrong or help setting up the system is needed.

All in all, Bookeo offers escape room owners a reliable but basic booking system that gets the job done without having too many bells and whistles.

Integrations:

Though Bookeo doesn’t integrate with Zapier like the other software on this list, it does have a comprehensive list of integrations.

Payment integrations include Stripe, Square, Authorize.net, Paypal, and more.

Website builder integrations include

• WordPress
• Elementor
• Wix
• Squarespace
• and any website builder that can take embedded code

E-commerce integrations include

• Shopify
• Bigcommerce
• Magneto
• Vend.

Online calendar integrations include

• Google Calendar
• Office 365
• and others

Accounting system integrations include Xero and Quickbooks.

Other miscellaneous integrations include Zoom, Hubspot, and Mailchimp. 

Adding the booking widget to a website is as easy as copy and pasting. Here is a look at their web site widget setup:

Here's a look at their integrations tab as of December 2022:

And here is their marketing suite:

And finally all the options when looking at Bookeo's setting's page:

Pricing:

Bookeo’s pricing is a flat rate that starts at $39.95/month which allows up to 1,000 bookings and 20 staff logins.

The next tier is $79.95/month which allows up to 2,000 bookings and 40 staff logins. The largest tier is $119.95/month which allows 3,000 bookings per month and 60 staff logins.

For companies planning on doing more than 3,000 bookings per month, Bookeo offers larger customized plans as well.

Xola

Escape room owners looking for an all-in-one booking software solution should consider Xola, which offers comprehensive features to help them increase their bookings and grow their business. Xola is designed from the ground up with escape room customers in mind, providing a user-friendly interface and “no brainer” setup on the back end. 

With Xola, escape room owners can take advantage of marketing tools that allow them to generate more leads and expand their reach. They can also customize the user experience on the front end, so visitors have a seamless interaction when it comes to reserving rooms online. 

Recently, there was some controversy over changes to how Xola charges for its software; however, many of its users remain satisfied with its overall performance and continue to keep it as their preferred booking solution.

Booking System:

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Xola's booking software is tailored towards escape room owners, offering a variety of features and user-friendly functions to help manage their business. It has an efficient interface that lets customers quickly check the availability of any room they would like to book. Moreover, it also offers options such as setting minimum and maximum group numbers to ensure no rooms are overbooked or have only one participant. 

On top of this, Xola supports both desktop and mobile devices with its well-coded platform, allowing customers to easily access the system from any location. The back end includes numerous features specifically for the unique needs of escape room businesses, though some users may find them overwhelming at first due to their complexity. 

Regardless, there are multiple resources available online that can help users understand all the tools available in Xola's booking system. Ultimately, Xola provides a comprehensive solution for escape room owners that ensures efficiency and ease of use when managing their business.

Marketing:

Xola's CRM capabilities allow customers to easily export data for email newsletters or targeted marketing campaigns. Escape room owners can also easily create and manage coupon codes as well as gift vouchers, send automatic review requests, remarket to their customers, and manage abandoned booking recovery. 

Integrations:

With its integrations for popular tools like Google Calendar and Reserve with Google, Xola makes it easier to schedule, manage, and market your escape room business. Xola also integrates with Zapier to make it easy to connect other apps in a seamless way.

Pricing:

Recently, Xola announced a change to their pricing model that has raised concerns among some owners who rely heavily on the service - they are now charging a 6% fee for each booking made in addition to the monthly or annual packages previously offered.

With this change, it is on the business owner to decide if they want to pass this additional cost off to the customer or take care of it themselves.

Fareharbor

FareHarbor is a comprehensive booking solution designed for tour and activity businesses, including escape rooms.

With an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars on Capterra from 1,043 reviews, FareHarbor has a strong reputation among escape room owners.

It is tailored to the needs of escape rooms with features specifically designed to make it easier for owners to manage their businesses. 

Some have complained that FareHarbor uses pushy sales tactics; many felt they were being “spammed” by being called over and over. Nevertheless, due to its extensive features and ease-of-use capabilities, FareHarbor remains a popular choice for escape room booking solutions. 

It provides detailed analytics so owners can review how bookings evolved over time, along with customer management tools and performance tracking metrics that help keep operations running smoothly. In addition, FareHarbor offers safe and secure payment processing options through Stripe, PayPal, and more so customers can book easily while still keeping their information secure.

Booking System:

FareHarbor’s user-friendly interface simplifies the booking process for customers while providing comprehensive reporting for the business to ensure accuracy. Additionally, FareHarbor allows each employee to have their own login with adjustable access levels, so owners can manage who has access to what accounts or information. 

The customer support team is extremely helpful and available, making it even easier to make changes or updates on a website if needed in a timely fashion. All of these features make FareHarbor an attractive option for escape room owners who want a reliable and efficient way to manage their booking operations.

Integrations:

Fareharbor offers plenty of integrations for escape room owners to connect it with all of their tools including Zapier which allows you to integrate with hundreds of apps.

From their website, they boast some of the following integrations:

Pricing: 

Fareharbor has a similar pricing model to Xola, where the business owner is charged only a fee for every transaction.

There are both positive and negative sides to this pricing structure. On the positive side, this model saves business owners money when they aren’t as busy because they only pay when bookings are being made.

On the negative side, owners who are extremely busy find themselves paying more than expected for a booking solution. And, if they choose to pass the percentage fee off to the customer, it can deter the customer from completing the booking.

Here is the pricing information from their website as of December 2023:

Last Thoughts

As escape rooms continue to pick up popularity, providing an intuitive booking interface for your customers and managing your bookings as a business owner is more important than ever to stay organized and maximize the revenue that you can be earning from your rooms.

Incorporating the right booking software into your business model saves you time and promotes organization so you can focus on crafting the best escape room experience possible for your customers.