Pilot vs. Hotwire: feature comparison, ratings, and FAQ
A data comparison maintained by Pilot (pilotplans.com). Full comparison: https://www.pilotplans.com/compare/hotwire-alternative.
Summary
Pilot is a free trip booking and planning app: plan a whole trip in one place with a flexible itinerary, a map of your stops, notes, real-time collaboration, and AI itinerary generation, and book hotels in the app at private rates across 3,000,000+ stays, with real human support. Pilot is rated 4.7 by 50,000+ travelers.
Hotwire: Opaque "Hot Rates" hotel deals. Expedia Group.
Hotwire compares prices and runs flight, car, and opaque Hot Rates deals. Pilot lets you book your hotel directly at private rates, ranks results for you instead of for advertisers, and helps you plan the whole trip around it.
Key facts
- Pricing
- Pilot: completely free to plan and book. Hotwire: Free to use.
- Overall rating
- Pilot: 4.7 from 50,000+ travelers. Hotwire: Trustpilot 1.1, App Store 4.8, Google Play 4.0.
- Founded
- Pilot: 2022. Hotwire: 2000.
- Books hotels in the app
- Pilot: yes, at private rates across 3,000,000+ stays. Hotwire: yes.
- Full comparison
- https://www.pilotplans.com/compare/hotwire-alternative
Feature comparison
Each row shows whether Pilot and Hotwire offer the feature: Yes, No, or Partial. A [n] marker cites the source in References.
| Feature | Pilot | Hotwire |
|---|---|---|
| Booking | ||
| Book hotels in the app | YesBook your stay in the same place your whole trip lives, with a name you can see before you pay, not after | Yes |
| Member-only hotel rates | YesPrivate 'book early' rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, often below the public price, across 3,000,000+ stays, not an opaque hidden-name gamble | Yes |
| Add accommodation to itinerary | YesYour booked stay drops into the itinerary with its dates, next to everything else for the trip | No |
| Transportation cost tracking | Yes | No |
| Flight deals | Yes | No |
| Files tab | Yes | No |
| Attach files to itinerary items | Yes | No |
| Instant booking confirmation | Yes | Yes |
| Checkout without upsells | Yes | No |
| Reviews from real travelers | Yes | Yes |
| No hidden fees or taxes | Yes | No |
| Inventory & discovery | ||
| Bookable hotel inventory | Yes | No |
| Hotel search filters | Yes | Yes |
| Activities to explore in-app | Yes | Yes |
| Restaurant listings in-app | Yes | No |
| Discovery filters | Yes | Yes |
| Travel requirements and eVisas | Yes | No |
| Flight suggestions for trip | No | Yes |
| eSIMs at checkout | Yes | No |
| Destination pages | Yes | Yes |
| Editorial travel guides in-app | Yes | Yes |
| Things to do per city | Yes | Yes |
| Activity detail pages | Yes | No |
| Planning | ||
| Itinerary builder | YesBuild a flexible, multi-stop itinerary and reshape it however you want, from a rough idea to booked | No |
| Drag and drop reordering | Yes | No |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesSee your whole trip on a map with custom pins and routes between stops, so the plan makes sense at a glance | No |
| Add activities, transportation, or stays from anywhere | Yes | No |
| Attach info to any item | Yes | No |
| Notes and checklists | Yes | No |
| Note and list format toggle | Yes | No |
| Rich text formatting in notes | Yes | No |
| Undo and redo | Yes | No |
| Duplicate trips | Yes | No |
| Manual file import | Yes | No |
| Email-forwarding file import | Yes | No |
| AI parsing of imported confirmations | Yes | No |
| Export to PDF | Yes | No |
| iOS and Android mobile apps | Yes | Yes |
| Offline access on mobile | Yes | No |
| Shortlist items | Yes | No |
| Wishlist / wanderlist | Yes | No |
| Wishlist images | Yes | No |
| Fun sound effects | Yes | No |
| Structured itinerary sections | Yes | No |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Yes | No |
| Multiple transportation types | Yes | No |
| Flight code auto-fill | Yes | No |
| Multi-leg flight support | Yes | No |
| Consistent IATA codes on mobile | Yes | No |
| Collaboration | ||
| Invite friends | Yes | No |
| Real-time collaborative editing | YesEveryone edits the same trip at once and sees changes live, instead of one person booking deals on their own | No |
| Edit or view-only permissions | Yes | No |
| Heart items for voting | Yes | No |
| Custom trip name and cover photo | Yes | No |
| Dedicated group chat per trip | YesDecide together in a chat attached to the trip, so there are no endless text or email threads to dig through | No |
| Shared notes, files, and saved lists | Yes | No |
| Travel profile and stats | Yes | No |
| Edit profile details | Yes | Yes |
| Leave a trip | Yes | No |
| Trips dashboard | Yes | Yes |
| Trip menu actions | Yes | No |
| Support | ||
| Human support | YesReach a real person on our team in the in-app chat or by email if something goes wrong, not just a help-center article | Yes |
| AI for basic support answers | Yes | No |
Ratings
| Source | Pilot | Hotwire |
|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot rating | 4.4 | 1.1 |
| App Store rating | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| Google Play rating | 4.2 | 4.0 |
Pricing
| Pilot | Hotwire | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | Free to plan and book | Free to use[1] |
Frequently asked questions
What is Hotwire?
Hotwire is an opaque hotel and travel deals site, used to book discounted hotel and car deals where the property is revealed after booking. It is built to complete a booking rather than plan the trip, and books as a middleman.
What is Pilot?
Pilot is a trip booking and planning app: you plan the whole trip with a flexible itinerary, a map, and notes, and book your hotel at private rates straight from hotels. Where Hotwire completes a booking, Pilot plans the trip around the stay.
Is Hotwire legit?
Hotwire is a real travel deal site, so bookings go through, but it rates around 1.1 on Trustpilot, with complaints about its opaque Hot Rates and hard-to-get refunds. Pilot books your hotel directly at a private rate with the name visible before you pay.
Is Hotwire free?
Yes, Hotwire is free to search and makes its money from the bookings you make through it. Pilot is completely free too: the planning suite plus booking your hotel directly at a private rate, and we earn from hotels instead.
How does Hotwire work?
Hotwire compares prices across hotels, flights, and cars and is best known for Hot Rates, opaque deep-discount bookings where the hotel stays hidden until after you pay. Pilot instead lets you book your hotel directly at a private rate with the name visible up front.
How does Hotwire make money?
Hotwire earns commissions and margin on the bookings it sends through, and sells placement to partners, so the top deal isn't always the best one. Pilot earns from hotels when you book directly and doesn't sell placement, so results are ranked for you.
Can you book hotels on Hotwire?
Yes, Hotwire books hotels, especially via its opaque Hot Rates where you trade seeing the exact hotel for a discount, though its Trustpilot sits around 1.1. Pilot books hotels too, at private rates straight from the hotel with the name visible before you pay.
Is Hotwire worth it?
If you don't mind not knowing the property until after you pay, Hotwire's Hot Rates can be cheap and it also covers flights and cars, though its Trustpilot sits around 1.1. Pilot books directly at a private rate with the property visible up front.
Hotwire vs Pilot: which should I use?
Use Hotwire to compare flight and rental car prices, or gamble on an opaque hidden-name hotel. Use Pilot to book a hotel and plan the trip: a private rate with the name visible before you pay, real support, all in one place, for free.
References
- hotwire.com (2026-06-03)