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Travel · head to head

Boostly vs Skyscanner

Boostly logo

Boostly

Travel

Done-for-you direct booking websites and marketing coaching for short-term rental hosts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Skyscanner logo

Skyscanner

Travel

Flight, hotel and car hire metasearch engine that compares prices across booking sites and earns referral fees rather than selling the ticket itself

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Skyscanner has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Boostly the dominant cost is the one-off build fee, which is quoted rather than published and typically runs into the thousands, so the monthly figure hosts quote to each other badly understates the commitment.; Skyscanner because Skyscanner is not the merchant of record for most bookings, customer service, cancellations and fare accuracy responsibility sit with whichever partner site the traveller is referred to, not with Skyscanner itself.
  • They diverge on capability: Boostly covers Custom WordPress site, Skyscanner covers Flight price comparison.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Boostly and Skyscanner actually diverge.

Attributes where Boostly and Skyscanner differ
AttributeBoostlySkyscanner
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteFree for travellers, referral fees from booking partners
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebiOS, Android, Web

Identical on both: 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 Boostly

  • Custom WordPress site
  • PMS booking widget
  • Direct card payments
  • Marketing curriculum
  • Host community
  • Email capture and nurture
  • SEO groundwork
  • Podcast and content library

Only in Skyscanner

  • Flight price comparison
  • Flexible date and destination search
  • Hotel and car hire comparison
  • Price alerts
  • Direct booking for select flights
  • Multi-city and layover search

What people use each for

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

Boostly

  • A manager with twenty holiday lets who wants to cut OTA commission on repeat guestsnot Skyscanner
  • An owner with a strong local brand in a destination where Airbnb visibility is expensivenot Skyscanner
  • A host who already runs Hostaway and needs a marketing front end rather than another PMSnot Skyscanner
  • An operator building an email list of past guests to drive off-season occupancynot Skyscanner

Skyscanner

  • A traveller wanting to compare flight prices across many airlines and agents quickly before deciding where to booknot Boostly
  • Someone with flexible travel dates wanting to browse the cheapest dates or destinations without a fixed itinerarynot Boostly
  • A traveller wanting hotel or car hire price comparison across multiple sites in one searchnot Boostly
  • Someone who wants a price alert on a specific route to book when the fare drops, before committingnot Boostly

Where each one falls short

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

Boostly

  • The dominant cost is the one-off build fee, which is quoted rather than published and typically runs into the thousands, so the monthly figure hosts quote to each other badly understates the commitment.
  • It is a website and a marketing programme, not a property management system; you still need and still pay for a PMS underneath it.
  • Results depend entirely on your own effort producing content and email, and a site with no traffic strategy produces no direct bookings regardless of how well it is built.
  • The build is WordPress, which means plugin updates, hosting decisions and the security exposure that comes with the platform, all of which land on you or on a paid maintenance arrangement.
  • Coaching and community are a large share of what you pay for, which is poor value for an operator who already has marketing capability and only wants the booking site.

Skyscanner

  • Because Skyscanner is not the merchant of record for most bookings, customer service, cancellations and fare accuracy responsibility sit with whichever partner site the traveller is referred to, not with Skyscanner itself.
  • Prices shown in comparison results can occasionally be inaccurate or unavailable by the time the traveller reaches the partner site, since prices are pulled from partner feeds that update on their own schedule.
  • Booking through a smaller, unfamiliar third-party travel agent surfaced in comparison results carries more risk around customer service quality and fare rules than booking directly with an airline or a well-known agency.
  • The referral fee business model can create an incentive to surface partners paying higher commission prominently, and Skyscanner does not publish which listed results are influenced by commission versus pure price ranking.
  • The newer direct booking option covers only some flights, so most bookings still route the traveller through a third-party partner site, meaning the core experience remains a redirect rather than a self-contained transaction.

Pricing, plan by plan

Boostly

On request
  • Boostly direct booking website$undefined/year
    • One-off build and setup fee quoted per customer, commonly in the low thousands
    • Ongoing platform and support subscription billed monthly or annually
    • Marketing programme and community access included

Skyscanner

Free
  • SkyscannerFree
    • Free to search and compare for travellers, no subscription or comparison fee charged
    • Revenue comes from referral or affiliate fees paid by airlines, agents and hotel sites on completed bookings
    • Skyscanner does not hold the payment or booking relationship for most results, the partner site does

Which should you pick?

Choose Boostly if

  • You need custom wordpress site.
  • You also want pms booking widget.
Boostly review

Choose Skyscanner if

  • You need flight price comparison.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want flexible date and destination search.
Skyscanner review

Questions people ask

Is Boostly or Skyscanner better?
Neither clearly leads. Boostly starts at On request and Skyscanner at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Boostly or Skyscanner?
Skyscanner has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Boostly and Free for Skyscanner.
Does Boostly or Skyscanner run on more platforms?
Boostly runs on Web. Skyscanner runs on iOS, Android, Web.
Can I use Skyscanner for free?
Yes. Skyscanner has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Boostly starts at On request.
What is Boostly best used for?
Boostly is most often used for a manager with twenty holiday lets who wants to cut ota commission on repeat guests, an owner with a strong local brand in a destination where airbnb visibility is expensive, a host who already runs hostaway and needs a marketing front end rather than another pms, an operator building an email list of past guests to drive off-season occupancy. Of those, a manager with twenty holiday lets who wants to cut ota commission on repeat guests and an owner with a strong local brand in a destination where airbnb visibility is expensive are not what Skyscanner is typically brought in for.
What can Boostly do that Skyscanner cannot?
Boostly covers Custom WordPress site, PMS booking widget, Direct card payments, Marketing curriculum. Skyscanner covers Flight price comparison, Flexible date and destination search, Hotel and car hire comparison, Price alerts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Boostly: Is Boostly a property management system?

No. It builds direct booking websites and teaches marketing. Your PMS stays where it is and Boostly plugs into it.

Skyscanner: Does Skyscanner sell the ticket or hotel room?

For most results, no. It compares prices and refers the traveller to the airline, agent or hotel site to complete the actual booking and payment; it has recently added direct booking for some flights only.

Boostly: What does it actually cost?

Pricing is not published. The structure is a substantial one-off build fee, commonly quoted in the low thousands of US dollars, plus a smaller ongoing subscription.

Skyscanner: How does Skyscanner make money if it is free to use?

It earns referral or affiliate fees from airlines, travel agents and hotel booking sites when a comparison click leads to a completed booking on their site.

Boostly: Do I own the website?

It is built on WordPress, so unlike a closed platform site you retain something transferable, though moving it off Boostly means taking on hosting and maintenance yourself.

Skyscanner: Is Skyscanner the same kind of company as Booking.com or Expedia?

No. Those are merchants of record that process payment and hold the booking directly, earning commission or package margin. Skyscanner is a metasearch comparison layer that mostly refers travellers elsewhere to book.

Boostly: Will it replace Airbnb bookings?

Only to the extent you drive traffic to it. The site converts demand you generate; it does not create demand on its own.

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