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Travel · head to head

Protel vs Roomsy

Protel logo

Protel

Travel

German hotel property management system, now owned and sold by Planet

From
On request
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

  • Only Roomsy has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; 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: Protel covers Front desk and reservations, Roomsy covers Booking calendar.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Protel and Roomsy actually diverge.

Attributes where Protel and Roomsy differ
AttributeProtelRoomsy
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer room per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: 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 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

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.

Protel

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

Roomsy

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

Where each one falls short

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

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.

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

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

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 Protel if

  • You need front desk and reservations.
  • You work on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
  • You also want conference and banqueting.
Protel 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 Protel or Roomsy better?
Neither clearly leads. Protel starts at On request and Roomsy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Protel or Roomsy?
Roomsy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Protel and Free for Roomsy.
Does Protel or Roomsy run on more platforms?
Protel runs on Web, Windows, iOS, Android. Roomsy runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Roomsy for free?
Yes. Roomsy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Protel starts at On request.
What is Protel best used for?
Protel is most often used for a german or austrian hotel needing fiscal and tax compliance handled natively rather than bolted on, a property with substantial conference and banqueting business that a rooms-only pms cannot handle, an existing protel on-premise site deciding whether to move to the cloud edition or change vendor, a group wanting pms and card acquiring from one supplier under a single contract. Of those, a german or austrian hotel needing fiscal and tax compliance handled natively rather than bolted on and a property with substantial conference and banqueting business that a rooms-only pms cannot handle are not what Roomsy is typically brought in for.
What can Protel do that Roomsy cannot?
Protel covers Front desk and reservations, Conference and banqueting, Cloud and on-premise editions, Integrated payments. Roomsy covers Booking calendar, Online booking engine, Channel manager, Hostel bed management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Protel: Where is Protel strongest?

German-speaking Europe and the Middle East, where its interface catalogue and fiscal compliance are deepest.

Roomsy: Does Roomsy take commission on bookings?

No. You pay the subscription only.

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