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 190 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:
Exely shines in ease of use and customer support — especially for brand properties (0.0/5) , with exclusive features like Mobile optimized/responsive and Post-stay emails.
GraceSoft shines .
Side-by-side ratings based on 190 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
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| Starting Price | From $200/mo | Contact sales |
| Verified Reviews | 190 | 0 |
After analyzing 190 verified reviews, Exely users most value its support and training, direct booking enhancement, user-friendly interface, while GraceSoft users highlight . Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
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Support and Training
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Direct Booking Enhancement
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User-Friendly Interface
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Mobile Optimization
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Reporting and Analytics
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Customization and Flexibility
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Seamless Integration
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How each product ranks among Booking Engine vendors for different property sizes, types, and regions — based on verified reviews from hoteliers in each segment.
By Hotel Size
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| Small (10-24 rooms) ▾ | #15 34 reviews | — |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | #11 64 reviews | — |
| Large (75-199 rooms) ▾ | #22 5 reviews | — |
| X-Large (200+ rooms) ▾ | #8 6 reviews | — |
By Property Type
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| Boutique ▾ | #15 35 reviews | — |
| Luxury ▾ | #15 28 reviews | — |
| Branded / Chain ▾ | #16 17 reviews | — |
| Extended Stay ▾ | #16 9 reviews | — |
By Region
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| North America | #24 2 reviews | — |
| Europe ▾ | #25 11 reviews | — |
| Asia Pacific ▾ | #4 79 reviews | — |
| Middle East ▾ | #2 17 reviews | — |
Choosing the right booking engine is critical for your hotel's success in attracting direct bookings, streamlining operations, and maximizing revenue. While both Exely Booking Engine and GraceSoft Booking Engine aim to serve this purpose, Exely’s robust features, extensive integrations, and recent user feedback make it a more compelling choice for hotels eager to grow their direct sales. GraceSoft offers a user-friendly platform, but its limited reviews and regional presence suggest it’s less proven at scale.
Exely Booking Engine dominates with over 170 reviews, a high recent review count, and a near-perfect satisfaction score, making it the stronger option. GraceSoft, although active since 1999, has zero reviews and no recent customer feedback, which significantly limits confidence in its performance. If your hotel seeks a proven, feature-rich booking engine with extensive support, Exely is the clear winner.
Both products focus on simplifying reservations and increasing direct bookings, but Exely emphasizes deep integration and advanced features, while GraceSoft leans more towards basic reservation management. Exely’s embedded, branded booking flow helps keep guests on your website, reducing drop-offs and increasing conversions, whereas GraceSoft’s platform appears more generic and less tailored to individual branding. Given Exely’s high review count and recent positive feedback, it seems more suited for hotels prioritizing digital growth.
While GraceSoft offers core booking functions, Exely provides 30 unique features, including multi-lingual support, rate plan comparisons, special offers, and automated reporting—features that better support complex revenue management. Its integrations with tools like Mews, Oracle Hospitality, and Booking.com further enhance operational efficiency. The choice hinges on whether you need a simple booking system or an optimized, feature-rich platform.
Edge: Exely
If your hotel needs a booking engine to drive direct sales, increase website conversions, and integrate with a broad ecosystem of tools, Exely is the better fit. Its high review count and recent feedback indicate ongoing customer satisfaction, especially among boutique, city center, and resort hotels seeking advanced features and regional coverage.
However, if your hotel operates on a very tight budget, or you simply want basic reservation functionality without advanced customization, GraceSoft’s platform might suffice—although its reviews are nonexistent, which raises questions on reliability. Hotels aiming for growth and digital maturity should gravitate toward Exely’s proven track record and feature set.
Edge: Exely
Exely scores an outstanding 4.9/5 for ease of use, with reviewers praising its intuitive interface, quick onboarding, and responsive support. Hotels frequently mention how fast staff adopt the platform and how simple it is to manage reservations, even for those less tech-savvy.
GraceSoft’s usability is unverified due to a lack of recent reviews, so its user-friendliness remains uncertain. Given Exely’s high scores and active customer feedback, it clearly provides a smoother onboarding and daily user experience.
Edge: Exely
Exely offers 30 exclusive features, including multi-currency, GDPR compliance, booking abandonment recapture, referral reporting, and gift vouchers—none of which GraceSoft provides. Its capabilities extend to integrations with major OTAs and PMS systems, along with advanced options like rate plan comparisons and customizable add-ons.
GraceSoft’s feature set appears limited, lacking the extensive tools and integrations found in Exely. For property managers seeking to optimize revenue and guest experience with advanced tools, Exely’s feature depth makes it the superior choice.
Edge: Exely
Exely’s support scores a remarkable 4.95/5, with recent reviews highlighting prompt, helpful responses and clear guidance. Customers frequently mention their support team’s professionalism, especially in onboarding and troubleshooting, which boosts confidence in long-term partnership.
GraceSoft offers no recent reviews or support ratings, leaving its customer service quality uncertain. For hotels that value reliable, responsive support, Exely’s proven track record makes it the safer choice.
Edge: Exely
Exely boasts 8 verified partners, including Mews, Oracle Hospitality, Booking.com, and HotelLab, offering extensive connectivity to PMS, OTAs, and analytics tools. GraceSoft has only one verified integration, limiting its ability to connect with other essential systems.
If your hotel depends on seamless integrations to streamline operations and improve data insights, Exely’s ecosystem is far more comprehensive.
Edge: Exely
Exely’s reviews, totaling over 170, are recent and overwhelmingly positive, with a 98% likelihood to recommend and a 4.9/5 ease of use rating. Hotels across boutique, resort, and city center segments consistently praise its features, support, and impact on direct bookings.
GraceSoft’s lack of reviews makes it impossible to gauge hotel satisfaction, but the absence of recent feedback suggests limited market presence or customer engagement. For confidence in your investment, Exely’s proven reputation is unmatched.
Edge: Exely
Exely charges a straightforward $200 monthly flat fee, with no implementation or hidden costs, offering a predictable investment. Details about GraceSoft’s pricing are unavailable, and its lack of reviews or case studies makes assessing value difficult.
Given Exely’s transparent pricing and high-value features, it provides a clearer, more reliable cost structure.
Edge: Exely
Not ideal if you operate a very small property with minimal online booking needs or have a limited budget without expecting growth.
Not ideal if your hotel aims for aggressive digital marketing, advanced revenue management, or extensive integrations.
Exely Booking Engine stands out as the more mature, feature-rich solution supported by a large number of recent reviews and high satisfaction scores. It’s well-suited for hotels seeking to grow direct bookings and streamline operations through extensive integrations and advanced tools.
GraceSoft offers a simpler, less documented platform that might serve smaller or less digitally mature properties, but its lack of recent customer feedback and limited features make it a less confident choice.
If your hotel is ready to invest in a proven, comprehensive booking engine that can support growth and better guest experience, Exely is the clear recommendation. Conversely, if you need a basic, budget-friendly solution, GraceSoft might suffice—but caution is advised due to its unverified track record.
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.
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Merchandising & Packages
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| Room substitutions | ||
| Multi-room bookings | ||
| Flat, floating and discounted rates | ||
| Pooled inventory | ||
| Special offers & discounts | ||
| Customizable add-ons | ||
| Meal plans | ||
| Website Integration | ||
| Social Media Integration/Bookings | ||
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Upselling & Cross Selling
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| Multi-room bookings | ||
| Room substitutions | ||
| Gift Vouchers | ||
| Booking abandonment recapture | ||
| Customizable add-ons | ||
| Special offers & discounts | ||
| Meal plans | ||
| Alternative accommodation recommendations (when no availability) | ||
| Loyalty program integration | ||
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Conversion
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| Mobile optimized/responsive | ||
| Special offers & discounts | ||
| Urgency messaging | ||
| Booking abandonment recapture | ||
| Multi-room bookings | ||
| Room substitutions | ||
| A/B testing & optimization | ||
| Price comparison widget | ||
| Multi-lingual | ||
| Conversion rate reports | ||
| Facebook conversion tracking | ||
| Customizable exit intent modals | ||
| Form autofill | ||
| Flexible dates | ||
| Rate plan comparisons | ||
| Google Hotel Ads Bookings | ||
| Tripadvisor Bookings | ||
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Payments
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| Multi-currency | ||
| Apple Pay | ||
| Google Pay | ||
| Paypal | ||
| PCI Compliance | ||
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| Stripe | ||
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Transactional Emails
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| Booking abandonment recapture | ||
| Post-stay emails | ||
| Pre-stay emails | ||
| Confirmation emails | ||
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Group Bookings
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| Wedding & corporate booking modules | ||
| Availability block | ||
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Reporting & Analytics
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| Automated reporting | ||
| Conversion rate reports | ||
| Referral Reporting | ||
| Google Analytics tracking | ||
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Tax & Compliance
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| PCI Compliance | ||
| ADA Compliant | ||
| Tariffs | ||
| Multi-currency | ||
| GDPR compliant |
We analyzed 3 verified case studies to compare what hotels actually achieve with each platform across four key business objectives.
"We took a proactive approach and collaborated with Exely, implementing various strategies, such as a loyalty program. The outcome has been outstanding — not only have we been able..."
No published case study for this goal yet.
"Once we switched to Exely, we immediately noticed a significant increase in reservations from online travel agencies. We discovered that our previous system had blocked some availa..."
No published case study for this goal yet.
What hoteliers love
Exely's support team is widely applauded for responsiveness, with detailed assistance and clear solutions. However, new users mention a need for train... Exely's support team is widely applauded for responsiveness, with detailed assistance and clear solutions. However, new users mention a need for training materials to better navigate advanced features.
Exely substantially increases direct bookings, aiding hotels like Jimbaran Bay Beach Resort, and reducing OTA dependencies. Hotels report significant... Exely substantially increases direct bookings, aiding hotels like Jimbaran Bay Beach Resort, and reducing OTA dependencies. Hotels report significant sales growth, citing simplified operations, increased guest control, and promotional features.
The platform's intuitive and organized interface is highlighted as a major advantage, enhancing navigation and user experience. A few reviews seek a m... The platform's intuitive and organized interface is highlighted as a major advantage, enhancing navigation and user experience. A few reviews seek a more modern and customizable interface to bolster user engagement.
Where hoteliers push back
Users often call for advanced reporting and detailed analytics, seeking comprehensive insights for better performance tracking. While some find existi... Users often call for advanced reporting and detailed analytics, seeking comprehensive insights for better performance tracking. While some find existing features satisfactory, many desire deeper filtering and customization options.
Reviews often call for more customization options across booking widgets and website design. Users report limitations in design flexibility, potential... Reviews often call for more customization options across booking widgets and website design. Users report limitations in design flexibility, potentially affecting unique branding and guest appeal.
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Exely Booking Engine and Gracesoft Booking Engine share many core Booking Engine features, but each has unique capabilities. Exely Booking Engine offers 8 verified integration partners, while Gracesoft Booking Engine offers 1. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. Exely Booking Engine leads in ease of use at 4.9/5 vs 0.0/5. 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.
Exely Booking Engine: No. Gracesoft Booking Engine: No. Neither product currently offers a free tier. Most Booking Engine 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. Exely has an HT Score of 93 and GraceSoft has 0. Here is how the score is calculated.
| Criteria Group | Weight | What It Measures |
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| Customer Ratings & Reviews |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 →
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