Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp - Genuis Alternative Places to Camp You Need to Know About

✔ Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp have major differences! This is What You Need to Know

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Harvest Hosts Discount Code

I am a Harvest Hosts affiliate so you can save 15% by using my affiliate discount code when you join. So that is $67.15 for one year of unlimited access to all locations except the golf courses and county clubs or $101.15 for a year of unlimited access to all Harvest Hosts locations including golf courses and country clubs.

➡️ GET HARVEST HOSTS!
Get Your 15% Off Harvest Hosts Membership here (affiliate link): http://harvesthosts.refr.cc/weekendwarriors

Hipcamp Discount Code

Because I am also a Hipcamp affiliate you will automatically get $10 of Hipcash to spend on a future trip when they create a new account using my affiliate link.

➡️ GET HIPCAMP!
Get $10 of Hipcash to spend on a future trip here: (affiliate link):
hipcamp.com/i/randit

Become a Hipcamp host and get $100 cash (affiliate link): hipcamp.com/r/randit

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Harvest Hosts Verses Hipcamp Comparison Table

	Harvest Hosts	Hipcamp
Allowed Camping	RVs only: (must be self-contained)	All types of camping: (based on location)
Property Types	Business property	Private property
Cost	Annual membership $79	Pay per night $10 – $75+
Length of Stay	24 hours	Varies
Amenities / Hookups	Not likely	Varies
Reservations	Call business	Online
Trip Planning	2 weeks in advance	Months in advance
Pet Friendliness	Yes, check the location page	Yes, check the location page
Reviews	Yes	Yes
Apps	Yes	Yes
Benefits	Many	Many

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Allowed Camping

One of the big differences between Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp is the type of allowed camping.

Harvest Hosts:

Harvest Hosts only allow RVs. So, if you are a tent camper, Harvest Host is not for you. All RV classes are allowed, everything from motorhomes to small travel trailers. And approximately 80% of the Hosts can accept vehicles of any length so this is great for RVers of all sizes.

Harvest Hosts does have 2 stipulations for RVs. 1.) They must be fully self-contained, meaning your RV must have an interior toilet, and built-in holding tanks for wastewater, 2.) and you must have interior cooking facilities.

Tents, campers with tent pop-outs, mini-vans, sleeping in cars or trucks are prohibited.

Hipcamp:

Hipcamp offers everything from RV camping, to tent camping, car camping, to hammock camping, or just sleeping under the stars. Oh, some Hipcamp locations offer a place to stay so you don’t need to be an RV or tent owner. And these places to stay vary greatly. Anything from a tipi with beautiful wide-open views to relaxing in a private Mongolian-style Yurt!

Both Harvest Host and Hipcamp have property pages for all their thousands of locations. If you have an RV, these pages will tell you how large of an RV that location can accommodate, and the Hipcamp property pages will tell you what type of camping is allowed at each location. For example… you can camp on a ranch with these meadow views in a tent, van and truck camper, trailer, or RV, and can accommodate a vehicle up to 45ft.

So, one of the big differences between Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp is the type of camping allowed, At Harvest Hosts only self-contained RV are allowed and Hipcamp offers virtually all types of camping depending on the Hipcamp location.

Another big difference is the type of location each offers.

I call Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp “non-campground camping”. Here is why.

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Property Types

Harvest Hosts:

Harvest Hosts is a place to find businesses that offer a spot to park your RV. These are businesses that have available land and list their business on Harvest Host. Joyce made this comment…

That’s right! The type of business that you can stay at vary greatly, everything from an alpaca farm to a museum. Harvest Host locations normally fall into these categories: wineries and breweries, farms and ranches, attractions and museums, golf courses and country clubs.

Some offer more or less a place to park your RV, while others offer an experience.

For example, you can learn about endangered species while staying at an Animal Sanctuary, tour a winery and enjoy wine tasting, or stay at the Stafford Air & Space Museum and view early aircraft & aerospace artifacts.

Hipcamp:

Hipcamp: Hipcamp is a place to find private landowners that offer places to camp on their land.

Like Harvest Hosts the variety of places to camp using Hipcamp is vast. Seriously! Hipcamp offers authentic western ranches, mountain view retreats with hot tubs and everything from primitive forest camping to oceanside camping on the longest beach in America.

If you are a business owner or landowner with space for RVers or a place for camping Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp are a good way to earn extra money. If this is of interest to anyone, using my Hipcamp or Harvest Hosts affiliate link can get you $100 cash when you join as a business or landowner.

Both Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp offer unique places to camp, but with Harvest Hosts, you will be staying at a business location and when using Hipcamp you will be staying on someone else’s property.

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Cost

The next big difference between Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp is cost. Here are the differences…

Harvest Hosts:

Harvest Host is known for being free because you do not pay the business to park your RV overnight at their location. But I call it “almost free camping”. Here is why.

Yes, it is true you can book a Harvest Host location with a business for free. However, to have access to these businesses and book a spot, you pay an annual Harvest Hosts membership fee. The current annual membership is $79. This membership includes unlimited overnight RV parking at any Harvest Hosts location except for their golf course and country club locations for one year.

For you golfers, Harvest Host offers a golf membership that includes all locations plus their golf courses and country clubs. This upgraded annual Harvest Hosts membership is currently $119. Pretty awesome if you are a golfer.

So, what is the incentive for a business to give you a free RV spot on their property? They hope you enjoy your stay and to show your appreciation, support their business by making purchases.

For example… if you stayed at the Fruitland Valley Vineyard & Winery, you might purchase a pizza or bottle of wine.

While not required, it is highly suggested and I recommend you show appreciation to any of the businesses you stay at with a purchase. A Harvest Hosts membership helps you support local businesses – I love this!

Hipcamp:

Like a campground with Hipcamp, you pay per night and the cost varies depending on location and amenities.

These are averages camping costs per night based upon Hipcamp’s website:

Tent Sites: $10-30 per night
RV sites: $20-40 per night
Structures: (cabins, glamping tents, yurts, treehouses, etc.) $75+ per night

With Harvest Hosts you pay an annual members fee for unlimited access to their business locations. You should also budget in spending money while staying there to support the business. With Hipcamp similar to a campground, you pay per stay and this cost varies depending on location. [side-by=side]

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Length of Stay

The next difference between Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp I want to talk about is the length of time you can stay.

Harvest Hosts:

You can only stay at a Harvest Hosts location for 24 hours. Harvest Hosts is known as a free overnight RV parking solution for trips. You know, when traveling to your destination is longer than you want your travel day to be and you need a place to spend the night? Harvest Hosts is great for this scenario. They also offer a free trip planning tool that makes it easy to find Harvest Hosts locations along your route.

But I think Harvest Hosts is also great for overnight RV camping adventures. Spending a night at a winery or museum would certainly be a way to mix things up. Or better yet, find two Harvest Hosts locations in close proximity to each other and spend a night at each for truly a one-of-a-kind weekend warrior excursion.

Hipcamp:

While I could not find a Hipcamp maximum length of stay, I did find a couple of HipCamp locations that had a minimum stay requirement of two days, although I think this is rare. On the Hipcamp website or using their app enter your desired location and dates to find available locations that can accommodate your timeframe.

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Amenities / Hookups / WIFI

Another difference between Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp is amenities and hookups.

Harvest Hosts:

Mostly none.

The Hosts are, first and foremost, wineries/farms/museums and do not provide the services that you would find at a campground. However, a small number of the Hosts do offer electricity or water. This will be listed on the Host information page and there might be a charge. All available amenities will be listed on the host location page.

Hipcamp:

Hipcamp amenities and available hookups will vary between locations. Each location page will have a complete list of amenities for that location.

If WIFI is important, you might be in luck! Because most businesses have WIFI, the chances are good, WIFI will be available for you to use. And the same for Hipcamp. Because they are landowners, they too might have WIFI. To find out if either a Harvest Host or Hipcamp location has WFI just look in the amenity section on each location.

While it is unlikely to find hookups and amenities at Harvest Hosts you may find these services available at Hipcamp locations.

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Making a Reservation

Even making a reservation is different between Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp.

Harvest Hosts:

To make a Harvest Hosts reservation you must call the business owner to find out if they have a spot available. You must also arrive during business hours which are posted on each Harvest Host location page unless the Host says otherwise.

Hipcamp:

Some Hipcamp hosts offer instant booking which means you can book online without the owner’s prior approval. If the host accepts instant bookings, you will see an Instant Book on the host page where you can instantly make your reservations.

If it is not an Instant Book host then you will see Request to Book on the host page. Here you will enter your information and the owner will respond to your request.

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Trip Planning

Planning ahead is also different between Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp.

Harvest Hosts:

Harvest Hosts recommends calling the host and asking if you can set a date to visit no more than 2 weeks in advance. As the Hosts are not campgrounds, they do not have reservation systems and are unable to “reserve” dates months in advance. Once you have arranged a visit, please call to confirm the day you will arrive.

Hipcamp:

A Hipcamp reservation can be made months in advance and probably the earlier the better especially for popular camping spots.

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Camping with Pets

Finally, one similarity between Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp.

Both Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp offer pet-friendly camping spots. But of course, each location is different. It is easy to know if a camping spot is pet friendly by checking the location page.

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Reviews

Another similarity is the reviews.

Reviews can provide valuable information and help you determine if a location is right for you. Each Harvest Hosts location page has reviews written by people who have stayed at that location.

Hipcamp users also leave reviews. Reviews have changed the way we shop and can influence our buying decisions. This also holds true for finding a place to camp.

Harvest Hosts VS Hipcamp Apps

And one more similarity worth mentioning. Both Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp offer IOS and Android apps.

You can search for camping spots on your desktop via the Harvest Hosts or Hipcamp websites or use their apps. And both apps make searching for and finding “non-campground camping” easy.

Harvest Hosts:

The Harvest Hosts app allows you to search for locations and get host contact information. The app also includes a trip planning tool to find host locations along your route.

Hipcamp:

The Hipcamp app is also very easy to use to help you locate Hipcamp places to camp and make online reservations.