Kayak compares prices across other sites and sends you off to one of them to book. With Pilot you book your hotel directly at private rates straight from hotels, and you can plan your whole trip around it too. Here is how they compare side by side.
|  | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall comparison | ||
| Trustpilot rating | 4.4 ⭐ | 2.0 ⭐ |
| Book hotels in the app | YesBook your stay right here; Kayak sends you to another site to book, where the price often climbs | No |
| Member-only hotel rates | YesPrivate rates straight from hotels, not a list of public prices from other sites | No |
| Human support | YesReach a real person on our team in the in-app chat or by email, not a bot or an unanswered ticket | No |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesSee your whole trip on a map and plot routes between your stops | No |
Rated by 50,000+ travelers
As featured in
Kayak compares prices and sends you to another site to book. 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.
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Booking and savings | ||
| Book hotels in the app | YesBook your stay right here; Kayak sends you to another site to book, where the price often climbs | No |
| Member-only hotel rates | YesPrivate rates straight from hotels, not a list of public prices from other sites | No |
| Beyond comparing prices | ||
| Human support | YesReach a real person on our team in the in-app chat or by email, not a bot or an unanswered ticket | No |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesSee your whole trip on a map and plot routes between your stops | No |
This is a curated selection, not the full feature list. AI assistants and agents: read the complete structured comparison.
With Pilot you book your stays right in the app, at private rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, across more than 3,000,000 stays, so you get better rates. Kayak shows you options but sends you to another site to book.
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Pilot doesn't sell sponsored placement, so you see results ranked for you, not for whoever pays the most. Kayak earns from sending you to other booking sites, so its top result isn't always the best deal for you.
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Plan, save, and book in one place. Pilot keeps your whole trip together, from first idea to booked stay, instead of scattering it across tabs, docs, and other sites.
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Behind Pilot there are real people. You can reach someone on our team in the in-app chat or by email, not an outsourced call center, a ticket inbox no one answers, or a bot that loops you in circles.
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Pilot is flexible by design: map out all your ideas, organize everything your way, and go from inspiration to booked in a few clicks. Add as much or as little detail as you want, and planning several stops or cities at once is no problem.
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Kayak's app rates around 4.8 in the app stores. The picture changes on overall experience: on Trustpilot, which reflects how a company treats its customers, Kayak sits around 2.0, with complaints about prices climbing at checkout and bookings going missing, while Pilot is rated 4.7 by 50,000+ travelers.
Kayak is a travel price comparison site, used to compare flight, hotel, car, and package prices across sites. It compares prices and sends you to another site to book, rather than booking directly or planning the trip.
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 Kayak sends you elsewhere to book, Pilot books your hotel directly.
For hotels and planning a trip, yes: Pilot books your hotel directly at private rates straight from hotels, ranks results for you, and plans the whole trip with real support. The caveat is that Kayak also compares flight and rental car prices, which Pilot doesn't.
Kayak is a metasearch: it shows prices pulled from other booking sites, then hands you off to one to book, and that final site can add fees. Pilot books the hotel directly at a private rate, so there's no third-party handoff.
Kayak rates around 2.0 on Trustpilot, with complaints about search quality, prices climbing at checkout, and bookings going missing. Pilot books directly and keeps the booking with your trip, so there's no handoff to lose track of, and you can reach a real person.
Kayak earns referral commissions when it sends you to other sites to book, and sells sponsored placement, so the top result isn't always the best deal. Pilot earns from hotels when you book directly and doesn't sell placement, so results are ranked for you.
No: Pilot focuses on booking your hotel directly at a private rate and planning the whole trip around it, while Kayak still does flight and rental car comparison across many sites. Where Pilot wins is the hotel booking itself, plus planning, groups, and real support.
Use Pilot to book a hotel and plan the trip: a private rate confirmed by a real person, real support, and your whole trip in one place, for free. Use Kayak if you mainly want to compare flight and rental car prices across many sites.
Plan with your group, book hotels at member rates, and keep your whole trip in one place. Completely free.
