chatlyn vs Duve
The facts side by side, what each one costs tier by tier, and which of the two we'd pick. Both have been paid for and run at a working European hotel.
The short version
Both land on 7/10 overall, so the choice comes down to fit rather than our scores.
chatlyn is built for european hotels wanting privacy-first omnichannel messaging. Duve is built for larger hotels with dedicated tech staff wanting a full guest platform.
Which we'd pick
chatlyn if OTA guests message you, Duve if you want the whole guest journey.
Both land on 7 and they are not really substitutes. Duve is a full guest platform: guidebook, upselling, translation, check-in, the lot, and Elena replaced email with it entirely. chatlyn is a messaging tool that does one thing better than anyone, which is pulling Airbnb and Booking.com conversations into the same inbox as WhatsApp so you see the whole guest rather than the part that came direct.
Cost structures differ enough to matter. chatlyn stopped publishing its flat tiers in 2026 and now quotes per room, with WhatsApp metered on top. Duve has moved to published package minimums from $120 a month, so it scales with your tier rather than your volume. Duve is chain-shaped and the admin side shows it; chatlyn is three years old, will not name its EU hosting provider publicly, has analytics too shallow for real decisions and segmentation Anna calls rudimentary.
Drawn from our individual hands-on reviews rather than a fresh head-to-head test. Where a finding belongs to one of us, we've said whose it is.
| chatlyn | Duve | |
|---|---|---|
| Our rating | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | Quote only since 2026. Was flat tiers ~€61-311/month; now a per-room quote plus a per-property setup fee, WhatsApp usage on top | Published package minimums: Basic from $120/month, Pro $150, Premium $200, Enterprise custom |
| Best for | European hotels wanting privacy-first omnichannel messaging | Larger hotels with dedicated tech staff wanting a full guest platform |
| HQ | Austria (Vienna) | Israel (Tel Aviv) |
| Founded | 2022 | 2016 |
| Reviewed by | anna | elena |
What each one costs
chatlyn pricing
- Per-room platform fee Quote only
- Calculated per room across every property in the agreement, with the per-room rate falling as the portfolio grows. You reach it through a calculator that wants your room count and PMS, or by ringing Vienna. Until 2026 this was a published flat tier grid.
- Setup fee One-off, per property, quote only
- New since our review. The figure varies with the PMS connection type and whether implementation is remote or on site, and it is not published in any form.
- WhatsApp usage Charged on top
- One WhatsApp inbox is included; additional inboxes cost extra. Unlimited team members with no per-agent fee and no AI usage fee, which is the part chatlyn does still state plainly.
chatlyn withdrew its published pricing during 2026. What our review recorded, flat tiers from around €61 a month for Light up to €311 for Advanced, is no longer on the site, and a per-property setup fee has appeared that we never had to account for. The company defends the change on its own pricing page: it says the honest answer depends on your rooms, your PMS and how implementation runs, and it would rather quote against your actual setup than publish a number most properties would have to correct. That is a better argument than most vendors bother making. It still means you cannot compare chatlyn against a rival without handing over your details first.
Duve pricing
- Basic From $120/month
- Stated as a minimum package rather than a per-room rate. Online check-in, branded guest app, check-out coordination, analytics and support.
- Pro From $150/month
- Adds the communication suite: unified inbox, SMS, WhatsApp messaging, automations and workflows. Carries the 0% commission claim on in-house upsells.
- Premium From $200/month
- Adds upsells and ecommerce: room upgrades, custom upsells and payment processing integration.
- Enterprise Custom
- Everything above plus advanced customisation and a dedicated account manager. Contact required.
Duve now presents four package minimums where our review recorded a single per-room figure of about $6 per room per month. For most properties the new shape is more useful, because $120 a month is something you can put in a budget where about $6 per room left you guessing at the floor. Read it against the warning in Elena's review though: several hoteliers reported charges they had not expected, and a published minimum is not a published total. Every one of these tiers is stated as a starting point.
Prices as last verified during each review. Hotel software pricing moves, and per-room rates behave very differently at 20 rooms and at 200, so run the arithmetic at your own room count. Full detail on chatlyn pricing and Duve pricing.
Common questions
Which is better, chatlyn or Duve?
Both score 7/10 on our ratings, so the right pick depends on what you are optimising for. Read both reviews.
How much do chatlyn and Duve cost?
chatlyn: Quote only since 2026. Was flat tiers ~€61-311/month; now a per-room quote plus a per-property setup fee, WhatsApp usage on top
Duve: Published package minimums: Basic from $120/month, Pro $150, Premium $200, Enterprise custom
Read the full reviews
-
chatlyn
chatlyn is Austrian, EU-hosted, and does omnichannel messaging with a privacy posture that holds up under scrutiny. The product is young, and it shows in places. But the foundations are right.
-
Duve
A second season with Duve and the rating goes up. WhatsApp changed everything for how we talk to guests, and Katerina can now train new hires on it herself. Still not simple, but no longer unmanageable.