Travel · head to head
Protel vs ThinkReservations
Protel
Travel
German hotel property management system, now owned and sold by Planet
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
ThinkReservations
Travel
Property management and booking system for North American inns, B&Bs and small hotels
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
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.; ThinkReservations no pricing is published anywhere, so you cannot compare it against Cloudbeds or Little Hotelier without first sitting through a sales call and extracting a quote.
- They diverge on capability: Protel covers Front desk and reservations, ThinkReservations covers Reservation calendar.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Protel and ThinkReservations actually diverge.
| Attribute | Protel | ThinkReservations |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Web, Windows, iOS, Android | Web |
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
- Interface catalogue
- Multi-property operation
- Night audit and reporting
- Tax-free shopping links
Only in ThinkReservations
- Reservation calendar
- Direct booking engine
- Channel management
- Yield rules
- Reporting
Both cover
- Integrated 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 ThinkReservations
- A property with substantial conference and banqueting business that a rooms-only PMS cannot handlenot ThinkReservations
- An existing Protel on-premise site deciding whether to move to the cloud edition or change vendornot ThinkReservations
- A group wanting PMS and card acquiring from one supplier under a single contractnot ThinkReservations
ThinkReservations
- A fourteen room inn moving off a spreadsheet and a phone diary that needs breakfast counts and minimum stay rules handled nativelynot Protel
- A B&B selling gift certificates and packages that wants them redeemable in the same system that takes the bookingnot Protel
- An owner of three small New England properties wanting one login and consolidated occupancy reportingnot Protel
- A campground or cabin operator needing nightly and multi-night rules plus OTA distribution without buying a separate channel managernot 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.
ThinkReservations
- No pricing is published anywhere, so you cannot compare it against Cloudbeds or Little Hotelier without first sitting through a sales call and extracting a quote.
- The product is built for North American operations, so European tax handling, guest registration requirements and local OTA mix are not supported and it is effectively unsellable outside the region.
- There is no revenue management or dynamic pricing, so rates rely on manual seasonal and day of week rules that go stale unless someone actively maintains them.
- Payment processing is bundled, which is convenient but means the effective card rate is negotiated inside a software deal rather than shopped separately, and operators rarely check it against a standalone merchant account.
- There is no native point of sale, spa or restaurant module, so an inn with a dining room runs a second system and reconciles revenue by hand.
Pricing, plan by plan
Protel
On request- protel PMS by Planet$undefined/year
- Quoted per property, no published rate card
- Cloud and on-premise editions priced differently
- Payment processing rates negotiated alongside the software
ThinkReservations
On request- ThinkReservations$undefined/month
- Property management system
- Direct booking engine
- Channel management to major OTAs
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.
Choose ThinkReservations if
- You need reservation calendar.
- You also want direct booking engine.
Questions people ask
- Is Protel or ThinkReservations better?
- Neither clearly leads. Protel starts at On request and ThinkReservations at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Protel or ThinkReservations?
- Protel starts at On request and ThinkReservations at On request.
- Does Protel or ThinkReservations run on more platforms?
- Protel runs on Web, Windows, iOS, Android. ThinkReservations runs on Web.
- 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 ThinkReservations is typically brought in for.
- What can Protel do that ThinkReservations cannot?
- Protel covers Front desk and reservations, Conference and banqueting, Cloud and on-premise editions, Interface catalogue. ThinkReservations covers Reservation calendar, Direct booking engine, Channel management, Yield rules. Both handle Integrated payments.
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.
ThinkReservations: How much does ThinkReservations cost?
It is not published. Pricing is quoted per property, generally scaled by room count, after a sales conversation.
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.
ThinkReservations: Is the channel manager an extra subscription?
No. OTA connectivity is part of the platform rather than a separately priced module, which is the main saving against a PMS plus channel manager pairing.
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.
ThinkReservations: Does it work outside the United States?
In practice no. Tax, payments and support are built around North America.
Protel: Where is Protel strongest?
German-speaking Europe and the Middle East, where its interface catalogue and fiscal compliance are deepest.
ThinkReservations: Can it handle more than one property?
Yes, small portfolios are supported, but it is designed for a handful of properties rather than dozens.
Related pages
More on ThinkReservations
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