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 41 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:
HotelRunner shines in ease of use and customer support , with exclusive features like Mobile optimized/responsive and Automated reporting.
upbooking shines .
Side-by-side ratings based on 41 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
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| Starting Price | From $100/mo | Contact sales |
| Verified Reviews | 41 | 0 |
After analyzing 41 verified reviews, HotelRunner users most value its customer support, ease of use, channel management, while upbooking users highlight . Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
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Customer Support
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Ease of Use
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Channel Management
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Integration with OTAs
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Booking Engine
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Reporting Features
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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
| Segment |
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upbooking |
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| Small (10-24 rooms) ▾ | #19 16 reviews | — |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | #29 9 reviews | — |
| Large (75-199 rooms) | #31 0 reviews | — |
| X-Large (200+ rooms) | #25 1 reviews | — |
By Property Type
| Segment |
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upbooking |
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| Boutique ▾ | #18 22 reviews | — |
| Luxury ▾ | #28 9 reviews | — |
| Branded / Chain | #31 3 reviews | — |
| Extended Stay | #33 1 reviews | — |
By Region
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upbooking |
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| North America | #26 1 reviews | — |
| Europe ▾ | #22 12 reviews | — |
| Asia Pacific | #20 3 reviews | — |
| Middle East ▾ | #1 16 reviews | — |
Choosing a booking engine for your hotel involves balancing features, ease of use, support, and market presence. HotelRunner’s Booking Engine stands out with over 40 features, a solid review base, and active regional coverage, whereas Upbooking offers no verified features or reviews and lacks regional presence. Your decision hinges on how much value you place on proven reliability and feature depth versus the absence of user data for Upbooking.
HotelRunner’s established reputation, recent reviews, and comprehensive feature set make it a more dependable choice. Do you prioritize a proven, feature-rich platform with ongoing support, or are you considering an untested alternative with no available user feedback?
HotelRunner is a well-established booking engine with a 4.5/5 overall rating based on 40 recent reviews, reflecting high user satisfaction. Upbooking, with no available reviews, provides no clear indication of its performance or customer experience. HotelRunner’s recent reviews highlight strengths in ease of use, customer support, and feature variety, whereas Upbooking offers no insights into its capabilities or user feedback.
HotelRunner’s recent 4 reviews (all within the last 6 months) bolster confidence in its ongoing support and feature updates, while Upbooking offers no recent data to assess its reliability. Given the stark contrast, HotelRunner’s proven track record and active user base make it the more trustworthy choice for your hotel.
If your hotel needs a booking engine with a robust feature set, proven reliability, and regional market presence, go with HotelRunner. It’s suitable for properties of all sizes, especially boutique hotels and inns looking for customization, extensive integrations, and ongoing support.
If your hotel is exploring options with no current need for a proven track record, or if you're curious about untested solutions, Upbooking might seem appealing. However, without reviews or regional coverage, it’s hard to justify over HotelRunner’s established reputation.
HotelRunner earns a 4.73/5 ease of use rating based on user feedback, with many praising its user-friendly interface, intuitive navigation, and quick onboarding process rated at 4.79/5. Recent reviews mention that users find the platform straightforward, with minimal training needed to manage rates, availability, and reservations.
Upbooking offers no publicly available ratings or reviews, making it impossible to assess its user experience or onboarding process. The absence of user feedback suggests it may lack the polish and confidence-inspiring design of HotelRunner.
Edge: HotelRunner.
HotelRunner offers a comprehensive suite of 40 features, including mobile responsiveness, multi-currency and multi-lingual support, automated reporting, pre- and post-stay emails, flexible rate plans, gift vouchers, online payment integrations, and OTA connectivity with 17 verified partners. It also supports advanced features like dynamic pricing, room substitutions, and rate comparison widgets.
Upbooking provides no feature information, integrations, or unique offerings publicly. Without feature data, HotelRunner’s extensive and proven capabilities clearly give it the edge.
Edge: HotelRunner.
HotelRunner’s support team scores a 4.8/5, with recent reviews praising their responsiveness, multi-channel support (including WhatsApp), and prompt problem resolution. Users highlight its support as a key factor in their satisfaction, with comments like “support is great and quick to respond.”
Upbooking has no available reviews or support ratings, leaving its customer service quality unknown. The lack of feedback makes HotelRunner’s support reputation the clear choice.
Edge: HotelRunner.
HotelRunner boasts 17 verified OTA and partner integrations, including major players like Expedia, Airbnb, Agoda, and Channel Manager options like protel and Hotelogix. Its integrations are well-established, enabling smooth synchronization and visibility.
Upbooking has no publicly verified integrations or partner list, creating uncertainty about its connectivity options. HotelRunner’s broad, verified integrations give it a significant advantage.
Edge: HotelRunner.
HotelRunner’s recent reviews consistently rate it at 4.5/5 overall, with 96% of users recommending it. Property segments like boutique hotels and inns, which make up a significant portion of its user base, rate it highly, citing ease of use, feature richness, and support as key strengths.
No reviews or ratings are available for Upbooking, making it impossible to gauge user satisfaction. HotelRunner’s established user feedback makes it the more trusted option.
Edge: HotelRunner.
HotelRunner’s pricing starts at $100/month, with no freemium or trial options listed. It’s a straightforward, subscription-based model suited for hotels seeking a reliable, feature-rich platform.
Upbooking’s pricing details, if any, are not publicly available or detailed, leaving its cost structure unknown. HotelRunner’s transparent pricing makes it easier to evaluate value.
HotelRunner and Upbooking are fundamentally different in maturity and market presence. HotelRunner, with a 4.5-star rating, over 40 features, 17 verified integrations, and active recent reviews, offers a dependable, feature-rich platform suited for hotels of various sizes.
Upbooking provides no verifiable data or reviews, making it a risky choice without proven performance. If you value stability, support, and proven capabilities, HotelRunner is the clear choice.
Hotels that want a reliable, well-supported booking engine with proven success should choose HotelRunner. It’s especially ideal if your hotel values extensive features, integrations, and active regional support.
Teams willing to experiment with unverified solutions may consider Upbooking, but be aware of the lack of user feedback or proven track record.
In conclusion, if your hotel needs a dependable, feature-packed booking engine with recent reviews and active support, HotelRunner is the recommended platform.
Booking Engine 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.
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upbooking | |
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| Starting Price | From $100/mo | — |
According to HTR's product database, Booking Engine by HotelRunner and Upbooking share 0 features. Here are the key differences — features one has that the other lacks.
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upbooking |
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| Automated reporting | ||
| Mobile optimized/responsive | ||
| Pooled inventory | ||
| Post-stay emails | ||
| Pre-stay emails | ||
| Tariffs |
Showing top differences. 28 more features differ between these products.
What hoteliers love
Customer support receives accolades for being responsive and efficient. Users appreciate the prompt assistance via various communication channels, inc... Customer support receives accolades for being responsive and efficient. Users appreciate the prompt assistance via various communication channels, including WhatsApp.
The platform is noted for its user-friendly interface and ease of navigation, making set-up and management straightforward for hoteliers of varied tec... The platform is noted for its user-friendly interface and ease of navigation, making set-up and management straightforward for hoteliers of varied technical expertise.
Users praise Hotelrunner for its strong channel management capabilities, allowing seamless synchronization with numerous OTAs. This eliminates double... Users praise Hotelrunner for its strong channel management capabilities, allowing seamless synchronization with numerous OTAs. This eliminates double bookings and simplifies inventory management.
Where hoteliers push back
The integrated booking engine is highly regarded for driving direct bookings and allowing customization of packages. Many users appreciate the ease of... The integrated booking engine is highly regarded for driving direct bookings and allowing customization of packages. Many users appreciate the ease of creating OTAs listings, contributing to increased occupancy and revenues.
Users highlight the need for more robust and customizable reporting tools to aid in rate strategy decisions, reflecting a critical area for future imp... Users highlight the need for more robust and customizable reporting tools to aid in rate strategy decisions, reflecting a critical area for future improvement.
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Booking Engine by HotelRunner and Upbooking share many core Booking Engine features, but each has unique capabilities. Booking Engine by HotelRunner offers 17 verified integration partners, while Upbooking offers 0. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. Booking Engine by HotelRunner leads in ease of use at 4.7/5 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.
Booking Engine by HotelRunner: No. Upbooking: 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. HotelRunner has an HT Score of 74 and upbooking 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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