Sailia is the best Fareharbour 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
Why centres switch from Eola to Sailia
Need staff & kit management in one place
Want control over deposits, custom pricing and invoicing
Need deeper and more granular control over their calendar
Want more control over automated marketing, and their own branded experience
Need more in depth live reporting and membership tools
Issues around pre course information and incomplete waivers
How it feels to use them
Using Eola feels like patching tools together, fine when you start, frustrating once you grow.
You’ll spend time fixing calendar mistakes, chasing missing waivers, and guessing how your business is performing.
Using Sailia feels like everything just works.
Staff know where to be, customers get the right reminders, and managers have instant visibility. It’s calm, connected, and completely branded as your own.
Quick snapshot: why centres switch
Feature | Sailia | Eola |
|---|---|---|
All-in-one system (bookings, staff, kit, sites) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
Multi-day & multi-location courses | ✅ Easy to manage | ⚠️ Complex / limited |
Deposits & payment plans | ✅ Built-in | ❌ Not supported |
Bulk tools & week editing | ✅ Yes | ❌ Manual changes only |
Group bookings | ✅ Native support | ❌ Not supported |
Memberships linked to accounts | ✅ Yes | ❌ Basic customer list |
Automated comms (30+ triggers) | ✅ Drag-and-drop email builder | ❌ No automation |
Staff qualifications & timesheets | ✅ Integrated | ⚠️ External integration only |
Dynamic pricing & ticketing | ✅ Advanced rules | ⚠️ Adult/child only |
OTA integrations (TripAdvisor, GYG, Google) | ✅ Yes | ❌ Marketplace only |
Payout speed | ✅ Next day | ⚠️ 7-day hold |
Support response time | ✅ <2 min (Intercom) | ⚠️ Often days |
Reporting & dashboards | ✅ Profit, course, instructor, location views | ⚠️ CSV exports |
POS support | ✅ Built-in | ❌ None |
Who they’re built for
Eola sits awkwardly in the middle, it’s not as simple as basic tools like BookWhen, but it also doesn’t go far enough to truly manage your operations.
That means you get the complexity of a bigger system without the control or flexibility you actually need.
It’s fine if you just want to take quick online payments, but as soon as you need to manage staff, resources, or multiple locations, it quickly becomes hard work for little reward.
Sailia, on the other hand, was built by instructors, for instructors.
It’s made for multi-activity centres, watersports schools, and adventure operators that need everything connected. Bookings, staff, kit, schedules, and marketing all in one place.
That’s why centres like Rye Watersports saw a 33% revenue increase after switching to Sailia.
Pricing that scales fairly
Sailia keeps things simple:
Transparent percentage tiers that scale with your revenue
Next-day payouts
No contracts or hidden setup fees
Eola’s model varies by customer, with changing commissions, setup costs, and a week-long payout delay - leaving many centres unsure what they’ll actually earn.
The bottom line
If you only need a lightweight booking link, Eola does the job.
If you want a platform that runs your business, not just takes payments, Sailia was built for you.
Eola helps you take bookings.
Sailia helps you run your business.
Table of Contents
Simplify your operation
Join more than 150 locations worldwide.

Simplify your operation
Join more than 150 locations.

