Sailia is the best BookNow alternative
The experience industry is evolving rapidly. Discover what’s transforming activity centres and what principles are sticking.
Read Time
5
min read
Posted on
Aug 25, 2025
Both Sailia and BookNow aim to help activity, venue and experience-businesses take bookings and manage operations. But they differ significantly in product philosophy, user experience, and commercial model.
BookNow Software is positioned as a comprehensive enterprise solution — built on the Salesforce CRM platform and designed for large-scale leisure & entertainment venues. However, several real-world issues emerge: the user interface and workflows feel dated and complex; users report having to switch between BookNow and Salesforce for core tasks (creating friction) and the pricing model is opaque and geared towards fixed fees rather than lean scalability.
Sailia, on the other hand, is built specifically for activity centres, hires, courses and multi-site operations, with modern UI, streamlined workflows, and transparent %-based pricing. There are no heavy monthly fees dragging you down in quiet periods.
At a glance
Sailia | BookNow Software | |
|---|---|---|
Designed for | Multi-location activity centres, hires, courses | Large entertainment complexes, multi-site leisure venues |
Setup & UI | Modern, clean, built for operators | Enterprise-grade but with legacy UI and multiple tool-switching |
Staff & resource management | Built-in scheduling, timesheets, qualification tracking | Staff / qualification tracking exists but often requires heavy setup & Salesforce familiarity |
CRM / guest management | Native CRM built-in, no third system | CRM relies on Salesforce backend, meaning separate platform navigation & complexity |
Automation (marketing, communication) | Email & SMS automation, drag-and-drop editor, built into the core | BookNow offers marketing enablement, but many workflows still require external tooling or heavy configuration |
Pricing model | Percentage of booking revenue (aligns cost with activity level; no heavy base fees in quiet periods) | Fixed / enterprise pricing model; heavier commitment, higher base costs, less transparent on scalability |
Operability when scaling | Designed to scale from one-site to many with the same platform | Also scalable, but scaling often brings added complexity, multiple modules and higher cost |
User experience & flexibility | Streamlined for busy operators, small admin overhead | Strong feature set, but user reviews report implementation delays, switching between systems, and user fatiguen |
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