The verdict in three sentences
A hotel group paying a per-room PMS licence sees its bill explode with each new property, while handing 15 to 25% commission to OTAs on every booking. A custom PMS at 100,000-260,000 EUR one-off + 15% TMA integrates a direct booking engine, channel manager, restaurant/spa POS and consolidated multi-site reporting, hosted in the EU (OVH, GDPR). The ROI reads in two figures: +12% direct bookings and a multi-site financial close in 2 days instead of two weeks.
Per-room SaaS vs custom PMS: the 2026 math
For a multi-property group, the per-room model quickly becomes costlier than an owned core.
| Criterion | SaaS PMS (per room) | Custom PMS |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 8-18 EUR/room/month | 100,000-260,000 EUR one-off |
| 300 rooms / year | 28,800-64,800 EUR/yr | TMA 15,000-39,000 EUR/yr |
| 5-year cost (300 rooms) | 144,000-324,000 EUR | 175,000-455,000 EUR |
| Direct-engine commission | often per booking | 0, engine owned |
| Multi-site reporting | limited / optional | custom consolidated |
| Code ownership | no | yes |
| Hosting / GDPR | variable | OVH EU, controlled |
Below 150 rooms, SaaS is often cheaper. Beyond that, and especially if you want to remove booking-engine commissions, custom regains the edge.
What the custom PMS delivers
Value comes from regaining control over distribution and financial consolidation.
| Function | Problem solved | Estimated 2026 gain |
|---|---|---|
| Direct booking engine | OTA commission 15-25% | +12% direct bookings |
| Channel manager | overbooking, manual rates | synced availability |
| Integrated restaurant/spa POS | siloed takings | unified revenue |
| Consolidated multi-site reporting | manual Excel reporting | close in 2 days |
| Occupancy steering | slow pricing decisions | real-time yield |
| OVH hosting / GDPR | customer data compliance | controlled compliance |
The direct booking engine is the ROI core: every booking point recovered from OTAs saves 15 to 25% commission on the room price.
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Mini case study
Rui, director of a 3-hotel group in Lisbon (280 rooms total), paid a SaaS PMS at 14 EUR/room/month = 47,040 EUR/year, plus 20% OTA commission on 60% of booking revenue. He invests 190,000 EUR in a custom PMS + 28,500 EUR/year TMA. The direct engine lifts direct bookings from 40% to 52% (+12 pts) on 6.2M EUR booking revenue: 12% x 6.2M = 744,000 EUR revenue repatriated, of which about 130,000 EUR OTA commission saved in year one. The project pays back in year 1, before counting the removed SaaS licence.
FAQ
From how many rooms does custom pay off? Generally above 150 rooms, or as soon as you want to remove booking-engine commissions. Below that, per-room SaaS stays more flexible.
Is the channel manager included? Yes, it syncs availability and rates with OTAs and prevents overbooking. It is an essential brick of the custom scope.
Can we consolidate the properties' accounting? Yes, multi-site reporting aggregates revenue, occupancy and RevPAR per site and overall, bringing the close from two weeks to two days.
Where is customer data hosted? On OVH servers in the EU, GDPR-compliant, encrypted and backed up. You control location, unlike some international SaaS.
How long to deploy across several hotels? Expect 5 to 8 months for a multi-site core, deploying property by property to limit operational risk.
Let's scope your project. Give us your number of properties, rooms and OTA booking share, and we price the right PMS. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
