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Travel · head to head

Kayak vs Roomsy

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Kayak

Travel

Travel search app comparing flights, hotels and car hire across other booking sites, owned by Booking Holdings

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
R

Roomsy

Travel

Per room hotel and hostel PMS with published prices and monthly minimums

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Kayak it is owned by Booking Holdings, the same parent as Booking.com and Priceline, so its comparison results are not fully independent of its own group's commercial interests.; Roomsy every tier has a monthly floor, so a twelve room property on Essential pays $80 rather than $48 and the advertised per room rate is only real above the break-even room count.
  • They diverge on capability: Kayak covers Flight, hotel and car comparison, Roomsy covers Booking calendar.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kayak and Roomsy actually diverge.

Attributes where Kayak and Roomsy differ
AttributeKayakRoomsy
Pricing modelFree to users, revenue from referral commissions and advertisingPer room per month
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Kayak

  • Flight, hotel and car comparison
  • Price alerts
  • Price prediction
  • Flexible date search
  • Trip planning tools
  • Explore/anywhere search

Only in Roomsy

  • Booking calendar
  • Online booking engine
  • Channel manager
  • Hostel bed management
  • Invoicing and reporting
  • Multi-property

What people use each for

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

Kayak

  • Comparing flight prices across multiple airlines and booking sites before purchasingnot Roomsy
  • Setting a price alert to buy a flight or hotel once the price dropsnot Roomsy
  • Searching flexible dates or nearby airports to find a cheaper farenot Roomsy
  • Comparing car hire prices across rental companies for a tripnot Roomsy

Roomsy

  • A twenty five room motel wanting OTA sync and a direct booking engine on a published price with no sales callnot Kayak
  • A hostel needing dorm bed inventory rather than room-only modellingnot Kayak
  • An owner running a very small property who wants a free booking calendar and engine before paying anythingnot Kayak
  • A two-property operator wanting one login and consolidated occupancy figures without enterprise pricingnot Kayak

Where each one falls short

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

Kayak

  • It is owned by Booking Holdings, the same parent as Booking.com and Priceline, so its comparison results are not fully independent of its own group's commercial interests.
  • Some airlines opt out of listing on metasearch sites entirely, so Kayak's results are not a complete view of every available fare in the market.
  • Revenue comes from referral commissions, and prominence in results can be influenced by which suppliers pay Kayak more, not purely by lowest price.
  • The actual booking typically completes on a third party site, so problems with a booking, cancellation or refund are handled by that site's customer service, not Kayak's.
  • Displayed prices can change or fail to match by the time a user reaches the booking site, since Kayak is not always querying live inventory in real time for every listed fare.

Roomsy

  • Every tier has a monthly floor, so a twelve room property on Essential pays $80 rather than $48 and the advertised per room rate is only real above the break-even room count.
  • Channel management is not on the free or Starter tiers, so the cheapest paid plan cannot connect to Booking.com and buyers regularly select it and then have to upgrade.
  • Some OTA connections are routed through SiteMinder rather than built directly, which introduces a third party into your distribution and a second place for a sync failure to occur.
  • There is no revenue management or dynamic pricing, so rates are manual and go stale unless someone maintains seasonal rules by hand.
  • There is no native point of sale or food and beverage module, so a property with a bar or restaurant runs a separate till and reconciles revenue outside the system.

Pricing, plan by plan

Kayak

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited search and price alerts
    • No subscription tier

Roomsy

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Booking calendar
    • Reporting
    • Invoicing
  • Starter$2/month
    • $2 per room per month
    • $40 monthly minimum
    • Booking engine and core PMS
  • Essential$4/month
    • $4 per room per month
    • $80 monthly minimum
    • Two-way channel manager to major OTAs
  • Pro$6/month
    • $6 per room per month
    • $160 monthly minimum
    • Additional users and advanced reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose Kayak if

  • You need flight, hotel and car comparison.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want price alerts.
Kayak review

Choose Roomsy if

  • You need booking calendar.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want online booking engine.
Roomsy review

Questions people ask

Is Kayak or Roomsy better?
Neither clearly leads. Kayak starts at Free and Roomsy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kayak or Roomsy?
Kayak starts at Free and Roomsy at Free.
Does Kayak or Roomsy run on more platforms?
Kayak runs on iOS, Android, Web. Roomsy runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Kayak for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Kayak best used for?
Kayak is most often used for comparing flight prices across multiple airlines and booking sites before purchasing, setting a price alert to buy a flight or hotel once the price drops, searching flexible dates or nearby airports to find a cheaper fare, comparing car hire prices across rental companies for a trip. Of those, comparing flight prices across multiple airlines and booking sites before purchasing and setting a price alert to buy a flight or hotel once the price drops are not what Roomsy is typically brought in for.
What can Kayak do that Roomsy cannot?
Kayak covers Flight, hotel and car comparison, Price alerts, Price prediction, Flexible date search. Roomsy covers Booking calendar, Online booking engine, Channel manager, Hostel bed management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kayak: Does Kayak charge a booking fee?

No, Kayak itself is free to use; it earns referral commissions from the airlines, hotels and sites it sends bookings to.

Roomsy: What does a thirty room hotel pay?

$120 a month on Essential, which is above the $80 floor. Below twenty rooms you pay the floor instead of the per room rate.

Kayak: Do I book directly through Kayak?

Usually the booking completes on the airline, hotel or travel site's own platform after Kayak hands off the click, though some direct booking options exist for select content.

Roomsy: Which plan includes the channel manager?

Essential at $4 per room per month with an $80 minimum. Free and Starter do not include it.

Kayak: Is Kayak owned by an airline or hotel chain?

No, it is owned by Booking Holdings, which also owns Booking.com, Priceline and Agoda.

Roomsy: Is the free plan usable?

For a booking calendar, invoicing and a direct booking engine, yes. Without OTA connections most properties will outgrow it quickly.

Roomsy: Does Roomsy take commission on bookings?

No. You pay the subscription only.

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