Honest comparison
How we're different from the big guest-app vendors
Duve, Canary, INTELITY, SuitePad and friends have been at this longer. They also assume an IT department, a cloud, and a 20-minute PMS setup. Here's the honest diff.
| Capability | smart hotel | Duve / Canary / Mews | SuitePad / Crave tablets | INTELITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works without internet | Yes, peer-to-peer | No | Tablet is local; sync needs Wi-Fi | No |
| No app to install (door QR → app opens) | App Clip | No-download PWA (needs data) | In-room tablet | Native install |
| No PMS integration required | Zero-setup | ~20 min — 1 day | Yes | Major integrations |
| No cloud / guest data stays in the building | Yes | US/EU cloud | Cloud sync | US cloud |
| Per-hotel custom binary (not a theme) | Yes | Theme picker | Hardware-bound | Yes |
| Compliant feedback — no review gating | By design | Markets gating | Varies | Varies |
| iOS-26 Liquid Glass UI | Native | Web | Android | Older native stack |
| Runtime cost model | No per-room license needed | Per-room SaaS | Hardware + license | Tiered SaaS |
Not shade — most of these vendors are great at what they do. We just exist for a different shape of hotel: independents and boutiques who don't have a corporate IT team and don't want a cloud.
What we don't do
So you're not surprised later:
- Deep PMS integration. No Opera / Cloudbeds / Mews hookup. Your staff types a room number into the desk app the first time; after that the guest scans a QR and the room is known.
- Mobile key / lock retrofit. That's a hardware problem. Goki does it well.
- Multi-property dashboards. Built for one hotel at a time. If you run 12 properties, talk to Hudini.
- Reporting / BI. You get a history view of guest requests. You don't get a 30-widget revenue dashboard.
That's on purpose. Everything we ship is in service of one idea: a guest's service is in their pocket, and it works.