---
title: "GreatStay Alternative | HolidayHero vs GreatStay"
description: "Compare HolidayHero and GreatStay: branded guest apps vs a whole-stay platform with AI messaging, check-in, upsells and analytics. See which fits your property."
url: "https://www.holidayhero.com/compare/holidayhero-vs-greatstay"
updated: "2026-07-15T10:54:42+00:00"
---

# HolidayHero vs GreatStay

> GreatStay builds branded guest apps, web apps and websites for holiday parks, campsites and resorts, all managed through a CMS. HolidayHero takes a different approach: one platform that runs the whole stay per reservation, from check-in and AI messaging to upsells and guest analytics. Here is how the two compare, row by row.

## Capability comparison

### Arrival & check-in

| Capability | HolidayHero | GreatStay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Online check-in before arrival | Included | Included — App module |
| ID / passport capture & verification | Included | Partial — Via listed Scanfie integration |
| Automatic guest registration filing (police / municipality) | Included — Spain (SES Hospedajes) live | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Smart-lock / door-code / mobile-key access | Included — Plus full smart-home layer | Included — Tapkey, DOM, Hotek, Flexipass, Assa Abloy |

### Guest app & experience

| Capability | HolidayHero | GreatStay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Own colours, logo & theme on the guest app + comms | Included | Included — Own look & feel |
| Guest app served on the operator's own domain | Included | Included — Own branded app / web app |
| Guest app adapts by moment-in-time vs the reservation (stages) | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Guests and operators add items to an in-app itinerary | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Create / sort / hide custom guest-app sections | Included | Included — Modular CMS pages |
| Digital guidebooks / house manual | Included | Included — Practical-information modules |
| Auto-translation into many guest languages | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Local / venue events distributed to guests in the app | Included | Included — Calendar / activity schedules |

### Messaging & AI

| Capability | HolidayHero | GreatStay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| One inbox across channels | Included — Email, WhatsApp, SMS | Not available — Not publicly documented; partners with Trengo |
| Autonomous AI answering & actioning guest messages | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| WhatsApp as a guest channel | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Scheduled / templated messages gated by conditional rules | Included — Conditional rules | Partial — Push messages & pop-ups |
| Booking.com / Airbnb messages synced into the inbox | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| PMS guest-message threads synced into the inbox | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |

### Upsells & revenue

| Capability | HolidayHero | GreatStay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Upsell / ancillary catalogue in the guest app | Included | Included — Order module |
| Charges post to the folio / PMS bill | Included — Via supported PMS | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Supplier routing with automatic commission split | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Inquiries offloaded directly to suppliers (no middleman) | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Local experiences / activities catalogue | Included | Partial — Area tips + ticket-shop integrations |

### Operations & intelligence

| Capability | HolidayHero | GreatStay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Single operational dashboard for the property | Included | Partial — CMS + app statistics |
| Guest-app analytics / actionable insights from guest data | Included | Partial — App usage statistics |
| Guest sentiment detection | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Composite 0–100 guest engagement score (5 dimensions) | Included — 0–100, 5 dimensions | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Event-driven automations / workflow builder | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| In-stay surveys & post-stay review generation | Included | Partial — Surveys in app; reviews via separate Great Review product |

### Platform & fit

| Capability | HolidayHero | GreatStay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Runs beside the existing PMS (no rip-and-replace) | Included — ~17 documented PMS | Included — Runs beside many PMS / booking systems |
| Headless guest app: run the guest experience inside your own app/site | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Integration API for system-to-system integration | Included | Not available — No public developer API documented |
| Breadth of PMS / channel / lock / payment integrations | Included — PMS, smart devices, registration | Included — Broad NL recreation ecosystem |
| Multi-property / group management & rollup | Included — Org → workspaces rollup | Included — Per-location apps or one container app |
| Run multiple distinct brands from one account | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |

### Pricing & commercial

| Capability | HolidayHero | GreatStay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Public, self-serve pricing (no mandatory sales call) | Included — From €6.50/unit/mo | Not available — Pricing not published; demo-gated |
| Free / self-serve start | Included | Partial — Free trial app on request |
| No commission taken on the operator's guests | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Guided onboarding / setup | Included | Included — 3-step guided process |

### Security & data

| Capability | HolidayHero | GreatStay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GDPR compliance & EU data residency | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| Operator owns & can export first-party guest data | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |
| PCI-compliant payment handling | Included | Not available — Not publicly documented |

## Detail

GreatStay, from Dutch company Great Stay App, builds accommodations their own branded guest app, QR web app or website, filled with the property's content and managed through a CMS, delivered with a hands-on strategy, design and implementation process. HolidayHero is a whole-stay guest experience platform: one system that runs everything between booking and review per reservation, from online check-in and AI-powered messaging to upsells, smart-home access and guest analytics.

### Where GreatStay is strong

Credit where it is due: GreatStay ships a genuinely own-branded native app (not a white-label shell), backs it with an agency-style guided process, and is deeply plugged into the Dutch recreation ecosystem, with partners from Stratech, Tommy Booking Support and Booking Experts to Mews, RoomRaccoon and Camping.care, plus a long list of lock, POS, restaurant and ticketing integrations. Over 750 accommodations use it, and the separate Great Review product adds smart review collection with AI-assisted responses. If what you want is a polished branded content app for your park, they know this niche well.

### Why HolidayHero

The difference is what happens after the app is built. A GreatStay app is primarily a content and communication tool: pages, practical information, push messages, an order module. HolidayHero is built to run the stay itself, per guest and per reservation.

That starts before arrival. HolidayHero handles online check-in with configurable fields, ID and passport capture, and automatic guest registration filing with authorities (live for Spain's SES Hospedajes). Messaging is two-way and personal: one inbox across email, WhatsApp and SMS, with Booking.com and Airbnb threads and PMS guest messages synced in, scheduled templates gated by conditional rules, and an AI concierge that answers and actions guest questions autonomously with human guardrails. GreatStay's documented communication tools are one-to-many push messages and pop-ups; for a shared inbox it partners with third-party tools rather than shipping one.

On revenue, both offer in-app ordering. HolidayHero goes further down the chain: charges can post to the folio via supported PMS, local experience inquiries route directly to the supplier who fulfils them through their own portal, and commission splits are calculated automatically. Guest data then becomes an asset: guest-app analytics, sentiment detection and a composite 0-100 engagement score let you catch an unhappy guest before checkout, and a workflow builder automates the follow-up. GreatStay documents app usage statistics; in-stay intelligence of this kind is not publicly documented.

Access control is another scope difference. GreatStay integrates with a solid set of lock partners. HolidayHero covers locks (Goki, Bold) plus a full smart-home layer: thermostats, sensors, energy management and more, gated per reservation stage.

Commercially, the two models differ. GreatStay is demo-gated with no published pricing for its apps and web apps; HolidayHero publishes pricing from €6.50 per unit per month, lets you start on a free trial self-serve, and takes no commission on your own guests. For teams with their own product ambitions, HolidayHero also offers an integration API and a headless guest app, so the guest experience can live inside your own app or site. And as an EU-native platform, GDPR compliance, EU data residency and first-party data ownership with export are stated commitments, not assumptions.

### Capability by capability

Both do branded guest apps well: custom look and feel, modular sections, guidebook-style practical information and an activity calendar are solid on both sides, and GreatStay's own native app is a real strength for long-stay parks. GreatStay's onboarding process (strategy, content and design, implementation) is well defined, as is HolidayHero's guided setup.

From there the grid tilts by scope. Arrival: both document online check-in; HolidayHero adds ID verification natively (GreatStay lists a Scanfie integration) and authority registration filing. Messaging and AI: HolidayHero's unified inbox, WhatsApp channel, OTA and PMS message sync and autonomous AI concierge have no publicly documented GreatStay equivalent. Revenue: GreatStay's order module and ticket-shop integrations cover upsells and area tips; folio posting, supplier routing and automatic splits are not publicly documented. Operations: app statistics on the GreatStay side versus guest analytics, sentiment, engagement scoring and workflows on HolidayHero's. Reviews: GreatStay covers this with in-app surveys plus the separately priced Great Review product; HolidayHero includes in-stay surveys and review generation in the platform. Trust rows (GDPR, data ownership, PCI) are stated by HolidayHero and not publicly documented by GreatStay.

### Which fits you

If all you need is a branded content app for your holiday park, built for you by a Dutch team that knows the recreation sector and its booking systems, GreatStay is a fine pick. If you want the app to be the front end of something bigger, a platform that checks guests in, messages them personally in their language, sells and settles upsells, watches sentiment and automates the work in between, HolidayHero is built for exactly that, at published per-unit pricing you can start on today.