Is IDeaS or Smoobu better?

Neither clearly leads. IDeaS 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, IDeaS or Smoobu?

IDeaS starts at On request and Smoobu at €29/month.

Does IDeaS or Smoobu run on more platforms?

IDeaS runs on Web. Smoobu runs on Web, iOS, Android.

What is IDeaS best used for?

IDeaS is most often used for a casino resort deciding whether a convention group displaces more transient revenue than it produces, a hotel group standardising forecasting method across dozens of properties, a city hotel with complex corporate, wholesale and transient segmentation that simple tools cannot separate, a resort optimising length-of-stay controls around peak arrival patterns rather than pricing flat. Of those, a casino resort deciding whether a convention group displaces more transient revenue than it produces and a hotel group standardising forecasting method across dozens of properties are not what Smoobu is typically brought in for.

What can IDeaS do that Smoobu cannot?

IDeaS covers Segment-level forecasting, Group displacement analysis, Length of stay controls, Room type optimisation. Smoobu covers Channel manager, Website builder, Guest messaging, Unified calendar.

Travel · head to head

IDeaS vs Smoobu

IDeaS

Travel

Enterprise revenue management for hotels and casinos, owned by SAS

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Smoobu

Travel

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

From: €29/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: IDeaS nothing about pricing is published, and industry estimates put independent group deployments in the range of one and a half to three and a half thousand US dollars per month, so a buyer cannot even scope a budget without a sales cycle.; 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: IDeaS covers Segment-level forecasting, Smoobu covers Channel manager.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IDeaS and Smoobu actually diverge.

Attributes where IDeaS and Smoobu differ
Attribute	IDeaS	Smoobu
Starting price	On request	€29/month
Pricing model	quote	Per unit per month
Platforms	Web	Web, 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 IDeaS

Segment-level forecasting
Group displacement analysis
Length of stay controls
Room type optimisation
Total revenue view
Two-way system integration
Portfolio management
Automated pricing decisions

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.

IDeaS

A casino resort deciding whether a convention group displaces more transient revenue than it producesnot Smoobu
A hotel group standardising forecasting method across dozens of propertiesnot Smoobu
A city hotel with complex corporate, wholesale and transient segmentation that simple tools cannot separatenot Smoobu
A resort optimising length-of-stay controls around peak arrival patterns rather than pricing flatnot 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 IDeaS
An owner wanting automated check-in instructions and pre-arrival messages sent per channel without logging into each extranetnot IDeaS
A small manager who needs guest invoices that meet German documentation requirements without adding a separate accounting toolnot IDeaS
A host testing dynamic pricing through the bundled trial before deciding whether to subscribe to PriceLabs separatelynot IDeaS

Where each one falls short

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

IDeaS

Nothing about pricing is published, and industry estimates put independent group deployments in the range of one and a half to three and a half thousand US dollars per month, so a buyer cannot even scope a budget without a sales cycle.
Contracts are typically multi-year, which locks a property into the platform through a period when its own strategy or ownership may change.
Implementation is long and depends on clean historical segmented data; properties whose PMS has inconsistent segment coding spend months on data hygiene before the forecast is usable.
It expects a revenue manager to interpret and override it, so a property without that skill will either follow bad recommendations or stop looking at them.
The interface and workflow reflect enterprise heritage rather than modern design, and casual users find it dense compared with the simpler tools aimed at independents.

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

IDeaS

On request

IDeaS G3 RMS$undefined/year
- Quoted per property and per portfolio
- No published rate card at any tier
- Contracts commonly multi-year

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 IDeaS if

You need segment-level forecasting.
You also want group displacement analysis.

IDeaS 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 IDeaS or Smoobu better?: Neither clearly leads. IDeaS 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, IDeaS or Smoobu?: IDeaS starts at On request and Smoobu at €29/month.
Does IDeaS or Smoobu run on more platforms?: IDeaS runs on Web. Smoobu runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is IDeaS best used for?: IDeaS is most often used for a casino resort deciding whether a convention group displaces more transient revenue than it produces, a hotel group standardising forecasting method across dozens of properties, a city hotel with complex corporate, wholesale and transient segmentation that simple tools cannot separate, a resort optimising length-of-stay controls around peak arrival patterns rather than pricing flat. Of those, a casino resort deciding whether a convention group displaces more transient revenue than it produces and a hotel group standardising forecasting method across dozens of properties are not what Smoobu is typically brought in for.
What can IDeaS do that Smoobu cannot?: IDeaS covers Segment-level forecasting, Group displacement analysis, Length of stay controls, Room type optimisation. Smoobu covers Channel manager, Website builder, Guest messaging, Unified calendar.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

IDeaS: What does IDeaS cost?

It is not published. Independent group deployments are commonly discussed in the range of one and a half to three and a half thousand US dollars per property per month, but every deal is quoted.

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.

IDeaS: Who owns IDeaS?

SAS Institute. The forecasting engine draws directly on the parent company analytics platform, which is the substantive reason for the product depth.

Smoobu: How many properties does the entry price cover?

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

IDeaS: Is it suitable for a single independent hotel?

Rarely. Without a revenue manager and clean segmented history, a small property gets more from RoomPriceGenie or PriceLabs at a fraction of the cost and effort.

Smoobu: Does it include dynamic pricing?

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

IDeaS: Does it handle group business?

Yes, group displacement analysis is one of its defining capabilities and a main reason casino and convention hotels choose it.

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.

IDeaS vs Smoobu

IDeaS

Smoobu

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in IDeaS

Only in Smoobu

What people use each for

IDeaS

Smoobu

Where each one falls short

IDeaS

Smoobu

Pricing, plan by plan

IDeaS

Smoobu

Which should you pick?

Choose IDeaS if

Choose Smoobu if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on IDeaS

More on Smoobu

Keep looking

Other head to heads