Harvest Hosts. Is It Really Worth It?
The traveling membership that connects you to a wide variety of unique camping options.
When Donetta suggested last year that we try Harvest Hosts and its range of services, I was skeptical about joining another “travel program” designed to make our lives easier.
Besides the fact that I hate paying for yearly memberships on platforms, I have rarely found most apps or programs to be actually beneficial for travelers, and with so many options available for a variety of needs, those small expenses can really add up. It doesn’t take long before you’re spending hundreds of dollars per year on memberships.
But because I love my wife so much AND she promised me we could stay overnight at breweries, I thought, why not give it a whirl?
Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
How the Harvest Hosts program works.
Harvest Hosts is an app and platform that connects you with endless options for unique camping experiences all across North America. You can choose to park your rig at breweries, wineries, museums, farms, amusement parks, and everyday businesses. They also offer an add-on called Boondockers Welcome, which opens up even more properties owned by fellow travelers and adventure enthusiasts.
The way it works is simple.
Open the app on your laptop or mobile device while traveling and search for accommodation options in the area where you plan to be. You will often see plenty of listings that include the following:
A short bio about the hosts
Host rating and reviews
Hours of availability and booking calendar
Suitability and amenities
Parking and arrival information
Photos
Additional night options
Financial expectations
Have a question? No problem. You can message the host through the app.
Once you find a property you like, you check the availability, click Request Stay, and the platform does the rest for you.
If you are approved for the stay, you’ll receive a text and email message, along with any additional instructions or information you might need. If you are not approved, you’ll receive a notification that it’s been denied. Please know that not every place will accept you or accommodate your vehicle or setup due to size limitations, availability, or the business being closed.
Additionally, some hosts require advance booking, while others allow same-day booking until 5 pm. The downside to same-day requests is that it can sometimes take hours for the host to respond - or they may not respond at all, leaving you wondering whether you even have a place to camp for the night. But most respond within the hour.
Harvest Hosts is a paid membership service that offers three membership levels to choose from. We have the All Access level and got it for $143.20 in 2025.
Harvest Hosts also expects you to purchase a minimum of $30 of services or products from the business in which you are staying. (This does not include the Boondockers Welcome segment - more on that below.)
So has it all been worth it?
Our experience and opinion.
We became HH members in October of 2025, and since then we’ve stayed at 28 different places for 35 nights along our routes. 11 of these have been breweries. 🍺
All of our stays have been good experiences, and our top places so far, based on the overall experience, would be:
Wire Road Brewing, Battlefield, Missouri
Beans and Barley Brews, Ashkum, Illinois
Honey Haven Farm, Ashland, Ohio
Air Zoo Museum, Kalamazoo, Michigan
River Getaway, Ceresco, Michigan - Boondockers Welcome
Riverbend Retreat, Grand Rapids, Michigan - Boondockers Welcome
Driftless Retreat, Ridgeway, Wisconsin - Boondockers Welcome
There have been a few places where we requested a stay but never received an answer from the hosts, or they took too long to respond, so we had to go with other options.
We have spent a total of $527.98 on food, drinks, electricity, and water with our hosts during this time, which averages $15 per night. Having spent zero dollars with eight Boondockers Welcome host stays has definitely kept that average low. We like that!
If we add it all together with the Harvest Hosts membership, that’s $671.18, or an average of $23.97 per night for our stays. Compare that to our average hotel rate of $80 or more per night, and this is an absolute win!
Now let me talk about Boondockers Welcome. This was a standalone company until Harvest Hosts acquired it in 2021, and it’s the part of the membership we are quickly starting to love.
Besides staying free, thanks to the hosts' generosity, some places have been beautiful and serene. Not only that, we have now made new friends with some wonderful hosts (see locations above). We had meaningful and memorable conversations with Carolyn, Doug and Melanie, Dave and Kathy, and Lauren and Farmer John. These moments are priceless to us.
All this being said.
YES!!! It has been worth it in our opinion.
Out of all the apps and programs we’ve signed up for, I think this one has been the best for us so far, and we will continue to use this membership as long as we travel.
If you think you’re interested, please do us a favor. Use our affiliate link if you purchase a Harvest Hosts membership. It gets you a discount and gives us an extra free month for each person who signs up, but regardless of any rewards, we definitely recommend it.
Thanks for reading!
