When it comes to global travelers, hospitality is one of the most critical industries. When moving from one place to another, finding a place to stay can be one of the most important things to think about.

Additionally, an application like Kayak can help you find the right place and gives travelers and travelers on a budget options for vacation rentals. Statista says that the hotel booking business will be worth $1.66 trillion worldwide in 2027.

Surely, after witnessing this increasing profit, you must have thought to develop a hotel booking app like Kayak. Fair enough! Thus, if you are looking to invest in hotel booking app development, then you should read this blog post in its entirety.

So, to save you a ton of time and effort, we have compiled this detailed guide on creating an app similar to Kayak.

So, let’s begin!

 

What is a Kayak App?

Kayak’s travel search engine does more than just search for flights and hotels; users can’t book anything straight on this app. Instead, it sends users to other apps to finalize their trip plans. A hotel booking application like Kayak could be another aggregator, a company that books hotels, or an agency that rents cars.

It covers hotel stays, rental cars, train and bus tickets, and trips. It has useful tools that let users look at places to visit based on how much flights cost when they want to travel. So, if you plan to develop an app like Kayak, consult a mobile app development company. 

 

Market Statistics of Hotel Booking Industry

 

 

Source: Statista

• It was predicted that the value of hotel reservations worldwide would hit $1.66 trillion in 2027.
• The hotel industry is expected to bring in $443.10bn by 2025.
• The market is forecast to grow at a rate of 3.67 percent per year, reaching $511.90 billion by 2029.
• There will likely be 1.81bn users in the accommodation booking Platform by the end of this year.
• By 2029, 22.5% of users will have signed up, up from 17.4% in 2025.
• It is predicted that each user will make an average of $33,000.
• If everything goes as planned, online sales will bring in 80% of all hotel income by 2029.

 

How Does A Kayak App Work? 

Any simple hotel app works in a way that is easy to use and effective. Any mobile app for booking hotels must have a booking engine as its main feature. It ensures all the booking outlets have the same real-time information about users. Let’s look at how the Kayak works one step at a time when you build a hotel booking mobile app. 

 

 

1. Search and Discover

Users start by entering the dates and places they want to visit. The app then searches a huge database of hotels, both big companies and small, independent ones. It shows a list of choices, with pictures and short descriptions, ranging from cheap motels to fancy resorts.

 

2. Filter and Refine

Filters make it easy for users to quickly cut down their options. They can choose the price range, amenities, star grade, and guest reviews that they want. This makes it easy for them to find hotels that fit their wants and budget.

 

3. Compare and Contrast

It is easy to compare prices, amenities, and guest reviews on Kayak because it often shows hotels next to each other. People can quickly find the places that have the best deals.

 

4. Book with Ease

Users can book a hotel right through the app like Trivago or Kayak once they have picked one. A lot of the time, Kayak works with online travel companies and hotel websites to make booking easier.

 

5. Manage the Trip

After making a reservation, users can use the app to see their schedule. They can see the details of their ticket, get alerts and reminders, and even change their reservation if they need to.

 

Steps To Develop a Hotel Booking App Like Kayak

Now that you are well-versed in the working process of a Kayak app clone, it is time to build an app like Kayak for the hotel industry. So, we have jotted down the mobile app development process of the hotel booking app. 

 

 

1. Define App’s Purpose & Features 

First, make it clear what your hotel booking apps like Kayak are for and their main benefits. You should ask yourself several questions:

• What issues are you trying to resolve?
• Who will be your target audience?
• What are the main features they would expect?

To find the answers, you should do a market study to find out what people want and what bothers them when they book hotels. Find the must-have features that will make your app stand out. Also, you should perform a competitor analysis of an app like HotelTonight or another.

You must also write down the most important ways people will use the app and make wireframes or sketches to see how the user will interact with it.

 

2. Create UI/UX Design

After all of the wireframes are completed, designers begin creating mockups for your next hotel reservation app. They use the project requirements, the wireframes they made in the previous stage, and current UI/UX methods to develop an app like Kayak prototype that fits your personal vision and your company’s style.

After that, the UI/UX designers hand off the job to the mobile app developers and help them with it. Before creating the hotel booking app, a team offered this UI/UX design service.

 

3. Develop the Kayak Clone App

It is now time for the hotel booking app development company to get to work. They’ll take your designs and ideas through code and integration and turn them into a working app. To develop a hotel booking app like Kayak, they need to work together closely and talk to each other openly.

This step will likely take a long time as the idea comes to life. Once the app is finished being built, we’ll test it thoroughly to make sure it works perfectly.

 

4. Test the App

Before you release your app, it’s important to test it thoroughly. We can find and fix bugs and make sure the experience is smooth by carefully checking every part of the app. As part of this process, the app is tested several times to make sure it works as it should.

Once you’re sure about the quality of the vacation stay app, we can move forward with the launch.

 

5. Final Release 

The last step is to make your accommodation booking app available to everyone. To do this, you need to send your app to both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for review.

It’s important to know that this process can take up to two weeks for each platform, even though the development team will handle the technical parts.

 

 

Key Features To Add In Kayak Clone App Development

When it comes to technology, MVP features are the basic features that your accommodation booking app similar to Kayak, needs to have in order to work.

This is an affordable means for you, as a hotel owner or new business owner, to see if your app idea is worth the money. Here are the most important features that hotel apps should have.  

 

 

1. Easy Sign-Up

One important feature to have in Kayak clone app development is the ability for users to sign up. Users don’t want to wait hours to check out your app’s features. So, ensure you give them easy ways to sign up for the app, like phone numbers, registration, or social media apps.

 

2. Flight Search & Booking

Many users like apps like Kayak that let users search for and book flights. This is similar to an app like Agoda. This feature should make looking for flights from one place to another easy, show some great flight deals, and give full information. It will be simple to use the app’s perks.

 

3. Reviews and Ratings

Like always, reviews and scores are what users and other people see. That way, they can pick better things. Your opinion can help businesses understand your users and make things better where they are lacking. Besides, these kinds of features can help build trust and faith when you develop an app like Kayak.

 

4. Various Payment Gateways

Do you want to make sure that people confirm their reservations? You agree, right? So, ensure that your app has multiple payment gateway options. It should be possible for users to pay with credit cards, bank cards, eWallets, or any other method they choose. Users will feel safer and be more likely to finish the payment this way.

 

5. Various Filters

The filters will help users narrow down the list based on their choices. Because of this, you should add this feature when you develop a hotel booking app like Kayak. It allows users to sort based on reviews, price differences, and other factors. This is what will make it simple for people to find what they need.

 

6. Booking History

Like an app like Booking.com, you should also add booking History, a useful feature for users who want to keep track of their spending. So, they can see what places they’ve booked in the past and how much they’ve spent on them. Users sometimes book again based on past information if you make an app like Kayak.

 

7. Chatbot

You can make your app stand out from the rest by adding features like Chatbot. This lets you make the experience of your customers better without spending a lot of money. Also, this lets people get in touch with experts if they need help. When it comes to customer service, chatbots can be very helpful. Plus, your agent can only be in certain places at once.

 

8. Descriptive Listing

When you use detailed listings in your app like Airbnb or Kayak, people are more likely to book and confirm their reservations quickly. There may be photos, videos, descriptions, facilities, reviews, ratings, and other things in these ads. People can make more money with this because it helps them know the ins and outs.

 

9. Price Alerts Warnings

It might be a good thing to have in your stay booking app that works like a boat. Users can use the Price Alerts Warnings feature to remind them to make their reservations and to push them to do so. This will help you save a lot of money and get your customers more involved. So, make sure that your app has this built in.

 

10. Easy Accommodation Booking

The app similar to kayak makes it easy for users to book rooms of their choice. Also, they give people all the information they need, which makes them sure they can make the reservation right away. A feature like this can be seen to create a mobile app similar to Kayak. It is important to have a dashboard that is easy for people to use so that they can quickly find, compare, and book a hotel.

 

 

Top 5 Kayak App Alternatives

The top hotel booking applications are shown below so you can learn from them and the services they offer. The score comes from the trip section on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Let’s take a look at the other Kayak alternatives.

 

 

Kayak Alternatives	Available Platform	Downloads	Ratings
Airbnb	Android | iOS	100M+	4.3
Agoda	Android | iOS	50M+	4.6
HotelTonight	Android | iOS	5M+	4.1
OYO Rooms	Android | iOS	50M+	4.4
Booking.com	Android | iOS	500M+	4.5

 

Tech Stack For Hotel Booking App Development

You would use a different set of technologies to make an application like kayak, depending on how fast and easily it can grow. To create a hotel booking website or application like Kayak, here is a suggested tech stack:    

 

Component	Technology	Purpose
Front-End	React Native	Smooth user interfaces, responsive designs
Front-End	Swift (iOS), Kotlin (Android)	Optimal performance, access to native features
Back-End	Node.js, Django	Efficient API handling, user authentication, real-time data processing
Database	PostgreSQL, MongoDB	Secure storage, quick data retrieval
APIs	Amadeus, Skyscanner, Google Maps	Travel pricing, geographical location services
Cloud Services	AWS, Azure	Scalability, availability, data security
Payment Gateway	Stripe, PayPal	Secure and seamless transactions

 

How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Kayak?

The cost to develop a hotel booking app like Kayak is anywhere from $8,000 to $25,000. However, the Kayak app development cost can change based on your business idea and its complexity.

Just things like how complicated the app is, how many platforms it runs on, how it looks, its tech stack, its features, and so on. It is essential to remember that these are just rough estimates that you can use to make an app like Kayak. Here is a table that shows the hotel booking application development cost.

 

App Complexity	Features	Cost
Simple Kayak-like App	●     User Registration ●     Price Prediction ●     Flexible Booking ●     Real-time Flight Tracking	$8,000 – $14,000
Medium Kayak-like App	●     Price Freeze ●     Personalized Recommendation ●     Enable users to book flights, hotels, etc.	$15,000 – $21,000
Advanced Kayak-like App	●     Combined search ●     Safe payment methods ●     Push Notifications	$25,000+

 

Additionally, you should think about other things if you don’t want to be shocked by the cost to create an app like Kayak. Besides, if you want to build a website, then the hotel booking website development cost will be between $8000 – $20000 which is less compared to an app.

 

Cost Affecting Factor	What’s Included	Cost
Design	Mobile + Web versions ●     User Panel ●     Business Panel ●     Admin Panel	$4,500 to $8,000+
API Integrations	●     Payment gateways ●     Communication tools ●     Reservation/Booking APIs	$2,000 to $4,000+
App Security	●     User data security ●     Financial transactional security	$2,500 to $4500

 

Now that you know the cost to develop a Kayak clone app, it’s time to get assistance from an Android app development company. They will give you an actual Kayak clone app development cost for a great way to make your travel business grow.

 

 

Ways To Monetize A Hotel Booking Apps Like Kayak

Now you understand how to develop a hotel booking app like Kayak and what features to include. It’s time to think about the future and find the best way to make money. Any hotel stay app for booking hotels can use these three ways to make money. Let us take a look.

  

 

1. Commission-based Model

As an iPhone app development company, one common approach is to work with hotels and get paid a fee for every reservation made through your app. This lets you get a cut of the hotel’s income while also making them more visible and getting more reservations. Kayak and Expedia are two examples of services that use this model to book hotels.

 

2. Subscription Fees

Using a subscription model or in-app purchases to provide premium services is another way to make money with Kayak clone app development. Some examples of these features are special deals, personalized suggestions, or better customer service. By giving extra value to users who are ready to pay, you can make a steady stream of income while still letting people who would rather use your app for free.

 

3. Advertising

A common way for hotel reservation apps like Agoda or others, to make money is through in-app ads. By working with the right marketers, you can show targeted ads in the interface of your app. These ads can be billboards, interstitials, or ads that are built right into the page. But it’s important to find a balance between effective ads and making the user experience too much. Even if your app has ads, users should still find something useful in it.

 

Read also

 

Top 10 Hotel Booking Apps to Use In 2025

Steps To Develop Hotel Management Software In 2024

Build A Hotel Booking App Like OYO Rooms

 

Final Thoughts

We’ve covered everything in this complete guide on “how to develop a hotel booking app like Kayak.” From what and why to how much it costs to make. After reading this blog, you may get the answers to some of your queries regarding creating a mobile application like Kayak for hotel reservations.

So, if you want to create an app like Kayak, you should hire a reputable hotel booking app development company like Dev Technosys. So, what are you waiting for? Share your hotel booking mobile app ideas with us, and we’ll help you move forward.

 

FAQs

Q1.  How Does a Kayak Make Money?

The Kayak travel application earns money from two primary sources: advertising and distribution.

 

Q2. What is the Best Hotel Booking App?

There are many hotel booking applications, but booking.com, Agoda, and Kayak are some of the most popular applications people use.

 

Q3. How Much Does It Cost to Make a Hotel Booking App Like Kayak?

The cost to create a hotel booking app like Kayak can range between $8000 – $25000. However, some factors affect the total cost that are mentioned below:

• App complexity
• App features
• App design
• Platform choice
• Developers location

 

Q4. How To Build a Hotel Booking App like Kayak?

To develop a booking application like Kayak for your business, you need to follow the following steps:

• Define the app’s purpose
• Create a user interface
• Develop the app’s backend
• Test the app
• Launch the app

 

Q5. What Kind of App is Kayak?

Kayak is a search engine for travel that lets consumers see how much flights, hotels, and car rentals cost on different travel websites. It allows people to find the best deals and plan their trips all in one place.

 

Q6. What is the Revenue of Kayak?

Kayak makes just about $1.6 billion every year. This is made possible by commissions on bookings, ads, and paid services inside the app.