Softwr

Travel · head to head

Skyscanner vs Stayntouch

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
Stayntouch logo

Stayntouch

Travel

Cloud property management system for independent hotels

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Skyscanner has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Stayntouch quote-only pricing scaled by rooms, with no published rates
  • They diverge on capability: Skyscanner covers Flight price comparison, Stayntouch covers Mobile check-in.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Skyscanner and Stayntouch actually diverge.

Attributes where Skyscanner and Stayntouch differ
AttributeSkyscannerStayntouch
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree for travellers, referral fees from booking partnersquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb, iOS, Android, Cloud

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 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

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.

Skyscanner

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

Stayntouch

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

Where each one falls short

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

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.

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

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

Stayntouch

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Stayntouch review.

Which should you pick?

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

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 Skyscanner or Stayntouch better?
Neither clearly leads. Skyscanner starts at Free and Stayntouch at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Skyscanner or Stayntouch?
Skyscanner has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Skyscanner and On request for Stayntouch.
Does Skyscanner or Stayntouch run on more platforms?
Skyscanner runs on iOS, Android, Web. Stayntouch runs on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud.
Can I use Skyscanner for free?
Yes. Skyscanner has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Stayntouch starts at On request.
What is Skyscanner best used for?
Skyscanner is most often used for a traveller wanting to compare flight prices across many airlines and agents quickly before deciding where to book, someone with flexible travel dates wanting to browse the cheapest dates or destinations without a fixed itinerary, a traveller wanting hotel or car hire price comparison across multiple sites in one search, someone who wants a price alert on a specific route to book when the fare drops, before committing. Of those, a traveller wanting to compare flight prices across many airlines and agents quickly before deciding where to book and someone with flexible travel dates wanting to browse the cheapest dates or destinations without a fixed itinerary are not what Stayntouch is typically brought in for.
What can Skyscanner do that Stayntouch cannot?
Skyscanner covers Flight price comparison, Flexible date and destination search, Hotel and car hire comparison, Price alerts. Stayntouch covers Mobile check-in, Guest self-service, Cloud PMS, Open API.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Stayntouch: What does Stayntouch cost?

Quoted per property by room count; not published.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on Skyscanner

More on Stayntouch

Keep looking

Other head to heads