Eight tools compared, with prices and limits.
The best fishing lodge software for you depends on how your anglers book. We compared eight tools a fishing lodge in the Americas might shortlist, using each company’s own website for every claim and price. Malvavisco wrote this page and is one of the eight, so we also say when another tool fits better.
What is the best fishing lodge software?
The best fishing lodge software is the one that fits how your lodge sells. If anglers must book and pay online, pick a tool with a booking engine and card payments, such as LodgeRunner, Hookset or Fishing Outfitter. If bookings arrive by email and agents and the hard part is the week (guides, boats, meals, the bar), Malvavisco fits.
Eight fishing lodge tools, feature by feature
Read across a row to compare one job. Every competitor cell links to the page it comes from.
| Feature | Malvavisco | LodgeRunner | Fishing Outfitter | Hookset | Vally | The Flybook | Fly dreamers | Reservit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Remote lodges where a stay includes guided days, meals and a bar | Fishing and hunting lodges, outfitters and guide services; founded in 2001Source | Fishing guide services and outfitters, from one guide to fifteen and moreSource | Fishing guides, fly shops and lodges; in active developmentSource | Charters, guides, tours, fly shops and fishing or hunting lodgesSource | Tour and activity operators, lodging resorts and dude ranchesSource | Fishing guides, outfitters and lodges that sell through booking agentsSource | Accommodation businesses, with a page for outfitters in CanadaSource |
| Multi-night lodge weeks | Yes: rooms or cabins for the stay or night by night, guided days on the same booking | Yes: room grid, guide grid and fixed weekly turnoversSource | Lodging and unit assignment on the Solo and Pro plans and upSource | Overnight packages and rooms on the Pro and Lodge plansSource | Rooms, resources, guides and bundles on one dashboardSource | Lodging booked by check-in and check-out dates, bundled with activitiesSource | Room and space management, seasons and pricingSource | Cabins, activities and packages on one calendarSource |
| Guest online booking | No: staff enter bookings from email, phone and agents | Yes: 13 online booking systems, including room-and-guide packagesSource | Yes, from the Solo and Pro plansSource | Yes: a hosted booking page on every plan, a widget on LodgeSource | Yes: online booking engine with real-time availabilitySource | Yes: booking flows for lodging, tours and rentalsSource | Yes: booking engine for your website and social profiles, plus agency accessSource | Yes: commission-free booking engine and a channel managerSource |
| Card processing | No: staff record cash, transfer and card-terminal payments | Nine processors, including Stripe, Square and Moneris; card terminalsSource | Stripe, with a 1–4% booking fee paid by the clientSource | Stripe Connect, with a 0.5–2% transaction fee by planSource | Stripe, with a booking fee you can pass to customersSource | Flybook Pay, in the US and CanadaSource | Online payments through a WeTravel integrationSource | Embedded payments for deposits and final paymentsSource |
| Guide and boat assignment | A named guide plus boats, vehicles or floatplanes per outing, with overlap, skill and language checks | Guide grid by seniority and destination; boats capped per day by charge codeSource | Guide portal with assigned trips and tasks; boats not mentionedSource | Guide board that suggests guides by skill and fair rotation; boats not mentionedSource | Team and resources drive availability; guide permissionsSource | Guide roles and staff calendar; equipment shared across tripsSource | Not described on its siteSource | Boat and motor inventory; guides not mentionedSource |
| Kitchen and meal counts | Included meals per stay, a daily dietary brief, kitchen tickets | Meal schedules, dietary flags and a kitchen portalSource | Meal planning, shopping lists and a cook portal on the Business planSource | Dietary needs on trip-prep forms; no kitchen tools mentionedSource | Not mentionedSource | Meals inside packages; no kitchen tools mentionedSource | Kitchen-order vouchers and a kitchen staff roleSource | Meals inside packages; no kitchen tools mentionedSource |
| Bar or shop with stock | Point of sale on the guest’s bill, with stock counts and supply orders | Bar Tab and gift-shop tablet screens, bar codes and inventory reportsSource | Not mentionedSource | Not mentionedSource | Add-ons and upsells; no point of sale mentionedSource | Retail point of sale with barcode scanning and inventory reportsSource | Not mentionedSource | Extras and services; stock not mentionedSource |
| Waivers and e-signatures | No | Yes: e-sign waivers and contracts, minors includedSource | Yes: documents and e-signatures on every planSource | Trip-prep forms; waivers not mentionedSource | Yes: waivers gathered before the tripSource | Yes: digital waivers before arrival or at a kioskSource | Not mentionedSource | Not mentioned on its outfitter pageSource |
| Currencies | About 30; one per booking, each reported separately, no conversion | USD and CAD, with exchange rates to convert a billSource | CAD and USDSource | Not statedSource | Not statedSource | Not statedSource | Not statedSource | Not statedSource |
| Staff interface languages | English, Spanish or Portuguese | Not stated; website in EnglishSource | Not stated; website in EnglishSource | Not stated; website in EnglishSource | Not stated; website in EnglishSource | Not stated; website in EnglishSource | Not stated; website in English and SpanishSource | Not stated; support in English or FrenchSource |
| Works offline | No: needs an internet connection | Not stated; runs on internet-connected devicesSource | Fishing reports and shopping lists work offline on paid plansSource | Not statedSource | Not statedSource | Not statedSource | Not statedSource | Not stated; has a mobile appSource |
| Published price | No: quoted after a demo | Most lodges $100–$300 a month; single guides $50Source | Free to $179 a month, plus a 1–4% fee paid by the clientSource | Free, $149 or $299 a month, plus 0.5–2% per transactionSource | Free software; a booking fee on each bookingSource | 4% of online bookings or 2% of all transactions, or negotiatedSource | Lodge plan $250 a month; guides $10Source | Quote; scales with the number of unitsSource |
Malvavisco wrote this comparison. Each competitor cell comes from that company’s own website, checked on 23 October 2026, and details may have changed since. “Not stated” or “not mentioned” means we did not find it on the pages we read, not that the tool lacks it. If a cell is wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Malvavisco: for running the lodge week
Who it’s for. Fishing lodges where a stay is rooms plus guided days, meals and a bar, and where bookings come in by email, phone and agents. Teams that work in Spanish, or in Spanish and English.
Strengths. Each outing is scheduled with a named guide and the boat or floatplane it needs, with checks for overlaps, capacity, skills and languages. Included meals feed a daily dietary brief and kitchen tickets. The bar and fly shop charge to the booking with stock counts. Rates in about 30 currencies, with reports that keep US dollars, Canadian dollars and pesos apart.
Limits. No online booking engine, card processing, waivers, channel manager, packages, offline mode or self-serve data import; our team does the migration for free.
Price. Not published; quoted after a demo. How it works for fishing lodges.
LodgeRunner: the long-standing all-rounder
Who it’s for. Fishing and hunting lodges and outfitters in the US and Canada that want bookings, online sales and card payments in one established system. Founded in 2001, cloud-based since 2007.
Strengths. Thirteen online booking systems, including packages of rooms and guided days; nine card processors plus card terminals; e-sign waivers; a kitchen portal with meal schedules; Bar Tab tablet screens with inventory; charter-flight and fish-box reports for fly-in lodges; USD and CAD with exchange rates.
Limits. Its site names no staff language other than English and no offline mode, and says it is not the right choice if you need to sell through online travel agencies. Boats are counted per day rather than scheduled with a guide.
Price. Most lodges $100–$300 a month, single guides $50, no set-up fees (pricing page); a free 30-day evaluation after a demo. Our full LodgeRunner comparison.
Fishing Outfitter: guide services on a budget
Who it’s for. Fishing guide services and outfitters, from a solo guide to fifteen guides, in the US and Canada.
Strengths. A free plan; a client portal with e-signatures; online booking from the Solo plan; fishing reports guides can file offline; CAD and USD; meal planning, shopping lists and a cook portal on the Business plan.
Limits. Built around guided trips more than lodge stays: lodging is a unit-assignment feature, and we found no bar or point of sale.
Price. Starter is free with a 4% booking fee paid by the client (at most $35 a payment); Basic $39, Solo $59, Pro $79 and Business $179 a month, each with a 1–3% client-paid fee (pricing page). Our full Fishing Outfitter comparison.
Hookset: online booking with a guide board
Who it’s for. Fishing guides, fly shops and full-service lodges that want online booking and Stripe deposits with a weekly guide board.
Strengths. A hosted booking page on every plan; packages with seasonal pricing; drag-and-drop guide assignments that suggest guides by skill and fair rotation; room assignment with conflict detection; automatic balance reminders and charges.
Limits. Its site says it is in active development with core features live. We found no kitchen, bar, waiver or currency features on its pages.
Price. Free (2% transaction fee, 10 bookings a month), Pro $149 a month (1%, up to 10 guides and 5 rooms) and Lodge $299 a month (0.5%) (pricing page). Our full Hookset comparison.
Vally: free software, paid per booking
Who it’s for. Charters, guides, fly shops and fishing or hunting lodges that want online bookings without a monthly fee.
Strengths. An online booking engine; rooms and resources on one dashboard; bundles and seasonal pricing; add-ons; waivers and pre-trip questions; two-way Google Calendar sync. Onboarding is free, with no set-up fees.
Limits. Its lodge page mentions no kitchen, bar or point of sale, and no currencies or languages.
Price. The software is free; Vally earns a booking fee on each booking, which you can pass on to customers (pricing page). Our full Vally comparison.
The Flybook: activities and packages sold online
Who it’s for. Activity operators and lodging resorts that sell tours, rentals, rooms and packages online, dude ranches included.
Strengths. Booking flows for lodging, tours and rentals; packages; waivers before arrival; guide scheduling and equipment shared across trips; a retail point of sale with inventory; gift cards and memberships; links to online travel agencies; Flybook Pay in the US and Canada.
Limits. Its industry pages include no fishing or hunting page, and we found no kitchen tickets or meal counts. Its standard pricing takes a share of each booking.
Price. A 4% online booking fee or a 2% fee on all transactions, or a negotiated fixed or subscription fee (home page). Our full Flybook comparison.
Fly dreamers: selling through booking agents
Who it’s for. Fishing guides, outfitters and lodges that sell much of their season through booking agents and fly shops.
Strengths. A network of booking agents who see your calendar in real time and book instantly; a booking engine for your website and social profiles; room and space management; a client database; kitchen-order vouchers and a kitchen role; a website in English and Spanish.
Limits. Online payments run through WeTravel, and we found no guide-and-boat scheduling or point of sale on its site.
Price. Guide $10, Outfitter $150 and Lodge $250 a month; free for agencies; 15 free trial bookings (FAQ). Our full Fly dreamers comparison.
Reservit: outfitters in Quebec and Canada
Who it’s for. Outfitters (pourvoiries) and cabin operators in Canada that sell cabins, boats and packages online with support in French or English.
Strengths. A booking engine for packages that combine a cabin, fishing rights, a boat and meals; boat and motor inventory; access rights sold with a daily capacity; a channel manager; embedded payments; a mobile app; no booking commissions.
Limits. It is a general accommodation suite: its outfitter page mentions no guide scheduling, kitchen tickets or waivers.
Price. An annual subscription that scales with the number of units, whether you have 3 or 50; quoted on request (outfitters page). Lodge software for Canada. Our full Reservit comparison.
Five questions that narrow the list
- Must anglers book and pay online? If yes, shortlist LodgeRunner, Hookset, Fishing Outfitter, Vally, The Flybook or Reservit. If bookings come through email and agents, all eight work, and Malvavisco is built for exactly that.
- Do you sell guided days or lodge weeks? Day trips and guide services fit Fishing Outfitter, Hookset or Vally. Multi-night stays with rooms, meals and a bar fit LodgeRunner or Malvavisco.
- Does the kitchen need counts every morning? Check LodgeRunner’s kitchen portal, Fishing Outfitter’s Business plan or Malvavisco’s dietary brief and kitchen tickets.
- Which currencies and languages? For US and Canadian dollars, LodgeRunner and Fishing Outfitter handle both. For pesos and dollars kept apart, or a crew that speaks Spanish or Portuguese, look at Malvavisco. For support in French, Reservit.
- How do you want to pay for software? A share of each booking: The Flybook and Vally. A monthly fee plus a smaller transaction fee: Hookset and Fishing Outfitter. A flat monthly fee: LodgeRunner and Fly dreamers. A quote: Malvavisco and Reservit.
For a fly-in lodge in Canada or a river lodge in Alaska, weigh charter flights too: LodgeRunner reports flights and fish-box weights, while Malvavisco lists arrivals and departures and schedules floatplanes as assets.
Who should not pick Malvavisco
Pick something else if anglers book and pay on your website today and you want that in the same system: Malvavisco has no booking engine and no card processing. The same applies if guests must sign waivers before they arrive, if you sell rooms on Booking.com or Airbnb, if you price all-inclusive weeks as one package, or if the lodge often runs without internet. LodgeRunner covers most of those in one system; Hookset and Fishing Outfitter cover the online side for less.
Some lodges keep their booking form or waiver tool and run the week in Malvavisco. There are no integrations, so each booking is entered again by hand. See everything that isn’t built yet.
Choosing fishing lodge software
Published prices run from free plans that charge a booking fee (Fishing Outfitter, Hookset, Vally) to flat monthly fees: LodgeRunner says most lodges pay $100 to $300 a month, Hookset’s Lodge plan is $299 and Fly dreamers’ Lodge plan $250. The Flybook charges 4% of online bookings or 2% of all transactions unless negotiated. Malvavisco is quoted after a demo.
LodgeRunner, Hookset, Fishing Outfitter (from the Solo plan), Vally, The Flybook, Fly dreamers and Reservit all let guests book online. Malvavisco does not; your team enters bookings from email, phone and agent requests.
LodgeRunner shows the most fly-in detail on its site: charter-flight reports with guest and fish-box weights, fixed weekly turnovers, USD and CAD, and GST and PST. Quebec outfitters who want French support can look at Reservit. Malvavisco fits if you want floatplanes and boats scheduled as assets and USD and CAD reported separately, but it has no French interface yet.
Mostly not. LodgeRunner and Malvavisco run in the browser and need a connection. Fishing Outfitter lets guides file fishing reports and shopping lists offline on its paid plans. If your lodge runs on satellite internet, ask each vendor what happens when the link drops; Malvavisco’s kitchen screen disables its buttons when its data goes stale.
Malvavisco’s staff interface runs in Spanish, English or Brazilian Portuguese, and guest emails go out in any of the three. Fly dreamers publishes its website in Spanish. The other tools here publish in English, and Reservit also in French. This comparison is also published in Spanish.
Malvavisco did. We read every competitor’s own pages on 23 October 2026 and linked each claim to its source. Where another tool fits a lodge better, we say so, and if you spot an error, tell us and we will fix it.
