October 1, 2026

HuntPay Alternative: How Hunt Outfitter Compares in 2026

HuntPay and Hunt Outfitter are built for the same person: a hunting guide or outfitter who is tired of running bookings from a notebook, a spreadsheet and a Venmo account. Both take payments online, both have a free tier, and their paid plans top out at $149 (HuntPay) and $179 (Hunt Outfitter) before custom pricing. The differences are in what each one puts on which rung and in how openly the fees are published, and depending on your operation, either one can be the better choice.

This comparison uses HuntPay’s own pricing and help pages and our own plan configuration, both checked on October 1, 2026.

The short version

One note on HuntPay’s free tier: its pricing page describes it in two places. The plan card says it covers your calendar and assigning guides and staff to trips, and the breakdown further down adds a booking system, payment processing and a listing on Venku. We’ve gone with the fuller of the two.

Where HuntPay is the better deal

If you’re a single guide who wants hunters to book and pay online without a phone call first, HuntPay lists online booking on every plan, free included, and adds SMS client notifications on its $29 Core plan. Hunt Outfitter’s public booking widget and text notifications both start on the Solo plan at $59. HuntPay’s free tier also lets you assign trips to guides and staff, whereas Hunt Outfitter’s free plan is built for one guide. HuntPay puts accounting integrations on its $149 tier, below our $179 Business plan, and if you want your hunts listed where hunters browse, it advertises them on its Venku marketplace, which is something we don’t offer.

Where Hunt Outfitter goes further

Both free tiers take payments, so the difference is in what surrounds them. Hunt Outfitter’s free Starter plan also runs the paperwork side of a hunt: a client portal, documents and e-signatures, receivables tracking, and deposit schedules, so a 50% deposit at booking and the balance before the hunt split into separate invoices on their own.

E-signed waivers are the sharpest example. HuntPay includes “Automated Waivers & E-Signature” on its Max plan at $149 a month. In Hunt Outfitter, signing contracts and waivers is available on every plan, including free, and the signed copy stays with the booking. For most outfitters the liability waiver is the one document that has to be signed before anyone steps into the field, which is why we don’t think it belongs on the top tier.

Lodging runs the same way. HuntPay lists “Manage Lodging” on its $79 Growth plan. In Hunt Outfitter, the lodges, rooms and cabins you operate, and assigning bookings to them, come with the Solo plan at $59 and every plan above it.

At the same $79 price point the plans line up more closely: HuntPay’s Growth adds guides and staff, invoicing and lodging, while Hunt Outfitter’s Pro covers up to seven guides with online booking, SMS, automated hunt and payment reminders, harvest records, end-of-hunt reports and packing lists.

The fee, in plain numbers

HuntPay’s help page says “a small processing fee is deducted from each transaction (similar to credit card fees),” but it doesn’t publish the percentage. That may simply be Stripe’s rate passed through; we don’t know, and neither will you until you ask.

Hunt Outfitter publishes its fee. It’s 4% on Starter, falling to 1% on Business, and it’s capped per payment at between $35 and $15. On a $6,000 elk hunt paid as a $3,000 deposit and a $3,000 balance, 4% would be $120 per payment, and the Starter cap holds it to $35 on each, or $70 in total. The hunter pays it as a “Booking fee” line at checkout, and license fees and taxes never carry it. You still pay Stripe’s standard processing fee as the merchant, as you would with any Stripe-based system. For the full breakdown, see how our booking fee works.

Which one should you choose?

Choose HuntPay if you’re a solo guide who mainly wants inexpensive online booking and text notifications, if you’d value a marketplace listing, or if you need accounting integrations below $179 a month.

Choose Hunt Outfitter if you want waivers signed and deposits split without paying a subscription, if you’d rather know your transaction fee up front and have your hunters cover it, if you run your own lodge or cabins and want them managed on the $59 plan, or if you’re running a team of guides and want reminders, harvest records and end-of-hunt reports at $79.

If you’re weighing more than these two, our HuntDocs alternative comparison and our best hunting outfitter software roundup cover the rest of the field. Or start with our free plan and set up a real booking before you decide.

Start free on the Starter plan — or try a paid plan free for 14 days.