I run hotels and build BookingWatch, so I am not neutral — which is why every competitor price on this page links to the vendor's own pricing page, with the date I read it. If a vendor does not publish a price, I say so instead of guessing. All prices exclude VAT. Prices change, so check the vendor page before you decide.
The tools at a glance
These are the tools I found that use AI to work on a hotel's e-mail inbox itself, not only website chat or WhatsApp.
| Tool | What it does with e-mail | Inbox connection | Pricing model | Starting price | Binding term | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BookingWatch (SE) | Drafts for staff to approve or automatic replies — the hotel chooses | Any inbox with IMAP | Per answered e-mail, monthly cap | €45/month incl. 100 answered e-mails, then €0.25 each, max €179/month | None | 30 days |
| Opally (DK) | AI drafts that staff approve; can be set to act on routine cases. Also website chat (Starter), voice and messaging apps (Pro) | Gmail, Outlook | Per room/month with minimum | Starter €4/room/month, min. €100/month; Pro €6/room/month, min. €150/month | Not stated; "cancel anytime" | 14 days, no card |
| Altek (NO) | Prepares replies with PMS data for approval by default; routine cases can be set to send on their own, per property and action type | Outlook add-in or Altek's own inbox | Fixed per hotel by size band | €399/month (under 100 rooms); €549 (100–499); from €649 (500+) | 12 months after rollout | 30 days |
| DialogShift Email AI (DE) | Draft replies in Outlook, incl. booking links; staff send | Outlook plug-in | Base platform + add-ons | Base platform €200/month; Email AI add-on €50 per hotel/month | Not stated | Not stated (money-back guarantee on base) |
| D3x Agentic Email | Sends low-risk replies without review; refunds, complaints and negotiations go to staff with a draft | Gmail, Outlook | Priced separately from D3x messaging | Not published (messaging tier €5/room/month includes an "email plug-in") | Confirmed on demo call | Not stated |
| HERA by Hotel Res Bot (DE) | Reads reservation e-mails and prepares offers and FAQ answers for the agent, who sends | Add-in for Outlook, Gmail and other clients | Subscription | Not published / not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
Sources: BookingWatch pricing; Opally; Altek pricing and Altek; DialogShift pricing; D3x pricing and D3x AI email for hotels; HERA on Mews Marketplace (the vendor site could not be loaded). All retrieved 2026-10-07.
Broader guest-messaging platforms such as HiJiffy and Canary are built mainly around website chat, messaging apps and voice. On HiJiffy's pricing page e-mail is listed as "centralisation only" in the shared inbox, and Canary's AI guest messaging page does not list e-mail as a channel, so they are not in the table.
Sources: HiJiffy pricing; Canary AI guest messaging, retrieved 2026-10-07
Which tool fits which hotel
- Small and independent hotels, B&Bs and seasonal properties that want to pay for the e-mails actually answered and avoid a binding period: BookingWatch. It works with whatever inbox you already have, as long as it supports IMAP.
- Hotels that also want AI on the website chat, phone or WhatsApp from one supplier: Opally (chat in Starter, voice and messaging apps in Pro) or Altek (chat and WhatsApp as add-ons). BookingWatch answers e-mail only.
- Hotels with a reservations team that lives in Outlook and wants the AI inside the existing inbox: Altek for Outlook or DialogShift Email AI. Both work in the Outlook thread your staff already open.
- Hotels on Mews, Opera Cloud or Visbook/BookVisit that want the AI to create and change bookings in the PMS: Altek names these integrations with write access; Opally names Mews, Apaleo and Opera. BookingWatch reads availability and prices from your booking system if the system exports them, and does not name specific PMS integrations.
- Hotel groups that want low-risk e-mails answered automatically across many properties: D3x targets this, but you have to ask for the e-mail price.
- Larger hotels with group, MICE and corporate requests handled by reservation agents: HERA is built to prepare detailed offers for agents.
- Very low volume (a few e-mails a day): a general AI chatbot or Gemini/Copilot in your mail program may be enough — see below.
Cost example at three hotel sizes
Assumptions: e-mails answered per month are my estimates for illustration, not industry figures. Per-room tools are priced on room count, BookingWatch on answered e-mails. Opally Starter and Pro are calculated as rooms × price, but never below the published minimum. DialogShift is base platform + Email AI, assuming the add-on needs the base platform (the German pricing page marks it as an add-on). Altek's fixed price comes with a 12-month term. Monthly prices, excluding VAT.
| Hotel | BookingWatch | Opally Starter | Opally Pro | Altek | DialogShift (base + Email AI) | D3x / HERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 rooms, ~150 answered e-mails/month | €57.50 | €100 | €150 | €399 | €250 | Not published |
| 25 rooms, ~400 answered e-mails/month | €120 | €100 | €150 | €399 | €250 | Not published |
| 60 rooms, ~900 answered e-mails/month | €179 (cap) | €240 | €360 | €399 | €250 | Not published |
BookingWatch calculated from the current price list; competitor prices from the vendor pages listed above, retrieved 2026-10-07.
The table only shows the price. It does not show what each tool does: Opally Pro and Altek include more channels and PMS write-back, DialogShift's base platform is also used for its other products. Compare what you will actually use.
Do it yourself: AI in your mail program or a chatbot
General AI tools can draft replies, but they do not know your availability or policies unless you paste them in, and a person still sends each reply.
| Tool | What you get for e-mail | Price (vendor's site) |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini in Gmail (Google Workspace) | Drafting and summarising in Gmail; included in all Business plans | Business Starter €6.80, Standard €13.60, Plus €21.10 per user/month, billed monthly (introductory discounts for new customers); 14-day trial |
| ChatGPT Business | Chat interface; copy the guest e-mail in and the draft out | Not verified — OpenAI's pricing pages could not be loaded on 2026-10-07 |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Business | Drafting and summarising in Outlook and other Microsoft 365 apps | $21 per user/month paid yearly (offer $18 from 1 July to 31 December 2026), or $25.20 month-to-month; requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan |
Sources: Google Workspace pricing; Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing, retrieved 2026-10-07
How to get good drafts this way: How to use ChatGPT to answer hotel e-mails.
What to check before you choose
- Drafts or automatic sending? Can you start with drafts and later let routine replies go out on their own — and decide which ones?
- Your inbox. Does it work with the mail system you have (Outlook, Gmail, IMAP from your web host), or do staff need a new inbox?
- Availability and prices. Where does the tool get them — your PMS, booking engine or channel manager? Ask what happens if your system is not supported.
- Languages. Which languages does it read, and which does it reply in? Test with real e-mails in the languages your guests write in.
- GDPR. Ask for a data processing agreement (DPA), where data is stored, and whether guest e-mails are used to train models.
- Binding period and cancellation. Is there a minimum term after the trial? What notice do you need to give?
- Total monthly cost at your volume. Count rooms and answered e-mails in both high and low season, add base fees and add-ons, and compare the total — not the headline price.
- Hand-over to staff. How does the tool flag complaints, groups and anything it should not answer?
More on what to look for: AI e-mail assistant for hotels.