In short: who each system is built for
HotelFriend describes itself as all-in-one hotel software for many types of business: independent hotels, groups and chains, serviced apartments, holiday parks, conference venues and more. The offer is split into three packages. According to the pricing page, “CORE” comprises ten ready-to-use products, “FLEX” a selection from more than 20 products, and “Signature” additionally custom development and a choice of cloud, on-premise or hybrid deployment. According to the vendor, hosting is in Germany.
STRYK brings reception, direct bookings, channel management, housekeeping and billing together in a cloud PMS from Salzburg. Its modern, clear interface is built around everyday hotel work. The booking engine, online check-in and kiosk are included in the core price, with published pricing per room.
| Criterion |  STRYK | HotelFriend |
|---|---|---|
| Target group | Hotels, guesthouses and aparthotels with 5 to 80 rooms | From small hotels to groups, chains, holiday parks and conference venues |
| Pricing model | €59 plus €6 per room per month, net, billed annually | Three packages; “FLEX” from €156 per month, “CORE” and “Signature” without a public price |
| Channel manager | Yes, in the core price | Own channel manager, including Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia; selectable as a module in the “FLEX” package |
| Booking engine | In the core price, own subdomain or own domain | Yes, selectable in the “FLEX” package |
| Online check-in | Separate module in the core price, with registration details, ID and signature | Online registration by smartphone before arrival via the guest app |
| Kiosk | Self check-in kiosk as a separate module in the core price; shows the room number or a stored key safe code | Self-service kiosk that issues and encodes room cards |
| Till | No POS system of its own; the POS interface posts sales to the room | Own POS module |
| Invoicing and guest registration | E-invoicing, tourist tax return, Austrian guest registration with deadline monitoring and export, tax advisor export (DATEV, BMD) | E-invoicing, DATEV connection, city tax report, registration form (Meldeschein) export for Germany |
| Payments | Online payment | Own payment processing “HotelFriend Payments” with cards, virtual cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay |
| Deployment | Cloud, in the browser | Cloud; in the “Signature” package also on-premise or hybrid |
| Trial | 14 days free | 7 days (“FLEX”) or 14 days (“Signature”) |
| Set-up | No set-up fee, unlimited users | Cost of data migration not publicly stated; unlimited users from “FLEX” |
What the two systems cost
STRYK publishes a price that can be calculated for any number of rooms: a €59 base price plus €6 per room per month, net, billed annually. Billed monthly, the price is 20% higher. There is no set-up fee, and the number of users is unlimited. Direct bookings paid online carry a platform fee of 1.9%; bookings made at reception or through portals are not affected.
On its pricing page, HotelFriend gives an entry price for the “FLEX” package from €156 per month. What the final price depends on is not stated there; the page for small hotels says the fee depends on the number of rooms and the chosen package. No price is published for “CORE” and “Signature”. We therefore do not extrapolate any amounts for HotelFriend and show only the public “from” price.
| Rooms | STRYK, billed annually | STRYK, billed monthly | HotelFriend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 rooms | €119 | €142.80 | “FLEX” from €156, final price not public |
| 25 rooms | €209 | €250.80 | “FLEX” from €156, final price not public |
| 50 rooms | €359 | €430.80 | “FLEX” from €156, final price not public |
Where HotelFriend is strong
HotelFriend covers more types of business and more functions beyond classic hotel operations. If you run a restaurant, bar or spa alongside the rooms, you get a POS module in the same system. On top of that come event management and features for holiday parks and conference venues.
On the guest side, HotelFriend goes further than STRYK: a guest app handles registration before arrival and communication, and an AI assistant suggests personalised replies. The kiosk encodes and issues room cards, and according to the vendor, digital room keys can be issued through connected door lock providers.
The “Signature” package offers on-premise or hybrid deployment as well as cloud, plus custom development. According to the vendor, the channel manager connects Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia, among others, and payment processing accepts credit cards, virtual cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
HotelFriend is a good choice if you …
- want to run hotel and F&B with their own POS module in one system
- want to issue room cards at the kiosk or offer digital keys
- are looking for a guest app for registration and communication
- need on-premise or hybrid deployment for organisational reasons
- run several properties or special types of business such as holiday parks
Where STRYK is strong
STRYK’s greatest strength is predictability. You know what your property costs before the first conversation, and that price already includes the booking engine, gift voucher sales and the POS interface, plus online check-in and the self check-in kiosk as separate modules. There are no packages to choose between, no set-up fee and no limit on users.
Reception, your own booking engine and connected OTAs use the same room inventory and the same prices. Connect Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb and other channels to STRYK. Manage rates and availability centrally and handle OTA reservations in the calendar. Overbooking protection checks again before every confirmation. Online payments run through the built-in payment service; the balance is collected automatically at the cancellation deadline, and if a cancellation is free of charge, the online payment is refunded automatically.
For Austria and Germany, STRYK covers the everyday obligations: guest registration with monitoring of the 24-hour deadline and export, tourist tax return, invoices that cannot be changed and are numbered without gaps, e-invoicing, bank import and a tax advisor package with DATEV and BMD export. The interface, booking engine, guest pages and documents are available in 18 languages.
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.
STRYK is a good choice if you …
- run a property with 5 to 80 rooms and want a fixed price per room
- want to use the booking engine, online check-in and kiosk without extra packages
- want to keep your existing restaurant or bar till and post sales to the room
- want to handle guest registration, tourist tax and tax advisor export in Austria or Germany in the same system
- have a team that works in several languages
How switching from HotelFriend to STRYK works
A PMS switch can be planned once the scope and cut-over date are clear. STRYK takes over rooms, guests and future bookings from your current system through the data import: columns are mapped to STRYK fields, a test run shows in advance what would be created, updated, skipped or blocked, and nothing is imported until you approve it. STRYK charges no set-up fee.
Important: issued invoices remain in the old system and must be archived there, as the retention requirements demand. Check with HotelFriend in advance in which format you can export your data and how long you will still have access after the contract ends.
The switch in five steps
- 01Define scope and cut-over date
Choose a quiet day, ideally in the low season. Decide which data will be taken over: rooms and categories, guests, future bookings.
- 02Export data from HotelFriend
Export guests and bookings as a file. Archive invoices and reports for your records.
- 03Test run in STRYK
After accepting the terms and the data processing agreement, we map the columns together and start a test run. The check report shows conflicts before anything is written.
- 04Check in parallel
During the trial, run through your processes with sample data: arrival, room move, invoice and end-of-day closing. You set up prices and rates afresh in STRYK.
- 05Switch portals and go live
On the cut-over date, the import is approved, the portal connections confirmed for your property are switched to STRYK and open bookings are reconciled. From then on, the team works only in STRYK.
The questions that decide
What matters is which system maps your daily routine with fewer side lists. Test both with the same tasks and answer these questions.
Checklist for your decision
- Do you need a cash register of its own in the PMS, or do you already have a till that can be connected via an interface?
- Should guests receive room cards at the kiosk, or is showing the room number and key safe code enough?
- How important is a price you can calculate for your number of rooms without a quote?
- Which modules would be included in your HotelFriend package, and what do data migration and the contract term cost?
- Do you need on-premise or hybrid deployment, or is the cloud enough?
- Do you operate in Austria and need guest registration and the tourist tax return directly in the system?
