Compare Pilot

What makes Pilot different?

Pilot is a trip booking and planning platform: plan the whole trip and book your stays in one place. Here is how it compares to the travel apps, booking sites, and planners people use today, and why travelers are switching.

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Rated by 120,000+ travelers

  • 4.7
  • 4.8
  • 4.2
  • 4.4

As featured in

  • TechCrunch
  • WIRED
  • Washington Post
  • Forbes
  • Yahoo Finance
  • Morningstar
  • Vancouver Tech Journal

Why travelers choose Pilot

The biggest reasons people switch from most travel apps, booking sites, and planners.

  • Private 'book early' hotel deals

    Private 'book early' hotel deals

    Book-early deals straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, so you lock in a lower rate than the public price.

  • Flexible by design

    Flexible by design

    Easily map out every idea and keep it organized your way, then go from a rough sketch to booked in just a few clicks.

  • Every plan, file, and idea in one place

    Every plan, file, and idea in one place

    Every booking, plan, file, and idea lives in one trip, instead of scattered across tabs, docs, and screenshots.

  • User-friendly, not overwhelming

    User-friendly, not overwhelming

    Genuinely easy to use and never overwhelming, so planning your trip feels good instead of like work.

  • No inflated big-brand prices

    No inflated big-brand prices

    No big-brand markup. You see fair rates, not prices inflated just because a name knows people will still pay them.

  • No paywalls on the basics

    No paywalls on the basics

    The basics are never gated. Pilot doesn't lock everyday planning behind a paywall the way many tools do.

Pilot vs. the alternatives

Pilot is a trip booking and planning platform, and it doesn't fit neatly into any single category of travel app. Most travel tools own one slice of a trip: a booking site sells you a room, an AI or itinerary builder drafts a plan, a maps app gets you around. Pilot brings everything travelers need to make a trip happen into one place, so it is really a discovery and productivity tool, not just a booking site or an itinerary builder. Below is where Pilot lands against the tools people reach for at each stage of a trip.

For planning & organizing

Pilot organizes the whole trip, flights, stays, a day-by-day map, and notes, and lets you book it too, without ever leaving the app.

For transportation

Pilot searches flights and the other ways to get there, with no sponsored results, and keeps them with the rest of your trip instead of in a separate tab.

For hotels & places to stay

Pilot lets you book the same stays at private member rates, right inside your itinerary.

For all-in-one booking sites

Pilot does everything the big booking sites do, so you can book your flights and stays in one place, without the markups, upsells, or sponsored placement.

For tours & things to do

Pilot surfaces activities and lets you add them to the plan, not just check out a cart.

For getting around

Pilot maps your trip and keeps routes and transit with everything else.

For AI trip planning

Pilot's AI helps you build a real trip you can book, instead of just chatting about one.

More reasons travelers choose Pilot

Everything else that sets Pilot apart. Pick a category to explore.

  • Unbiased search, no sponsored results

    Unbiased search, no sponsored results

    Unbiased search with no sponsored results or upsells. Partners can't pay for preferred placement.

  • Results for you, not their margins

    Results for you, not their margins

    Results ranked to fit your trip, not to push whatever earns the most or is tuned for advertisers.

  • Free things, not just bookings

    Free things, not just bookings

    Pilot is a discovery and planning tool first, so it surfaces free things to do, not only what it can sell you.

  • No upsells, forms, or pressure

    No upsells, forms, or pressure

    No upsells, endless forms, or pressure tactics. Booking stays simple, quick, and calm.

  • 3M+ stays, better rates

    3M+ stays, better rates

    Direct partnerships with over 3,000,000 stays, which means better negotiated rates for you.

  • Book and keep it with your trip

    Book and keep it with your trip

    Book your stay right in the app and keep it with the rest of your trip, without ever leaving Pilot.

What travelers say about Pilot

Pilot is rated 4.7 by travelers who plan and book their trips with it. Here is what they say.

Try Pilot Learn more
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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planning is made so easy with this app (and desktop site). everything's in one place and keeps the timeline uncluttered! will definitely be using this again in the future
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My experience with Pilot was excellent. They help secure the hotel booking I wanted and at the best rate. Their support was very timely and helpful.
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The cumstomer service is more than great. They are very professional.
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all this for free is so generous! great app has eveything I needed :)
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⭐ Going Above and Beyond—Even at Their Own Expense ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Our experience with Pilot reminded me that you truly learn about a company when something goes wrong—not when everything goes right. We encountered an unfortunate situation with a hotel that failed to honor what had been promised. Although the issue wasn't Pilot's fault, their cofounder, Yu-Wei, personally stepped in, investigated the matter, and ultimately refunded us **at Pilot's own expense** after the hotel refused to do the right thing. As a business owner myself, I know that isn't an easy decision to make. It demonstrated a level of integrity, accountability, and customer care that is increasingly rare. Pilot didn't just resolve our issue—they earned our trust. They communicated transparently throughout the process, treated us with respect, and stood behind their commitment to their customers, even when it cost them financially. If you're looking for a travel company that genuinely values its customers and stands behind its service, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Pilot. We look forward to booking with them again in the future. Thank you to Yu-Wei and the entire Pilot team for going above and beyond.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Support goes above and beyond to help you secure your bookings! I had the best experience imaginable and will continue to use this service for all future trips.
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Support goes above and beyond to help you secure your bookings! I had the best experience imaginable and will continue to use this service for all future trips.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Very good customer service and quick response.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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person knowledgeable and helpful, only problem is the long wait
⭐⭐⭐
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I appreciate what they're trying to do with the website, but it's just too clunky, slow, and frustrating to use. Just trying to book a hotel and it's incredibly annoying. "Oops" gets tiring after a while.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Great communication and planning
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Love being able to see all of my plans in one place with links to info that I can share with fellow travelers and family.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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app is a little bit buggy on android but it is very helpful for organizing a trip
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Jennifer was extremely helpful and very quick to respond. A+ customer service experience!
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Jennifer was extremely helpful and very quick to respond. A+ customer service experience!
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Terrific pricing and very responsive customer service.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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great support and clean interface
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Nice consolidation tool for travel plan, tickets, etc. Me and my daughter can share a travel plan, and add the whole itinerary, with pre-booked tickets, daily excursion plans, etc. It makes organisation of the trip incredibly easy and all information between travelers are shared

Common questions about Pilot

What is Pilot?

Pilot is a trip booking and planning platform. You plan the whole trip in one place, a flexible itinerary, a map of your stops, and notes, and you book your hotel in the app at private rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents.

Is Pilot free?

Yes, Pilot is completely free to plan and book, with no paywall on the basics. Pilot earns from hotels when you book through the app, so it never has to charge you to plan.

What can I compare Pilot to?

Pick any tool above to see a full side-by-side comparison. Pilot is most often compared to online travel agencies and booking sites (like Booking.com, Expedia, and Agoda), metasearch and price-comparison apps (like Skyscanner, Kayak, and Trivago), and trip planners and organizers (like Wanderlog, TripIt, and Polarsteps).

How is Pilot different from a booking site like Booking.com or Expedia?

Booking sites are built to complete a single booking, and many add fees at checkout or sell sponsored placement. Pilot lets you book your hotel at private rates straight from hotels, ranks results for you with no sponsored placement, and gives you one place to plan the whole trip around the stay, with real people on support.

How is Pilot different from a trip planner like Wanderlog or TripIt?

Most planners organize a trip but send you elsewhere to book, and some gate features behind a paid plan. Pilot keeps planning free and lets you book your stay in the app, so the plan and the booking live in one place.

Does Pilot book hotels?

Yes. You can book over 3,000,000 hotels right in the app, at private rates straight from hotels. Pilot reserves your room instantly with its hotel partners, and a real person confirms each booking with the hotel.

Does Pilot book flights or rental cars?

Pilot lets you book hotels in the app and surfaces flight deals you can book elsewhere, but you can't book flights, trains, or rental cars through it. It's built to help you plan the whole trip and book your stays in one place.

Plan your next trip with Pilot

Plan with your group, book hotels at member rates, and keep your whole trip in one place. Completely free.

Try Pilot