The criteria we compared
A comparison is only as good as its yardsticks. We deliberately chose only features that can be verified on the vendors’ websites and that are decisive in daily operations for a hotel with 5 to 80 rooms in Austria or Germany. We did not rate features for chains, conference hotels or properties with several hundred rooms.
| Criterion | Why it matters for small and mid-sized hotels |
|---|---|
| Price published and predictable per room | You know what your property will pay each month before the first sales call. |
| Channel manager included in the price | No second program, no second contract, one room inventory. |
| Booking engine included in the price | Commission-free direct bookings without an add-on product. |
| Free trial | You test the software at no cost with your own processes before you sign. |
| Cloud-based, runs in the browser | No server on site, no on-site updates, access from any authorised device. |
| Vendor based in the DACH region | German-speaking contacts who know guest registration (Meldewesen), tourist tax (Ortstaxe) and local invoicing rules. |
| Vendor | Price published | Channel manager in price | Booking engine in price | Free trial | Cloud | Based in DACH | Criteria met |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 STRYK | Yes | Yes, in the core price | Yes, in the core price | Yes, 14 days | Yes | Yes (Salzburg) | |
| Apaleo | Yes | Via partners | Via partners | Yes, length not stated | Yes | Yes (Munich) | |
| CASABLANCA | On request | Yes | Yes | Not stated, demo | No, Windows installation | Yes (Tyrol) | |
| Cloudbeds | On request | Yes, from plan “One” | Yes, from plan “One” | Not stated, demo | Yes | No (USA) | |
| Gastrodat | On request | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Yes, cloud solution | Yes (Salzburg) | |
| HotelFriend | Yes, “from” price | Yes | Yes | Yes, 7 or 14 days | Yes, also on-premise | Yes (Berlin) | |
| Little Hotelier | Only by room count | Yes | Yes | Yes, 30 days | Yes | Not stated | |
| SIHOT | On request | Via partners | Yes | Not stated | Yes | Yes (Saarland) |
The vendors in detail
Vendors are listed with STRYK first. We deliberately do not rank them: which system fits depends on how you weight the criteria for your property. The table above shows how many criteria each vendor meets; that is no verdict on whether a system is good or bad.
Hotel PMS for small and mid-sized hotels in the DACH region
- For properties with 5 to 80 roomsSTRYK Hotel Management
Cloud PMS from Salzburg, built for small and mid-sized hotels, guesthouses and aparthotels.
- Best for
- Hotels and guesthouses with 5 to 80 rooms that want everything in one system at a clear price.
- Pricing
- €59 plus €6 per room per month, net, billed annually (25 rooms: €209)
Strengths
- Modern, clear interface: edit calendar bookings, check room status and open guest details directly
- Connect Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb and other channels to STRYK. Manage rates and availability centrally and handle OTA reservations in the calendar.
- Booking engine and gift voucher sales in the core price; online check-in and self check-in kiosk as separate modules included in the core price
- Published price: €59 plus €6 per room per month, excl. VAT, billed annually, no set-up fee, unlimited users
- Interface in 18 languages, help centre with detailed step-by-step guides
- E-invoicing (ZUGFeRD/Factur-X), bank import and hand-over to your tax adviser
Limits
- Cash register for the front desk as an add-on; restaurant tills post to the room via the POS interface
- Best for
- Hotel groups and serviced apartments with their own IT that assemble their stack from apps.
- Pricing
- €8 per room per month, from €400 per month according to the vendor
Facts from: apaleo.com/pricingStrengths
- Transparent per-room price with no set-up or licence fees
- Very open APIs, large app marketplace
- Own payment processing
Limits
- Channel manager and booking engine come via partners, at their prices
- Minimum of €400 per month
- Spa and seminar hotels
CASABLANCA hotelsoftware
Family-run vendor from Tyrol, on the market since 1990.
- Best for
- Spa, seminar and leisure hotels in Austria that value personal support.
- Pricing
- Individual quote
Facts from: casablanca.atStrengths
- Many interfaces, including to POS systems
- Support directly from the vendor
Limits
- No standard price; individual quote
- Installed on Windows, not supported on Apple devices
- Internationally oriented properties
Cloudbeds
US platform for independent hotels, hostels and holiday rentals.
- Best for
- Internationally oriented properties that want PMS, distribution and revenue from a single provider.
- Pricing
- On request, several plans
Facts from: cloudbeds.com/pricingStrengths
- Own channel manager and booking engine from plan “One”
- Payments in all plans
Limits
- Price on request only
- Not based in the DACH region
- POS not listed as an own product on the pricing page
- Modular solution from Salzburg
Gastrodat
Modular hotel software from Salzburg (Simplify Hospitality), also available as a cloud solution.
- Best for
- Austrian hotels looking for a modular solution from a regionally rooted vendor.
- Pricing
- On request
Facts from: simplify-hospitality.com/gastrodatStrengths
- Own channel manager and online booking
- Gift vouchers and online payment
- More than three decades of experience, according to the vendor
Limits
- Price on request only
- No trial mentioned on the website
- Hotel and F&B in one system
HotelFriend
All-in-one hotel software from Berlin with hosting in Germany.
- Best for
- Mid-sized hotels and groups in the DACH region that also want to run F&B in the same system.
- Pricing
- FLEX package from €156 per month according to the vendor
Facts from: hotelfriend.com/pricingStrengths
- Own channel manager, booking engine and POS module
- Cloud, on-premise or hybrid deployment
- Free trial depending on package
Limits
- Priced as a “from” price per package; total cost depends on the package
- B&Bs with up to 30 rooms
Little Hotelier
Software by SiteMinder for small properties with 1 to 30 rooms.
- Best for
- Very small properties and B&Bs that want to get started quickly.
- Pricing
- Depends on room count; no fixed amount published
Facts from: littlehotelier.com/pricingStrengths
- Channel manager, booking engine, calendar and app as core features according to the pricing page
- Long free trial of 30 days
- Web and app for iOS and Android
Limits
- According to the vendor, specialised in properties with 1 to 30 rooms
- No POS module mentioned on the website
- Resorts, chains and conferences
SIHOT
Comprehensive cloud PMS from Germany with data stored in Germany.
- Best for
- Resorts, chains and properties with conference business.
- Pricing
- On request
Facts from: sihot.comStrengths
- Very broad feature set including its own POS system
- Open interfaces
Limits
- Price on request only
- Often more extensive than small properties need
What a 25-room hotel pays
A direct price comparison is only possible where vendors publish their prices. The table shows the publicly verifiable amounts for a 25-room property. Extra costs for partner products, payments or set-up are not included unless the vendor states them.
| Vendor | Amount per month | Included in the amount |
|---|---|---|
| STRYK | €209 | PMS, booking engine, gift vouchers; online check-in and kiosk as separate modules in the core price; the channel manager is included in the STRYK core price |
| Apaleo | €400 (minimum; 25 × €8 = €200) | PMS and payment function; channel manager and booking engine via partners at extra cost |
| HotelFriend | from €156 (FLEX package) | Depends on package |
| Little Hotelier, Cloudbeds, Gastrodat, CASABLANCA, SIHOT | On request or by room count | Depends on quote |
When another system is a better fit
An honest comparison also says when STRYK is not the first choice. If you only let holiday apartments and have no front desk, specialist solutions such as Smoobu or Lodgify, with prices starting at a low double-digit amount per month, are worth considering. If you run a hotel group with several hundred rooms, your own IT and conference business, systems such as Oracle OPERA Cloud, protel or SIHOT offer a broader feature set.
And if your property runs a large restaurant with a cash register, check whether your existing POS can be connected via the interface. STRYK posts POS sales to the room but does not replace a restaurant till; for the front desk there is the ‘Cash register & fiscalisation’ add-on.
How to make your decision
Shortlist two or three systems and test each one with the same task: a real booking from enquiry to invoice, a room move, an OTA booking and an end-of-day close. Note down every point where you would need a side list. The system with the fewest notes wins.
