Hopper

Travel booking app known for price prediction and paid Price Freeze and cancellation add-ons

As of 1 September 2026, Hopper is free to use. A flight and hotel booking app that predicts whether prices will rise or fall and sells add-on products, Price Freeze and flexible cancellation, that are the actual revenue driver alongside standard travel commission. Softwr lists it under Travel. Hopper is made by Hopper Inc., available on iOS, Android.

Visit siteVisit Hopper

Overview

What Hopper does

Hopper lets users book flights, hotels, car hire and, in some markets, cruises, using historical pricing data to predict whether a fare is likely to rise or fall and recommending whether to buy now or wait. It also sells cancel-for-any-reason and change-for-any-reason add-ons and Price Freeze, which locks a price for a fee for a set number of days without committing to the full purchase. The add-on products are central to Hopper's business model, not incidental extras. Price Freeze fees and cancellation or change protection products carry meaningfully higher margins than the underlying flight or hotel booking commission, and Hopper is known in the industry for pushing these add-ons prominently during the booking flow. The price prediction feature itself is a genuine differentiator built from Hopper's historical fare data, though like any prediction it is a probability, not a guarantee, and can be wrong. Buyers are price-sensitive leisure travellers who want guidance on timing a purchase, and who are willing to pay a bit more for the flexibility that a fully non-refundable fare would not otherwise offer. The trade-off is that add-on costs, if taken on every booking, can offset a meaningful share of the savings the price prediction tool is meant to unlock.

What people use it for

A traveller wanting data-driven guidance on whether to book now or wait for a lower price
Someone wanting to lock in a fare for a few days while confirming travel plans without fully committing
A traveller who wants flexible cancellation on an otherwise restrictive fare
Someone comparing predicted price trends before choosing travel dates

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Hopper.

Add-on products like Price Freeze and Cancel for Any Reason are priced to be a meaningfully profitable part of the business, and taking them on every booking can offset much of what the price prediction tool is meant to save.
Price predictions are probabilistic and can be wrong, so buy-or-wait guidance is not a guarantee that a price will actually move as predicted.
The prominent placement of paid add-ons during checkout has drawn criticism as pressuring users into purchases they may not need for every trip.
Customer service for booking issues has been a recurring complaint, particularly for itinerary changes on cancel or change protected bookings.
Hopper's own Carrot Cash rewards currency is only redeemable within the app, so it has no value outside future Hopper bookings.

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of Hopper

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

Hoppervs
Kayak
Kayak: If you want price comparison across sites without Hopper's add-on booking products
Hoppervs
TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor: If you want traveller reviews alongside booking and price data

Pricing

What Hopper costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Standard booking

Free

No fee beyond the fare or room price itself

Price Freeze

On request

Fee varies by fare and freeze duration, charged in addition to the eventual ticket price

Cancel/Change for Any Reason

On request

Add-on fee charged at checkout, priced as a percentage or flat amount depending on the fare

Capabilities

Features

Price prediction
Buy or wait guidance for flights and hotels based on historical fare data
Price Freeze
Pay a fee to lock a displayed price for a set number of days before committing
Cancel/Change for Any Reason
Paid add-ons allowing cancellation or date changes outside the fare's normal rules
Price alerts
Notifications when a tracked flight or hotel price changes
Hopper Homes and Car
Hotel and car hire booking alongside flights
Carrot Cash
Hopper's in-app rewards currency earned on bookings and redeemable within the app

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

Is Hopper free to use for searching and booking?

Yes, the base booking has no extra fee; Price Freeze and cancellation flexibility are separate paid add-ons.

How accurate is Hopper's price prediction?

It is based on historical fare data and gives a probability-based recommendation, not a guarantee; predictions can be wrong.

What does Price Freeze actually do?

It locks a displayed price for a fee for a set number of days, letting you decide later without committing to the full purchase immediately.

Keep looking

Where to go from Hopper

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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Hopper, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

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