In short: who each system is built for
Cloudbeds describes itself as a unified platform for hotels, hostels, B&Bs, holiday rentals and groups with several properties. According to its terms of use, the company is based in San Diego, California. The offer is split into four plans: Flex, One, Experience and Enterprise. On top of these come add-ons for revenue management, guest CRM, digital marketing, websites and reputation management.
STRYK is a cloud PMS from Salzburg for hotels, guesthouses and aparthotels with 5 to 80 rooms. There is one package with a price per room; the booking engine, gift voucher sales and the POS interface are included, as are online check-in and the self check-in kiosk as separate modules. Connect Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb and other channels to STRYK. Manage rates and availability centrally and handle OTA reservations in the calendar. Add-ons exist only for AI features.
| Criterion |  STRYK | Cloudbeds |
|---|---|---|
| Target group | Hotels, guesthouses and aparthotels with 5 to 80 rooms in the DACH region | Independent hotels, hostels, B&Bs, holiday rentals and groups of any size, worldwide |
| Pricing model | €59 plus €6 per room per month, net, billed annually; 20% more if billed monthly | Four plans, prices on request |
| Channel manager | Yes, in the core price | From the “One” plan; according to the vendor more than 450 portals |
| Booking engine | In the core price, with online payment | From the “One” plan, commission-free according to the vendor |
| Online check-in | Separate module in the core price: registration details, ID, signature, review by reception | With “Guest Experience” (from the “Experience” plan): ID scan, signature, card capture |
| Kiosk / self check-in | Separate module in the core price, in the browser; no payment terminal and no key cards | Kiosk mode in the mobile app on tablets, part of “Guest Experience”, with card capture |
| Invoicing, tourist tax, guest registration | Unchangeable invoices numbered without gaps, e-invoicing, tourist tax, Austrian guest registration with deadline monitoring and export | Registration report (“Police Report”) as an export; tourist tax for AT/DE not mentioned on the website |
| Payments | Online: deposit, balance at the cancellation deadline, refund on free cancellation | Own payment processing in all plans, available in Austria and Germany |
| Languages | Interface, booking engine, guest pages and documents in 18 languages | PMS in nine languages (two of them in beta), including German; booking engine with its own language list |
| Trial and set-up | 14 days free, no set-up fee, unlimited users | Trial not mentioned on the website, demo on request; set-up fee not mentioned |
What the two systems cost
A direct price comparison is not possible here, because Cloudbeds does not publish any amounts on its pricing page. All four plans are offered on request. We do not estimate prices. In the quote, ask for the monthly amount for your number of rooms, the contract term, set-up costs and which plan includes the channel manager, booking engine and online check-in. According to Cloudbeds, no Cloudbeds commission applies to direct bookings or bookings via the channel manager.
With STRYK, the price follows from the number of rooms: a €59 base price plus €6 per room per month, net, billed annually. Billed monthly, both amounts are 20% higher. In the first contract year there is a 20% discount on the base price. Direct bookings that guests pay online through STRYK carry a platform fee of 1.9%, in addition to the payment provider’s fees. If the guest pays at the hotel, it does not apply.
| Rooms | STRYK, billed annually | STRYK, billed monthly | Cloudbeds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | €119 | €142.80 | On request |
| 25 | €209 | €250.80 | On request |
| 50 | €359 | €430.80 | On request |
Where Cloudbeds is strong
Cloudbeds is designed for international distribution. According to the vendor, the channel manager connects to more than 450 portals, including Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb and Vrbo, and syncs prices and availability in real time. For properties with many regional or niche portals, this choice is a real advantage.
The platform is open: Cloudbeds runs a public developer portal and, according to the pricing page, a marketplace with more than 400 integrations, for example for POS systems or check-in solutions. If you want to keep existing systems, you will often find a ready-made connection there.
The “Experience” plan adds digital check-in with ID scan, signature and card capture, plus a kiosk mode on tablets that also covers check-out and payment. According to the pricing page, a mobile app is included in all plans, as are group management, multi-property management and round-the-clock support. With “Signals”, Cloudbeds has its own AI model for revenue, reporting and guest communication.
Where STRYK is strong
STRYK is aimed at properties that want to know what the software costs before the first conversation. The price is public and calculated per room; the booking engine, online check-in and kiosk are not tied to a higher package; online check-in and kiosk are separate modules in the core price. Users are unlimited, and there is no set-up fee.
For Austria and Germany, STRYK covers the everyday obligations: guest registration with 24-hour deadline monitoring and export, tourist tax in the price and the tourist tax return, invoices that cannot be changed and are numbered without gaps, e-invoicing, bank import from CAMT or CSV, and a tax advisor package with DATEV, BMD, CSV and Excel.
The interface, booking engine, guest pages, invoices and the housekeeping plan are available in 18 languages, including Hungarian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Romanian and Ukrainian. That helps teams where not everyone speaks German as a first language. Online payments run through the built-in payment service, and the balance can be collected at the cancellation deadline if you wish.
Hotel software should feel good to use. STRYK pairs a modern, clear interface with everyday reception tasks: editing calendar bookings, checking room status and opening guest details directly. Consistent controls across pricing, housekeeping and billing make moving between departments feel familiar.
How switching from Cloudbeds to STRYK works
A switch works best with a fixed cut-over date in a quieter week. Cloudbeds offers report exports in XLSX, CSV and PDF, among other formats. From these exports, STRYK takes over rooms, guests and future bookings. Each import file is assigned to a data area, columns are mapped to STRYK fields, and before the real import a test run with an error report is carried out.
Five steps to switching
- 01Create a trial account
During the 14 trial days, set up rooms, categories, rates and cancellation terms in STRYK and run through your typical processes.
- 02Export data
Export guests and all bookings arriving from the cut-over date onwards from Cloudbeds. Check that open balances and deposits are fully included.
- 03Check the import
After accepting the terms and the data processing agreement, start with the test run in STRYK, read the error report and correct mappings. A run can be rolled back in a controlled way.
- 04Switch portals
Map rooms and rates to the portals confirmed for your property in the STRYK channel manager. On the cut-over date, disconnect in Cloudbeds so that only one system sends availability.
- 05Check in parallel
In the first few days, compare occupancy, prices and bookings on the portals with STRYK before you cancel the old contract.
The questions that decide
Both systems can run a hotel well. Which choice is better depends less on individual features than on how your property sells, bills and works. These questions help you decide.
Checklist for your decision
- Do you sell through many regional or niche portals beyond Booking.com, Expedia and Airbnb?
- Do you need a kiosk that captures cards, or key cards from the system?
- Is a public price you can plan per room more important to you than an individual quote?
- Should online check-in and the kiosk be included without a higher package?
- Does your team work in languages such as Hungarian, Croatian or Czech?
- How important are guest registration, tourist tax and hand-over to your tax advisor in line with Austrian or German rules?
- Do you want to connect many third-party systems via a marketplace, or keep as much as possible in one system?
