Blog · Booking engine
How much does a hotel booking engine cost?
A direct booking engine saves you 15–25% commission on every night it sells. So the real question is not the price tag — it is how quickly the engine pays for itself. Here is how hotel booking engine pricing actually works.
The three pricing models
Commission-based
You pay a percentage of every direct booking — commonly around 3–5%. Low risk: nothing to pay if nobody books. But the more you succeed, the more you pay, forever.
Flat monthly subscription
A fixed fee per month, typically from tens to a few hundred dollars depending on property count, booking volume and features. Predictable, and every extra direct booking is commission-free margin.
Free / bundled
Some vendors provide the website and booking engine together at no charge and earn through the payment processing relationship. BKORA works this way — the hotel pays nothing for the website or the engine.
The hidden costs to check before signing
The headline price is rarely the whole price. Before you sign with any vendor, ask for the full list: setup and onboarding fees, payment gateway markups on top of your processor's rate, per-property or per-room charges that grow with your portfolio, integration fees for connecting your channel manager or PMS, and premium support tiers that make the standard plan slower. A "cheap" engine with a 2% gateway markup can cost more than a free one with clean processing rates.
The maths: what the engine has to earn back
Commission on OTA bookings runs 15–25% of room revenue. A booking engine costs nothing per night. So the comparison is simple: if your engine moves even a handful of bookings a week from OTA to direct, the saved commission — say AED 75–125 on a AED 500 night — covers the engine's entire cost many times over.
For a small hotel, that is the key insight: the engine does not need to win you a share war. It needs to convert the guests who already searched your hotel's name — the cheapest, warmest demand you will ever get.
How to choose — cost aside
Price should be the last filter, not the first. Check the ten features that matter in a booking engine — a mobile-first booking flow, real-time availability, secure payment gateway, and ownership of your guest data. A free engine that converts poorly is more expensive than a paid one that converts well.
Where BKORA fits
BKORA gives hotels a free website with a built-in booking engine and payment gateway integration — no monthly fee, no per-booking commission. It is already live at Emirates Stars Hospitality Group in Dubai and Sharjah. See the booking engine overview or read how hotels shift OTA commission back into margin.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a hotel booking engine cost?
Three models exist: commission-based engines that take roughly 3–5% of each direct booking, flat monthly subscriptions that typically range from tens to a few hundred dollars per month depending on property count and features, and free models bundled with a hotel website. What matters is not the sticker price but the total cost against the commission you save.
Are there free hotel booking engines?
Yes. Some vendors, including BKORA, provide the hotel website and booking engine together at no cost and recover their revenue through the payment processing relationship. Always check what 'free' includes: real-time availability, secure payments, mobile checkout and support.
Is a booking engine worth it for a small hotel?
Usually yes. Even one or two direct bookings a week, instead of OTA bookings at 15–25% commission, typically covers the cost of the engine many times over — because commission is paid on every night, every year, while the engine is a fixed cost.
What hidden costs should a hotel watch for?
Setup and onboarding fees, per-transaction or payment gateway markups, charges per extra property or room, fees for integrations with your channel manager or PMS, and premium support tiers. Ask for the full price list before signing, not just the headline rate.
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