A Booking.com alternative for direct bookings

If you manage one or several vacation rentals, Booking.com feels familiar: it brings visibility and bookings, but in exchange it takes a 15-18% commission on every stay, holds your payments and keeps your guest data. Booking after booking, that percentage eats your margin and ties you to a channel you don’t control. The good news is that the alternative isn’t to disappear from Booking — it’s to stop depending on it alone by having your own branded direct-booking website, where the guest books and pays with no middleman and you keep 100%.

Kanarix vs Booking.com: quick comparison

How Booking.com works and what it costs

Booking.com is an OTA (online travel agency): it lists your property to millions of travellers and, when someone books, it charges a commission that in Spain is typically 15-18%, and can climb higher with programmes like Preferred or Genius. On an €800 booking, that’s €120-144 you never see. The guest also pays Booking, not you, so the money arrives delayed while you still handle the guest. Multiply that commission across all your bookings and you’ll see why your real margin is far thinner than it looks.

Where it falls short for owners

The deeper problem is ownership: the website, the brand, the customer relationship and their contact details all belong to Booking. You can’t email a past guest to invite them back, you don’t control how your property is presented, and you compete on price against hundreds of near-identical listings. Any change to their rules or commission hits you. You’re building someone else’s asset, not your own.

How Kanarix is different

Kanarix gives you your own direct-booking system: a custom website with your brand, a real-time calendar, seasonal pricing, online payments straight to your account, and a guest portal. Zero commission on every direct booking. The price is fixed and transparent — €49 per month plus €15 per property, no setup fee — instead of a percentage that grows with your revenue. We build it in about 2 weeks and support is included.

How much do you actually save?

Every booking you shift from Booking to your direct site saves the full commission. If you do, say, 40 bookings of €600 a year at 17% commission, that’s over €4,000 a year in fees. With Kanarix, that same volume costs a fraction in a fixed subscription, so the investment usually pays back within a few months from commission savings alone.

Who it’s for (and who it’s not)

Kanarix fits if you want to reduce your OTA dependence, build guest loyalty and keep your margin — without building the technology yourself. It’s not for someone who just wants to list on Booking and forget, nor for large hotel chains with a 24h front desk: it’s designed for owners and small managers of vacation rentals who want a channel of their own.

You don’t have to choose

Keep Booking to capture new guests, then reconvert them to direct bookings on future stays. Kanarix syncs the calendars via iCal so a booking on any channel blocks that date everywhere and you never double-book.

How to switch without losing bookings

Switching models doesn’t mean turning off what already works overnight. The move happens in steps, in parallel, and is usually ready in about 2 weeks:

• ✓You share your properties, photos, seasonal pricing and rules. We build the custom site with your brand.
• ✓We connect calendars via iCal with Booking, Airbnb and any portals you already use, so dates block automatically and you never double-book.
• ✓We turn on online payments (card, Bizum, PayPal) straight to your account, with no portal holds.
• ✓We launch your site and you start taking direct bookings, keeping the portals as a discovery channel.
• ✓Over time, you reconvert guests who arrived via a portal into direct bookings on their next stays.

What Kanarix includes (and you don’t pay extra for)

• ✓Custom design with your brand — not a generic template.
• ✓Ongoing support included in the price, also after launch.
• ✓Calendar (iCal) sync with Booking and Airbnb to prevent double-bookings.
• ✓Secure online payments (card, Bizum, PayPal) straight to your account.
• ✓Multilingual site optimised for local SEO and AI search.

Pricing is transparent: €49 per month plus €15 per property, no setup fee and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Your system is live in about 2 weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Can I keep using Booking.com with Kanarix?

Yes. The idea isn’t to leave Booking but to add a channel you own. You keep your listings to capture new guests and sync calendars via iCal to avoid double-bookings. Over time, you reconvert those guests to your direct site.

How much does Kanarix cost versus Booking’s commission?

Kanarix costs €49 per month plus €15 per property, with no setup fee. Unlike Booking’s 15-18% commission, it’s a fixed price that doesn’t rise as you earn more, so the saving grows with every direct booking.

Is there a lock-in contract?

There’s no lock-in and there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee. If within that window you find it isn’t for you, you get your money back.

Will I get double-bookings if I use several channels?

No, as long as calendars are synced. Kanarix connects via iCal with Booking, Airbnb and other portals, so any booking blocks that date across every channel at once.

How long until my website is live?

Usually about 2 weeks from when you send us your details, photos and pricing. We build everything custom; you just review and approve.