In brief
A pitch is graded by service, not by quality: a dry pitch has no services, an electric pitch adds electricity, and a full serviced pitch adds fresh water and waste discharge. Whether you need any of them depends entirely on how self-sufficient your rig is, and buying the most expensive pitch is the most common way to overspend on a trip.
The three service levels
An unserviced or dry pitch gives you a flat, level place to park, usually with drinking water nearby and a disposal point. An electric pitch gives a mains socket, typically 16 amps in Europe and a 30 or 50 amp RV socket in North America. A full serviced pitch adds a fresh water connection and a waste outlet, and some sites also publish a TV or a water-pressure rating. If your rig has a big battery and a solar array, a dry pitch at a third of the price is often the better buy.
Wild camping and free stops in Europe
Wild camping is tolerated in some regions, prohibited in others, and fined in several European countries including Spain, Portugal and parts of Switzerland. Lawful alternatives are usually an official aire, a municipal site, a farm or a campervan stop listed by crowd-sourced applications, or a club site. In the United States, dispersed camping on public land is free and unserviced but comes with a hard rule: pack out everything, carry water, and never camp where it is prohibited, which includes most national parks and many state parks.
Membership schemes and booking platforms
European membership schemes give discounts and reservations across a large network, and their star rating is the fastest way to filter candidates. In North America the private networks are the practical backbone, since the sites cluster near the interstates. In Australia and New Zealand the big park groups dominate booking. Whichever you use, read the site's height limit and its maximum-length rule rather than just its distance from the town you want to visit.
Arriving well on the night
Book the night before, especially in August, in the Alps, and on holiday weekends. Arrive during opening hours, not at midnight, if you want a welcome and a site brief. Level the rig before you start anything, chock the wheels on a towable, extend the stabilisers only as the manufacturer intends, and check the pitch's drain and power before you unpack.