STRYK or protel? Hotel software compared head to head in 2026

In short: who each system is built for

If you go to protel.net today, you end up at Planet. The page says: “Protel is now Planet”. According to its website, Planet has been in payments and software for retail, hospitality and travel for more than 35 years and is active in more than 120 markets. The current hotel product is called Protel Cloud PMS and is described as a cloud-native PMS for reservations, billing, housekeeping, reports and analytics. On top of that come its own booking engine, gift cards, online and in-person payments and the planet Marketplace with partner apps. The case studies range from independent hotels to international hotel groups.

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.

STRYK and protel at a glance (according to vendor website, as of 7 October 2026)

Criterion	STRYK	protel (Protel Cloud PMS by Planet)
Target group	Hotels, guesthouses and aparthotels with roughly 5 to 80 rooms	Hotels of different sizes up to international groups; no size stated
Deployment	Cloud, in the browser	Cloud-native PMS
Price	€59 plus €6 per room per month, net, billed annually; 20% more if billed monthly	No public price, quote via contact request
Channel manager	Yes, in the core price	Not named as a separate product on the product pages; connections via integrations
Booking engine	Built in, in the core price	Planet’s own product with real-time availability, promo codes, templates and gift cards
Online check-in	Separate module in the core price, with registration details, ID and signature	Not mentioned on the product pages
On-site self check-in	Kiosk as a separate module in the core price; shows the room number or a stored key safe code, no card terminal, no door lock integration	Not mentioned on the product pages
Invoicing, tourist tax, guest registration	Unchangeable invoices numbered without gaps, e-invoicing, tourist tax return, Austrian guest registration with deadline monitoring and export	Billing in the PMS; tourist tax and guest registration for AT/DE not publicly stated
Payments	Online: deposit, balance at the cancellation deadline, refund on free cancellation	Planet’s own payment processing in the PMS, online and with terminals on site
Interfaces	Documented POS interface, no general PMS interface	Open API with documentation and test environment, more than 1,100 integrations
Languages	Interface, booking engine, guest pages and documents in 18 languages	Not publicly stated; website also in German
Trial and set-up	14-day free trial, no set-up fee, unlimited users	No free trial mentioned, contact by request; set-up costs not publicly stated

What it costs: worked example for 10, 25 and 50 rooms

For STRYK, the price can be worked out directly: a €59 base price plus €6 per room per month, net, billed annually. Paying monthly costs 20% more. In the first contract year there is a 20% discount on the base price. There is no set-up fee and no limit on the number of users. Direct bookings that guests pay online through STRYK carry a platform fee of 1.9%; bookings without online payment are not affected.

Planet does not publish prices for Protel Cloud PMS, the booking engine or payment processing; the product pages refer to a contact request. We therefore do not estimate this price. With a vendor that sells PMS and payments from a single source, a fair comparison includes not only the software fee but also the transaction fees, which should be listed separately in the quote.

Monthly costs, net, based on the public price

Rooms	STRYK, billed annually	STRYK, billed monthly	protel
10	€119	€142.80	On request
25	€209	€250.80	On request
50	€359	€430.80	On request

Where protel is strong

protel has a long history in the hotel industry, and with Planet there is now a large company behind it: according to its website, offices in 31 countries, customers in more than 120 markets and over 35 years of experience in payments and software. For properties looking for an established vendor with an international presence, that is a real argument.

Its greatest strength is the partner network. According to Planet, Protel Cloud PMS can be connected to more than 1,100 integrations; the planet Marketplace offers partner apps ready to install. Since April 2025, according to the vendor, there has been an extended Open API with documentation, test environments and backward compatibility for existing connections. If you already use a till, a revenue management system or a door lock system and want to keep it, you will often find a ready-made connection there.

On payments, protel goes further than STRYK. Planet connects the PMS with its own payment processing, online and on site: mobile terminals at reception, at the bar and at the table, support for devices from Worldline, Ingenico, Verifone and PAX, foreign currencies with currency conversion and a token vault for card data. In a case study, a hotel describes how prepayments from OTAs made with a virtual card land directly in the reservation. According to Planet, connecting PMS and payments saves 8 to 12 hours of manual reconciliation per week.

Where STRYK is strong

The price is public and predictable per room. You know what your property will cost before the first conversation and can test STRYK for 14 days with sample data, at no cost and without a set-up fee. The booking engine, gift vouchers and POS interface are in the core price, online check-in and kiosk as separate modules included in the core price; you do not have to assemble them from a marketplace.

Overbooking protection checks every booking, whether it comes from reception, the booking engine or a connected OTA. Connect Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb and other channels to STRYK. Manage rates and availability centrally and handle OTA reservations in the calendar. Online check-in and the kiosk capture registration details, ID and signature; reception reviews and confirms them.

For Austria and Germany, STRYK covers the everyday obligations: guest registration with monitoring of the 24-hour deadline and a file in MBS format or as CSV, tourist tax with age limits and a tourist tax return, invoices that are numbered without gaps and cannot be changed once issued, 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 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.

What switching from protel to STRYK looks like

Changing hotel software is above all a question of data and timing. STRYK takes over rooms, guests and future bookings through a data import with a test run: each import file is assigned to a data area, columns are mapped to STRYK fields, and before the real import an error report shows what still needs to be resolved. Issued invoices usually remain in the old system and are archived there to meet the retention requirements.

With protel, it is worth looking at everything connected through integrations. Whatever runs today as an app from the Marketplace, such as a channel manager, till, door system or payments via Planet, has to be arranged afresh for STRYK: you map the portals confirmed for your property in the STRYK channel manager, connect tills through the POS interface, and online payments run through a payment account. STRYK has no connection for door lock systems or payment terminals.

The questions that decide

Which system is better depends less on the feature list than on your property. The following questions help you weigh things up.