Samba has a single plan, Free, at $0 a month. Every feature is included, with no limit on team members or experiences. Instead of a plan fee, Samba charges a 2% commission on your booking volume — and your first $10,000 in lifetime bookings is always commission-free. There is nothing to upgrade, downgrade or cancel: the subscription runs for as long as your workspace does.
You find all of this under Settings → Plan & subscription. The Owner can see the page and manage billing; Admins can see it; other roles cannot.
Two separate money flows
Travelers pay you | You pay Samba | |
Goes through | Your own Stripe account | The card you keep on file with Samba |
What it is | The price of your trips | The 2% commission, invoiced to your card |
Set up in | Settings → Plan & subscription |
Stripe's processing fees on traveler payments are separate from Samba's commission and always stay with you.
Your first $10,000 is free
Samba charges nothing on the first $10,000 of bookings your workspace ever collects. Commission starts on the volume above that.
The allowance is counted over the lifetime of your workspace, in US dollars. Sales in other currencies are converted at the day's exchange rate.
Direct bookings and GetYourGuide bookings share the same $10,000.
If one payment takes you across the line, only the part above $10,000 is charged.
Settings → Plan & subscription shows how much of your allowance you have used, until you pass it.
For example, with $9,600 collected so far, a $1,000 payment uses your last $400 of allowance, and Samba charges 2% on the other $600 — $12.
What commission applies to
Commission is counted payment by payment, as money is collected by card through Samba.
Payments you record as offline (cash, bank transfer, your own card terminal) never count.
Bookings from GetYourGuide are charged the same 2%. They appear as a separate channel commission line on the page and on your invoice. See Sell on GetYourGuide.
When you refund a traveler, Samba credits back the commission it had charged on the refunded amount. The credit is converted at the day's exchange rate, so it can differ from the original by a few cents.
Samba bills in US dollars, whatever currency you sell in. Operators in France are charged French VAT on Samba's invoice; others are not.
Passing the commission on to travelers
You can add Samba's commission to the traveler's price as a Service fee line at checkout, so you receive your full listed price. See Fees and passing them on.
Your card, billing details and invoices
The Plan & subscription page shows the commission accrued in the current billing period, your payment method, your billing email and address, and your past invoices. Each invoice opens in a new tab.
To change the card or the billing details, the Owner selects Manage payment methods or Update billing details. Both open Stripe's secure billing portal.
Owners and Admins receive an email each time Samba charges an invoice, and if a charge fails. These two emails cannot be switched off.
What happens if Samba cannot charge my card?
What happens if Samba cannot charge my card?
The page shows a banner asking for a new payment method. Your workspace, your team and your bookings keep working normally; nothing is locked.
I skipped adding a card during setup. Can I still open the billing portal?
I skipped adding a card during setup. Can I still open the billing portal?
Yes. The portal opens and lets you add your card and billing details there. Note that a workspace must be activated with a card on file before it can publish trips and take bookings. See Set up your workspace.
Can I remove "Powered by Samba"?
Can I remove "Powered by Samba"?
Not on the current plan.