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 108 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:
Planet shines in ease of use and customer support — especially for brand properties (5.0/5) , with exclusive features like On premise and Guest profiles.
Zavia ERP shines , with exclusive features like Centralized Messaging and Mobile App.
Side-by-side ratings based on 108 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
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| Starting Price | From $500/mo | From $300/mo |
| Verified Reviews | 108 | 0 |
After analyzing 108 verified reviews, Planet users most value its functionality and features, ease of use, multi-property management, while Zavia ERP users highlight . Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
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How each product ranks among Property Management Systems 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) ▾ | #27 32 reviews | — |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | #15 50 reviews | — |
| Large (75-199 rooms) ▾ | #15 10 reviews | — |
| X-Large (200+ rooms) | #17 3 reviews | — |
By Property Type
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| Boutique ▾ | #21 42 reviews | — |
| Luxury ▾ | #21 34 reviews | — |
| Branded / Chain ▾ | #17 33 reviews | — |
| Extended Stay ▾ | #20 9 reviews | — |
By Region
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| North America ▾ | #29 6 reviews | — |
| Europe ▾ | #10 79 reviews | — |
| Middle East | #15 2 reviews | — |
Choosing the right property management system (PMS) is crucial for your hotel's efficiency, guest experience, and revenue growth. Protel PMS by Planet stands out with its extensive global presence, comprehensive features, and large user base, particularly in larger or more complex properties. Zavia ERP, on the other hand, tailors its platform to small and medium hotels in Latin America, emphasizing affordability, simplicity, and local support. Both aim to streamline operations but approach this goal differently—so which one better suits your hotel’s needs?
Protel PMS is a well-established solution with over 105 reviews, delivering a scalable, feature-rich experience suitable for diverse hotel types worldwide. It offers extensive integrations, automation, and a robust cloud platform, but its complexity may challenge smaller teams or hotels with limited tech resources. Zavia ERP has no user reviews yet but is marketed as an affordable, easy-to-use system designed specifically for smaller hotels, especially in Latin America, with a focus on direct booking and rate management.
Both products aim to improve operational control, but Protel’s depth of features and integrations makes it more suited for hotels with complex needs or multiple properties. Zavia ERP simplifies core hotel functions for smaller operations but may lack the advanced automation and customization options of Protel. Do you need a tool tailored for extensive property portfolios or a straightforward system for a boutique hotel?
If your hotel operates multiple properties, requires a wide array of integrations, and values detailed reporting, Protel PMS is the better pick. Its feature set includes comprehensive management tools, multi-currency support, and a global presence that benefits larger or chain hotels. Conversely, if your hotel is small, based in Latin America, and prioritizes ease of use, affordability, and fast onboarding, Zavia ERP is likely more appropriate, offering essential reservation management, rate synchronization, and website creation without overcomplicating your daily tasks.
For hotels that need extensive customization, multilingual support, and a proven track record across regions, go with Protel. If your team values simplicity, local language support, and a cost-effective solution designed for smaller businesses, Zavia ERP should be your choice.
Protel PMS boasts a solid ease of use score of 4.12/5 based on user reviews, with many praising its intuitive interface and straightforward daily management. Its onboarding process, rated 3.79/5, may require more time due to the system’s complexity, but experienced users find it manageable once familiarized. Support response times are average, with some reviews citing slow replies, which can impact onboarding speed.
Zavia ERP has no available ratings or reviews to compare directly, but its marketing emphasizes simple, quick implementation tailored for small hotels. Given its focus on ease and local support in Latin America, it’s reasonable to infer it’s easier for small teams or those less familiar with advanced PMS features. Edge: Protel.
Protel PMS offers a broad suite of 37 shared features plus 9 exclusive to it, including integrated payments, multi-lingual support, guest profiles, and a built-in CRS. Its extensive integrations—over 1,200—enable seamless connection with channel managers, revenue tools, and other systems, making it highly versatile for large operations.
Zavia ERP provides 14 unique features, notably real-time reservation sync with 40+ OTAs, a mobile-first booking engine, and website creation tools—all tailored to small hotels seeking efficiency without complexity. However, it lacks the depth of automation and extensive integrations seen in Protel. Edge: Protel.
Protel, with a support rating of 3.95/5 and over 105 reviews, receives mixed feedback. Some users appreciate its knowledgeable support and availability, but others cite long response times and delays post-acquisition concerns. Hoteliers highlight that support can be slow, especially during complex integrations or bugs.
Zavia ERP has no review data yet, but its local presence and focus on small Latin American hotels suggest more personalized support, often in Spanish, with quick onboarding and local expertise. Given the available information, Protel’s larger support infrastructure is slightly behind in responsiveness. Edge: Zavia ERP.
Protel’s 4.11/5 rating is based on 105 reviews, with hotelier feedback emphasizing its reliability, feature richness, and integration capabilities. Independent hotels and boutique properties praise its detailed reporting and automation, although larger multi-property operators express frustration over slower support and bugs.
Zavia ERP lacks publicly available reviews, so direct comparison is impossible. However, its positioning as a user-friendly, low-cost solution designed for small hotels suggests it could garner high satisfaction among its niche users, especially in Latin America. Still, the absence of recent reviews makes it less proven. Overall, edge: Protel.
Protel’s pricing starts at $500 per month, with no free trial or freemium options, reflecting its enterprise-grade capabilities. Implementation costs and customizations may add to this, making it more suitable for hotels with larger budgets and more complex needs.
Zavia ERP charges a base price of $300 per month, targeting smaller hotels with straightforward needs. No trial or freemium options are mentioned, but its lower price point and simplified platform appeal to budget-conscious properties seeking essential management functions.
Not ideal if:
Edge: Protel.
Not ideal if:
Edge: Zavia ERP.
Protel PMS by Planet is a comprehensive platform suited for larger hotels, chains, and properties with complex operational needs. Its extensive features, global presence, and broad integrations make it ideal for hotels aiming to automate and scale efficiently. Its weaknesses include support responsiveness and high complexity, which can be a drawback for smaller teams or less tech-savvy users.
Zavia ERP targets small and mid-sized hotels primarily in Latin America, focusing on affordability, ease of use, and local support. It offers essential tools like reservation management, rate synchronization, and website creation, but lacks the advanced features and integrations of Protel. For properties prioritizing simplicity and cost, Zavia is a strong contender.
If your hotel requires a highly scalable, feature-rich system with robust international support, go with Protel. If you need a straightforward, local-market-focused PMS for a smaller hotel, Zavia ERP is the better choice.
According to HTR's product database, protel PMS (by Planet) and Zavia ERP share 37 features. Here are the key differences — features one has that the other lacks.
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| Automated night audit | ||
| Centralized Messaging | ||
| Channel Manager | ||
| Guest App | ||
| Guest CRM | ||
| Guest profiles | ||
| Integrated CRS | ||
| Mobile App | ||
| Multi-currency | ||
| Multi-lingual | ||
| On premise | ||
| Tablet/Kiosk Check-in |
Showing top differences. 11 more features differ between these products.
We analyzed 4 verified case studies to compare what hotels actually achieve with each platform across four key business objectives.
"It feels like a partnership, not a product. Our feedback is always heard and acted on. We’re working together for the shared goal of great guest service."
No published case study for this goal yet.
What hoteliers love
Users appreciate Protel's extensive features for managing single properties, with comprehensive tools for reporting, room plans, and rate management.... Users appreciate Protel's extensive features for managing single properties, with comprehensive tools for reporting, room plans, and rate management. However, many reviews expressed disappointment that a lot of these functionalities are incomplete, buggy, or missing entirely when dealing with more complex setups or multi-property environments. Custom reports and seamless integration with other tools are also highlighted as beneficial.
The user interface is generally praised for being intuitive and easy to navigate. Many users found Protel Air particularly user-friendly and noted the... The user interface is generally praised for being intuitive and easy to navigate. Many users found Protel Air particularly user-friendly and noted the efficiency in managing daily operations. However, certain updates have made certain functions more complex and less intuitive than before.
Protel's performance in catering to multi-property environments received mixed feedback. While some users praised its organizational tools and interfa... Protel's performance in catering to multi-property environments received mixed feedback. While some users praised its organizational tools and interfaces, many found the system frustratingly limited for multi-location setups, highlighting significant bugs and reduced functionalities.
Where hoteliers push back
Customer support is a consistent area of concern. Reviews mentioned long waiting times for support requests, lack of phone availability, and poor resp... Customer support is a consistent area of concern. Reviews mentioned long waiting times for support requests, lack of phone availability, and poor response times after the acquisition by Planet. Users recommend improving the speed and reliability of customer service.
Users are generally happy with the level of customization available in Protel, allowing them to adapt the system to better fit their specific needs. H... Users are generally happy with the level of customization available in Protel, allowing them to adapt the system to better fit their specific needs. However, this flexibility often comes at a high cost, and some required features are only available through paid custom development.
Unique capabilities
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. protel PMS (by Planet) and Zavia ERP share many core Property Management Systems features, but each has unique capabilities. protel PMS (by Planet) offers 194 verified integration partners, while Zavia ERP offers 5. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. protel PMS (by Planet) leads in ease of use at 4.1/5 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.
protel PMS (by Planet): No. Zavia ERP: No. Neither product currently offers a free tier. Most Property Management Systems 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. Planet has an HT Score of 33 and Zavia ERP 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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