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Travel · head to head

Hostfully vs Protel

Hostfully logo

Hostfully

Travel

Vacation rental property management platform with per-property pricing and digital guidebooks

From
$15/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: Hostfully the advertised per property price excludes a platform fee that is not published anywhere on the pricing page, so no listed figure is a real monthly cost until sales quotes it.; 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: Hostfully covers Channel management, 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 Hostfully and Protel actually diverge.

Attributes where Hostfully and Protel differ
AttributeHostfullyProtel
Starting price$15/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer property per monthquote
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 Hostfully

  • Channel management
  • Digital Guidebooks
  • Owner portal
  • Direct booking engine
  • Unified inbox
  • Pipeline and lead management

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.

Hostfully

  • A manager with thirty units who wants channel sync, an owner portal and a direct booking site under one subscriptionnot Protel
  • A host who only wants professional check-in and local recommendation guidebooks and will buy Digital Guidebooks without the PMSnot Protel
  • An operator pushing guests towards direct bookings who needs the Pro tier because the Growth tier taxes exactly that revenuenot Protel
  • A property manager onboarding third-party owners who need visible reporting on their own unitsnot Protel

Protel

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

Where each one falls short

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

Hostfully

  • The advertised per property price excludes a platform fee that is not published anywhere on the pricing page, so no listed figure is a real monthly cost until sales quotes it.
  • The Growth tier charges 1% on payments and 0.85% on direct bookings, so the operators most focused on direct revenue are penalised on the cheaper plan and effectively forced to Pro.
  • Pricing is per property, so a portfolio of small low-revenue units pays the same per listing as high-revenue ones and studio-heavy portfolios carry a disproportionate cost.
  • Accounting is lighter than manager-grade competitors, with no full trust accounting, so client fund segregation has to be handled outside the platform.
  • Digital Guidebooks are sold and priced separately from the PMS, so the product Hostfully is best known for is an additional line on the invoice rather than part of the subscription.

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

Hostfully

$15/month
  • Growth$15/month
    • 1 to 50 listings
    • $15 per property per month plus a platform fee
    • 1% payment gateway fee
  • Pro$25/month
    • 1 to 199 listings
    • $25 per property per month plus a platform fee
    • No payment gateway fee
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • 200 or more listings
    • Custom volume pricing plus a platform fee
    • Priority support

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 Hostfully if

  • You need channel management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want digital guidebooks.
Hostfully 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 Hostfully or Protel better?
Neither clearly leads. Hostfully starts at $15/month and Protel at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hostfully or Protel?
Hostfully starts at $15/month and Protel at On request.
Does Hostfully or Protel run on more platforms?
Hostfully runs on Web, iOS, Android. Protel runs on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
What is Hostfully best used for?
Hostfully is most often used for a manager with thirty units who wants channel sync, an owner portal and a direct booking site under one subscription, a host who only wants professional check-in and local recommendation guidebooks and will buy digital guidebooks without the pms, an operator pushing guests towards direct bookings who needs the pro tier because the growth tier taxes exactly that revenue, a property manager onboarding third-party owners who need visible reporting on their own units. Of those, a manager with thirty units who wants channel sync, an owner portal and a direct booking site under one subscription and a host who only wants professional check-in and local recommendation guidebooks and will buy digital guidebooks without the pms are not what Protel is typically brought in for.
What can Hostfully do that Protel cannot?
Hostfully covers Channel management, Digital Guidebooks, Owner portal, Direct booking engine. Protel covers Front desk and reservations, Conference and banqueting, Cloud and on-premise editions, Integrated payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hostfully: What is the platform fee?

Hostfully does not publish it. Ask for the total monthly figure for your listing count in writing before comparing plans.

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.

Hostfully: Which tier is cheaper in practice?

Pro, for anyone with real direct booking volume. Growth is $10 less per property but adds 1% on payments and 0.85% on direct bookings.

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.

Hostfully: Can I buy guidebooks alone?

Yes. Digital Guidebooks are priced separately and are commonly bought without the PMS.

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.

Hostfully: Is there a minimum property count?

No stated minimum, but per property pricing plus a platform fee makes it uneconomic for one or two units.

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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