{ "slug": "hotel-software-economics", "question": "What does a hotel pay for software each month, and what do hotel software vendors earn, keep and spend per property?", "title": "Hotel Software Economics 2026: What a Hotel Pays per Month, Vendor Margins, Churn and CAC", "answer": { "headline": "An independent hotel pays a hotel commerce platform about A$429 a month — A$250 in subscription and A$179 in payments and distribution fees — and revenue churn runs at 1.0% a month. Each subscribing property is worth A$29,857 in lifetime gross margin against A$4,529 to acquire it (LTV/CAC 6.6x); a listed hotel software vendor earns a 79.35% gross margin on subscription but only 27.26% on implementation.", "sample": "Annual reports and SEC/ASX filings of listed hotel software and payments vendors (SiteMinder FY to June 2026, Agilysys FY to March 2026, Sabre 2024–2025, Shift4 Q2 2026, IHG 2025–H1 2026), Statistics Canada business counts and AI survey (2026), Hotel Yearbook tech survey (2025, proxy)", "verifiedAsOf": "2026-10-08" }, "sections": [ { "id": "per-property", "title": "What a hotel pays a software platform", "note": "Revenue per subscribing property reported by a listed hotel commerce platform that sells channel management, booking engine, payments and revenue tools to independent hotels. Values in Australian dollars, as reported; nothing converted.", "rows": [ { "label": "Average monthly revenue per hotel property — total", "value": "A$429", "segment": "subscription plus transaction · up 9.3% constant-currency organic", "period": "FY2026 (to June 2026)", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Average monthly subscription revenue per hotel property", "value": "A$250", "segment": "software subscription", "period": "FY2026 (to June 2026)", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Average monthly transaction revenue per hotel property", "value": "A$179", "segment": "payments, metasearch, channel and revenue tools", "period": "FY2026 (to June 2026)", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Blended spread on hospitality payment volume", "value": "65 bps", "segment": "payments processor focused on hospitality (hotels, restaurants, venues)", "period": "Q2 2026", "source": "Shift4 Q2 2026 results (SEC 8-K)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1794669/000179466926000042/ex991q2.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Booking transactions per hotel property per year, central reservation system", "value": "3,192", "segment": "Sabre SynXis CRS, all properties served", "period": "2024", "source": "Sabre 10-K 2024 (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1597033/000159703325000027/sabr-20241231.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Owners in a chain's commercial-solutions pilot paying less than for their current revenue management", "value": "75%", "segment": "IHG pilot owners, US", "period": "H1 2026", "source": "IHG H1 2026 results (SEC 6-K)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/858446/000165495426007436/a0528q.htm", "tier": 1 } ] }, { "id": "vendor-economics", "title": "Vendor unit economics: churn, LTV, CAC and margins", "note": "Two listed vendors with different models: SiteMinder (cloud subscription plus transactions, independent hotels) and Agilysys (PMS and point-of-sale for hotels, resorts and casinos; subscription, implementation services and hardware). Margins are company-wide for the fiscal year.", "rows": [ { "label": "Monthly revenue churn of subscribing hotel properties", "value": "1.0%", "segment": "SiteMinder · stable year on year", "period": "FY2026 (to June 2026)", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Lifetime gross-margin value per subscribing property", "value": "A$29,857", "segment": "SiteMinder", "period": "FY2026 (to June 2026)", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Customer acquisition cost per new subscribing property", "value": "A$4,529", "segment": "SiteMinder", "period": "FY2026 (to June 2026)", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "LTV to CAC ratio", "value": "6.6x", "segment": "SiteMinder", "period": "FY2026 (to June 2026)", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Gross margin on subscription and maintenance revenue", "value": "79.35%", "segment": "Agilysys", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Gross margin on products (hardware and licences)", "value": "40.85%", "segment": "Agilysys", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Gross margin on professional services (implementation)", "value": "27.26%", "segment": "Agilysys", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Gross margin, all revenue", "value": "62.60%", "segment": "Agilysys", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Implementation revenue per dollar of subscription and maintenance revenue", "value": "0.35", "segment": "Agilysys · services are a large, low-margin part of a hotel deal", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Product development (R&D) as share of revenue", "value": "22.78%", "segment": "Agilysys", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Sales and marketing as share of revenue", "value": "12.46%", "segment": "Agilysys", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "SG&A as share of revenue, hotel CRS software business", "value": "14.29%", "segment": "Sabre Hospitality Solutions", "period": "2024", "source": "Sabre 10-K 2025 (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1597033/000162828026008800/sabr-20251231.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Operating margin", "value": "13.47%", "segment": "Agilysys", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 } ] }, { "id": "vendor-scale", "title": "How big the listed vendors are and how fast they grow", "note": "Company figures, not a market total: no official statistic measures hotel software spending as a market. Read them as the scale a successful vendor reaches and the growth rates the category currently supports.", "rows": [ { "label": "Annualised recurring revenue, hotel commerce platform for independent hotels", "value": "A$313.7M", "segment": "SiteMinder · subscription A$169.4M + transaction A$144.3M", "period": "30 June 2026", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Bookings processed for subscribing hotels, 12 months", "value": "140 million", "segment": "SiteMinder · gross booking value A$85 billion", "period": "FY2026 (to June 2026)", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Subscribing hotel properties, Asia Pacific", "value": "18,500", "segment": "SiteMinder · up 14.2% year on year", "period": "30 June 2026", "source": "SiteMinder FY2026 results (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Hospitality software vendor revenue", "value": "$319.3M", "segment": "Agilysys · up 15.85% year on year", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Recurring (subscription and maintenance) share of vendor revenue", "value": "64.5%", "segment": "Agilysys · $205.9M recurring", "period": "FY to March 2026", "source": "Agilysys 10-K (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Hotel properties served by one hotel technology vendor", "value": "40,000", "segment": "Sabre Hospitality Solutions · 175 countries", "period": "2024", "source": "Sabre 10-K 2024 (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1597033/000159703325000027/sabr-20241231.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Revenue growth, hotel CRS and distribution software business", "value": "7.45%", "segment": "Sabre Hospitality Solutions", "period": "2024", "source": "Sabre 10-K 2025 (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1597033/000162828026008800/sabr-20251231.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Hospitality-focused payment volume, quarter", "value": "$61B", "segment": "Shift4 · up 22% year on year", "period": "Q2 2026", "source": "Shift4 Q2 2026 results (SEC 8-K)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1794669/000179466926000042/ex991q2.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Hotels of one chain running its new cloud revenue management system", "value": "6,800", "segment": "IHG, all brands", "period": "2025", "source": "IHG Annual Report 2025 (SEC 20-F)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000858446/000085844626000010/ihg-20251231.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Revenue growth, Amadeus Hospitality and Transversal Solutions", "value": "6.1%", "segment": "proxy · company report", "period": "2025", "source": "Amadeus Global Report 2025", "url": "https://amadeus.com/content/dam/amadeuswebevo/documents/en/global-report-2025/chapters/amadeus-profile-and-corporate-performance.pdf", "tier": 2 } ] }, { "id": "buyer", "title": "Who the buyer is: hotel counts by size and digital readiness", "note": "Canada is the only country in this set with a current official count of hotels by employee size class. Most hotels are small or mid-sized single sites; the AI rows cover accommodation and food services together (NACE/NAICS 72), not hotels alone.", "rows": [ { "label": "Hotel business locations with employees, Canada", "value": "3,234", "segment": "all size classes", "period": "January 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1095-01", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "— with 1 to 4 employees", "value": "430", "segment": "", "period": "January 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1095-01", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "— with 5 to 9 employees", "value": "342", "segment": "", "period": "January 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1095-01", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "— with 10 to 19 employees", "value": "613", "segment": "", "period": "January 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1095-01", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "— with 20 to 49 employees", "value": "1,128", "segment": "largest class", "period": "January 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1095-01", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "— with 50 to 99 employees", "value": "463", "segment": "", "period": "January 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1095-01", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "— with 100 to 199 employees", "value": "177", "segment": "", "period": "January 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1095-01", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "— with 200 to 499 employees", "value": "72", "segment": "", "period": "January 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1095-01", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "— with 500 or more employees", "value": "9", "segment": "", "period": "January 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1095-01", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Chain size below which a CRS vendor classes a buyer as a small or medium chain", "value": "300 properties", "segment": "Sabre Hospitality Solutions segmentation", "period": "2024", "source": "Sabre 10-K 2024 (SEC)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1597033/000159703325000027/sabr-20241231.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Accommodation and food services businesses that used AI to produce goods or deliver services, Canada", "value": "12.7%", "segment": "NAICS 72, all business sizes", "period": "Q2 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Business Conditions", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310116701", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Accommodation and food services businesses for which AI is not relevant, Canada", "value": "48.1%", "segment": "NAICS 72, all business sizes", "period": "Q2 2026", "source": "Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Business Conditions", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310116901", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Accommodation and food services enterprises hit by a cyber security incident, Canada", "value": "15.4%", "segment": "NAICS 72, all sizes · 22.6% among large", "period": "2023", "source": "Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey of Cyber Security and Cybercrime", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2210007601", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Hotel companies using a property management system (PMS)", "value": "74.41%", "segment": "proxy · industry survey of hotel companies", "period": "2025", "source": "Hotel Yearbook, State of Hospitality Tech 2025", "url": "https://www.hotelyearbook.com/article/122000481/annual-survey-results-the-state-of-hospitality-tech-2025.html", "tier": 3 }, { "label": "Hotel companies using a CRS or booking engine", "value": "63.95%", "segment": "proxy · industry survey of hotel companies", "period": "2025", "source": "Hotel Yearbook, State of Hospitality Tech 2025", "url": "https://www.hotelyearbook.com/article/122000481/annual-survey-results-the-state-of-hospitality-tech-2025.html", "tier": 3 }, { "label": "Hotel companies using a revenue management system (RMS)", "value": "50%", "segment": "proxy · industry survey of hotel companies", "period": "2025", "source": "Hotel Yearbook, State of Hospitality Tech 2025", "url": "https://www.hotelyearbook.com/article/122000481/annual-survey-results-the-state-of-hospitality-tech-2025.html", "tier": 3 } ] }, { "id": "upsell", "title": "What software is supposed to earn the hotel back", "note": "Measured outcomes reported by a hotel chain after rolling out booking-flow software. These are the numbers a vendor's ROI pitch has to beat or match.", "rows": [ { "label": "Room revenue uplift per night when a guest selects an up-sell offer, luxury and lifestyle brands", "value": "$50", "segment": "IHG Luxury & Lifestyle", "period": "2025", "source": "IHG Annual Report 2025 (SEC 20-F)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000858446/000085844626000010/ihg-20251231.htm", "tier": 1 }, { "label": "Room revenue uplift per night when a guest selects an up-sell offer, essentials and suites brands", "value": "$20", "segment": "IHG Essentials and Suites", "period": "2025", "source": "IHG Annual Report 2025 (SEC 20-F)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000858446/000085844626000010/ihg-20251231.htm", "tier": 1 } ] } ], "reconciliation": { "title": "Why these numbers are not a market size, and why vendors look so different", "body": "No statistical office publishes hotel software spending, so this page shows what listed vendors report about themselves. Three things separate them. First, the customer: SiteMinder sells cloud subscriptions to independent hotels, Agilysys sells property management and point-of-sale systems to larger hotels, resorts and casinos with implementation projects and hardware, Sabre's CRS serves chains and groups, and Shift4's payment volume includes restaurants and venues, not only hotels. Second, the revenue model: A$179 of SiteMinder's A$429 per property comes from transactions — payments and distribution, about 42% by our calculation — so A$429 is not a software price list; Agilysys books $0.35 of low-margin implementation revenue for every dollar of subscription and maintenance, which is why its blended gross margin sits far below its subscription margin. Third, the period and currency: fiscal years end in June (SiteMinder) or March (Agilysys), values stay in the reporting currency, and Sabre's 2025 10-K records an 18-month transition-services period for the buyer of a hotel technology business it sold in 2025, so its 2024 numbers describe the unit before the sale. Survey rows on PMS, CRS and RMS use come from an industry survey of hotel companies, not a census of hotels, and are shown as a proxy.", "sources": [ { "source": "SiteMinder — FY2026 results announcement (ASX)", "url": "https://www.asx.com.au/asx/v2/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=03129285" }, { "source": "Agilysys — Form 10-K, fiscal year ended 31 March 2026", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78749/000119312526234423/agys-20260331.htm" }, { "source": "Sabre — Form 10-K 2024 and 2025", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1597033/000162828026008800/sabr-20251231.htm" }, { "source": "Shift4 — Q2 2026 results", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1794669/000179466926000042/ex991q2.htm" }, { "source": "Statistics Canada — Canadian Business Counts and Survey on Business Conditions", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310109501" } ] }, "methodology": "Every number on this page is a fact node in the God of Startups Atlas — a knowledge graph where each metric carries its source URL, reporting period, evidence tier and the verbatim quote it was taken from. Tier 1 means official or statutory sources (Statistics Canada, company filings with the SEC and ASX); tier 2 means a company report with a disclosed basis; tier 3 rows are an industry survey shown as a proxy. Values are shown in the currency the source reports; nothing is converted, estimated or modelled.", "metaTitle": "Hotel Software Economics 2026: Price, Churn, CAC, LTV", "metaDescription": "An independent hotel pays about A$429 a month for its commerce platform; churn 1.0% a month, LTV/CAC 6.6x, 79.35% subscription gross margin.", "page": "https://godofstartups.com/atlas/hotel-software-economics", "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "note": "Each row carries its primary source, period and evidence tier (1 = official/statutory, 2 = industry research with disclosed method)." }