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Travel · head to head

Protel vs Stayntouch

Protel logo

Protel

Travel

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Stayntouch logo

Stayntouch

Travel

Cloud property management system for independent hotels

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Stayntouch quote-only pricing scaled by rooms, with no published rates
  • They diverge on capability: Protel covers Front desk and reservations, Stayntouch covers Mobile check-in.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Protel and Stayntouch actually diverge.

Attributes where Protel and Stayntouch differ
AttributeProtelStayntouch
PlatformsWeb, Windows, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, Cloud

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 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 Stayntouch

  • Mobile check-in
  • Guest self-service
  • Cloud PMS
  • Open API
  • Housekeeping
  • Payments

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 Stayntouch
  • A property with substantial conference and banqueting business that a rooms-only PMS cannot handlenot Stayntouch
  • An existing Protel on-premise site deciding whether to move to the cloud edition or change vendornot Stayntouch
  • A group wanting PMS and card acquiring from one supplier under a single contractnot Stayntouch

Stayntouch

  • Hotels wanting to check guests in away from a fixed desknot Protel
  • Properties reducing lobby queuing at peak arrivalnot Protel
  • Independents replacing an on-premise PMS with cloudnot 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.

Stayntouch

  • Quote-only pricing scaled by rooms, with no published rates
  • Mobile-first depends on property-wide wireless coverage that many older hotels do not have
  • A smaller vendor than the major PMS providers, with a narrower integration ecosystem
  • Strongest in North America, with less coverage elsewhere

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

Stayntouch

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Stayntouch review.

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 Stayntouch if

  • You need mobile check-in.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud.
  • You also want guest self-service.
Stayntouch review

Questions people ask

Is Protel or Stayntouch better?
Neither clearly leads. Protel starts at On request and Stayntouch at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Protel or Stayntouch?
Protel starts at On request and Stayntouch at On request.
Does Protel or Stayntouch run on more platforms?
Protel runs on Web, Windows, iOS, Android. Stayntouch runs on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud.
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 Stayntouch is typically brought in for.
What can Protel do that Stayntouch cannot?
Protel covers Front desk and reservations, Conference and banqueting, Cloud and on-premise editions, Integrated payments. Stayntouch covers Mobile check-in, Guest self-service, Cloud PMS, Open API.

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.

Stayntouch: What does Stayntouch cost?

Quoted per property by room count; not published.

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.

Stayntouch: What does mobile-first actually change?

Check-in happens on a tablet anywhere in the property or on the guest's own phone, rather than at a fixed counter, which changes both queuing and front-desk staffing.

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.

Stayntouch: What does it need to work well?

Reliable property-wide wireless. A mobile-first PMS is only as good as the network it runs on.

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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