Softwr

Travel · head to head

Center vs Smoobu

Center logo

Center

Travel

Card-first travel and expense management with real-time transaction visibility

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Smoobu logo

Smoobu

Travel

All-in-one channel manager and PMS for hosts with a handful of holiday rentals

From
€29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Center the product is built around its own card, so employees still using a legacy bank corporate card get the ordinary receipt-chasing experience and the real-time promise does not apply to them.; Smoobu the Flex plan carries a 0.9% fee on every booking, which on an apartment turning over €40,000 a year costs more than the entire annual subscription saving, and the pricing page presents Flex as the cheaper option.
  • They diverge on capability: Center covers Center corporate card, Smoobu covers Channel manager.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Center and Smoobu actually diverge.

Attributes where Center and Smoobu differ
AttributeCenterSmoobu
Starting priceOn request€29/month
Pricing modelquotePer unit per month

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Center

  • Center corporate card
  • Real-time expense capture
  • Travel booking
  • Insights for Travel
  • Policy automation
  • ERP sync

Only in Smoobu

  • Channel manager
  • Website builder
  • Guest messaging
  • Unified calendar
  • Invoicing and e-invoicing
  • Mobile apps

What people use each for

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

Center

  • A US mid-market finance team that wants committed travel spend visible before the month closesnot Smoobu
  • A company replacing a bank corporate card plus a separate expense tool with one suppliernot Smoobu
  • A business that wants hotel spend booked directly by staff still captured in travel reportingnot Smoobu
  • A NetSuite or Sage Intacct user wanting coded expenses posted without manual re-keyingnot Smoobu

Smoobu

  • A host with three apartments in Berlin who needs Airbnb and Booking.com calendars kept in sync and wants a direct booking site to cut OTA commissionnot Center
  • An owner wanting automated check-in instructions and pre-arrival messages sent per channel without logging into each extranetnot Center
  • A small manager who needs guest invoices that meet German documentation requirements without adding a separate accounting toolnot Center
  • A host testing dynamic pricing through the bundled trial before deciding whether to subscribe to PriceLabs separatelynot Center

Where each one falls short

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

Center

  • The product is built around its own card, so employees still using a legacy bank corporate card get the ordinary receipt-chasing experience and the real-time promise does not apply to them.
  • Travel booking depends on Spotnana, meaning content, service levels and roadmap for a core part of the product sit with a third party Center does not control.
  • It is a United States product, and multi-entity companies with European or Asian subsidiaries will need a separate card and expense stack for those entities.
  • Interchange on card spend is a significant part of how the vendor earns, which is why the software price looks low; a company that keeps most spend on an existing card programme is a poor fit commercially.
  • It is a smaller supplier than Brex, Ramp or SAP Concur, so integration coverage outside the main US accounting systems is thinner and custom connectors are often the answer.

Smoobu

  • The Flex plan carries a 0.9% fee on every booking, which on an apartment turning over €40,000 a year costs more than the entire annual subscription saving, and the pricing page presents Flex as the cheaper option.
  • Pricing is per unit, so a ten unit portfolio pays roughly €31.50 plus nine additional units at about €9.60, and the headline monthly figure covers a single apartment only.
  • Write access is charged per account beyond the included seats, so a cleaner, a co-host and an owner all needing to edit bookings turn into a recurring per seat cost.
  • There is no trust accounting or owner statement generation, so anyone managing units on behalf of third-party owners has to build payout reporting outside the system.
  • Housekeeping and maintenance dispatch is minimal compared with manager-grade platforms, so cleaning coordination happens in WhatsApp or a separate tool once you are past a few units.

Pricing, plan by plan

Center

On request
  • Center Expense and Travel$undefined/year
    • Usage-based, with no licence, deployment or support fee published
    • Flat per-booking travel fee including unlimited changes
    • Card interchange forms part of the vendor revenue

Smoobu

€29/month
  • Professional Flex$29/month
    • One unit included
    • 0.9% fee on every booking
    • Channel manager, website builder, messaging
  • Professional Prepaid$31.5/month
    • One unit included
    • No booking fee
    • Website builder, invoicing, chatbot, API access
  • Teams Pro+$49.5/month
    • Everything in Prepaid
    • E-invoicing
    • Two write-access accounts, extra accounts from about €12 each

Which should you pick?

Choose Center if

  • You need center corporate card.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want real-time expense capture.
Center review

Choose Smoobu if

  • You need channel manager.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want website builder.
Smoobu review

Questions people ask

Is Center or Smoobu better?
Neither clearly leads. Center starts at On request and Smoobu at €29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Center or Smoobu?
Center starts at On request and Smoobu at €29/month.
Does Center or Smoobu run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Center best used for?
Center is most often used for a us mid-market finance team that wants committed travel spend visible before the month closes, a company replacing a bank corporate card plus a separate expense tool with one supplier, a business that wants hotel spend booked directly by staff still captured in travel reporting, a netsuite or sage intacct user wanting coded expenses posted without manual re-keying. Of those, a us mid-market finance team that wants committed travel spend visible before the month closes and a company replacing a bank corporate card plus a separate expense tool with one supplier are not what Smoobu is typically brought in for.
What can Center do that Smoobu cannot?
Center covers Center corporate card, Real-time expense capture, Travel booking, Insights for Travel. Smoobu covers Channel manager, Website builder, Guest messaging, Unified calendar.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Center: Do we have to use the Center card?

Effectively yes for the core benefit. Center can ingest other card feeds, but real-time capture, controls and the pricing model all assume its own card.

Smoobu: Which plan is actually cheaper, Flex or Prepaid?

Prepaid, for almost anyone with real occupancy. The 0.9% booking fee on Flex exceeds the subscription difference once annual revenue passes a few thousand euros.

Center: Who provides the travel booking?

Spotnana provides the underlying Travel-as-a-Service platform; Center provides the interface, policy layer and reporting.

Smoobu: How many properties does the entry price cover?

One. Every additional unit adds roughly €9.60 per month.

Center: Is there a per-user licence fee?

Center markets usage-based pricing with no licence, deployment or support fees; the economics rest on card interchange and booking fees.

Smoobu: Does it include dynamic pricing?

Only two months free on the Teams tier. Ongoing dynamic pricing means subscribing to PriceLabs or similar.

Smoobu: Is there a contract?

Billing is monthly, yearly or two-yearly, with 30 days notice required to cancel; longer terms buy 10% or 20% off.

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