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 58 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:
Shiji Group shines , with exclusive features like Payment Tokenization and 3-D Secure Payments.
Zil Money shines in ease of use and customer support .
Side-by-side ratings based on 58 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
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| Starting Price | From $200/mo | From $400/mo |
| Verified Reviews | 0 | 58 |
After analyzing 58 verified reviews, Shiji Group users most value its , while Zil Money users highlight user-friendly interface, customer experience enhancements, payment processing speed. Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
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User-Friendly Interface
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Payment Processing Speed
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Customer Support
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Integration Capabilities
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How each product ranks among Payments Processing Software 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) ▾ | — | #1 9 reviews |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | #9 0 reviews | #2 27 reviews |
| Large (75-199 rooms) ▾ | #5 0 reviews | #3 12 reviews |
| X-Large (200+ rooms) | — | #3 2 reviews |
By Property Type
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| Boutique ▾ | #7 0 reviews | #3 17 reviews |
| Luxury ▾ | #6 0 reviews | #3 15 reviews |
| Branded / Chain ▾ | #6 0 reviews | #3 25 reviews |
| Extended Stay ▾ | — | #1 9 reviews |
By Region
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| North America ▾ | #7 0 reviews | #3 51 reviews |
| Europe | #8 0 reviews | — |
| Asia Pacific | — | #3 0 reviews |
| Middle East | — | #2 1 reviews |
Choosing between Shiji Astral Payments and Zil Money hinges on your hotel’s specific payment needs and operational complexity. Shiji Astral Payments is a comprehensive, hotel-focused platform designed to streamline payments across multiple channels, while Zil Money offers a flexible, general-purpose financial management tool with some payment processing features. Your decision should depend on whether your priority is a specialized hotel payments system or a broader financial platform.
With Zil Money accumulating 54 recent reviews and a high customer support rating of 4.5/5, it provides more up-to-date feedback and confidence. Shiji Astral Payments, by contrast, has no recent reviews and a zero-star rating, making it less reliable as a current solution. Given this, Zil Money is the stronger, more proven choice.
Both products aim to handle hotel payments but diverge significantly in scope and hotel-specific features. Shiji Astral Payments integrates with PMS and POS systems, offers multiple currencies, and supports major payment methods like Alipay, WeChatPay, and Diners Club, making it ideal for hotels seeking an all-in-one, industry-tailored solution. Zil Money, however, primarily functions as a financial management system with payment capabilities suitable for various industries, including hotels, but lacks deep hotel-specific integrations.
The key difference is that Shiji Astral Payments is built for hotel operations, offering features such as refund management, chargeback management, and PCI compliance, while Zil Money excels at simple, fast online payments and financial workflows. Do you need a dedicated hotel payment platform, or are your needs more general and finance-focused?
If your hotel needs a unified payment system that integrates directly with your PMS and POS—especially if you operate across regions and currencies—Shiji Astral Payments is the better fit. Its ability to accept multiple major payment types and currencies, along with secure processing and extensive hotel-specific features, makes it ideal for larger properties or those seeking operational cohesion.
On the other hand, if your hotel prioritizes a straightforward, easy-to-use platform for basic payments, expense management, and payroll, Zil Money is more suitable. Its user-friendly interface, multiple payment options, and affordability (starting at $400) make it a strong choice for smaller hotels or those with less complex payment needs.
Zil Money scores a 4.5/5 for ease of use, with reviews highlighting its intuitive interface, simple invoicing, and quick setup. Users say it "reduces onboarding time" and is "extremely straightforward," making staff adoption smoother. Shiji Astral Payments, however, has no recent ratings or reviews, and its complexity—due to hotel-specific features—may make onboarding more challenging.
Edge: Zil Money.
Shiji Astral Payments boasts a rich feature set with 13 features exclusive to its platform, including Dynamic Currency Conversion, Refund Management, Accepts Mastercard, AliPay, WeChatPay, Diner’s Club, Chargeback Management, Payment Tokenization, 3-D Secure Payments, PCI Compliance, and integrations with major credit processors like Elavon, TSYS, and GlobalPayments. It also supports native integration with hotel PMS and POS systems.
Zil Money, despite having a total of 15 shared features, offers no unique hotel-specific features. Its main strengths lie in multiple payment options like ACH, wire transfers, virtual cards, and printable checks, but it lacks specialized hotel payment tools.
Edge: Shiji Astral Payments.
Zil Money’s recent reviews rate its support at 4.5/5, with hotel users appreciating its responsiveness and ease of communication. Users describe the support as "helpful" and "quick to respond," although some suggest minor improvements could be made.
Shiji Astral Payments, however, has no recent reviews or ratings, which raises concerns about current support quality. Based on recent data, Zil Money clearly leads in customer support.
Edge: Zil Money.
Shiji Astral Payments, with 64 verified partner integrations, offers extensive connectivity with industry-standard systems like Bookboost, SiteMinder, Revinate, IDeaS, Duetto, Amadeus, and more. This level of integration supports hotel operations across revenue management, marketing, and distribution.
Zil Money provides no verified integrations, limiting its ability to connect with hotel-specific systems or third-party tools. If integrations are critical, Shiji Astral Payments has a clear edge.
Edge: Shiji Astral Payments.
Given the lack of recent reviews for Shiji Astral Payments, there is no current data on hotel ratings. In contrast, Zil Money’s recent reviews give it a strong NPS score of 8.57/10 and an 87% likelihood of recommendation, reflecting high hotel satisfaction.
In terms of recent user feedback, Zil Money’s ratings indicate higher hotel approval, especially among smaller and budget-oriented properties. Larger hotels or those requiring deep integrations may find Shiji Astral’s features more aligned, but without recent reviews, Zil Money’s high rating is more reliable.
Edge: Zil Money.
Shiji Astral Payments charges a base price of $200 with no mention of ongoing monthly or per-room fees. Zil Money’s pricing starts at $400, with no monthly flat or per-room charges specified. Both platforms lack trial information, making direct cost comparisons challenging.
However, Zil Money’s higher base fee may reflect its broader financial management scope, while Shiji Astral’s lower entry point suggests a more streamlined hotel payment solution.
Not ideal if your hotel has minimal transaction volume or prefers a simple, standalone payment tool.
Not ideal if your hotel requires deep integrations, hotel-specific features, or enterprise-level security.
Shiji Astral Payments offers a comprehensive, hotel-specific payment platform with extensive integrations, security features, and multi-channel support. Its focus on enterprise features and integrations makes it best suited for large hotels or hotel chains that need seamless, centralized transaction management.
Zil Money is a more accessible, user-friendly financial platform with strong payment capabilities, especially for smaller hotels or properties with straightforward needs. Its excellent support ratings and intuitive design make it a compelling choice for budget-conscious or less complex operations.
In summary, if your hotel requires a deeply integrated, hotel-centric payments system with broad partner support, Shiji Astral Payments is the way to go. If you prefer a simple, cost-effective, and highly-rated financial management solution that handles basic payments and payroll, Zil Money is your best fit. Given the recent reviews, Zil Money’s proven support and satisfaction levels clearly make it the stronger candidate.
Payments Processing 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.
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| Starting Price | From $200/mo | From $400/mo |
According to HTR's product database, Shiji Astral Payments and Zil Money share 15 features. Here are the key differences — features one has that the other lacks.
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| Accepts AliPay | ||
| Accepts Diners Club | ||
| Accepts Mastercard | ||
| Accepts WeChatPay | ||
| Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) | ||
| Refund Management |
Showing top differences. 1 more features differ between these products.
We analyzed 3 verified case studies to compare what hotels actually achieve with each platform across four key business objectives.
"Having a single PMS across our properties has allowed us to standardize operations while maintaining flexibility for individual hotel needs. This has significantly simplified train..."
No published case study for this goal yet.
"We reduced check-in time by over 80%, from up to eight minutes to just about one minute with the new system."
No published case study for this goal yet.
Unique capabilities
What hoteliers love
Users frequently praise Zil Money for its intuitive and straightforward interface that simplifies invoicing, expense tracking, and other financial tas... Users frequently praise Zil Money for its intuitive and straightforward interface that simplifies invoicing, expense tracking, and other financial tasks. The platform’s ease of use reduces the onboarding time and enhances operational efficiency.
Several reviews indicate that minor improvements in customer experience, such as easing the verification process and reducing the time taken for setup... Several reviews indicate that minor improvements in customer experience, such as easing the verification process and reducing the time taken for setup, could make the platform even more efficient and user-friendly.
Several users highlight the speed and reliability of Zil Money's payment processing feature, which ensures timely transactions and supports the hotels... Several users highlight the speed and reliability of Zil Money's payment processing feature, which ensures timely transactions and supports the hotels' cash flow management.
Where hoteliers push back
Users value Zil Money's ability to integrate seamlessly with various accounting and financial software, which helps consolidate financial operations a... Users value Zil Money's ability to integrate seamlessly with various accounting and financial software, which helps consolidate financial operations and enhances efficiency.
Expanding integrations with more third-party applications is suggested by users, which would offer more flexibility and customization, catering to var... Expanding integrations with more third-party applications is suggested by users, which would offer more flexibility and customization, catering to varying business needs.
Ranks higher for
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Shiji Astral Payments and Zil Money share many core Payments Processing Software features, but each has unique capabilities. Shiji Astral Payments offers 64 verified integration partners, while Zil Money offers 0. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. Zil Money leads in ease of use at 4.5/5 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.
Shiji Astral Payments: No. Zil Money: No. Neither product currently offers a free tier. Most Payments Processing 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. Shiji Group has an HT Score of 0 and Zil Money has 63. 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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