1. The short answer
Retreat Guru fits a retreat center with its own rooms, staff and a steady calendar of programs: it handles registration, room inventory, instalments, meals and housekeeping, and charges a share of bookings with a monthly minimum. Amoenia fits an independent organizer who rents a venue a few times a year and needs to know, before signing, how many guests make the retreat pay.
2. Side by side
| Amoenia | Retreat Guru | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Independent retreat organizers | Retreat centers |
| Registration and online payment | No | Yes, with conditional forms and multi-person bookings |
| Deposits and instalments | Tracks deposit owed and balance per guest | Deposits by % or fixed amount, automatic instalments |
| Rooms, meals, housekeeping | No | Yes |
| Budget and break-even before you commit | Yes: fixed and per-guest costs, live break-even, two-thirds stress test | Not described on its site |
| Accounting | No | Accounting report and GL codes |
| Languages | English, French, Spanish, German | Not stated |
| Free option | Free for one retreat | No free plan; demo on request |
| Price | 19 € a month or 119 € a year, excl. VAT | From 1% of bookings, $220 monthly minimum |
3. What Retreat Guru does well
- Operations of a whole center: room inventory, venue rentals for outside groups, and meal and housekeeping reports.
- Getting paid: deposits, automatic monthly or quarterly instalments, guest statements, and leads from registrations left unfinished.
- Guest communication: emails before arrival and after departure.
- Reach: a connection to online travel agencies, and a separate Retreat Guru marketplace (which charges its own commission).
4. What Amoenia does well
- The decision before the contract. Enter the venue, the teacher, your own fee and the per-guest costs, and see how many guests you need and what to charge.
- Money while you sell. Record each guest with their price and payments; the break-even, the deposits missing and the profit now update straight away.
- Every retreat at a glance. The dashboard adds up what is collected and outstanding, how full upcoming retreats are, and what needs attention.
- A fixed, small price. No share of your bookings, and a free plan for your first retreat.
5. How each one charges
Retreat Guru's pricing page, on 21 October 2026, listed three plans priced as a share of bookings with a monthly minimum. The rates below already include the discount Retreat Guru gives for using its own payment processing, which starts at 3.1%.
| Retreat Guru plan | Share of bookings | Monthly minimum | For yearly bookings of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 1% | $220 | up to $550,000 |
| Premium | 0.9% | $440 | up to $1.2M |
| Enterprise | 0.8% | $880 | over $1.2M |
The same page's FAQ says the software starts at $110 a month, which does not match the table, so ask Retreat Guru for a quote. Amoenia charges a flat 19 € a month or 119 € a year, excluding VAT, whatever you sell; it does not process payments, so card fees are those of the method you already use.
6. Which one to choose
A simple test
Do you own or run the venue? Look at Retreat Guru and the other center systems.
Do you rent a venue for each retreat? Start with the numbers in Amoenia, and take bookings with whatever your guests find easiest.
For a wider view, including booking tools made for independent hosts, see retreat planning software compared.
7. Common questions
Is Retreat Guru good for independent retreat organizers?
Retreat Guru's software is built around retreat centers: room inventory, venue rentals, meal and housekeeping reports, and a fee on bookings with a monthly minimum. An independent organizer running a few retreats a year in rented venues usually needs less than that.
How much does Retreat Guru cost?
On 21 October 2026 its pricing page listed plans from 1% of bookings with a $220 monthly minimum, down to 0.8% for larger centers, with payment processing from 3.1%. The same page's FAQ mentions software from $110 a month, so ask them for a quote.
Does Amoenia replace a booking system?
No. Amoenia does not publish a booking page or collect payments from guests. It plans the money of each retreat (budget, break-even, deposits and payments you record) and works alongside whatever you use to take bookings.
Sources: software.retreat.guru, Retreat Guru pricing, Retreat Guru features, checked 21 October 2026. Features and prices change: check their site before you decide. Spotted something out of date? Write to info@amoenia.com.
Check a retreat before you book the venue
Amoenia keeps your budget, your break-even and your guests in one place, and updates them as bookings and payments arrive. Your first retreat is free.
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