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Travel · head to head

Skyscanner vs ThinkReservations

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
ThinkReservations logo

ThinkReservations

Travel

Property management and booking system for North American inns, B&Bs and small 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.; 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: Skyscanner covers Flight price comparison, ThinkReservations covers Reservation calendar.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Skyscanner and ThinkReservations actually diverge.

Attributes where Skyscanner and ThinkReservations differ
AttributeSkyscannerThinkReservations
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree for travellers, referral fees from booking partnersquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb

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 ThinkReservations

  • Reservation calendar
  • Direct booking engine
  • Channel management
  • Integrated payments
  • Yield rules
  • Reporting

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 ThinkReservations
  • Someone with flexible travel dates wanting to browse the cheapest dates or destinations without a fixed itinerarynot ThinkReservations
  • A traveller wanting hotel or car hire price comparison across multiple sites in one searchnot ThinkReservations
  • Someone who wants a price alert on a specific route to book when the fare drops, before committingnot ThinkReservations

ThinkReservations

  • A fourteen room inn moving off a spreadsheet and a phone diary that needs breakfast counts and minimum stay rules handled nativelynot Skyscanner
  • A B&B selling gift certificates and packages that wants them redeemable in the same system that takes the bookingnot Skyscanner
  • An owner of three small New England properties wanting one login and consolidated occupancy reportingnot Skyscanner
  • A campground or cabin operator needing nightly and multi-night rules plus OTA distribution without buying a separate channel managernot 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.

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

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

ThinkReservations

On request
  • ThinkReservations$undefined/month
    • Property management system
    • Direct booking engine
    • Channel management to major OTAs

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 ThinkReservations if

  • You need reservation calendar.
  • You also want direct booking engine.
ThinkReservations review

Questions people ask

Is Skyscanner or ThinkReservations better?
Neither clearly leads. Skyscanner starts at Free and ThinkReservations at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Skyscanner or ThinkReservations?
Skyscanner has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Skyscanner and On request for ThinkReservations.
Does Skyscanner or ThinkReservations run on more platforms?
Skyscanner runs on iOS, Android, Web. ThinkReservations runs on Web.
Can I use Skyscanner for free?
Yes. Skyscanner has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. ThinkReservations 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 ThinkReservations is typically brought in for.
What can Skyscanner do that ThinkReservations cannot?
Skyscanner covers Flight price comparison, Flexible date and destination search, Hotel and car hire comparison, Price alerts. ThinkReservations covers Reservation calendar, Direct booking engine, Channel management, Integrated payments.

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.

ThinkReservations: How much does ThinkReservations cost?

It is not published. Pricing is quoted per property, generally scaled by room count, after a sales conversation.

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.

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.

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.

ThinkReservations: Does it work outside the United States?

In practice no. Tax, payments and support are built around North America.

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.

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