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Travel · head to head

Chekin vs Little Hotelier

Chekin logo

Chekin

Travel

Guest check-in, identity verification and police registration for European rentals

From
€3.95/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Little Hotelier logo

Little Hotelier

Travel

SiteMinder owned front desk and distribution system for properties under twenty rooms

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Chekin there is a three unit minimum on the published plans, so a single-property host cannot buy the entry tier at the advertised rate.; Little Hotelier the product is capped by design at small properties, so a hotel growing past roughly twenty rooms faces a migration rather than an upgrade, usually into SiteMinder plus a separate PMS.
  • They diverge on capability: Chekin covers Police and authority registration, Little Hotelier covers Simplified front desk.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chekin and Little Hotelier actually diverge.

Attributes where Chekin and Little Hotelier differ
AttributeChekinLittle Hotelier
Starting price€3.95/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer property per monthquote

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 Chekin

  • Police and authority registration
  • Identity verification
  • Tourist tax calculation
  • Self check-in and digital keys
  • Deposits and damage protection
  • Upsells and branded guest app

Only in Little Hotelier

  • Simplified front desk
  • Channel management
  • Direct booking engine
  • Payments
  • Mobile app
  • Guest communication

What people use each for

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

Chekin

  • A manager with twenty apartments in Barcelona who must file guest data with the Ministry of the Interior for every arrival and cannot do it manually at scalenot Little Hotelier
  • An Italian host needing Alloggiati Web submissions and city tourist tax collected from the guest rather than absorbednot Little Hotelier
  • A property with no staffed reception issuing door codes only after identity documents have been verifiednot Little Hotelier
  • An operator wanting damage deposits taken and released automatically instead of chasing bank transfersnot Little Hotelier

Little Hotelier

  • A ten room guesthouse where the owner works reception and wants OTA sync without a separate channel manager contractnot Chekin
  • A hostel needing reliable Booking.com and Hostelworld connectivity more than deep property management featuresnot Chekin
  • A rural B and B replacing a spreadsheet and manual OTA extranet updatesnot Chekin
  • A small property already comfortable with SiteMinder support and wanting one bill for distribution and front desknot Chekin

Where each one falls short

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

Chekin

  • There is a three unit minimum on the published plans, so a single-property host cannot buy the entry tier at the advertised rate.
  • The compliance value is regional; outside Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece there is often no authority integration to use and the product becomes an ordinary check-in form at a per property price.
  • Transaction fees sit on almost every money-handling feature, including 1.5% plus EUR 0.99 on payments and 10% on unified inbox transactions, so the effective cost is far above the subscription for anyone using them.
  • It is a layer on top of a PMS rather than a replacement, so you are paying a second per property subscription alongside your existing platform and reconciling two sources of guest data.
  • Identity verification and self check-in sit behind the Premium tier and Premium only includes one premium feature, so an operator wanting both verification and digital keys must move to Enterprise.

Little Hotelier

  • The product is capped by design at small properties, so a hotel growing past roughly twenty rooms faces a migration rather than an upgrade, usually into SiteMinder plus a separate PMS.
  • Reporting is limited to basic occupancy and revenue summaries, which leaves owners exporting to a spreadsheet for anything an accountant or lender asks for.
  • Rate and package logic is simple, so properties with seasonal packages, meal plans or complex tax handling end up adjusting rates manually.
  • The non-distribution integration list is short, so accounting, door lock, POS or CRM tools outside the small supported set have to be handled by rekeying data.
  • Pricing is banded by room count and paid monthly per property, so an operator with three small properties pays three subscriptions with no consolidated view worth the name.

Pricing, plan by plan

Chekin

€3.95/month
  • Basic$3.95/month
    • Minimum three units
    • Online check-in and legal compliance filing
    • Tourist taxes
  • Premium$5.95/month
    • Everything in Basic
    • One premium feature of your choice
    • Options: identity verification, self check-in and digital keys, branded guest app, digital guidebooks or e-invoicing
  • Enterprise$7.95/month
    • All premium features included
    • Identity verification, self check-in, branded app, guidebooks, e-invoicing
    • Custom pricing above volume thresholds

Little Hotelier

On request
  • Little Hotelier$undefined/month
    • Monthly subscription banded by number of rooms
    • Booking engine and channel manager included
    • Card processing charged per transaction

Which should you pick?

Choose Chekin if

  • You need police and authority registration.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want identity verification.
Chekin review

Choose Little Hotelier if

  • You need simplified front desk.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want channel management.
Little Hotelier review

Questions people ask

Is Chekin or Little Hotelier better?
Neither clearly leads. Chekin starts at €3.95/month and Little Hotelier at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chekin or Little Hotelier?
Chekin starts at €3.95/month and Little Hotelier at On request.
Does Chekin or Little Hotelier run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Chekin best used for?
Chekin is most often used for a manager with twenty apartments in barcelona who must file guest data with the ministry of the interior for every arrival and cannot do it manually at scale, an italian host needing alloggiati web submissions and city tourist tax collected from the guest rather than absorbed, a property with no staffed reception issuing door codes only after identity documents have been verified, an operator wanting damage deposits taken and released automatically instead of chasing bank transfers. Of those, a manager with twenty apartments in barcelona who must file guest data with the ministry of the interior for every arrival and cannot do it manually at scale and an italian host needing alloggiati web submissions and city tourist tax collected from the guest rather than absorbed are not what Little Hotelier is typically brought in for.
What can Chekin do that Little Hotelier cannot?
Chekin covers Police and authority registration, Identity verification, Tourist tax calculation, Self check-in and digital keys. Little Hotelier covers Simplified front desk, Channel management, Direct booking engine, Payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Chekin: Why would I buy this rather than use my PMS check-in form?

Because it files guest data with national police registration systems and calculates local tourist tax, which PMS check-in forms do not do.

Little Hotelier: Who owns Little Hotelier?

SiteMinder. It is the small property product line of the same company that sells the SiteMinder channel manager.

Chekin: What does it really cost?

From EUR 3.95 per property per month with a three unit minimum, plus 1.5% plus EUR 0.30 on deposits, 1.5% plus EUR 0.99 on payments, 1% on upsells and 10% on unified inbox transactions.

Little Hotelier: What happens when the property outgrows it?

Most operators move to a fuller PMS and keep SiteMinder for distribution. Expect a data migration rather than a plan change.

Chekin: Does it work outside southern Europe?

The check-in, verification and key features do. The automated authority filing that justifies the price largely does not.

Little Hotelier: Does it include a channel manager?

Yes, built on the SiteMinder network, which is the main reason to choose it over other small property tools.

Chekin: Can I get both identity verification and digital keys on Premium?

No. Premium includes one premium feature. Both requires Enterprise at EUR 7.95 per property per month.

Little Hotelier: Can one login manage several properties?

Each property is a separate subscription and the multi-property view is thin, so operators of more than two or three properties usually look elsewhere.

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