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Travel · head to head

RoomRaccoon vs Skyscanner

RoomRaccoon logo

RoomRaccoon

Travel

All-in-one PMS, channel manager and booking engine for independent European hotels

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Skyscanner logo

Skyscanner

Travel

Flight, hotel and car hire metasearch engine that compares prices across booking sites and earns referral fees rather than selling the ticket itself

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Skyscanner has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: RoomRaccoon revenue and upselling functionality is gated behind higher tiers, so the advertised entry price is rarely what a property that wants automated pricing actually pays.; Skyscanner because Skyscanner is not the merchant of record for most bookings, customer service, cancellations and fare accuracy responsibility sit with whichever partner site the traveller is referred to, not with Skyscanner itself.
  • They diverge on capability: RoomRaccoon covers Property management, Skyscanner covers Flight price comparison.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which RoomRaccoon and Skyscanner actually diverge.

Attributes where RoomRaccoon and Skyscanner differ
AttributeRoomRaccoonSkyscanner
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteFree for travellers, referral fees from booking partners
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidiOS, Android, Web

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 RoomRaccoon

  • Property management
  • Channel manager
  • Booking engine
  • RaccoonPay
  • RaccoonRev
  • Upselling

Only in Skyscanner

  • Flight price comparison
  • Flexible date and destination search
  • Hotel and car hire comparison
  • Price alerts
  • Direct booking for select flights
  • Multi-city and layover search

What people use each for

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

RoomRaccoon

  • A 20 to 40 room independent hotel replacing separate PMS, channel manager and booking engine contractsnot Skyscanner
  • A European B and B that needs local tourist tax handling and regional payment methods out of the boxnot Skyscanner
  • A South African guesthouse group wanting one system with local OTA coverage and support hoursnot Skyscanner

Skyscanner

  • A traveller wanting to compare flight prices across many airlines and agents quickly before deciding where to booknot RoomRaccoon
  • Someone with flexible travel dates wanting to browse the cheapest dates or destinations without a fixed itinerarynot RoomRaccoon
  • A traveller wanting hotel or car hire price comparison across multiple sites in one searchnot RoomRaccoon
  • Someone who wants a price alert on a specific route to book when the fare drops, before committingnot RoomRaccoon

Where each one falls short

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

RoomRaccoon

  • Revenue and upselling functionality is gated behind higher tiers, so the advertised entry price is rarely what a property that wants automated pricing actually pays.
  • The integration catalogue is short compared with the larger cloud platforms, and a property with an existing spa, POS or CRM preference may find no connector exists.
  • Multi-property management is workable but shallow, so a group beyond a handful of hotels will hit reporting and consolidated inventory limits.
  • Support hours follow European and South African time zones, which leaves properties in the Americas and Asia Pacific waiting overnight for anything beyond first-line help.
  • Because distribution, payments and the PMS come from one vendor, a fault or a price rise in any one of them cannot be answered by switching that component alone.

Skyscanner

  • Because Skyscanner is not the merchant of record for most bookings, customer service, cancellations and fare accuracy responsibility sit with whichever partner site the traveller is referred to, not with Skyscanner itself.
  • Prices shown in comparison results can occasionally be inaccurate or unavailable by the time the traveller reaches the partner site, since prices are pulled from partner feeds that update on their own schedule.
  • Booking through a smaller, unfamiliar third-party travel agent surfaced in comparison results carries more risk around customer service quality and fare rules than booking directly with an airline or a well-known agency.
  • The referral fee business model can create an incentive to surface partners paying higher commission prominently, and Skyscanner does not publish which listed results are influenced by commission versus pure price ranking.
  • The newer direct booking option covers only some flights, so most bookings still route the traveller through a third-party partner site, meaning the core experience remains a redirect rather than a self-contained transaction.

Pricing, plan by plan

RoomRaccoon

On request
  • RoomRaccoon$undefined/year
    • Tiered subscription scaled by number of rooms
    • Higher tiers unlock dynamic pricing and upselling modules
    • Payment processing charged per transaction

Skyscanner

Free
  • SkyscannerFree
    • Free to search and compare for travellers, no subscription or comparison fee charged
    • Revenue comes from referral or affiliate fees paid by airlines, agents and hotel sites on completed bookings
    • Skyscanner does not hold the payment or booking relationship for most results, the partner site does

Which should you pick?

Choose RoomRaccoon if

  • You need property management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want channel manager.
RoomRaccoon review

Choose Skyscanner if

  • You need flight price comparison.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want flexible date and destination search.
Skyscanner review

Questions people ask

Is RoomRaccoon or Skyscanner better?
Neither clearly leads. RoomRaccoon starts at On request and Skyscanner at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, RoomRaccoon or Skyscanner?
Skyscanner has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for RoomRaccoon and Free for Skyscanner.
Does RoomRaccoon or Skyscanner run on more platforms?
RoomRaccoon runs on Web, iOS, Android. Skyscanner runs on iOS, Android, Web.
Can I use Skyscanner for free?
Yes. Skyscanner has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. RoomRaccoon starts at On request.
What is RoomRaccoon best used for?
RoomRaccoon is most often used for a 20 to 40 room independent hotel replacing separate pms, channel manager and booking engine contracts, a european b and b that needs local tourist tax handling and regional payment methods out of the box, a south african guesthouse group wanting one system with local ota coverage and support hours. Of those, a 20 to 40 room independent hotel replacing separate pms, channel manager and booking engine contracts and a european b and b that needs local tourist tax handling and regional payment methods out of the box are not what Skyscanner is typically brought in for.
What can RoomRaccoon do that Skyscanner cannot?
RoomRaccoon covers Property management, Channel manager, Booking engine, RaccoonPay. Skyscanner covers Flight price comparison, Flexible date and destination search, Hotel and car hire comparison, Price alerts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

RoomRaccoon: Does RoomRaccoon charge commission on direct bookings?

No. The booking engine is included in the subscription and direct reservations carry no commission, though card processing fees still apply.

Skyscanner: Does Skyscanner sell the ticket or hotel room?

For most results, no. It compares prices and refers the traveller to the airline, agent or hotel site to complete the actual booking and payment; it has recently added direct booking for some flights only.

RoomRaccoon: Is it suitable for a hotel with 150 rooms?

It will run, but the product is designed around independents up to roughly 60 rooms and larger properties will find reporting and group handling thin.

Skyscanner: How does Skyscanner make money if it is free to use?

It earns referral or affiliate fees from airlines, travel agents and hotel booking sites when a comparison click leads to a completed booking on their site.

RoomRaccoon: Can it be used as a channel manager only?

Not really. The value is in the bundle, and buying it purely for distribution costs more than a dedicated channel manager.

Skyscanner: Is Skyscanner the same kind of company as Booking.com or Expedia?

No. Those are merchants of record that process payment and hold the booking directly, earning commission or package margin. Skyscanner is a metasearch comparison layer that mostly refers travellers elsewhere to book.

RoomRaccoon: Which regions does it support best?

Europe first, then South Africa. Coverage in North America and Asia is lighter on local OTAs and payment methods.

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