Which booking engine should <em>an independent hotel</em> pick?
A chain sells rooms through its brand, its app and its rewards program. You have a website, a Google listing and a Book Now button. That button has to work hard.
Your booking engine is the part of your website that shows open rooms, takes the reservation and drops it into your calendar. For an independent property, it's the only sales channel that doesn't hand a cut to an OTA. It only pays off if it reads the same inventory as Booking.com and Expedia. Otherwise you'll sell the last room twice on a busy weekend.
The short answer. You want one subscription that covers everything? eviivo, from $50 a month before tax, booking engine and channel manager included. You run a small inn or B&B on a tight budget? Sirvoy, free for one room, Pro from €41 a month. You'd rather pay per room with a clear US price list? WebRezPro, $10 per unit, $100 minimum. Keeping your current PMS? Look at SiteMinder.
Every price comes from the vendor's own pricing page, read in 2026.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored placement is always labeled on its entry, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Three kinds of independent hotel, three answers
5 booking engines for independent hotels, side by side
All five take zero commission on direct bookings. That's the entry ticket for this list. The Contract column shows what you sign, because that's where independents get burned most often. Click a name to jump to its review.
| Best for | Contract | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | eviivo | One subscription | First 30 days free | 4.0/5 | From $50/mo before tax | — | B&Bs and small hotels | Visit → |
| 2 | Sirvoy | Small inn | No written contract | 4.0/5 | €0; Starter from €11/mo; Pro from €41/mo | ✓ | 1 to 15 rooms | Visit → |
| 3 | WebRezPro | Per-room pricing | Yearly, cancel with 30 days' notice | 3.9/5 | $10/unit/mo, $100 minimum | — | 10 to 50 rooms | Visit → |
| 4 | SiteMinder | Keep your PMS | No lock-in, 30 days' written notice | 3.8/5 | Custom quote by rooms and products | — | Hotels with a PMS already | Visit → |
| 5 | Cloudbeds | All-in-one platform | Depends on the quote | 3.7/5 | Custom quote, One plan for the engine | — | 15 to 60 rooms | Visit → |
Prices from official pricing pages in 2026, before tax where the vendor says so. Card processing fees apply with every engine.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
How we picked these five
Search this question and the top results are mostly vendors ranking their own product first, plus one big directory that shows prices as dollar signs. None of them tells an independent owner what the engine costs over twelve months, or what happens when the contract renews.
We read each vendor's pricing page, then thousands of hotelier reviews on the main review platforms. An engine only made the list if the vendor states in writing that it takes no commission on direct bookings, and if it shares live inventory with your PMS or channel manager (the tool that pushes your rooms to the OTAs). All five ranked engines pass both checks.
We didn't open accounts. We compared what vendors publish and what their customers say. Scores match our main hotel booking engine ranking, so a tool gets the same score everywhere.
- Real costWhat you pay each month to sell online: subscription, engine add-on, fixed fees. A public price counts for more than a quote.25%
- Commission and feesWhat leaves on every sale: per-booking fees, card fees, metasearch commission. That's the whole point of going direct.25%
- PMS and channel syncDoes the engine see the same inventory as your OTAs, in real time? If not, double bookings stay on the table.25%
- Booking flowWhat your guest sees on a phone: number of steps, a clear total, your hotel's look.10%
- Contract and supportTerm, notice period, how support handles problems in reviews. An independent has no IT department to fight its battles.15%
No affiliate link changes a score or a rank.
Booking engine prices shift before peak season. Get the heads-up before you sign
eviivo
Every eviivo plan bundles the calendar and PMS, the booking engine or website (or both), and a channel manager that covers the major OTAs, GDS and regional channels. Users are unlimited. Entry is $50 a month before tax for one property. You don't buy an extra module to keep your site and Booking.com on the same inventory, and eviivo takes no revenue share on bookings.
The add-ons set your real price, billed per room per month: $1 for payments, $2 for performance, $3 each for guest, promo and owner tools. On a 15-room property, payments plus promo adds $60 a month, more than the base plan. With payments or messaging switched on, there's also a flat $0.50 per confirmed booking.
On getting started, the FAQ says there's no free trial, just a demo, with the first 30 days free at onboarding and billing in arrears. Reviews often praise patient support for owners who aren't tech-savvy; a minority call it very poor.
- Engine, website and channel manager in every plan
- Unlimited users
- No commission on bookings
- ✓The easiest all-in-one to understand
- ✓Published US dollar prices
- ✓First 30 days free at onboarding
- ✗Per-room add-ons add up fast
- ✗$0.50 per booking with payments or messaging
- ✗No self-serve trial before the demo
Our top pick if you want one bill and one vendor. Price out the add-ons on your room count before you sign.
Sirvoy
Sirvoy is the only engine here with a free plan: one room, five extras, a basic website and the booking engine. Once you have a few rooms, Starter costs €11 a month billed yearly. The pricing page states 0% commission and fees, and there's no written contract or setup fee. If you want to try direct sales, the downside is close to zero.
The catch sits in the plan details. Distribution to Booking.com, Airbnb and other OTAs only comes with Pro, from €41 a month. On Starter, your site and your OTAs don't talk, so you close dates by hand and double bookings creep in. If you already sell on an OTA, budget for Pro from day one.
Prices are listed in euros only, so expect your card's exchange rate. Reviews rate support as the strong point. The complaints are about some channel links: one owner reports prices and settings changing on Expedia, others want more detail in channel notifications.
- Free plan for one room
- No written contract, no setup fee
- Pro from €41 a month with OTA distribution
- ✓Lowest entry price on the list
- ✓Clear public price list
- ✓Highly rated support
- ✗OTA distribution only on Pro
- ✗Priced in euros only
- ✗An Expedia sync complaint in reviews
The best low-risk start for a small independent property: free to try, Pro to sell everywhere without overbooking.
WebRezPro
WebRezPro prices its cloud PMS at $10 per unit per month, with a $100 minimum up to 14 units, $150 from 15 to 24 and $250 from 25 to 49. Each tier includes a payment gateway integration, and larger tiers add free integrations. The website booking engine carries no commission and no transaction fees, and there are no setup fees.
That's the clearest math on this list: a 20-room inn pays $200 a month, a 30-room hotel $300. Users are unlimited. The contract is signed and renewed yearly, but you can cancel with 30 days' written notice without penalty. That's a good middle ground between month-to-month and a multi-year lock-in.
The limit: WebRezPro is a full PMS, not a bolt-on engine. If you love your current PMS, this means switching your front desk too.
- $10 per unit, published tiers
- No-fee booking engine
- Cancel with 30 days' written notice
- ✓Price you can work out yourself
- ✓No setup fees
- ✓Unlimited users
- ✗Means replacing your PMS
- ✗$100 monthly floor for tiny properties
- ✗Yearly contract renewal
A strong pick for a 10 to 50 room independent that wants predictable per-room pricing and no booking fees.
SiteMinder
SiteMinder isn't a front-desk system. It's a channel manager, and the SiteMinder Plus plan adds the direct booking engine, metasearch, a website builder and rate parity checks. It connects to your existing PMS, and the engine and channel manager share the same inventory.
Pricing is the weak spot. The page shows no amounts, only a price calculated for your size. On top of that come usage fees: commission on stays from metasearch and the marketplace, plus a fee per payment. If your PMS is Opera, the connection costs extra.
SiteMinder states no lock-in with 30 days' written notice. In reviews (4 out of 5, 450+ reviews) hoteliers praise stability, but some describe a sales rep promising no contract and charges after cancellation. Cancel in writing and keep proof.
- Plugs into the PMS you already run
- Rate parity checks in Plus
- 30 days' written notice
- ✓Stability praised by hoteliers
- ✓14-day free trial
- ✓Google free booking links partner
- ✗No published amounts
- ✗Usage fees on top of the plan
- ✗Cancellation complaints in reviews
The right call if you don't want to touch your front desk. Ask for a written quote that also prices the usage fees.
Cloudbeds
Cloudbeds puts its booking engine in the One plan, alongside the channel manager. The entry plan, Flex, has no engine: you bring your own. Cloudbeds states it adds no commission on bookings through its engine. Only metasearch, like Google, is billed on commission, after the guest's stay.
If you run paid ads, check one thing first. Some users report that the engine, shown in an embedded frame, makes Google Ads conversion tracking unreliable. Others find it modern, and a few call it not flexible enough. Its online booking rating (4 out of 5) sits below its overall 4.3.
There's no public price. A quote is the only way to see whether Cloudbeds beats eviivo or WebRezPro at your size.
- Engine and channel manager in One
- No added commission on the engine
- Google free booking links partner
- ✓Complete platform
- ✓Built-in payments
- ✓One calendar for engine and channels
- ✗No public price
- ✗Flex has no booking engine
- ✗Ads tracking issues with the framed engine
Solid if the quote works for you. Pick One, not Flex, and check ad tracking if you run campaigns.
What an independent hotel should demand from its engine
A chain brings guests through its brand and loyalty program. An independent has to win them alone: get found, earn trust, take the payment. Here are the four areas where your engine choice really matters.
Your rates
Check your OTA agreement for any parity clause before you price your site. Where you're free to do so, a good engine lets you create a website-only rate, a promo code or a perk like free parking, without touching your OTA rates. That's the reason a guest comparing on Google clicks through to you.
Your visibility on Google
Many guests compare your hotel in its Google listing before they click. Google shows free booking links there, with no cost per click, if a connectivity partner sends it your rates. Sirvoy, eviivo, SiteMinder and Cloudbeds appear in Google's official partner directory. For any other vendor, ask before you sign.
Your brand
The engine is the last page a guest sees before paying. It should carry your look and work on a phone in a few steps. No website yet? Sirvoy includes a basic one, and eviivo offers the engine, the website, or both.
Your exit
When site, engine and PMS come from one vendor, leaving gets expensive. Make sure the domain is in your name, that you can export guests and bookings, and how long you're committed. Sirvoy has no written contract, WebRezPro and SiteMinder need 30 days' written notice.
- Zero commission on direct bookings, in writing
- Same live inventory as your OTAs
- Website-only rate or perk possible
- Google free booking links partner
- Domain, data and contract term in writing
What an engine costs over twelve months
Independents budget by the year. Here's what the public price lists come to over twelve months, and how to tell if the engine pays for itself.
Public prices over a year
eviivo: at least $600 before tax, before per-room add-ons. Sirvoy Pro: €492 billed yearly, OTA distribution included. WebRezPro: $1,200 for up to 10 units at the $100 minimum, $2,400 for a 20-room property. SiteMinder and Cloudbeds: quote only.
What gets added
Card fees apply everywhere. eviivo charges $0.50 per booking with its payment or messaging add-on. SiteMinder bills each payment plus commission on metasearch stays, and Cloudbeds bills metasearch after the stay. Sirvoy charges for SMS one by one.
Break-even
Take the commission rate in your OTA contract. Divide the engine's monthly cost by that rate: the result is the monthly revenue you need to move from the OTA to your site for the engine to pay for itself. With WebRezPro at $200, that's $200 divided by your rate. Run it for a slow month and a peak month.
- Get a quote on your actual room count
- Count card fees separately
- Add up per-room add-ons
- Check PMS connector fees
Other names you'll run into, and why they're not ranked
These tools show up in most roundups. Each is missing a readable official price or a point we couldn't verify for an independent hotel, so we say what we know instead of ranking them blind.
Beds24: cheapest, if you like settings
From €15.50Beds24 starts at €15.50 a month with no contract, plus €0.55 a month per room-type-to-channel link, engine included and commission-free. It's in our main ranking. We leave it out here because its booking flow and setup draw the most criticism, and an owner without tech help can lose hours in it.
- Price
- From €15.50/mo
- Best for
- Owners who enjoy configuration
RoomRaccoon: all-in-one, no public price
QuoteRoomRaccoon targets independent hotels with a PMS, distribution and engine bundle. The figures floating around come from third-party sites and contradict each other; the vendor publishes no price list. We'll rank it once there's an official price.
- Price
- Quote only
D-EDGE: built for larger hotels
QuotePart of the Accor group and well rated by hoteliers on specialist review sites. No price or billing model is published. For an independent under twenty rooms, it's rarely the first call.
- Price
- Quote only
Mews: engine inside the PMS
QuoteMews builds its booking engine into its PMS with upsells at checkout. No price is published, and it's not in Google's free booking links partner directory, which matters for an independent counting on Google traffic.
- Price
- Quote only
What actually drives direct bookings
An engine doesn't bring guests on its own. These moves, drawn from hotelier reviews and official pages, make the difference for a hotel without a national brand.
Give a reason to book direct
Check your contractIf your OTA contract allows it, offer something only on your site: breakfast, parking, early check-in. Say it inside the booking engine, not just on the homepage. The guest comparing on Google finally has a reason to click your link.
- Cost
- The value of the perk
Turn on Google free booking links
$0Free booking links show in your hotel's Google listing and cost nothing per click. They run through your vendor if it's a connectivity partner. Ask it to switch them on, then check in Hotel Center that your rate shows.
- Requirement
- Vendor is a Google partner
Book your own hotel on your phone
Before you signDuring the demo or trial, make a real mobile booking: dates, promo code, total, deposit. Then check it lands in your calendar and the room closes on Booking.com. If the total changes between screens, guests will bail.
- When
- During trial or demo
Get the term in writing
Before you signSiteMinder reviews tell the same story again and again: a verbal no-contract promise, then charges after cancellation. Ask for the term, notice period and how to cancel, in writing.
- Get
- Term, notice, cancellation method
Multiply add-ons by your rooms
eviivoA from $50 price changes fast when add-ons are billed per room. Multiply each add-on by your room count before you compare two quotes.
- Example
- 15 rooms x $4 = $60/mo
Own your domain
Before you signIf your vendor provides the website, buy the domain yourself and point it at them. When you leave, your address and your search rankings leave with you.
- Cost
- A few dollars a year
Need more than an engine? Go here
This page covers the Book Now button of an independent hotel. For the rest of your tech, these pages compare each piece.
Calendar, billing and front desk tools ranked by hotel size.
You want your rooms on every OTABest hotel channel managerTools that keep inventory in sync everywhere.
You want rates that follow demandBest hotel revenue management toolTools that adjust your rates by season.
Booking engine for independent hotels · FAQ
What's the best booking engine for an independent hotel?
For one bill covering everything, eviivo from $50 a month before tax. For a small inn, Sirvoy, free for one room and €41 a month on Pro. For clear per-room pricing in the US, WebRezPro at $10 per unit with a $100 minimum.Is a commission-free booking engine really free?
No. You pay a subscription and almost always card processing fees. Only Sirvoy has a €0 plan, and it's limited to one room. Ask for the total cost with card fees included.Can I offer a lower rate on my website than on Booking.com?
It depends on your OTA agreement and your country. Read the parity clause in your contract first. If a lower price isn't allowed, a perk reserved for direct guests, like breakfast or parking, usually is.How many direct bookings does it take to pay for an engine?
Divide the engine's monthly cost by your OTA commission rate. That's the monthly revenue to move direct. With Sirvoy Pro at €41, compare that figure to your average nightly rate.Do I need a PMS to use a booking engine?
Not always, but the engine must read the same calendar as your OTAs. With no PMS, pick an all-in-one like eviivo or Sirvoy. If you keep your PMS, SiteMinder plugs into it.How do I get Google free booking links?
Through a connectivity partner that sends your rates to Google. Sirvoy, eviivo, SiteMinder and Cloudbeds are in Google's official partner directory. Ask your vendor to switch them on, then check your rate in Hotel Center.Does a booking engine stop overbookings?
Only if it shares live inventory with your channel manager. Watch out for Sirvoy Starter, which has no OTA distribution: you need Pro to close dates everywhere at once.Can I switch engines without losing my website?
Yes, if the domain is in your name and the engine plugs in as a button or widget. If the vendor owns the site, you start over. Buy your domain yourself from day one.