Ask the awkward ones. We'll answer straight.
Free software with a 3% booking fee raises questions, and it should. Here is how the money works, how switching works, and what VrixPlay does not do.
- Free software3% per booking
- Free websitewith sign up
- We do the setupmigration included
- 100% US basedDestin, FL
Pricing and fees
Where the 3% goes, what it doesn't cover, and what you're committing to.
What exactly does the 3% apply to?
Three percent of a completed booking's total. If a trip books for $2,500, the fee is $75. There is no monthly fee, no per-boat fee, no per-user fee, and no setup cost. If you don't book anything in a slow month, you don't pay anything.
Can I pass the 3% on to my customers?
Yes. Plenty of operators build it into their trip price the same way they already build in fuel and card fees. Others absorb it. Either way, it's your pricing to set.
Is the 3% on top of card processing?
Yes, they are two different things. Stripe's standard processing fee goes to Stripe for moving the money. Our 3% is for the software and the support behind it. See the pricing page for the full breakdown.
Is there a contract or minimum term?
No contract, no term, no cancellation fee. If VrixPlay stops earning its keep, you stop using it and the cost goes to zero.
Do I pay on a booking that gets cancelled or refunded?
The fee follows completed bookings. If you refund a customer, you're not paying us 3% to hand money back.
Getting paid
Your money, your account, your rules on deposits.
Whose merchant account does the money land in?
Yours. Payments run through a Stripe account in your business name, so customer payments go straight to your bank on Stripe's normal payout schedule. We never hold your funds.
Can I take a deposit instead of full payment?
Yes. Take a deposit online to hold the date and settle the balance before or at the dock, or require payment in full up front. Payment status is visible on every booking so nobody guesses at the slip.
How do refunds work when weather kills a trip?
Cancel the trip from your dashboard, then refund the deposit or move the party to a new date, whichever your policy says. The boat frees up on the calendar immediately and the party gets notified.
Can I still take cash or a card at the dock?
Yes. Record cash, check, or an in-person card payment against the booking so the trip closes out clean and your reporting stays accurate.
Switching and setup
The part most operators dread. It's the part we do for you.
I'm already on another booking system. How painful is switching?
Not painful for you, because you're not the one doing it. We import your customers and past bookings, rebuild your trip types, durations, and rates, move your deposit setup over, test the whole thing, and train you by phone. You send us your information, install the app, and get back on the water.
What do you actually need from me?
About twenty minutes of information: your boats, your trip types and prices, your schedule, your deposit policy, and an export from your current system if you have one. We take it from there.
Can I switch in the middle of my season?
Yes, and most operators do, because that's when the pain is loudest. Your existing bookings come across so the calendar you leave the dock with is the real one. We schedule the cutover around your trips, not ours.
What happens to my current website?
You keep it. VrixPlay bolts onto whatever you already have with a booking page or embedded booking flow. If your site is dated or you don't have one, ask about the free website that comes with getting started.
Do I need any hardware or a tablet?
No. The phone in your pocket is the whole setup. VrixPlay installs to your home screen and handles check-in by scanning QR codes with the camera you already own.
Am I technical enough for this?
If you can text and take a photo, you're technical enough. Captains want to fish, not administer software, so the daily job is glancing at today's trips and tapping people in as they board.
Running the business
What the day actually looks like once you're live.
Does it work when I lose signal offshore?
Check in your party at the slip while you still have bars and your manifest and headcount are already done. The app is built mobile-first and keeps working with a weak connection, then syncs when you're back in range.
Can my crew have their own access?
Yes. Assign captains and mates to specific trips and give team members role-based logins, so a mate can see the day's schedule without seeing your revenue.
Are waivers and manifests really included?
Yes, at no extra cost. Guests sign digitally as they book and their details build the passenger log, so a manifest is ready before lines come off instead of on a wet clipboard.
I run several boats and more than one location. Does that cost extra?
No. Every hull, trip type, schedule, and location lives under one login, and the fee is still 3% of bookings.
Do I have to accept every online booking?
No. Bookings can arrive as requests you approve or decline, so you keep control of your schedule, your crew, and your fuel plan.
Will I know what the season actually did?
Yes. Trips, revenue, and customer reporting are built in, so February doesn't start with a shoebox of receipts.
Website and marketing
What we do, and just as importantly, what we don't.
Do you market my charter for me?
No, and we won't pretend otherwise. VrixPlay is software. We run your bookings and give you the tools to convert the traffic and repeat customers you already have. We don't run your ads, post to your social accounts, or send you customers, and we are not a listing marketplace taking a cut of leads. If you want marketing help, that's a separate conversation with our parent company, Captevrix, and it is not part of the 3%.
Do I get a CRM with VrixPlay?
You get the messaging that matters: booking confirmations, reminders, review requests, and crew tip requests all send automatically by email and text, included in the 3%. If you want the full marketing CRM on top of that, we offer VrixHub, with pipelines, campaigns, automations, two-way texting, and reputation management, for an additional fee. VrixPlay itself is booking and operations software.
Then how does VrixPlay help me book more trips?
By closing the leaks. Online booking that works at 9pm, deposits captured instead of chased, automatic review requests after every trip, tip requests for the crew, and a customer list that's actually yours to market to next season.
What's the free website offer?
New operators can get a booking-ready website built for them as part of getting started, on your own domain and under your own brand. Claim it on the free website page.
Do I own my customer data and reviews?
Yes. Your customers, their history, and the reviews you earn belong to your business. That's the whole point of running on your own brand instead of renting someone else's.
What about bookings that come from FishingBooker or other sites?
They show up alongside your direct bookings so one calendar tells the whole truth and you don't double book the boat.
Support and who we are
A newer company, a US-based team, and a phone that gets answered.
Who do I call when something's wrong?
Us, at (850) 985-2631. VrixPlay is built and supported from just outside Destin, Florida by a 100% US-based team. No overseas call centers, no ticket that disappears.
How new is VrixPlay, honestly?
New. We're early, we're launching with Gulf Coast operators, and we'd rather tell you that than fake a decade of history. The software is built on twenty years of digital work at Captevrix, and the marine side is running live charter operations today.
Why would I pick a newer platform over a big incumbent?
Because you get heard. When an operator asks for something, it reaches the people who write the code, not a feature-request void. Several things in the product exist because a captain in Destin said they needed them.
What if I need something the software doesn't do yet?
Tell us. We have a US-based development team and a short list of operators, which is exactly the window where your workflow can shape the roadmap.
Want it in your own numbers? Run the math.
See what you're paying today in commissions and monthly software versus a flat 3%, or read the pricing page for the full fee breakdown. If your question is specific to your operation, call us and get a human who knows the software.
Questions about your kind of operation.
Each marine page answers the questions specific to that business, from Coast Guard manifests to turnover buffers between rentals.
Scale your passion, not your overhead.
Join the captains, rental fleets, and cruise operators who ditched the monthly subscription and grew their bookings with VrixPlay.