Softwr

Travel · head to head

Beds24 vs Protel

Beds24 logo

Beds24

Travel

Low-cost, highly configurable channel manager and booking system for technical operators

From
€15.9/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Protel logo

Protel

Travel

German hotel property management system, now owned and sold by Planet

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Beds24 support is helpful on how to use the product but slow and thin on genuine defects, and the ticketing system does not accept screenshots or attachments properly, which makes reporting a real bug laborious.; Protel the vendor is now a payments company, so the economics of a deal run through card processing rates as much as software fees, and a hotel with good existing acquiring terms may lose more on processing than it saves on licence.
  • They diverge on capability: Beds24 covers Broad channel connections, Protel covers Front desk and reservations.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Beds24 and Protel actually diverge.

Attributes where Beds24 and Protel differ
AttributeBeds24Protel
Starting price€15.9/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by property and unit countquote
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Windows, iOS, Android

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Travel).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Beds24

  • Broad channel connections
  • Customisable booking page
  • Rate and availability rules
  • Automated messaging
  • Open API
  • Invoicing and payments
  • Multi-property management
  • Access control

Only in Protel

  • Front desk and reservations
  • Conference and banqueting
  • Cloud and on-premise editions
  • Integrated payments
  • Interface catalogue
  • Multi-property operation
  • Night audit and reporting
  • Tax-free shopping links

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Beds24

  • A twenty-unit apartment operator who wants multi-channel distribution for under fifty euros a monthnot Protel
  • A hostel needing Hostelworld and dorm-level bed inventory alongside the major OTAsnot Protel
  • A developer building a custom guest app on top of a booking system with an open APInot Protel
  • An owner with unusual rate logic, such as per-person pricing or seasonal minimum stays, that packaged tools cannot expressnot Protel

Protel

  • A German or Austrian hotel needing fiscal and tax compliance handled natively rather than bolted onnot Beds24
  • A property with substantial conference and banqueting business that a rooms-only PMS cannot handlenot Beds24
  • An existing Protel on-premise site deciding whether to move to the cloud edition or change vendornot Beds24
  • A group wanting PMS and card acquiring from one supplier under a single contractnot Beds24

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Beds24

  • Support is helpful on how to use the product but slow and thin on genuine defects, and the ticketing system does not accept screenshots or attachments properly, which makes reporting a real bug laborious.
  • There is no built-in dynamic pricing engine, so revenue management means paying separately for PriceLabs or an equivalent and accepting a second system to maintain.
  • No website builder is included; the booking page is templated but a marketing site has to be built and hosted elsewhere.
  • Initial configuration is genuinely difficult and largely self-serve, and operators regularly report days rather than hours to get channel mappings and rate rules correct.
  • Housekeeping, task management, smart lock support and any hospitality CRM are absent or require third-party tools, so it is a distribution engine rather than an operations platform.

Protel

  • The vendor is now a payments company, so the economics of a deal run through card processing rates as much as software fees, and a hotel with good existing acquiring terms may lose more on processing than it saves on licence.
  • The Protel name persists on the product but the corporate identity has moved to Planet, which makes contract, support and roadmap ownership harder to pin down than it looks from the product page.
  • Hotels on the older on-premise edition face a migration to cloud that is a re-implementation rather than an upgrade, with the data and interface work that implies.
  • Nothing about pricing is published, so a buyer cannot benchmark against Mews or Cloudbeds without a full sales process.
  • Strength is concentrated in German-speaking Europe and the Middle East; support depth and partner ecosystem are noticeably thinner in North America and Asia Pacific.

Pricing, plan by plan

Beds24

€15.9/month
  • Single property$15.9/month
    • One property with one rental unit
    • Channel manager and booking page included
    • All core features, no tier gating
  • Additional property$undefined/month
    • About EUR 3 per extra property added to the account
    • Same full feature set
    • No separate distribution charge
  • Additional unit$undefined/month
    • About EUR 1 per extra rental unit within a property
    • Applies to multi-unit buildings and dorms
    • No revenue share on bookings

Protel

On request
  • protel PMS by Planet$undefined/year
    • Quoted per property, no published rate card
    • Cloud and on-premise editions priced differently
    • Payment processing rates negotiated alongside the software

Which should you pick?

Choose Beds24 if

  • You need broad channel connections.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want customisable booking page.
Beds24 review

Choose Protel if

  • You need front desk and reservations.
  • You work on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
  • You also want conference and banqueting.
Protel review

Questions people ask

Is Beds24 or Protel better?
Neither clearly leads. Beds24 starts at €15.9/month and Protel at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Beds24 or Protel?
Beds24 starts at €15.9/month and Protel at On request.
Does Beds24 or Protel run on more platforms?
Beds24 runs on Web, iOS, Android. Protel runs on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
What is Beds24 best used for?
Beds24 is most often used for a twenty-unit apartment operator who wants multi-channel distribution for under fifty euros a month, a hostel needing hostelworld and dorm-level bed inventory alongside the major otas, a developer building a custom guest app on top of a booking system with an open api, an owner with unusual rate logic, such as per-person pricing or seasonal minimum stays, that packaged tools cannot express. Of those, a twenty-unit apartment operator who wants multi-channel distribution for under fifty euros a month and a hostel needing hostelworld and dorm-level bed inventory alongside the major otas are not what Protel is typically brought in for.
What can Beds24 do that Protel cannot?
Beds24 covers Broad channel connections, Customisable booking page, Rate and availability rules, Automated messaging. Protel covers Front desk and reservations, Conference and banqueting, Cloud and on-premise editions, Integrated payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Beds24: Why is Beds24 so much cheaper than Lodgify or Uplisting?

Because it does not pay for onboarding, guided setup or a website builder. You configure it yourself from raw settings pages, and that labour is the difference.

Protel: Can you still buy Protel?

Yes. Planet acquired it in December 2021 and continues to sell it as protel PMS, though the corporate branding is Planet.

Beds24: Is the channel manager restricted on the cheap plan?

No. Unlike most competitors, Beds24 does not gate distribution behind a higher tier; the price scales with property and unit count rather than feature access.

Protel: Why does the payments ownership matter?

Because the vendor earns on your card volume. Evaluate the processing rate alongside the software price rather than treating them as separate decisions.

Beds24: Does it include dynamic pricing?

No. You connect PriceLabs or a similar tool, which is an additional subscription.

Protel: Is the on-premise edition still supported?

It remains in the field with a large installed base, but new investment is directed at the cloud edition, so ask for an explicit support horizon in writing.

Beds24: Is there an API?

Yes, a documented REST API, and it is one of the main reasons technical operators pick Beds24 over packaged alternatives.

Protel: Where is Protel strongest?

German-speaking Europe and the Middle East, where its interface catalogue and fiscal compliance are deepest.

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