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A Guidesly alternative with no commission
Guidesly and Gillie both give you a website that takes bookings. The difference is what each keeps when someone books. Here’s the short answer, then the detail.
The short answer
- Guidesly is free to join. Guidesly Pro, its software for guides, takes 10% of each booking made on the website it builds you, and 15% of each one from its marketplace.
- Gillie is your own booking website. Anglers book you directly, and the whole price is yours, less the card fee.
- Guidesly is made for guides in the United States. Gillie is made in the UK, for UK guides.
Free to start, no card needed.
Side by side
- What it is
- Guidesly: A marketplace where anglers find guides, plus free software for your website, bookings, payments and marketing.
- Gillie: Your own booking website, under your name.
- Made for
- Guidesly: Guides in the United States.
- Gillie: Guides in the UK, with prices in pounds.
- Cost to join
- Guidesly: Free, with no subscription.
- Gillie: Free to start, with 10 online bookings a month. Pro is £29 a month, with no booking limit, your own domain and your team. Neither takes commission. Compare the plans.
- Bookings on your own website
- Guidesly: 10% of each booking.
- Gillie: No commission, on either plan.
- Bookings from its marketplace
- Guidesly: 15% of each booking.
- Gillie: None. Gillie isn’t a marketplace, so it doesn’t send you anglers or charge for them.
- How anglers pay
- Guidesly: Through Guidesly, as your payment agent: a deposit when the trip is confirmed, and the rest from their card on the day. Paid out to you through Stripe a few days after the trip.
- Gillie: Into your own Stripe account: the full price, a deposit, or on the day. Your choice. Stripe pays your bank a few days after each booking, not after the trip.
- Cancellations
- Guidesly: You choose a policy. Guidesly promises anglers a full refund or a new date for bad weather, and can refund outside your policy in an emergency or if it decides a trip wasn’t run as agreed.
- Gillie: You set your own refund steps. When you call a date off, anglers pick a new date or a full refund.
- Reviews
- Guidesly: Owned by Guidesly. You can reply to and pin them, but not delete one.
- Gillie: On your own website, from anglers who booked and paid, beside reviews you bring from Google, Facebook or Tripadvisor.
What we say about Guidesly comes from its own pages, as they read in November 2026: Guidesly Pro pricing, What is Guidesly?, Cancellation and refund policy, Terms of service, Reviews. Guidesly is a trademark of its owner, who has nothing to do with Gillie.
Where the commission adds up
A free website that takes a cut.
With Guidesly, a free website still costs you 10% of every booking made on it, including regulars and anyone who searched for you by name. Bookings you take yourself, by phone or in person, cost 3% by card and nothing in cash.
At 10%, a £600 boat costs you £60. Booked on Gillie with a standard UK card, Stripe’s fee is £9.20 at its current rates, and the rest goes to your bank. On Pro, you pay a flat monthly fee as well, however much you take.
- Guidesly at 10%
- £60.00
- Gillie: Stripe’s card fee
- £9.20
Gillie takes no commission. Free has a monthly booking limit. Pro has no limit, for a flat monthly fee.
When Guidesly is worth it
If you guide in the United States and want a marketplace to bring you new anglers, with a website built for you, Guidesly does both, and you pay nothing until you’re booked.
Your reviews and your anglers
On Gillie, reviews come from anglers who booked and paid, and show on your own website. Everyone who books stays in your customer list, with their trips and your notes. See what Gillie does for a charter.
Using a marketplace too
Many guides list on a marketplace for new anglers and send everyone who comes back to their own website. See how that works with Gillie and FishingBooker.
Questions
Before you start.
- Is Gillie a marketplace too?
- No. Gillie doesn’t list you beside other guides or send you anglers. Your website, your name on Google and your regulars do that.
- Can I use my own domain?
- Yes, on Pro. On Free, your website is on Gillie’s address.
- Do anglers need an account?
- No. They book with their name and email, and manage their booking from the link in their email.
- How long does it take to set up?
- Answer three quick questions and your website is made, with your first trip on it. Card payments come next, through Stripe.
- What does it cost?
- Free to start, with 10 online bookings a month. Pro is £29 a month, with no booking limit, your own domain and your team. Neither takes commission. Compare the plans.
Keep every booking you earn.
Add a trip and a date, and your website can take bookings today.