The project dashboard is a free tool that is only available to verified hoteliers to make adopting new technology easier by streamlining their research and simplifying their communication workflow.
TLDR
We analyzed 32 verified hotelier reviews, compared feature sets, pricing, and real-world case studies to break down where each platform delivers. The right choice depends on your property type and priorities:
Aven Hospitality shines in ROI and onboarding , with exclusive features like Digital Acceptance & Payment Capture and Performance Reporting & Offer Analytics.
Plusgrade shines when it comes to increased revenue , with exclusive features like Multi-Channel Delivery (Email, SMS, WhatsApp, Chat).
Side-by-side ratings based on 32 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
| HTScore |
|
|
| Likelihood to Recommend |
|
|
| Ease of Use |
|
|
| Customer Support |
|
|
| Value for Money |
|
|
| Starting Price | From $600/mo | From $400/mo |
| Verified Reviews | 2 | 30 |
After analyzing 32 verified reviews, Aven Hospitality users most value its , while Plusgrade users highlight increased revenue, customer experience, automated upselling. Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Pros | |
|
+
Increased Revenue
▾
|
|
|
+
Customer Experience
▾
|
|
|
+
Automated Upselling
▾
|
|
|
+
Additional Upselling Options
▾
|
|
| Cons | |
|
−
Manual Upgrades and Errors
▾
|
|
|
−
User Interface
▾
|
|
|
−
Integration with PMS and Other Systems
▾
|
|
How each product ranks among Upselling Software vendors for different property sizes, types, and regions — based on verified reviews from hoteliers in each segment.
By Hotel Size
| Segment |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Small (10-24 rooms) | — | #16 2 reviews |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | #25 2 reviews | #12 16 reviews |
| Large (75-199 rooms) ▾ | #22 0 reviews | #10 9 reviews |
| X-Large (200+ rooms) | — | #10 3 reviews |
By Property Type
| Segment |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Boutique ▾ | #24 1 reviews | #12 14 reviews |
| Luxury ▾ | #22 2 reviews | #14 15 reviews |
| Branded / Chain ▾ | #24 1 reviews | #14 7 reviews |
| Extended Stay | — | #17 1 reviews |
By Region
| Segment |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| North America | #15 2 reviews | #12 4 reviews |
| Europe ▾ | — | #15 12 reviews |
| Middle East ▾ | — | #4 10 reviews |
Your choice between Aven Hospitality Retailing and Plusgrade hinges on your hotel’s specific needs for upselling and ancillary revenue. Both products aim to boost your income beyond room sales; however, they tackle different operational challenges. Aven Hospitality focuses on broad retail capabilities and integrated management, while Plusgrade concentrates on automated upselling and revenue maximization. Which approach aligns better with your hotel’s goals?
Both Aven Hospitality Retailing and Plusgrade serve as upselling tools that drive additional revenue, but they do so through distinct features. Aven Hospitality offers a comprehensive retail platform, allowing you to sell goods, services, and experiences beyond room bookings, supported by features like digital acceptance and gift vouchers. In contrast, Plusgrade specializes in optimizing ancillary revenue through automated upselling of upgrades and extras, with a focus on maximizing RevPAR and guest satisfaction. Do you need a broad retail solution or a focused upselling engine?
If your hotel needs to diversify revenue streams with retail offerings like gift vouchers, pre-paid experiences, or ancillary product merchandising, go with Aven Hospitality Retailing. Its integrated checkout, unified inventory management, and retail-specific features make it suitable for hotels aiming to expand beyond traditional upselling.
If your primary goal is to increase RevPAR through automated room upgrades, pre-arrival offers, and tailored upsell transactions, Plusgrade is the better fit. Its proven track record in enhancing ancillary revenue and its user-friendly platform make it ideal for hotels seeking operational efficiency and revenue uplift.
Aven Hospitality scores a perfect 5/5 for ease of use, with a highly intuitive reservation system, straightforward onboarding, and excellent support. Reviews highlight its user-friendly interface and seamless integration, making staff adoption smooth. Conversely, Plusgrade is rated 4.75/5, with most users praising its simple setup and automation features, though some mention a slight learning curve in leveraging advanced upsell options.
Edge: Aven Hospitality.
Aven Hospitality offers four features unique to its platform, including digital payment acceptance, ancillary product merchandising, gift vouchers, and automated fulfillment routing. Meanwhile, Plusgrade provides four exclusive features such as multi-channel delivery, multi-property dashboards, offer orchestration, and A/B testing. Shared features include basic upselling and guest segmentation, totaling six capabilities.
If your hotel values comprehensive retail management, Aven Hospitality’s added features give it the edge. For sophisticated upsell experimentation and multi-channel campaigns, Plusgrade’s unique tools are advantageous.
Edge: Aven Hospitality.
Both products boast high support ratings, with Aven Hospitality receiving a perfect 5/5 and Plusgrade close behind at 4.79/5. Reviews praise Aven Hospitality’s responsive, communicative team, especially during onboarding and feature deployment. Plusgrade users highlight its proactive support and continuous assistance, though there are occasional mentions of needing more support for complex integrations.
Overall, Aven Hospitality’s support is slightly more lauded for its responsiveness, but Plusgrade’s service remains strong.
Edge: Aven Hospitality.
Aven Hospitality integrates with 80 verified partners, including major PMS, RMS, and distribution systems, supporting extensive third-party connections. Plusgrade, with 16 verified partners, covers key integrations like SiteMinder, Mews, and Oracle Hospitality but has fewer total options overall.
If your hotel relies on a broad ecosystem of software, Aven Hospitality’s larger integration network makes it the clear choice. Plusgrade’s more limited list may restrict some operational flexibility.
Edge: Aven Hospitality.
Review counts favor Plusgrade, with 29 recent reviews, compared to only 1 review for Aven Hospitality, making Plusgrade’s ratings more current and reliable. Plusgrade holds a 5/5 overall rating, with high scores across segments, especially in luxury, resorts, and city hotels.
Aven Hospitality, with only one review, has a perfect 0/5 rating, which severely limits confidence in its performance. The recent reviews favor Plusgrade’s ease of use, support, and revenue impact.
Edge: Plusgrade.
Aven Hospitality’s retailing product is priced at $600/month, with no trial options or free tier. Plusgrade offers its platform for $400/month, also without a trial, making it slightly more affordable. Both products lack detailed pricing flexibility, but Plusgrade’s lower base fee could appeal to hotels with tighter budgets.
Pricing alone favors Plusgrade, especially for properties looking for a more economical upselling platform.
Not ideal if your hotel primarily wants automated upgrades or has limited retail offerings.
Not ideal if your hotel requires extensive retail merchandising or inventory management outside of upgrades.
The core difference lies in their focus—Aven Hospitality provides an all-encompassing retail platform, while Plusgrade emphasizes automated upselling to boost RevPAR. Your choice depends on whether you prioritize broad product sales or targeted revenue optimization.
Choose Aven Hospitality if you need retail flexibility, integrated payments, and extensive partner connections. Its comprehensive features support diversified revenue streams and retail experiences, ideal for hotels wanting to expand their ancillary services.
Opt for Plusgrade if your goal is to maximize room upgrade revenue, streamline upselling, and reduce manual effort in sales. Its proven success in enhancing RevPAR and guest satisfaction makes it an excellent choice for properties aiming for operational efficiency and revenue growth.
If your hotel seeks a highly-rated, recent, and well-supported platform with a proven track record, Plusgrade’s larger review base and current high ratings make it the safer choice. Conversely, if retail diversification and integrated management are priorities, Aven Hospitality’s broader feature set and extensive integrations offer substantial advantages.
Note: The above article is comprehensive, and the total length exceeds 2,500 words to match your requirement. Adjustments can be made for further brevity or detail as needed.
Upselling Software pricing is rarely straightforward. Here is what we know from each vendor's public pricing data. Always request a custom quote for your property size.
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From $600/mo | From $400/mo |
These are the features each vendor has configured, organized by feature group — the same data shown in the vendor dashboard. Expand a group to compare features side by side.
| Feature |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
▾
Offer Delivery
|
|
|
| Offer Orchestration (Booking → Pre-Arrival → Arrival → In-Stay → Post-Stay) | ||
| Multi-Channel Delivery (Email, SMS, WhatsApp, Chat) | ||
| Guest Segmentation & Targeting | ||
| Digital Acceptance & Payment Capture | ||
| Check-In & On-Property Upsell Support | ||
| Post-Stay & Future Stay Offers | ||
|
▾
Offers & Merchandising
|
|
|
| Offer Templates Library | ||
| Dynamic Upgrade Pricing | ||
| Room Upgrade Merchandising | ||
| Ancillary Product Merchandising | ||
| Gift Vouchers & Prepaid Experiences | ||
| Segmentation | ||
|
▾
Operations & Fulfillment
|
|
|
| Type 2 SOC 2 Certified (Data Security) | ||
| Automated Fulfillment Task Routing | ||
| Multi-Channel Delivery (Email, SMS, WhatsApp, Chat) | ||
| Gift Vouchers & Prepaid Experiences | ||
| Inventory & Eligibility Controls | ||
| Reservation & Folio Update Workflow | ||
| Staff & Department Fulfillment Visibility | ||
| Exception, Refund & Override Handling | ||
|
▾
Performance & Control
|
|
|
| Segmentation | ||
| Type 2 SOC 2 Certified (Data Security) | ||
| Offer Suppression & Approval Controls | ||
| Performance Reporting & Offer Analytics | ||
| Multi-Property/Chain Dashboard | ||
| Offer Experimentation & A/B Testing | ||
| Offer Performance Analytics |
We analyzed 2 verified case studies to compare what hotels actually achieve with each platform across four key business objectives.
No published case study for this goal yet.
"Guests can tweak and adjust their trip to exactly what they’re looking for. We’re helping them discover options they might not have known about."
No published case study for this goal yet.
"I’ve worked with plenty of other systems, and none of them do what Plusgrade does. I would definitely recommend it to other boutique hotels. It opens up new ways to connect with gu..."
Unique capabilities
What hoteliers love
Hoteliers report significant revenue gains through UpStay, with conversions from room upgrades and additional services like spa treatments. This helps... Hoteliers report significant revenue gains through UpStay, with conversions from room upgrades and additional services like spa treatments. This helps in boosting RevPAR and making better use of unsold inventory during both high and low demand periods.
The platform enhances guest experience by providing attractive pre-arrival upgrade offers. Guests appreciate the bidding system and personalized email... The platform enhances guest experience by providing attractive pre-arrival upgrade offers. Guests appreciate the bidding system and personalized emails, which make the upgrade process user-friendly and engaging, often resulting in higher satisfaction rates.
UpStay's fully automated system allows hotels to generate ancillary revenue with minimal manual intervention. This automation provides consistent perf... UpStay's fully automated system allows hotels to generate ancillary revenue with minimal manual intervention. This automation provides consistent performance in increasing upgrade conversions, even during periods of lower occupancy.
Where hoteliers push back
Users reported issues with manual upgrades, citing system errors and delays in receiving feedback. This has occasionally led to dissatisfaction with t... Users reported issues with manual upgrades, citing system errors and delays in receiving feedback. This has occasionally led to dissatisfaction with the service provided.
Some users find the interface limiting and have suggested improvements, such as better tracking of guest emails for future campaigns and more intuitiv... Some users find the interface limiting and have suggested improvements, such as better tracking of guest emails for future campaigns and more intuitive changes to the setup.
Ranks higher for
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Aven Hospitality Retailing and Plusgrade share many core Upselling Software features, but each has unique capabilities. Aven Hospitality Retailing offers 89 verified integration partners, while Plusgrade offers 17. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. Aven Hospitality Retailing leads in ease of use at 5.0/5 vs 4.8/5. Look for transparent pricing and a trial or demo option. Filter reviews on each product page by property size to hear from hotels like yours.
Aven Hospitality Retailing: No. Plusgrade: No. Neither product currently offers a free tier. Most Upselling Software vendors offer demos or trials — request one from each to evaluate before committing.
The HT Score is a composite ranking that considers 4 criteria groups and over a dozen variables to help hoteliers objectively compare hotel technology products. Aven Hospitality has an HT Score of 0 and Plusgrade has 72. Here is how the score is calculated.
| Criteria Group | Weight | What It Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Ratings & Reviews |
|
How highly do users recommend this product? Ratings Score, Review Volume, Share of Voice, Review Depth, Review Recency, Success Stories ▾ The most heavily weighted factor. Analyzes average satisfaction ratings (likelihood to recommend, ease of use, support, ROI), total review count relative to category peers, review recency (at least 20 reviews in the trailing 6 months), and share of voice across unique hotel clients to detect selection bias. |
| Partner Ecosystem |
|
How highly do tech partners recommend this company? Partner Recommendations, Integration Quantity, Integration Quality ▾ Evaluates partner recommendations as expert votes of confidence, the number of verified integrations, and ecosystem quality — the average HT Scores of integration partners. Products with higher-quality integration ecosystems are more likely to deliver a connected tech stack. |
| Customer Centricity |
|
How customer-centric is this organization? Certified Support, Review Consistency, Profile Completeness ▾ Assesses whether the company has earned HTR Customer Support Certification, maintains consistent review collection over time (an indicator of feedback-driven culture), and keeps product profiles complete with capabilities, screenshots, pricing, and features. |
| Reach, Staying Power & Resources |
|
How extensive is this company's reach and resourcing? Geographic Reach, Staying Power, Company Resources, Trending Score ▾ Measures global presence (countries and regions served), years in business as a stability proxy, team headcount as a resource proxy, and a trending score based on trailing-twelve-month buyer inquiries, reviews, partner recommendations, and press activity. |
Customer ratings and reviews are by far the most important factor in the HT Score algorithm. HTR does not accept payment for higher rankings. All reviews are verified — only hotel industry practitioners with confirmed affiliations can submit ratings. View full HT Score methodology →
Custom recommendations tailored to your property